This month I managed to start reading 2 books I picked up at the airport just after new years. This has been a bit of a slow month so I’ve just been reading said two books whilst getting over holiday nostalgia.
For fans of TLDR; here is the run down of the books I am reading this month:
- Factfulness, by Hans Rosling
- 1984, by George Orwell
Onwards to a brief overview of this month’s reading list.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
I am almost done reading this book and I can’t imagine why I hadn’t read it sooner. It has given me a lot to think about especially when it comes to consuming media and news today.
We live in a world that is globally connected which means we get exposed to more news and real-time data all the time. This book really drives home the importance of using all the facts to make decisions, and seeing data for what it shows rather than making the data show what we want it to. The importance of individual and independent thinking when it comes to deciding what is valid and what is exaggerated.
One of the things I have really enjoyed is the diverse use of different datasets throughout the book, proving how data can be used to support or reject theories. In addition, how data can be misconstrued to support premade judgement calls.
This book is worth a read, and has given me much to think about, especially when it comes to examining the facts about the world we currently live in, where we were before and where we intend to go.
1984 by George Orwell
This is one of those books I do not mind re-reading every couple of years. I found myself picking it up at the airport out of a sense of nostalgia. Plus I read this edition was a reprint of the original taking into account some of the author’s original notes and a lot of corrections made, so it’s closer to the original intended story.
For those who haven’t read it, this is a book I would recommend for a couple of reasons. For one, this is a story about a dystopian reality where everyone’s move is under constant surveillance by the government. Nothing is secret or out of bounds. Deviating from the rules is not allowed, and unsanctioned thoughts even worse. As the saying goes, Big Brother is watching!
Reading this book always reminds me of the roles each of us have in our society as well as what we should expect from ourselves, each other and our government. Dystopian realities always remind me of what could have been, or could be if we are reckless with the choices we make.
That’s it for my leisure reading this month. Hope you enjoyed reading this post.