I don't know if I was just lucky or actually became better at sourcing books, but I had really hard time narrowing the best picks for 2018 down to just 5.
The following were my favorite books for 2018 and I hope you will enjoy them too.
My Father's Business, Cal Turner Jr.
The book tells the story of the Dollar General stores, as told by the founder's son, a third generation retailer. By thinking outside of the box, working hard and putting the customer first, the Turners brought to the world the concept of the dollar store (everything sold for $1) and then built it over the decades into what it is today.
The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
Habits are controlled by the oldest part of the brain, thought to have been developed in order to make simple routines easy to master, Thanks to the methods described in the book, positive habits can reinforced, while negative habits can be broken. In addition, the book contains interesting discussion of will power and our ability to train it as a muscle.
Skin in the Game, Nassim Taleb
The book is rough around the edges and the author certainly did not mince words, so readers beware!
Skin in the game is not only about how to make sure a principle and an agent got their upsides aligned, but also about making sure downsides are just as aligned. Using historical examples Taleb demonstrates how thousands of years ago people understood how to build incentive systems better than today's corporate world is building them.
The Obesity Code, Dr. Jason Fung
I believe that anyone with interest in nutrition, intermittent fasting and health would enjoy this book that covers a wide range of subject in an efficient way for the reader.
Chimpanzee Politics, Frans de Waal
A fascinating, years' long research on Chimpanzees that concluded we might be closer to these primates than we'd feel comfortable admitting. The book demonstrates intrigues, planning, plotting and self awareness to a level I never imagined possible for non-humans.