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Of the books I read this year, here is the list of books I enjoyed the most.

• World is Flat by Tom Friedman. An amazing review of the economy of the modern world. Everyone must read this book, just to understand what it takes to survive. Just two weeks ago, I was surprised to find that an Apple product that I ordered from apple.com was shipped directly from Shanghai, China, and it arrived 48 hours later at home. That world is getting flatter.
• Lance Armstrong’s War by Daniel Coyle. I borrowed this book while I was riding Pedal the Peaks in June this year, and finished it in just two days. My take away from this book is about the passion and perseverence of Lance and other cyclists. Success does not come cheap.
• The art of Unix programming by Eric Raymond. Although a good chunk of this book talks about the philosophy behind Unix, the first several pages provide a very good overview of the key design principles, which apply beyond Unix.
• Joel on Software, by Joel Spolsky’s. We need a Joel to remind us of all common stupid mistakes that managers repeat. Like trying to rearchitect/rewrite software, and believing that it will fix all problems.
• Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham.