Jan 9, 2022 4 min read

❄️ Freezethawed: The Newsletter #053 - Five must reads! Even if you hate reading

Hello everyone!

January and 2022 are already giving us the feeling that history may be repeating itself with COVID-19 cases rising exponentially once again. The number of new cases just hit one lac, after 8 months.

However, the alarming part is that it is predicted to hit 10 lac reported cases by the end of January when the third wave is expected to peak. Unreported cases are predicted to be close to 20 lacs. This is the perfect time to remind you all of The Peltzman Effect, and its interpretation during this wave. Read on, here.

The five books you must read, even if you’re not an avid reader:

I was not an avid reader, primarily because my academic reading pressure already kept me pre-occupied. However, in 2021 I decided to change that and consumed 26 books over the year. That’s a healthy one-book-per-fortnight alongside residency.

Even if you are not an avid reader too, here are my top five books you must try read (for whatever it is worth):

1. Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker

We spend nearly a third of our lifetime sleeping, but our working knowledge of sleep, it patterns and the science behind is something we could use a lesson on. Whether you are a night owl or an early riser, this is the book you must read. Once you finish this book, I assure you that you will be able to harness your sleeping patterns to your advantage. On the off chance that you don’t, the book will still help make you extremely rational decisions about sleep.

2. The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel

Similar to sleep, we know too little about money. It is more than just a piece of paper, that gives you status in society. Being rich vs. being wealthy is a poorly understood concept. Once you finish this book, you will learnt to be content with your money and look at its value in an entirely different way.

3. Show Your Work - Austin Kleon

If you’ve always been hesitant about putting yourself out there, this is the book to read. There is a subtle difference between showing your work and showing off your work. Once you finish this book, you may be much more inclined to doing the former.

4. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

The only fantasy book on this list, but a must read. We love to be bitter about the life that we have been dealt, hoping that if there was just one change to it, we would be soo much happier. This book explores this very possibility. Journey through multiple realities to see what would happen if everything you expected, came true.

5. The Emperor of all Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee

This book is a beautiful journey into the world of medicine. Explore the birth of modern medicine, the art of disease and the birth of cancer. A lot of my readers are medical students or doctors and should you be one of them, this book might just make your toils over 5.5 years of MBBS make a little sense. But, even if you’re not from a medical background, it still remains a must read for the journey it takes you on.

This is a carefully curated list one year in the making. I am sure these books will keep you hooked and maybe, maybe even inculcate a habit of reading in the future. In the event you’ve already read some of these books, I would love to hear your opinion. You can directly reply to this mail or mail me at contact@anujeetpaul.com

Until next time,

Anujeet.

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