12 books that can change how you think

A file photo of a student in a library. (istockphoto)
A file photo of a student in a library. (istockphoto)

Summary

  • Industry captains and policy makers recommend books they loved to read in 2024

New Delhi: In the fascinating book, The Soul of an Octopus, naturalist Sy Montgomery writes about her encounters with the eight-armed mollusks. Turns out, they have a mind of their own. They can be gentle, assertive, curious and joyful. Above all, they are clever. “It doesn’t take long for an octopus to figure out who his friends are," Montgomery writes. While this book, the favourite of a Mint editor, didn’t make it to the recommendation list, another one around the octopus did—it promises to be an equally good read, particularly if you are interested in the evolution of intelligence.

This year, we sourced our picks from industry captains, policy markers, and even Mint’s opinion editor. Many of these books weren’t published in 2024, but in their narrative and content, they remain enduring—artificial intelligence; economic history; organisational culture; the markets, and human resilience. Do not miss what Harsh Mariwala and Anu Aga read.

Accelerating India’s Development
by Karthik Muralidharan

Accelerating India’s Development
View Full Image
Accelerating India’s Development

 

India delivered on democracy but faltered on prosperity. Why (the past) is not as important as how (the future). Yet most economic books attempt to describe the world rather than change it. Karthik’s book (Accelerating India’s Development: A State-led Roadmap for Effective Governance) is different. He recognises we campaign in poetry but govern in prose; new recipes beat more cooks in improving state capacity, and 29 chief ministers matter more than one prime minister. His case—that economic reforms have fixed many sins of commission (what the state did wrong), but many sins of omission (what the state doesn’t do) remain—is persuasive. Technocratic reform agendas often fail because they defy accepting the world of politics and policy as second best. But this book’s many specific, finite, and actionable recommendations on education, healthcare, civil services, justice, police, etc. make it useful for anybody working on our new tryst with the destiny of combining mass prosperity with mass democracy.

Manish Sabharwal, vice chairman, TeamLease

 

Other Minds
by Peter Godfrey-Smith

Other Minds
View Full Image
Other Minds

The last common ancestor of humans and octopuses lived 600 million years ago. Given their large brains and complex behaviour, octopuses are “an island of mental complexity in the sea of invertebrate animals… probably the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien." Other Minds: The Octopus and the evolution of intelligent life takes us deep into how senses developed and how the start of predation in the Cambrian period triggered the evolutionary spiral that accelerated movement and sensory and brain development. It meditates on consciousness, the evolution of aging and examines similarities and differences between octopuses and humans. They have long-term and short-term memory, engage in play with novel objects that aren’t food and have no apparent use, and some can recognise individual humans. Their vivid and sophisticated colour displays, sometimes without any apparent reason, also show remarkable abilities to process information. All this in an animal that lives for just 1 to 2 years? Why did such sophisticated intelligence evolve? The explanations make the reader appreciate the role of serendipity in the evolution of intelligence and better appreciate how we came to be who we are.

Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist, Axis Bank

 

The Maniac
by Benjamin Labatut

The Maniac
View Full Image
The Maniac

This is “a work of fiction based on fact," says Labatut. In this genre-defying follow-up to his equally compelling When We Cease To Understand The World, Labatut ventriloquizes mathematician John von Neumann and others in his life. Neumann (the “smartest human being of the 20th century") fathered game theory, laid the foundations of quantum mechanics, and heralded the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI). He believed that gods were necessary but had lost their glory, and the only candidate to fill this void was technology. As we finally approach what Neumann, on his deathbed in 1957, called “an essential singularity beyond which human affairs cannot continue", Labatut is required reading for those wishing to explore the limits of human comprehension and the philosophical consequences of machine intelligence. While others writing on AI tend to be annoyingly didactic and breathtakingly boring, Labatut’s hubristic tale is refreshingly original, elegantly crafted and thrillingly propelling. A real treat.

Alok Sama is former president and CFO, SoftBank Group

 

A Brief History of Intelligence
by Max Bennett

A Brief History of Intelligence
View Full Image
A Brief History of Intelligence

A Brief History of Intelligence: Why the evolution of the Brian holds the key to the future of AI by Max Bennett tells us the story of how biological “intelligence" evolved over millions of years and how artificial intelligence (AI) mimics or recreates many of the forms of intelligence. This provides us with a good map of how AI would approach human intelligence or what it may be able to do in order to surpass us.

Sanjeev Sanyal, member, Economic Advisory Council to PM

 

Genius Makers
by Cade Metz

Genius Makers
View Full Image
Genius Makers

In the last few years, artificial intelligence has become the single idea that drives every conference. Many think it is a recent invention—but it is not. It has been evolving for the past many decades; it has had its ups and downs. In the recent past, the petabytes of data coming from data aggregators like Google and Facebook, coupled with high-performance chips that can handle this volume of data, gave a massive push to the application of neural networks, which has been languishing for many years. Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World by Cade Metz tells this story in the most readable fashion, giving equal importance to the technology and the people who bet on this without making it too technical. Particularly, it helps those of us who are suddenly bombarded with this idea on a day-to-day basis but have no context of it.

Thampy Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC

 

How Economics Explains the World
by Andrew Leigh

How Economics Explains the World
View Full Image
How Economics Explains the World

 

For all its monumental marvels, was Ancient Egypt less developed as a civilization than Harappa? If your guess is yes, but wonder why, get a copy of Andrew Leigh’s How Economics Explains the World (2024, Mariner Books). It delves into history to unearth gems that sparkle under the lens of an economist, tracing an arc across millennia all the way from artificial light to artificial intelligence. As a refresher course in Economics 101 that ploughs up the past to make points that still need to be made—on markets, trade, institutions, inequality and more—for everyone’s well-being, it’s refreshingly reader-friendly. To cite two pleasant surprises, it quotes an endearing rap by John Papola and Russ Roberts in its discussion on Keynes versus Hayek and compares India’s 1991 reforms with Britain’s 1846 repeal of corn laws and China’s 1978 farm rebellion-led embrace of private property. This slim volume is a jolly good year-end read.

Aresh Shirali, deputy managing editor, Mint

Business Adventures

by John Brooks

Business Adventures
View Full Image
Business Adventures

 

Business Adventures by John Brooks has been listed among the favourites by the likes of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates—so I am in good company on this one! The question is why read business stories from decades ago because that’s what this book consists of. The answer lies in the fact that human nature hasn’t changed that much in over 50 or 100 years. For instance, the ways people lose or make money in the stock markets, or the way the market insiders find neat explanations for just about anything that happens in the markets, has remained unchanged from the time the first ‘modern’ exchange came into being in the 17th century. From the nuances of what constitutes insider trading, multiple crises, from the Pound Sterling to the New York stock Exchange to the (remarkably short) history of income tax, from business success to failures, there are some riveting stories here.

Devina Mehra is chairperson, managing director and founder of First Global

 

Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth
by Nick Murray

Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth
View Full Image
Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth

Nick Murray is often regarded as the king of wealth management in the US. His book, Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, is a masterpiece. Murray’s insights on asset allocation are incredibly sharp. He emphasizes that 90% of wealth creation does not come from picking the right stocks but from choosing the right asset allocation. He argues that being heavily invested in equities—80%, 90%, or even 100%—yields significantly higher compounded returns over the years, leading to vastly superior outcomes compared to fund managers who diversify across various asset classes with poor results. His clarity on the role of a planned wealth manager is truly enlightening.

Raamdeo Agrawal, chairman and co-founder, Motilal Oswal Financial Services

 

The Culture Map
by Erin Meyer

The Culture Map
View Full Image
The Culture Map

 

The book that I will remember in 2024 is The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer. We live in a connected world where it is common to have a wide network of suppliers, customers, colleagues, and stakeholders. It is increasingly important to understand how to conduct ourselves and get the most out of interactions with individuals who come from cultures different from your own. The book demystifies aspects of cross-cultural collaboration and gives us a practical guide on how to communicate, evaluate, persuade, lead, decide, trust, disagree and schedule work in a multicultural world. Peppered with relatable examples and tips, I have found the book immensely useful in understanding and collaborating with others.

Nandini Piramal, chairperson of Piramal Pharma

 

Swadeshi Steam
by A. R. Venkatachalapathy

The Culture Map
View Full Image
The Culture Map

 

The book that I enjoyed reading recently was Swadeshi Steam: V.O. Chidambaram Pillai And The Battle Against The British Maritime Empire, written by A.R. Venkatachalapathy, a well-known historian. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai was a renowned lawyer and a great freedom fighter who lived in Tamil Nadu 125 years ago. He chose to challenge the British monopoly on the Indian seas by launching an indigenous ship. Today, we see many startups building companies in democratic and free India but it was a different ball game to be an entrepreneur under British rule—more than a century ago. In addition to standing up against an institution that enjoyed the full backing of the British government, Pillai also had to face other challenges entrepreneurs deal with. He found an innovative way to raise capital through an almost crowd-funding approach!

Vijay Sankar, chairman, Sanmar Group

 

Man’s Search for Meaning
by Victor E. Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning
View Full Image
Man’s Search for Meaning

 

A book that has deeply influenced me is Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. His account of surviving Nazi concentration camps is a great example of the strength of the human spirit. One idea from the book that stayed with me is his belief that life’s meaning comes from how we respond to challenges. It is not our circumstances that define us but the purpose we find in them. This perspective has shaped the way I approach adversity in both life and business. In the world of business, challenges are inevitable. Whether it is dealing with market uncertainties or guiding a team through change, having a clear sense of purpose has always provided direction and clarity. Man’s Search for Meaning offers timeless lessons on resilience and the importance of staying anchored to something bigger than ourselves. For anyone seeking strength in difficult times, it is a book that provides both guidance and inspiration.

Harsh Mariwala, founder and chairman, Marico Ltd

 

I Am What I Am
by Sunitha Krishnan

I Am What I Am
View Full Image
I Am What I Am

 

Recently, I read I Am What I Am: A Memoir by Sunitha Krishnan. It is a true story, and I know Sunitha. She is a victim of gang rape. But instead of turning bitter, she started working to help young people come out of prostitution. It is a beautifully written book. The book’s message is about how bitterness is all-consuming and it doesn’t help you. Bitterness only eats you up. Whereas if you take up a cause and give your energy there, it makes you a better person and it helps people. That was a very strong message. For example, when my son died in a car accident, my daughter (Meher) was very upset because someone said it was the truck driver’s fault. She wanted to take him to court. But I felt we should rather take up the cause of traffic, which is chaotic.

Anu Aga, social worker, former Rajya Sabha member and former chairperson of Thermax

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
more

topics

MINT SPECIALS