These books may not have released in 2020 but they are the books I read this year. My criteria to make this list is:
My IT bible. Not everyone is a fan of lean and it has some fair criticisms however this book speaks to me. I've never been a fan of red tape but early in my career thought it was just how things were. This book doesn't describe how to remove that tape instead it describes what a world without red tape looks like. Worth a read even if you aren't a fan of lean just to understand why it's become a buzzword in IT.
A bit pricey but worth it if you work in a microservice environment. Got me up to speed on how microservice development differs from other types of development. I read this during a time when my team's microservice was going through a rough spot with production support. I started to think that microservices were just a big broken mess but the support chapter in this book gave me a great perspective on why our service was struggling and 3 or 4 ideas on how to make production support better.
I've seen a lot of people say this book is dated and that the zero to one way of thinking doesn't work so well anymore. I think I agree, however, the book still provides a valuable guideline on how to think about problems. The one thing that really resonated with me here is that a product launched in a competitive market needs to be at least 10x better than its competitors.
At first this books seems liek it has nothing to do with IT but Nike was just a startup before startups were a thing. The book wont teach you to code better but it will show you guidance on life and start ups. So many great lessons in this book and probably the biggest sleeper on this list. Surprisingly this book and The Lean Startup have a lot in common.
We all work too hard and it's easy to get caught up in the routine of life. This book is a helpful reminder that you should work hard on what matters, work smart, and pay attention to what's around you. Similar to the lessons from Shoe Dog work on your passion don't try to earn the most money or buy the next big thing.
All links above are affiliate links meaning I will receive a cut from any purchase. This doesn't influence my choices at all. It does mean all links above will take you to Amazon. This is usually the cheapest place I can find these books anyways but feel free to search around for a cheaper price.