Reading List

Below are some of the books I’ve read and the key lessons I took from them. Don’t pay too much attention to the ratings except to compare to the books next to them in the lists as I tried to make them relative at least to their immediate neighbors. I’ve left out most fiction books for now, but feel free to reach out if you’d like to share suggestions!

Top Picks

  • Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E Frankl (10/10)

    • The meaning of life comes from struggling well to make progress on something meaningful to you. Find something meaningful to you and pursue it.

    • Take complete ownership of your situation and recognize that some things are in your control and some are not. Change what you can.

  • The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (9.9/10)

    • Follow Your Dreams.

    • I had to read it twice before I liked it. It’s now my second to top recommendation.

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie (9.5/10)

    • Concentrate on what those around you want - not on what you want.

  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson (9.5/10)

    • Learn to focus your time and energy on what matters and to ignore everything else.

    • There is a small subset of people who will find this book too obvious to be worthwhile, but for most (85% at least), it is well worth it.

  • 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)

    • Fascinating take on the impact of AI on the future of humanity

Self Help, Business, Life

  • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin (9/10)

    • Discipline, hard work and humility lead to success

    • Easy read full of actionable insights

  • Benjamin Franklin: An American Life – Walter Isaacson (9/10 if you are interested in B Franklin)

    • If you find the autobiography of Franklin interesting, Isaacson takes a more objective view of his life as a whole. Franklin was a true Polymath and made major inroads across numerous subjects. He was very practical and embodies many of the ideals we currently hold in the USA.

    • Don’t read it if you aren’t interested in Franklin.

  • Principles - Ray Dalio (8.5/10)

    • You should strive fearlessly to discover the truth. Your ego, emotions, and blind spots normally stop you from this. Always ask, how can I increase the probability that I'm right? Surround yourself with believable people

    • You can have just about anything you want, but you can not have everything you want. You need to choose. Focus

    • Be radically transparent and humble. Know what you don't know.

  • A Higher Loyalty - James Comey (7/10)

    • Comey suggests that sometimes you must make decisions based on your guiding principles even if those decisions will have short (and even long) term negative impacts

    • Even at the highest level of government, people are just people. The Oval Office is just a room

  • The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss (8/10)

    • There are alternatives to the corporate world. One can work a minimal number of hours per week (while making significant money) and pursue his or her passions outside of work.

    • Despite not being central to the book, the insight I most took from this was to know yourself and what you want

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change - Stephen Covey (8/10)

    • Seek first to understand, then to be understood

  • The Happiness Trap - Russ Harris (8/10)

    • Your thoughts are strings of words woven together by your mind. You may choose to relate to your thoughts any way you would like. This book had a semi permenant impact on my mindset and meditation practice. It did seem a bit repetitive at times.

  • Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb (9/10)

    • Antifragile is about things that are the opposite of fragile - meaning they get stronger when exposed to stress. This does not mean they are simply resilient and tough. It means they literally NEED stress and damage to get better

    • Taleb argues that humans, societies, political systems and more are antifragile and that in many cases modern society depraves these entities of the stress needed to stay strong - rendering them now fragile

    • Due to attempts to eliminate volatility and keep things controlled, we make things worse

      • For instance, forest fires rage because we don't allow small fires, the financial system crashed in 2008 because the economy was stabilized and smothered and businesses were not allowed to fail, humans are sick more often because our immune systems don't get used enough

    • There is A LOT more to write on this book- some of which I agree about and some I don't

  • Everything is Fucked: A Book About Hope – Mark Manson (9/10)

    • Mark argues that pain is a universal truth in human life. Therefore, the most important thing in life is find the right type of pain to experience. It echoes “Man’s Search for Meaning” in suggesting you should find something meaningful to struggle to achieve.

    • Mark makes some bold claims about universal values and I appreciated that audacity

  • 12 Rules for Life - Jordan Peterson

    • Despite Peterson being a controversial figure, there is little controversial in this book. It is fairly long winded at times, but well worth the read.

    • Take responsibility for your life

    • Find meaning in the little things

Managing, Negotiation, Tactics

  • Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (8/10)

    • Become comfortable in the uncomfortable, let the other person talk (aka listen), uncover black swans, set extreme anchors

    • He counters many of the points in Getting to Yes below

  • Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In - Roger Fisher and William Ury (8/10)

    • Look for win-win situations

  • The Art of War - Sun Tzu (9/10)

    • Win fast and win decisively

Finance

  • The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson (8/10)

    • Interesting history of money, bubbles and financial innovations

  • Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises

    • A look inside the decisions made during the 2008 financial crisis

    • Good lessons on market psychology and the importance that confidence and trust play in financial markets

  • The Internet of Money - Andreas Antonopoulos (10/10)

    • Great introduction to Bitcoin and blockchain technology

  • The Little Book that Still Beats the Market – Joel Greenblatt (9/10)

    • You should invest in companies that have a high earnings yield and a high return on capital

      • A high earnings yield simplifies to companies that have high earnings relative to their share price (this means the company is relatively cheap)

      • A high return on capital means the company can invest money in its business and have a high (compared to other companies) return (this means the company is in a good business landscape with a good product)

    • Combining these two simple points leads to stock picks that over TIME beat the market. The reason not everyone does this is because there may be yearlong or more periods that you are losing to the market

      • I followed the logic of the book so I took a percentage of my total investments and started utilizing the formula.

  • The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need - Andrew Tobias (8/10)

    • Save money

    • Invest early (compounding interest is basically a miracle)

    • Avoid mutual funds and fees in general

    • Invest in ETFs

  • Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki (8.5/10)

    • Don't work for money. Make money work for you

  • The Richest Man in Babylon (8/10)

    • Luck comes from seizing the opportunities that life throws at you. Getting rich requires consistency. Start investing today

Politics/Globalism

  • Us Vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism – Ian Bremmer (10/10)

    • Globalism has winners and losers. The losers of globalism are actually in a worse place now than they were ten years ago.

    • Interesting take on the rise of populism

  • Destined for War -  Graham Allison

    • According to Allison, China is already the most influential country in the world

    • Often, when a rising power (China) overtakes a current power (USA) war erupts

      • We shouldn't be so sure this won’t happen in the 21st century

Sports

  • Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen - Christopher McDougall (10/10)

    • Extremely entertaining story if you enjoy distance running

The Bigger Picture

  • The Better Angels of Our Nature - Steven Pinker (10/10)

    • We live in the most peaceful time in the history of the world. Murder, war, slavery, violence etc. are at all time lows while living conditions are at all time highs. If you already know this you don't need to read it since it's 1000 pages of statistics to show you this. But many people simply can't grasp this without reading it

      • See Antifragile above for a potential counter argument to this

Relationships

  • No More Mr. Nice Guy - Robert Glover (9/10)

    • Don't be a pushover - set boundaries in your life

    • It’s a very useful book to some people and fairly useless to others, but if you think you are too much of a “nice guy” (or girl) in a negative sense, it’s a great book for you

  • Models - Mark Manson (9/10)

    • Be confident, set boundaries, say no

    • Again, relevant to some, not others. Skim a chapter before reading

  • Modern Romance - Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg (8/10)

    • We have so many choices for romance today that picking "the one" can be paralyzing. At some point you have to take a leap. Give relationships some time to develop.

    • He is hysterical and listening on Audible was great.

Science Writing

  • The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

    • Great explanation of evolution

  • The Consciousness Instinct - Michael Gazzaniga

  • Rethinking Consciousness - Michael Graziano

  • Models of the Mind: How Physics, Engineering and Mathematics Have Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain - Grace Lindsay

    • A great book walking you through advances in neuroscince over many decades with an eye to understanding how mathematical modelling played into key findings. It is easy to follow even with a limited mathematical or neuroscience background but deep enough that it should be interesting regardless.

  • The Secret of our Success - Joseph Henrich

    • Culture has impacted evolution - culture makes humans who we are

  • The Extended Phenotype - Richard Dawkins

    • It expands on the selfish gene but at a more more technical level

  • From Bacteria to Bach and Back - Daniel Dennett

    • A book exploring consciousness

  • Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahnean

    • You have two brains, an emotional fast brain and a logical slow brain. Both serve their purpose but at times one is better used than the other.

  • The Red Queen – Matt Ridley

    • Hypothesizes that sex helped drive the evolution of the human race and that there are different evolutionary drivers for women and men, which lead to different goals in mate selection. Naturally the topic could be considered political/disconcerting but as I recall it was handled scientifically.

  • Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion – Sam Harris

    • Fascinating and approachable exploration of consciousness and spirituality. Included in this section as it is routed in science.

Worth reading depending on you

  • The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid (7/10)

    • Being a Muslim in the United States has implications

  • Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (7/10)

    • Own EVERY outcome in your life. If someone around you failed, it's because you didn't give them the correct guidance, questions, impetus etc.

    • Keep things simple

  • Hamlet’s Blackberry - William Powers (7/10)

    • Turn off your phone every once in a while. The book is extremely repetitive so can read the first few chapters and the last chapter. Worth reading despite the repetition

  • Attached. The New Science of Adult Attachment... - Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

    • It's interesting and useful but seemed very repetitive to me. I read and enjoyed the first 20% then quickly skimmed the rest. There are three main attachment styles in relationships (avoidant, anxious and stable). Recognizing your style is helpful in navigating your relationships

Not Recommended

  • The Rise and Fall of Nations - Ruchir Sharma (5/10)

    • To be fair, I only read about 30 pages because it was boring me. Probably gets better as it goes on. But it wasn’t my cup of tea.

  • Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill (6/10)

    • I found bits of great advice here, but also plenty contradictory or oversimplified advice. The title alone is an oversimplification. Thinking about being rich won't make you rich. Taking action will make you rich. Thinking with the right mindset makes actions more likely. Much of the advice here was theoretical. Valuable lessons were that that persistence, confidence and clear goals are essential to monetary success. Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Richest Man in Babylon were more helpful to me.

  • The Power of Positive Thinking (6/10)

    • I think this book has value for someone who wants to improve their confidence. However, some of it seems to me a bit trite. Still, the book sold over 20 million copies so it may be worth reading just to ponder why do so many people find this it so compelling.

Other Reads

  • True Love - Thich Nhat Hanh

    • Great and super short read that will make you a better communicator

  • Stormlight Archives - Brian Sanderson

    • Great fantasy series that’s easy to read. The Mistborn series is great too

  • Dune

    • Incredible book. Push through the first 150 pages as it is rather hard to follow at first, but then gets amazing. I tried the sequel, but didn’t get into it. It may have been the same case where I just had to keep going. Anyway, Dune is one of my favorites now.

  • The War of Art

    • Massively recommend if you are in a rut trying to push through “resistance” on some task/career etc. Lots of obvious stuff. Don’t ignore it just because it has some religion aspects.

  • The Bhagavad Gita (I read the Easwaran translation)

    • Even if you are not spiritual, it is worth a read. And if you are spiritual, it is a must read.