Books
The Power, Naomi Alderman. Interesting point of view on gender and power dynamics. Turned out different (better) than I expected from the beginning.
Letters to a Young Scientist, E. O. Wilson. Half very interesting advice about how to do science, half anecdotes from the life of a biologist with a speciality in ants.
How we got here, Andy Kessler. Whirlwind tour of the history of the industrial revolution, technology and how it lead to modern capital markets.
Pitch Perfect - how to say it right the first time, every time, Bill McGowan. Chock full of tips to improve the way you communicate, in any area of life. I definitely recommend reading this.
On the shortness of Life, Seneca. Good to reflect on what are you doing with your life, and if it's really meaningful in the long term.
The Enchiridion, Epictetus. The most succinct summary of Stoicism I've read. If you only read one book from this list, read this one.
How Asia Works, Joe Studwell. A convincing historical account of how the successful North East Asian countries (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China) managed their transformation from poverty to rich developed country: land reform to support household farming, export-oriented manufacturing, closely controlled finance to support the two. An eye-opening book, making the case that developing country economics is not the same as rich country economics, and state guided economy and protectionist measures are essential to develop a country.
Legends of the Condor Heroes: A Hero Born, Jin Yong. Entertaining martial arts story, but without too much depth.
Development is Freedom, Amartya Sen. Very verbose and circular, I stopped reading after a hundred pages.
12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson. Interesting suggestions for how to lead your life, some overlap with Stoicism. Frequently uses examples from the bibble as illustrations for why to behave in a certain way, without being religious.
Measure what matters, John Doerr. An excellent introduction to OKRs and how to use the to improve the focus of your work, both personally and at a company level.
Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Great novel (both in terms of physical size and writing quality), I really started getting hooked a few hundred pages into the book.
The Mind Illuminated, Culadasa (John Yates). An in-depth description of how to meditate and what to expect along the way. Reading this book I realized how much overlap there is between meditation / Buddhist thought and Stoicism.
Tags: books