A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once.
George R. R. Martin
Last Updated: April 2nd, 2021
No activity has contributed to my development and understanding of how the world works more than reading good books. It’s amazing how something so inexpensive has the power to change your life. This obsession started when I was a teenager because of a pattern I noticed: the people who I admired most and wanted to emulate spent much of their time reading. It’s what influenced them to be who they are.
Over the years, I’ve come across many books that have had the same effect on me, and it would be an injustice not to share them with others.
This is a list for people who don’t have time for unimportant books. They’re the best ones. Rest assured that each one on this list will be worth your time. It’s not finished, but it’s a decent place to start.
Table of Contents
- Books to Have at Your Side Throughout Life
- Books That Will Make You a Better Person (And Happier Because of It)
- Books on Stoicism: The Philosophy for Building Mental and Emotional Fortitude
- Dialogues and Other Works on Practical Philosophy
- Books That Will Make You Work and Think Better
- Books on Leading and Working with People
- Biographies
- Historical Narratives and Other Nonfiction Books
- Books That Helped Me Understand How the World Works
- Books on Fiction
- Books on Health
Books to Have at Your Side Throughout Life
These books will carve out the unwanted parts of your soul. They don’t have strict formats to be read from cover to cover. You can turn to any page and get a piece of wisdom to think about and wrestle with for the day.
Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by Coach John Wooden
If I were stranded on an island, this would be one of the few books I’d want with me. I read it when I was nineteen years old and I’m still referring to it over a decade later. With the wisdom of the most sagacious saint, Coach Wooden covers topics like leadership, humility, failure, marriage, adversity, respect, friendship, and so many more.
What I loved about this book is how much he devotes his success to his humble beginnings in rural Indiana, and his many failures as a coach when he first came to UCLA – almost seventeen years before he won his first college basketball championship! It was the disadvantages as a teacher and coach, and his attitude towards them, that made him the ten-time-national-championship-winning man that we all respect and admire.
Any book whose message has helped a captured American soldier survive the horrors of a Vietnamese prison camp for seven-and-a-half years has a place on my shelf. James Stockdale said that it was Epictetus’s teachings that helped him maintain his mental strength and dignity during his time as a prisoner of war, and I can see why. In this compilation of practical maxims and passages, Epictetus eradicates the belief that it is other people or outside events that make us weak or unhappy.
He slaps us with a dose of reality when he says that “men are not disturbed by things, but by the view which they take of them” and that we must only focus on things which we have control over – our own actions and perceptions. His message is more important than ever in a society with too much information that focuses so much about what’s going on in other people’s lives in different parts of the world, all while neglecting what’s going on inside of our own souls.
The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
For so long I’ve known about Marcus Aurelius only from the movie Gladiator, but never his significance. At one time, he was the most powerful man in the world, but more importantly, he was the prime example of both a wise and virtuous king – a “Mufasa” in the flesh. This book, his personal journal, looks at what went on in the mind of such a figure.
Marcus never intended to publish his work, and it’s unknown how his journal was discovered and survived for so many centuries as different curators throughout history passed it along. People worked so hard to preserve this journal for over two thousand years. That’s how powerful it is.
Even more remarkable is the humility and vulnerability you see in his writing, and how applicable his wisdom is in our time. He, as an ancient Roman Emperor, dealt with the same issues of vanity, hatred, anxiety, and materialism that we experience today. Technology and science have advanced since then, but humans have not.
To get the most out of The Mediations, it’s recommended to study the basics of Stoicism (see my section on it below) as many of Marcus’ passages comprise of Stoic teachings.
Essential: Essays by The Minimalists
Reading this collection of essays from The Minimalists is like taking in a big breath of fresh mountain air. Their work has helped me realize that most of the things we set out to pursue in life can be empty and void of purpose or reason. We put ourselves in the pursuit of things we think will make us happy, at the expense of a piece of our freedom, paying no attention to a more worthy cause: being the best person we can be with less stuff.
It changed my way of thinking about life, my career in engineering, and the things I buy. For being so young, Josh Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have so much wisdom.
I read this book in about two months on my phone in the small gaps of time I had while I was in the bathroom and waiting in line at stores. I loved it so much that I went to go see them record one of their podcasts in downtown LA and got to meet them.
A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy
This daily devotional book took Tolstoy over fifteen years to complete. His goal when he wrote it: to collect “the wisdom of the centuries in one book.” Every day, he’d jot down quotes and passages that he meditated on for the day from some of history’s wisest people such as Epictetus, Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Pascal, Emerson, Kant, Socrates, and even himself.
Like Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, it too has gone through a long journey as it’s been through several revisions, translated from Russian, and even banned by the Communist Soviet Union in 1912. It was republished in 1995 when democratic reforms were made in Russia.
This is hands down the best daily devotional book. The quotes and daily themes are incredibly thought-provoking and from a large variety of thinkers across history. It’s an outstanding collection. It’s also Tolstoy’s last work, which he considered his most important contribution to humanity.
Books That Will Make You a Better Person (And Happier Because of It)
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl, an Austrian-Jewish psychiatrist, documented his observations on the psychology of prisoners during his time in four Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He lost everything in the Holocaust, including his parents, brother, and then-pregnant wife. It’s hard to imagine how this guy could do his work as a prisoner at a death camp, live to tell about it, and come out stronger with a beautiful perspective on life. All he had were scraps of paper in his pocket, which he used to write about what he saw.
For being in such a hopeless situation with limited resources, Frankl provided an in-depth analysis on what went on inside the mind of his fellow inmates and what separated those who survived from those who died. With so much suffering taking place, one experiencing it may ask: what’s the meaning of all this evil and death? And what’s the meaning of life?
We will probably never experience the horrors Frankl went through, but we can take his perspectives and apply them to our own life. I remember reading this book on a flight back from Cancun with eyes full of tears. Frankl convinced me that we have all the strength and insight necessary to live a meaningful life, despite any unfavorable situation we find ourselves in.
So what’s the meaning of life? It’s not a question for us to ask, but one that life asks us.
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
This is probably my favorite book. It’s had the most impact on my life over the last four years as it’s what got me into writing, reading more non-fiction (especially philosophy) and history, and my practice of Stoicism (even though the book is not directly about Stoicism). It’s a book whose principles I always think about when I don’t act like the man I want to be or find myself in an tough situation.
It’s a guide for turning life’s obstacles upside down, shared through the eyes of people such as John D. Rockefeller, Amelia Earhart, Tommy John, Ulysses S. Grant, Ruben “The Hurricane” Carter, Steve Jobs, and Marcus Aurelius. Many books out there talk about these same people, but not the way Ryan Holiday does. He’s got a way of putting so much depth and meaning into small but powerful sentences.
While reading this book, I did weird stuff like not getting angry easily, staying calm when things got crazy at work, watching my thoughts and perceptions, finding the good in “hopeless” situations, and being okay when things went wrong. I envy anyone who hasn’t experienced reading it yet. It’s so good.
After this, Ryan Holiday wrote Ego Is the Enemy and Stillness Is the Key. Both of which share the same themes as Obstacle and are just as good.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
In this mind-splitting book, Eckhart Tolle explores the problem that all humans experience: the negative chatter in our minds – the monkey mind. Most people are aware of it and we tell each other to just forget about it or do something else to get our minds off of it to distract us, but that’s never really worked for me. It felt like sweeping dust under the rug.
Using simple language, Tolle gives a beautiful illustration of what goes on in our minds and how most of what we think about hurts us and makes little sense. It’s packed with so much wisdom about negative mental dialogue, what the mind does to stay negative, fear, the concept of time, the ego, and relationships. I repeatedly put the book down to ponder what I’ve just read.
I also have the short version of the book, Practicing the Power of Now, which focuses strictly on the lessons and exercises from The Power of Now, and is much shorter; an excellent complement to the book.
The Way of The Superior Man by David Deida
This is a book that every man needs to read. Deida talks tackles topics that most men don’t want to talk about or admit, like how women operate and what it really means when they’re emotional, connecting with them on a spiritual and sexual level, how men find purpose, their dark sides like desiring other women, what men really want (spoiler: it’s not a woman), and never changing your mind just to please a woman.
Many of his insights blew away many of my beliefs about masculinity that I’ve held onto for most of my life, and some I questioned but confirmed with my wife. I had wonderful conversations with her about many of the things he talked about, and she ended up really liking and agreeing with much of Deida’s philosophy, which was so good to hear because it helped me validate his insights. Most importantly, it helped me understand what I could do to be a better man.
Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
In just over 20 pages, Emerson delivers one of history’s most powerful declarations on nonconformity. It’s a call to action for us to stop relying on anything but ourselves to think critically, be creative, and achieve greatness. It shook my soul. You can also find a PDF copy here.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
It’s not just this book but Manson’s entire body of work on his blog that has some of the most profound and impactful insights about life. His clever and hilariously offensive writing has shaped much of my own way of living. Not to mention the plethora of different writers and thinkers from bygone eras that he’s introduced me to.
Having this book on my list may be a cliché (because you can’t not see it everywhere on the internet) but it would be wrong if I didn’t include it. His words have made me better. Truly life changing. Read this book, his other book, and everything on his blog, which is now an app!
Some other worthy reads:
Play it Away by Charlie Hoehn – Covers the tip of the research iceberg that strongly indicates the necessity of play (yes, as in playing games, sports, having fun) for our mental and emotional health. Read this if you ever feel bad about having fun or when you think you should be working instead.
Books on Stoicism: The Philosophy for Building Mental and Emotional Fortitude
I’ve been studying and practicing the ancient philosophy of Stoicism since 2016. I always wonder how different I’d be if I had not stumbled upon it. As mentioned in my article about it, it’s an operating system for making better decisions and being less emotionally reactive.
Here’s a list of books that have helped me grasp my understanding of Stoicism. You could start with the surviving texts from Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, but I recommend that you do not.
Don’t get me wrong. They are remarkable works of writing. But if you’re a beginner, you may miss some of the most important points of Stoic dogma and the author’s genuine message. At the surface, Stoicism may come off cruel or emotionless but there’s so much more depth.
If you’ve read nothing about Stoicism, I recommend that you start with one of the beginner and introductory books listed below to understand the fundamentals. But there’s no right way. That’s just how I learned it.
The Original Ancient Texts:
The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Personal diary of the Roman emperor)
Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus (Teachings of Epictetus from his lectures, as recorded by his student Arrian)
Moral Essays and Letters By Seneca (Essays and letters to his friend Lucilius)
Lectures and Sayings by Musonius Rufus (Epictetus’s teacher)
Beginner and Introductory Books:
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald Robertson
Cognitive psychotherapist, Dr. Donald Robertson, presents Stoicism through the eyes of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. This book tells the story of his life from his adoption into the royal family to his last days leading Rome to war against Germanic tribes in the north.
As we take a tour of Marcus’s life, Robertson presents coping techniques from Stoicism that the emperor used to overcome feelings of grief, betrayal, and depression, and how they are still applicable today in modern cognitive therapy.
This is an excellent companion to The Meditations. It expands the horizons of what Marcus was thinking when he was writing in his journal. I got so much background about the people and places he mentions in his journal, the passages that were initially confusing for me, and what he was going through physically and mentally.
Another fantastic work of Dr. Robertson is Stoicism and the Art of Happiness. It’s an excellent resource and introduction to Stoicism that focuses on the cognitive behavioral therapy aspect of the philosophy and its texts in a general sense instead of solely on Marcus’s Meditations. I refer to that one often to brush up on Stoic practices and ideas.
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by Dr. William B. Irvine
For anyone starting their journey on Stoicism, there aren’t many better places to look than Dr. Irvine’s book. He breaks down its fundamental concepts in a warm and friendly tone with practical exercises in each chapter. I also love how he adds his own twist to Stoic ideas: dealing with insults, the “trichotomy” of control, being a stealth Stoic, and seeing tranquility as the end goal of Stoicism.
Some modern Stoic thinkers have criticized Dr. Irvine for deviating from the true intent of the philosophy, and for being “painfully simple”. I disagree with this. Much of my fundamental understanding of Stoicism came from this book. If there’s a way to make something better or help someone better understand something, then that’s value worth putting out into the world.
Stoicism has evolved much from the time it started in ancient Greece, to its later adoption into the Roman Empire, and now in its present-day resurgence. There is change in all things.
How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci
This is another great introduction to Stoicism, but it probes issues with deeper questions, analyses, and paradoxes. Despite the complexity of tackling difficult life issues, Dr. Pigliucci makes it easy to how Stoicism can be applied to anything and backs many of his observations with science, given his background in genetics.
I’ve heard a lot about Massimo during my study of Stoicism (and even met him in Stoicon 2016) but this is his first work I’ve read. Given that the main philosophy he follows is skepticism, I thought he would be much more cynical on the spiritual notions of Stoicism such as belief in God and religious practices. But he doesn’t do that. He is objective in his observations and more focused on what good can come from any situation instead of pointing out all that’s wrong in this world.
He covers lots of interesting topics like divorce, death, suicide, handling money, having excellent role models, disability, and mental illness all from a Stoic’s viewpoint. I also love his “conversations with Epictetus”, which add a personal touch to the philosophy that’s been labeled throughout history as emotionless.
You can find more from Massimo on his website and his interesting TED talk on Stoicism.
Practical Stoicism: Exercises for Doing the Right Thing Right Now by Grey Freeman
If you want a book that only contains practical Stoic exercises and thought experiments, then look no further than this little gem. In just over 100 pages, backed with passages from the original texts, Freeman succinctly captures the how of Stoicism. It’s great for anyone who’s on board with Stoicism but still struggles to integrate the ancient lessons into their daily life.
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
A central practice of Stoicism is to meditate on wisdom every day, and that’s the goal of this book. With 366 short meditations on the art of living, it’s a nice collection of quotes and passages from Marcus, Seneca, and Epictetus. However, it doesn’t go too deep into the philosophy and provides only a surface-level overview. But I still read it almost every day because it’s a good supplement to the basics of Stoicism.
What I like best about this book is the section at the end that has a master collection of Greek philosophical terms with an extensive breakdown of each one. I’m always referring to this section when I’m reading more advanced texts.
If you want journal prompts that are in line with the daily lessons, then check out The Daily Stoic Journal.
The Art of Living by Sharon Lebell
This short book is one of the first simplified renderings of Stoicism that came out before its recent surge in popularity, with brief passages from Epictetus’s Enchiridion as interpreted by Sharon Lebell.
I love the way she writes. She captures the underlying Stoic principle in each of her passages with her own touches of elegant and beautiful depictions. I keep of copy of this book at my work office.
She also has another book, The Manual For Living, that’s sort of a summary of this one and can fit in the palm of your hand.
Advanced Books:
The Inner Citadel by Pierre Hadot
Much of our current understanding of Stoicism came from this book. Pierre Hadot wrote this master analysis of not only Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations but the philosophy of Stoicism as a whole. He was also one of the first pioneers to break it down into its trinity of disciplines: Assent, Desire, and Action.
There are few introductory books on the philosophy that do not refer to Hadot’s work. You can see how many of today’s top Stoicism influencers have used his ideas as a launching platform for their own brands on this philosophy.
But this book is not for the faint of heart. Not because it isn’t easy to understand but because of how multifaceted the ideas are, and the connections Hadot makes between what Marcus (or Epictetus) was saying and the Stoic way of life. You’ll need to step away and let things sink in. It’s a slow burn but nourishing to the mind and soul. It’s a beautiful piece of work and well worth the read if you want to expand your comprehension of Stoicism.
Hadot also wrote Philosophy as a Way of Life, which is exceptional and just as comprehensive.
Dialogues and Other Works on Practical Philosophy
The trial of Socrates, as recorded by his student Plato in this work, reminds me of Kris Kringle defending himself in the movie Miracle on 34th Street. He was loved by so many, but despised by those in power because they saw him as a threat.
He was a fervid activist as he questioned everyone’s life regardless of their Athenian class (of course with the utmost respect and not to belittle) via his infamous Socratic dialogue, and even criticized democracy (in which he had some good points considering how it’s playing out in the world today).
People knew Socrates as the gadfly of Athens because he probed people’s beliefs and exposed their inconsistencies in life. Of course, he did this so people can examine their own lives and improve their character. Like a gadfly, this bugged people because it made them face the realities of their own existence.
However, like with all people who try to spread love and peace, he pissed off enough citizens to sentence him to execution for disrespecting the gods of Athens and for corrupting the youth.
As unfair as the trial was, it revealed the man he was – a lover of people and of life, a true philosopher and what Plato called the “wisest and most just of all men”. A classic read for anyone studying philosophy.
After reading this, check out Crito and Phaedo – conversations Socrates had in prison with his friends about life and justice as he for his execution. Also check out Socrates: A Man for Our Times – an excellent introductory biography.
Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations by Jules Evans
Think of this as a philosophy buffet – an overview of some of the world’s different philosophies and schools of thought, minus the esoteric stigma they carry. Jules Evans shows us that philosophy isn’t just for academic professors and condescending turtleneck-wearing snobs, but for everyone.
With stories about people and organizations that have adopted these philosophies as a way of life, it’s an engaging read that helped me understand what they (and all of us) seek – how to live a good life.
Evans’ story about his own struggles also provides a great introduction to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – today’s latest psychological treatment program that’s built on ideas from ancient thinkers, especially the Stoics.
Courage Under Fire by Admiral James Bond Stockdale
In 1965, Vietcong guerillas shot down the American fighter pilot James Stockdale over enemy territory where he served seven and a half years as a prisoner of war. This is his speech that recounted his experience. Having been beaten, tortured, and permanently crippled, he owed his survival to one thing: the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus.
What’s crazy is that it wasn’t so much his body that Stockdale’s captors tried to break but his self-respect. They wanted to strip him of his values and what he stood for, and he knew that giving that up would be to give up everything. It’s a harrowing reflection and testament not just of Stoicism but of the desperate need to fight for the integrity of the mind to stay alive. You can find a PDF of the speech here.
Stockdale also wrote Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot – a collection of speeches and essays from the 1980s and 1990s that reflect a central theme: how man can rise with dignity to prevail in the face of adversity.
Some other works on practical philosophy that I loved:
Fragments by Heraclitus – Wisdom in the form of poetry. Concise and powerful. I have this one under my nightstand.
The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus – Short maxims and pithy sayings in single sentences (i.e. “Man’s most prudent counselor is time”, “To receive a favor is to pawn your freedom”) Similar to Heraclitus’s Fragments and perfect for journal prompts. I keep this one at my bedside, too.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen – Recommended by Tony Robbins. One of the early and urgent calls to change your life by changing your thoughts.
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca – Not directly about Stoicism but being human. A masterpiece. It made me teary-eyed.
Books That Will Make You Work and Think Better
There’s no right way to be productive, nor is it necessary to read a book about it. At the fundamental level, all you need is a system in which a large goal is divided into small tasks, a schedule for completing each one, and the elimination of distractions. In a nutshell, this is how I got through mechanical engineering school without pulling a single all-nighter or reading about getting things done. But there are always ways to improve our strategies and our understanding about what it means to be focused and productive.
Things can get in our way like lack of motivation, distractions, inefficient work methods, failure to reflect on progress, bad habits, and (one of the biggest culprits) convincing ourselves that something is important when it’s really not. The way I fight each of these obstacles and get things done mimics many of the ideas I took from these phenomenal books.
Gary Keller illuminates a simple method for delivering extraordinary results in every area of your life – work, personal, family, and spiritual. Backed by research, he dispels the lies and misconceptions about success and productivity, and provides a simple framework for getting things done by focusing on the ONE Thing. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t reflect on his principles.
But this isn’t just another business book that revolves around this one idea for productivity. Keller dives deep into the anatomy of how and why we look at work and life the way we do. He talks about work-life balance, willpower, the concept of time, purpose, and accountability. It’s an easy book to read and the ideas in it will shake you to your core.
With the unlimited connection and access to information that technology provides, it has become increasingly rare and difficult to have sustained focus – a necessary skill to create high-value work. Mixed with cultural criticism, stories about notable people in history, and practical advice, Cal Newport’s Deep Work is the landmark manual for anyone seeking focus in a distracted world.
This book provides a proven framework for developing good habits that will last a lifetime and eliminating bad ones that have lingered for years. Using ideas from psychology, biology, neuroscience and examples of people from history, James Clear makes it easy and practical to master habits, overcome lack of motivation, design your environment for success, and get back on track when you fall off course – one small change at a time. It’s like no other book on habits I’ve ever read, and it’s much better than the original leading book on habits, The Power of Habit.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a book that you just read from cover to cover and put away forever. It requires rigorous application and reference. You won’t see any changes in your habits if you don’t apply what you read! If there’s one resource to learn all about habits and how to master them, it’s this one.
Your Brain At Work by David Rock
Consider this as the manual for your brain. It talks about everything from focus, emotions, connecting with others, our cognitive limits, and working without overwhelming your brain. If you have an itch to know how the brain works and how to use it to its full potential, then this will satisfy you.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
In daily life, we’re all going to war against something. It may be our career, other people, creative pursuits, or projects. Despite our individual and diverse challenges, there’s a common denominator that’s holding us all back. Pressfield calls this mysterious and hindering force The Resistance.
The Resistance tells you to stop, take it easy, put it off another day, and that you’re not good enough. It’s a never-ending battle, but you will always have the upper hand if you’re aware of it. Read this book if you feel stuck. I re-listened to the audiobook immediately after I finished it.
Also check out his epic historical fiction novel Gates of Fire. It’s about the three hundred Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae. The level of detail and background he gives on this ancient society is astonishing.
Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going by Austin Kleon
Austin Kleon’s books are like children’s books, but for adults. I love how he writes and draws – simple, deep, and provocative messages for any creative person. He talks about navigating the ambiguous, discouraging, and hard work of creating something. Like a close friend giving advice, his books have consoled me whenever I felt like I suck at writing. I’m always referring to them.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss is a weird, neurotic, and awesome guy. This book embodies his persona. One chapter you’re reading about business, the next chapter takes a sharp turn to learning speed-reading or facing fears, then back to business, then onto the meaning of life. The structure and methods are unconventional, but that’s what makes this book so unique.
Yes, it’s a little outdated, and Tim has acknowledged that, but the philosophy and strategies presented will work in almost any environment. It’s also hilarious and kept me engaged the entire time.
I’m nowhere near working only four hours a week, but so many of my productivity strategies, exercises, and even views on life have all stemmed from this book. Don’t let the infomercial title fool you. It’s touted as one of the best business books of all time, and I agree.
Tim’s also got an excellent podcast and some other great books like Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors.
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
I feel that I’ve read enough writing books to get a gist of how it works, but I was pleasantly surprised and humbled at how Ray Bradbury was able to add something fresh. These series of essays throughout his career show us how this legend of science fiction was made. To him, writing was a philosophical act, a way of life.
Since childhood, imagination and creativity were the most important thing to Bradbury. And if anyone laughed at his ideas, he said, “I’d pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.” That’s what made him so remarkable: he didn’t give a shit about what others thought and he found beauty where others found ugliness.
Self-consciousness is the Achilles’ heel of almost all writers, especially me. But Bradbury’s words have given me consolation to let go and write about the things I love and hate. His message is critical for anyone creating anything – not just writing.
Books on Leading and Working with People
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Aside from being one of the scariest-looking Navy Seals I’ve ever seen, Jocko Willink is a master leader. There aren’t many places better than the military where one can learn how to lead a group of people to meet an objective. Backed with stories from both Jocko and Leif’s combat days in the Middle East and their experience in running their leadership consulting business, Extreme Ownership gets into the nitty gritty of leading people.
I read this when I first started managing a small group of engineers to meet a deadline for a project, and it was cool seeing so many similarities between my experience and that of Jocko and Leif. But this book isn’t just for supervisors or managers. It’s good for anyone who works with anyone.
The Art of Leadership by J. Donald Walters
I think fate dropped this book on my lap at the right time. In the summer of 2019, I was leading a gigantic project and overseeing six engineers. I was questioning myself a lot about the decisions I made and if it they were best for the team. Dropping into a Barnes and Noble one day after work, I saw this little gem in the bargain section for five dollars. I bought it and it completely changed my morale, approach, and mindset about the project.
At just over one hundred pages, there’s nothing earth-shattering about the content, but it builds a solid case for the pillars of leadership such as controlling one’s ego, serving your team, and being flexible. I had it with me every single day until the end of the project. I believe its successful outcome would have been so different if I didn’t have Mr. Walters’s words with me.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
If you’ve been on the internet at all, especially social media, then you’re probably tired of seeing this book everywhere. This is the very reason I put off reading it for so long – hype pushes me away. But it’s actually great. It’s got tons of practical exercises to connect with people on a genuine level.
In a nutshell, Carnegie says that people are only interested in themselves, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. That’s just how we are. The key is to be aware of that within ourselves and focus on the people we are interacting with, not trying to shove ourselves into the conversation. That’s the base of almost every lesson in this book, and well worth taking the time to master if you want to get ahead in life.
Carnegie’s other book, How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking, is superb. I read it before I made at an election speech in which I was running for Vice President for an employee network at my work.
I won.
Biographies
There is no other person in history with more recorded data about their life than Winston Churchill. Many authors have written 700+ page books about this man’s incredible life, including Churchill himself. This is why I loved Johnson’s book. He succinctly captures the essence of Churchill’s persona, the many hats he wore in British government, and his leadership during World War II, in just 168 pages. It’s a perfect book to get the gist of what all the fuss was about with this history-altering man.
Johnson’s other book, Socrates: A Man for Our Times, is also brilliant. I actually like that one more than Churchill just because the stories of Socrates passed on from other people of antiquity are both charming and funny.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass
Written when he was 28 years old, this short memoir recounts Douglass’s experiences as a slave leading up to his escape from the South. It was brutal. What Douglass went through was horrible and heart-breaking, but it’s what made him one of the most enduring and inspiring people from the last two centuries.
Douglass had remarkable tenacity, wisdom, and intellect. The way he made use of everything he could to not only leave the South but to get educated is unheard of. He literally taught himself to read and write with whatever scraps of information he could find and people he talked to. Imagine doing that today? This memoir is a pillar in American history that everyone needs to read. He also wrote My Bondage and My Freedom and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass which cover later periods of his life.
Escaping the Nazis in war-torn Europe, Stefan Zweig fled to Brazil where he claimed to find consolation from the words of the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne. So much so that he felt compelled to write a short and fascinating biography of his hero.
Zweig’s book tells the story of a man born into wealth but ignored every opportunity it brought him. Instead, he focused on what was most important to him: what it means to live a good life. Considered the world’s first blogger, Montaigne’s essays brought him notoriety – the very thing he loathed.
Rulers would seek his counsel and the townspeople even elected him as mayor! It’s interesting to see how his work kept pulling him into the spotlight as he struggled to push back. He understood that “fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows.” This short book is a perfect introduction to Montaigne and serves as a reminder to reflect on what we do in life and how much it overlaps with what is truly important to us.
Some other biographies I liked:
The Savior Generals by Victor Davis Hanson – How five great military commanders (Themistocles, Belisarius, William T. Sherman, Matthew Ridgway, and David Petraeus) saved wars that were lost.
Historical Narratives and Other Nonfiction Books
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Colonel Percy Fawcett was a British explorer who in 1928 disappeared with his son in the jungles of Brazil, looking for an ancient city he dubbed “Z”. He was ruthless in his pursuit. He’d leave his family in Britain for years at a time, even missing the birth of one of his sons, to search the Amazon and survey its uninhabitable terrain.
What this guy went through is something straight out of Indiana Jones – attacks from indigenous tribes, cannibalism, potential clues to an advanced and forgotten civilization, piranhas, and British slang. But Fawcett wasn’t the only one with the “Z bug”.
The hunt for this city is over 100 years old, with expeditions (and Indian attacks) occurring as recently as the early 2000s. The romanticism and glory of finding a lost ancient city intoxicated other explorers, many of whom died searching for its remnants, including the whereabouts of Fawcett and his son. Hell, even David Grann (the author of the book) went to South America to see if he could find anything.
What this true story does is one thing: it ignites obsession. And I wasn’t immune to it as I tore through this book.
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Did you know that Moby Dick was inspired by a true story? Yes, in 1820 a whale rammed and sank a ship with a full crew. After the incident, the survivors went through a journey that tested the limits of man. Starvation, dehydration, loss of hope, and cannibalism were all part of the game in their fight to stay alive and get back home (thousands of miles away) on mere life rafts.
Besides the unbelievable tragedy of the sunken whale ship Essex, Nathaniel Philbrick takes us into the cold, demanding world of whaling – an industry that was running strong on Nantucket Island, the origin of the sunken ship. This book isn’t just memorable – it’s unforgettable and has inspired me to read Moby Dick.
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
During the hardcore lockdowns early in the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to learn more about viruses. A friend, who is also a nurse, recommended this terrifying book. It’s about the history and anatomy of the Ebola virus, arguably the deadliest virus known to man. The second half covers an incident in Reston, Virginia that happened back in 1989 when Ebola was unexpectedly found living in lab monkeys.
I loved this book because it gave me a newfound respect and understanding for viruses. COVID-19 caught us all with our pants down but, despite its devastating effects across the world, it wouldn’t even compare to a contagion like Ebola. It literally “melts” your body inside and out. This book is perfect for anyone wanting an introduction to viruses, and understanding of how they can quickly decimate an entire population, and a real-life horror story.
Books That Helped Me Understand How the World Works
When we see the world’s progress, it’s usually in a negative light: the widening gap between the rich and poor, the increase in violence, the spread of war and poverty, and on and on. We accept this information as truth without considering its origin. In result, we make catch-all generalizations about other countries, including our own, and assume that their failures and successes are black and white.
Enter physician and statistician Hans Rosling. Using real data collected from sources around the world that are available to the public, he dispels many of the myths and falsities about how global progress is communicated.
It’s important to know how well civilization is actually doing not just to make ourselves feel better but to understand where help is truly needed and to mitigate the spread of ignorance and wrong information. Rosling said that “if you really want to change the world, you have to understand it.” This book will literally change how you see human progress and will help you develop a worldview that’s constructive and useful.
The Language of God by Francis Collins
Many of us, especially those with a religious and science background, have encountered conflicts in our lives about where to draw the line between faith and science. Dr. Collins, physician-geneticist and director of the Human Genome Project, dives head-on into this issue and presents a compelling case showing that the two are not mutually exclusive. This book was eye-opening as it gave me clarity on how to look at controversial topics like evolution, stem cell research, origins of life, and interpreting the bible with objectivity and without eliminating spirituality. I came away with a more grounded stance in my faith, background in engineering, and understanding that there’s so much that we don’t know about how life works from the perspective of science.
The True Believer: On the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer was a social philosopher who broke down the anatomy of “mass movements” – a general term he applied to nationalistic and religious movements, and revolutionary parties. Hailed as a classic, and his best work, his views are very controversial, especially for today’s outrage culture, but they resonate with world leaders who know the fragility of dealing with masses of people.
Dwight Eisenhower and Hillary Clinton supposedly used it as a resource during their political careers, which is a little concerning. British philosopher Bertrand Russell said the book was “as sound intellectually as it is timely politically”, and I kind of agree. I can’t help but notice the patterns and behaviors occurring today that are parallel with what Hoffer wrote about in 1951. It’s given me a whole new view on the dynamics and irrationality of mob mentality.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
The way most of us make purchasing decisions usually isn’t backed with experience or quality of the product, but by how we perceive it. And we’d benefit by dropping this habit. Even if you’re not into marketing, this book will help you identify product manipulations when you see them and bypass the hype. It’s an old book, but most companies apply these strategies today on almost every single marketing platform out there.
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
This book changed my life. Like a lot. Until I was twenty-four years old, I’ve never learned about personal finance or the way loans and credit work. I just thought that you need to save as much as possible. This is very true, but reading this book gave me power – the power to take control of my financial life with knowledge. I learned how money works, how to use it the right way, and the math that drives it.
After reading it, I went all out and paid off my $37,000 of student debt in about 9 months and then helped my wife pay off another $55,000 of her student debt in about a year. This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but hands down one of the best. Other than our home mortgage, my wife and I have zero debt. But we’ll have our place paid off over a decade before we retire without killing our bank account and dreams of traveling. That’s the type of freedom we want, gained from the lessons we learned in this book.
Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
Michio Kaku believes physics is something everyone needs to learn because it’s the way nature works, and that’s important because everything we do involves our interaction with it. Fortunately, you don’t need to learn math to get the fundamental understanding that this book provides. It’s wildly interesting and explores crazy topics like why King Kong is not biologically possible, discoveries made by some of history’s greatest scientists, black holes, string theory, time travel, death stars, and what the future of humanity looks like.
I read this book in my senior year in high school, and it has grounded much of my understanding of the physical world. It also helped me look at physics in a more practical (instead of mathematical) perspective when I went to engineering school after. I absolutely loved it. If you have ANY interest in physics (AKA the way the world works) or even just in the progress of humanity – past, present, and future – then read this book.
If you like this one, then I also highly recommend Kaku’s other book, Hyperspace.
Why is it that, regardless of whether one is an intro- or extrovert, we need people in our life? Sebastian Junger makes a compelling case that people need each other much more than they think. Not for the obvious biological driving force of procreation or for the industry of civilization, but to nourish our soul.
In an individual-oriented society like in the United States, this is more crucial than ever, with its ever-increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and suicide, despite its increase in population. Contrary to common belief, Junger shows that events like war and genocide actually bring people together and help give our lives meaning.
Some other books I liked:
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez – The psychology and anatomy of people put in situations in which they will likely die. Couldn’t put it down.
Books on Fiction
I made the mistake of judging this book by having watched its movie back in 2012 when it first came out, and I’m so glad time wiped it from my memory. I’ve never read a book like this. In six stories in six different writing styles over six different time periods, David Mitchell tells the story of some of humanity’s biggest issues like racism, colonization, the disease of ego, artificial intelligence, corporate greed, consumerism, survival and how they cycle through history in new forms. It’s a hell of a ride and worthy of taking a spot on any book lover’s bucket list.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
If there’s anyone who’s mastered the art of storytelling, it’s Neil Gaiman. I listened to this audiobook on my drives to work and enjoyed every second of it. It covers some of the most popular and relevant stories of Norse Mythology like the adventures of Thor, Odin, the cunning Loki, and origins of the world. Even if you’re not into mythology, they’re great stories. If you get the audiobook, make sure you get the one with Gaiman as the narrator. If you like this one, then you’ll like his other work, The Graveyard Book.
Do you think all is for the best? Voltaire didn’t. He wrote Candide after witnessing a devastating earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal in 1755 that killed thousands of people and the progression of the Seven Years’ War. What good can come from such calamities? Candide is a satire story on this very topic. With humor, he rips on religion, government, philosophy, and the purposelessness of life. It’s a pretty funny story and made me laugh out loud a few times – something I’d never think a book from the 18th century would do.
Gilgamesh, translated by David Ferry
Considered as the oldest story known to humanity, it tells a tale of loss, friendship, and finding one’s purpose in life. The story is incomplete because historians and archeologists have not found all of its tablets. They recently found one in Iraq. But despite its missing pieces, I felt the story was complete. I still I had a great time reading it every night before bed and I often reflect on its message about life.
Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton
I don’t think many people know that Universal’s billion-dollar dinosaur franchise started from these two books. It spawned our craze with the infamous question: what if dinosaurs existed today? This story takes that question seriously, and Crichton dives headfirst into all the actual science that would make that possible (and devastating) from completing genetic gaps with frog DNA to Chaos Theory. It’s all there.
Crichton’s novels are also gripping and graphic. You can feel the velociraptor watching you. You can smell the decay of flesh in the jaws of a T-Rex. You can hear the crunch of human bones. Moreover, this story is a cautionary tale of genetic engineering and all of its moral and ethical baggage that comes along with it like tampering with nature, greed, and man abusing it (as Dr. Ian Malcolm put it) like a kid wielding his daddy’s shotgun. It’s too bad that the movies veered way off from the original novels, which are so much better.
These also weren’t Crichton’s only books. Congo and Timeline are also really good. He’s also got some other classics – Airframe, The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, The Great Train Robbery, and Eaters of The Dead.
Crichton is one of my favorite writers and I was heart-broken when died in 2008, but he left an incredible legacy of storytelling that beautifully combined science and human psychology. He was a master of the art.
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
This is a story of what happens when all the modern innovations of technology-dependent people living in the wilderness are suddenly stripped away. Oh, and there’s a troop of Sasquatches hunting them.
Let’s not kid ourselves. We all have a fascination with creatures of urban legends, and Max Brooks satisfies that curiosity in this gripping horror story. Building on that shared skepticism we have of Bigfoot, this novel shows what it would be like if it existed.
But similar to the theme from his other book, World War Z, this is mainly a story about survival by means of our own intellect. It’s also a cautionary tale of our overdependence on technology. It’ll make you wonder what you would do if the grid goes down. The beginning is a slow burn, but over four days I wasn’t able to put this book down. I haven’t been this hooked to a story since Harry Potter or Jurassic Park.
Books on Health
Tripping Over the Truth by Travis Christofferson
Travis Christofferson uncovers the gruesome history and secret world of cancer research. The advancements made by notable cancer scientists and pioneers like Dr. Otto Warburg, Dr. Dom D’Agostino, and Dr. Young Ko are groundbreaking and give me hope that we’ll find a cure within our lifetime, but the rate of progress is frustrating. Certain entities don’t want a revolutionary cure. As usual, greed and ego are players in the game.
Besides the insane amount of money pouring into pharmaceutical companies for today’s cancer drugs, a huge impediment for a cure, it’s also hard for many scientists to admit that they’ve probably been looking at cancer wrong for the last century. But I hope the truth behind the metabolic theory of cancer, one of the most promising theories for a cure right now, will eventually emerge.
Thinking about cancer is scary, but this book provided me with a clear understanding of how it works and what I should look into if I ever got it.
The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard Bernstein
I base everything I do for my health on the principles in this book. I read it right after I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was twenty-four years old. Within about three months, I dropped my A1C number from 13.4 down to 6.0. In the diabetic world, this is a big deal.
But I’m not just saying that to toot my horn. My intention is to show you that the stuff in this book works, and it’s not just for diabetics. It’s a complete study of the human body’s central metabolic process – blood sugar control. Everything the body does to spend and store energy involves blood sugar. Anyone who understands this basic process can use it to vastly improve their health and prevent the onset of diabetes and many other debilitating diseases. I owe my good health to Dr. Bernstein’s research.
If you like this one, the also check out Phil Graham’s The Diabetic Muscle and Fitness Guide.