Reading
The books that have shaped how I think and live — browse the shelves, or search the full list below.
Currently reading
All-Time Favourites
Cosmos Reviewed
The Remains of the Day Reviewed
A Gentleman in Moscow Reviewed
Autobiography of a Yogi Reviewed
Unsong Reviewed
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Reviewed
The Razor’s Edge↗
The Count of Monte Cristo↗
The Silent Patient↗
The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)↗
Exhalation↗
On the Road↗
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time↗
The Course of Love↗
The Richest Man in Babylon↗
Books that Shaped How I Live
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path↗
The Richest Man in Babylon↗
Man's Search for Meaning↗
Siddartha↗
The Course of Love↗
The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life↗
LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven
LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven↗
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times↗
The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness↗
Thinking In Systems: A Primer↗
The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self↗
Books that Taught Me How the World Works
Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed Reviewed
Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel Reviewed
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder↗
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else↗
The Accidental Superpower: Ten Years On
The Accidental Superpower: Ten Years On↗
Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World
Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World↗
How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region↗
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk↗
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation↗
Favourite History & Culture
Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture Reviewed
Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm Reviewed
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Reviewed
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 Reviewed
Letters to a Young Muslim Reviewed
Between the World and Me Reviewed
Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s↗
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland↗
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind↗
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis↗
The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1-3)
The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1-3)↗
The Revolution of Everyday Life↗
Favourite Fiction
Unsong Reviewed
The Razor’s Edge↗
The Count of Monte Cristo↗
The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)↗
If Beale Street Could Talk↗
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)↗
Exhalation↗
There Is No Antimemetics Division↗
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia↗
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue↗
The Emperor of Gladness↗
Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)↗
The Silent Patient↗
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois↗
All books · 193
2026 14 books
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Reviewed
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3) ↗
- The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) ↗
- The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness ↗
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being ↗
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) Reviewed
- The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3) ↗
- The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) ↗
- The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) ↗
- Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World ↗
- Recursion ↗
- The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI ↗
- The Passion According to G.H. Reviewed
- My Friends ↗
2025 50 books
- The Accidental Superpower: Ten Years On ↗
- Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts) Reviewed
- Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion Reviewed
- The Silent Patient ↗
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This ↗
- Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2) ↗
- The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois ↗
- Letters to a Young Poet ↗
- All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) ↗
- The Razor’s Edge ↗
- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil ↗
- Parable of the Talents (Earthseed, #2) ↗
- The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics ↗
- Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) ↗
- When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times ↗
- I Who Have Never Known Men ↗
- Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir ↗
- Go Tell It on the Mountain ↗
- If Beale Street Could Talk ↗
- Notes from Underground ↗
- Atmosphere ↗
- Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (American Music Series) ↗
- James ↗
- Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed Reviewed
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Adventures of Tom and Huck, #2) ↗
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ↗
- The Revolution of Everyday Life ↗
- Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures ↗
- White Nights ↗
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous ↗
- The Emperor of Gladness ↗
- Anxious People Reviewed
- LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven ↗
- How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region ↗
- Crying in H Mart ↗
- The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1-3) ↗
- Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3) ↗
- The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands ↗
- The Wall ↗
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2) ↗
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1) ↗
- Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves ↗
- The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant ↗
- Norwegian Wood ↗
- Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture Reviewed
- South of the Border, West of the Sun Reviewed
- After Dark Reviewed
- Crime and Punishment ↗
- Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel Reviewed
- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance ↗
2023 9 books
- The Count of Monte Cristo ↗
- Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm Reviewed
- Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 Reviewed
- The Song of Achilles ↗
- The Picture of Dorian Gray ↗
- Unsong Reviewed
- Conversations on Love ↗
- The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times ↗
- There Is No Antimemetics Division ↗
2022 19 books
- The Ministry for the Future ↗
- The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect ↗
- All the Light We Cannot See ↗
- An Experiment with Time ↗
- The Word for World Is Forest ↗
- The Prophet ↗
- Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change ↗
- Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Reviewed
- The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self ↗
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ↗
- Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams ↗
- The Chakra Book: Energy and Healing Power of the Subtle Body ↗
- Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland ↗
- Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist ↗
- How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone ↗
- The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else ↗
- Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2) ↗
- Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World ↗
- Children of Time (Children of Time, #1) ↗
2021 19 books
- Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis (Information Policy) ↗
- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia ↗
- The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas ↗
- Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s ↗
- The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness ↗
- Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science ↗
- Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Reviewed
- The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters ↗
- Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation ↗
- The Course of Love ↗
- Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk ↗
- Project Hail Mary Reviewed
- Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3) ↗
- The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2) ↗
- The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1) ↗
- The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography ↗
- After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path ↗
- Panics and Persecutions: 20 Quillette Tales of Excommunication in the Digital Age ↗
- The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn ↗
2020 25 books
- The Sovereignty of Good ↗
- Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters ↗
- A Little Life ↗
- A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah (Quest Book) ↗
- On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction ↗
- Optionality: How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile World Reviewed
- Thinking In Systems: A Primer ↗
- Meditation in Action ↗
- The Bhagavad Gita ↗
- The Remains of the Day Reviewed
- Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals ↗
- Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software ↗
- The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy: Practical Tips for Staying Safe Online ↗
- How to Take Smart Notes ↗
- Inventive Minds: Marvin Minsky on Education ↗
- The War of Art ↗
- Siddartha ↗
- Stories of Your Life and Others ↗
- Exhalation ↗
- Autobiography of a Yogi Reviewed
- Essentials of Game Theory: A Concise, Multidisciplinary Introduction (Synthesis Lectures on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) Reviewed
- Hello, Startup: A Programmer's Guide to Building Products, Technologies, and Teams ↗
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Reviewed
- Animal Farm ↗
- The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory ↗
2019 3 books
2018 11 books
- A Gentleman in Moscow Reviewed
- The Art of War ↗
- Meditations ↗
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship ↗
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions ↗
- Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions ↗
- Principles: Life and Work ↗
- Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead ↗
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder ↗
- Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup (Disciplined Entrepreneurship Series) ↗
- Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future ↗
2017 8 books
- A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy ↗
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis ↗
- Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future ↗
- When Breath Becomes Air Reviewed
- Letters to a Young Muslim Reviewed
- Between the World and Me Reviewed
- Fight Club ↗
- Cosmos Reviewed
Pre-2017 read before I tracked dates 35 books
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) ↗
- Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness ↗
- The Internet of Money ↗
- The Lean Startup ↗
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind ↗
- Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed ↗
- Donuts ↗
- Knife Edge (Noughts & Crosses, #2) ↗
- Checkmate (Noughts & Crosses, #3) ↗
- The Dharma Bums ↗
- Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses, #1) ↗
- On the Road ↗
- The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life ↗
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1) ↗
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) ↗
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) ↗
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) ↗
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) ↗
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) ↗
- The Richest Man in Babylon ↗
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ↗
- The Five People You Meet in Heaven ↗
- The Illustrated Man ↗
- Stormbreaker (Alex Rider #1) ↗
- Scorpia (Alex Rider #5) ↗
- Snakehead (Alex Rider #7) ↗
- Point Blank (Alex Rider #2) ↗
- Skeleton Key (Alex Rider #3) ↗
- Eagle Strike (Alex Rider, #4) ↗
- Ark Angel (Alex Rider #6) ↗
- Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider, #8) ↗
- Outliers: The Story of Success ↗
- The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) ↗
- Of Mice and Men ↗
- The Shining (The Shining, #1) ↗