Business
Never Split the Difference
The business book that has been most impactful to my life. I've written extensively about my love for this book. If you like it, check out my negotiation cheat sheet based on its lessons.
Business Adventures
Each chapter is a priceless business parable.
Monetizing Innovation
The bible on pricing anything from cars to SaaS software. If you get a chance, work with Simon Kucher & Partners.
The Challenger Sale
Has hugely influenced how I think about the sales process and the importance of multi-stakeholder conversations.
Hiring for Attitude
Shaped my view on recruiting and inspired our cultural constitution at my last company.
How to Read a Financial Report
Short and sweet primer on how to make sense of business numbers.
Amp It Up
If one of the best performing CEOs of all time writes an instruction manual, it's worth reading it.
Brain, Consciousness & Meditation
Seeing That Frees
One of the most clear and beautifully written books on Emptiness and Dependent Arising, including many lovely guided meditations.
Loving What Is
The foundational book describing and teaching her inquiry method (The Work). Katie reads her own audiobooks, which I highly recommend: you can hear her love for all beings in her voice.
A Mind at Home with Itself
A deeper exploration of The Work through the lens of the Diamond Sutra.
Turning Confusion into Clarity
An instruction manual to the most important & fundamental insight of meditation: that the self is an illusion.
Waking Up
The book that started my meditation journey in earnest. If you like it, check out Sam's lovely app with tons of priceless meditation content.
Being You
A lovely and detailed study on the biological basis of consciousness.
Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain
Why and how the brain actually exists and what its purpose is.
Wanting
An approachable book explaining and expounding on René Girard's mimetic theory.
Why We Sleep
We spend 1/3 of our lives doing it. Why?
The Joy of Living
An easy onramp to meditation, with actionable and immediate benefits.
Free Will
Why it doesn't exist and what it means for humans and humanity.
The Undoing Project
The tale of the delightful intellectual romance between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
Physics & The Nature of Reality
The Order of Time
Beautifully written, it will make you question everything you think you know about time.
Helgoland
Explaining one of the most perplexing subjects—quantum theory—in a tractable and poetic way.
The Case Against Reality
Our eyes did not evolve to see the truth.
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman
An old classic on the experimental mischievousness needed to explore the weirdness of physics.
History & Geopolitics
The Lessons of History
The "cliff notes" to their massive Story of Civilization. Describes in clear language the patterns of history.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
One of the most detailed biographies ever written, spanning 4 books with a 5th on the way. Start with The Path To Power. I learned more about how the US political system works from these books than any other source.
The Power Broker
A biography of Robert Moses and his incredible ability to amass and wield power.
The Ghost Map
The evolution of scientific investigation, city planning, maps, pandemics, and more.
In the Garden of Beasts
A fascinating look at the start of Nazi rule, through the eyes of the American Ambassador to Germany and his family.
The Storm before the Storm
The decay that marked the beginning of the end for the roman republic. Worth watching for dangerous parallels.
Science Fiction
The Expanse Series
9 books. Start with Leviathan Wakes. An epic space opera with political intrigue. Think Game of Thrones in space.
The Three-Body Problem Series
4 books. The Dark Forest has a compelling but scary take on the Fermi Paradox.
The Silo Saga
An originally self-published scifi masterpiece about a post-apocalyptic future where humans live underground.
His Master's Voice
A scifi classic I first read on recommendation from my dad. A gem about the perplexing nature of alien communication.
The Children of Time
Sentient spiders and octopi: need I say more?
Foundation Series
My first & favorite scifi as a kid. Goes the distance again when re-read in "early middle age."
The Singularity Series (Accelerando)
Loosely related books, so you can read them out of order.
The Lathe of Heaven
Scifi even non-scifi fans will enjoy. The power of dreams can reshape the world.
Nonfiction That Reads Like Fiction
Billion Dollar Whale
How a con man stole $5Bn from a sovereign wealth fund and is still on the lam.
Rise and Kill First
The story of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and IDF's targeted assassination programs.
Red Notice
Incredible story of trying to do business in Russia during the ascent of Putin's reign.
Shantaram
Loosely an autobiography about an escaped Australian convict who builds a new life in the slums of Bombay.
Born a Crime
Told both poignantly and hilariously, Trevor's autobiography about his youth in apartheid South Africa.