I try to spend a minimum of 6 hours a week reading. Books, essays and the occasional article are my primary learning media. This list is inspired by Ryan Holiday's and Derek Sivers' Books page.
The collection is ordered by how much I recommend the book.
Humans are endurance running machines. McDougall takes us on a trip to the Sierra Madre of the Tarahumara to uncover the secrets and science of running.
This is a book about tools and mental models for better thinking. Inspired by the wisdom of Charles Munger and Warren Buffett, the books is a very good attempt at condensing timeless wisdom in a readable, and actionable manner. It changed my life.
This book condenses the philosophy of leadership that Bill Walsh—one of the most successful head coaches in NFLs history—developed and applied throughout his career. It is a philosophy rooted in excellence and sacrifice. It shows that there are really no short-cuts to being and doing great. Put in the work and "the score will take care of itself"
Idea Makers is a wonderful collection of essays in which Wolfram explores the lives of people that have influenced his life and work. It contains stories of historical figures like Ada Lovelace and Liebniz and also stories about modern figures with whom he interacted (Richard Feynman, Steve Jobs). I enjoyed this book very much. The personal and curious style really captivated me
Jack of all trades, master of none seems to be a great skill after all. Experts tend to be limited by their knowledge. Explore like Roger and don't burn out like Tiger.
This book is one of the best books I've read this year. The book is a lesson on political organization but can be seen as a lesson for life. Power, for example is not about what you have but about what your opponent thinks you have
Insightful ideas about why great companies become great. It is more about the team than the individual. Less ego, more curiosity and open communications. Many of the ideas exposed here can be used in your own life as well.
I read it while struggling with a lot of projects and ideas. The solution: say no more often than you say yes. Think deeply about what you want to achieve. First remove the unnecessary things. Then execute
This is the best introduction to Stoicism. Holiday makes a fantastic job in distilling timless stoic ideas from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and other ancient stoic philosophers.
This little book is a transcription of a series of lectures Feynman gave at the University of Washington in Seattle. It is a nice and quick read in it's entirety.
When we invest money we try to be rational and think in terms of yield and ROIs. But when it comes to donating money we are mostly driven by emotion. This book tries to change that. The more rational and thoughtful we are about how and where we can make and impact, the more effective it can be
Everything about this book, from the pages, to the smell, to the content gave me a big sense of peace and detachement. It makes for a very nice and meditative read.
Newport introduces the idea of "deep work", long uninterrupted chunks of time in which we can work and develop our ideas. This is bold idea in an age were online communication and busyness are the norm
All philosophies have a word and a practice for stillness, to some degree. Holiday shows why and how stillness is important. The teachings and wisdom he shares are relevant to us and important if we wish to be a good and fulfilling life
Learning and remembering things is always hard. In school we are taught a very rigid way of taking and organizing notes, mainly by topic and date. This book describes Niklas Luhman's Zettelkasten, a relational approach based on links between concepts and ideas. This is related to the notecard system used by Ryan Holiday and other authors
Rockerfeller lead an impressive life. I had this idea of him being a despicable man that would do anything for money. The book paints a more complete and compelling picture. He did indeed amass the biggest fortune of his time but was also a very big philanthropist
Kasparov is perhaps the greatest chess grandmaster of our time. In this book he recounts his life as a grandmaster and tries to describe what he thinks the machine-driven future holds for us.
Austin Kleon is bestselling author who's built a career talking about creativity. Show Your Work is a short book in which he shares 10 ideas that helped him build his portfolio and online presence. A must-read for all who are starting out on the Internet.
A descriptive and entertaining collection of essays about humanity's constant battle against Nature. McPhee tells us about the Americans' efforts to control the flow of the Mississipi and the debris flow of the Los Angeles Mountains and the battle between the Icelanders and volcanoes
Leadership principles from the battlefield. Willink and Babin fought in Iraq. They share their hard-tested lessons from the war and how they can be applied to business
A timeless book on the art and science of making software in big teams. This book destroys the myth of the "man-hour", the idea that adding more human power to a project will make it better and quicker
Giovanni Drogo is sent on assignment to the border of the Kingdom. There, life is monotonous, time passes unnoticed and the soldiers get used to it. Drogo dies waiting for an enemy that will never arrive. I found this book melancholic and a sort of wake-up call. Time advances relentlessly. If we don't act now, if we don't get busy living there won't anything left for us but the past
Tips and tricks to do learn more in an effective way. A lot of learning techniques are compressed in this book. Highly reccommended if you are learning new things.
A holistic biography of Seneca. Wilson doesn't does an excellent job in describing the controversies in Seneca's life. On one hand we see him writing letters to his friends arguing in favor of the Stoic ideals. On the other he advises Nero, the Roman emperor and tyrant of his time
This book follows the same trend of Newport's two previous books (So Good They Can't Ignore you and Deep Work). Newport tries to argue for a more focused and intentional life and to do this, he argues, one needs to use tools (digital tools in this case) mindfully.
Goodman and Soni are some of my favorite biographers. Here they recount the life of Cato. It does a good job in depicting the man and the morals and also Rome at that time
Engaging inside view of Uribe's time as president of Colombia. Regardless of what you think of him, he was a key figure in setting Colombia on a path to success.
This is an informal introduction to core Economics principles. It took me a while to read it. I didn't enjoy the style. There are some useful ideas though
The authors propose a framework of five elements for better thinking and decision-making process: understand deeply, make mistakes, raise questions, follow ideas, change
This book makes us ask questions that, although simple and obvious in appearance, open avenues of self-exploration and criticism that we would not have found in any other way.
Subscribe to Alberto's Nerd Corner
A weekly email where we go full on nerd about tech, productivity tools, books and other topics to live a better digital life. Subscribe below or click here to know more.