Books

This is an incomplete list of what I’ve read in reverse chronological order. In a shamless rip-off of Patrick Collison, the books that I think were great are colored blue and those that were exceptional are colored green.

More Money Than God Sebastian Mallaby
The Causal Angel Hannu Rajaniemi
Red Team Blues Cory Doctorow
The Fractal Prince Hannu Rajaniemi
The Quantum Thief Hannu Rajaniemi
Pyramids Terry Pratchett
Year of Wonder Clemency Burton-Hill
There Is No Antimemetics Division qntm
This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends Nicle Perlroth
Unsong, Scott Alexander
The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett
Project Hail Mary Andy Weir
The Phoenix Project Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford
One Billion Americans Matt Yglesias
Neuromancer William Gibson
Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card
Dune Frank Herbert
The Wires Of War Jacob Helberg
Sourcery Terry Pratchett
The Contrarian Max Chafkin
The Anthropocene Reviewed John Green
Scout Mindset Julia Galef
Eleven Rings Phil Jackson
Masters Of Doom David Kushner
Liftoff Eric Berger
Amazon Unbound Brad Stone
Jonny Magic And The Card Shark Kids David Kushner
The Stone Sky N K Jemisen
Work Rules Lazlo Bock
Super Better Jane McGonigal
Staff Engineer Will Larson
Radical Candor Kim Scott
The Infinite Machine Camila Russo
Smart & Gets Things Done Joel Spolsky
The Spider Network David Enrich
Invent And Wander Jeff Bezos
Hell Yeah Or No Derek Sivers
The Everything Store Brad Stone
The Obelisk Gate N K Jemisin
The Fifth Season N K Jemisin
Feet Of Clay Terry Pratchett
Quarantine Greg Egan
The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant Eric Jorgenson
The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson
Slate Star Codex Abridged Scott Alexander
The Deficit Myth Stephanie Kelton
Black Box Thinking Matthew Syed
How To Actually Change Your Mind Eliezer Yudkowsky
Inadequate Equilibria Eliezer Yudkowsky
Map And Territory Eliezer Yudkowsky
Reinventing Discovery Michael Nielsen
How Innovation Works Matt Ridley
Making Money Terry Pratchett
The Age Of Em Robin Hanson
Quantum Computing Since Democritus Scott Aaronson
Men At Arms Terry Pratchett
Leaders Eat Last Simon Sinek
Skunkworks Ben Rich,Leo Janos
Superforcasting Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner
The Goal Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The Precipice Toby Ord
Reasons And Person Derek Parfit
Deep Work Cal Newport
Remote Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Radical Markets Eric A. Posner, E. Glen Weyl
Leaders Eat Last Simon Sinkek
The Infinite Game Simon Sinek
Surfing Uncertainty Andy Clark
The Last Continent Terry Pratchett
Interesting Times Terry Pratchett
The AI Does Not Hate You Tom Chivers
Never Split The Difference Chris Voss, Tahl Raz
The Truth Terry Pratchett
On Intelligence Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee
The Predictive Mind Jacob Hohwy
The Case Against Reality Donald Hoffman
The Master Algorithm Pedro Domingos
Awareness Anthony De Mello
Life 3.0 Max Tegmark
The Book Of Why Judea Pearl, Dana Mackenzie
The Black Swan Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The History Of The Future Blake Harris
Going Postal Terry Pratchett
Ultralearning Scott Young
Ghost In The Wires Kevin Mitnick
The Colour Of Magic Terry Pratchett
How To Create A Mind Ray Kurzweil
Carpe Diem Regained Roman Krznaric
Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett
Hackers & Painters Paul Graham
ReWork Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson,
The Three-Body Problem Cixin Liu
Chaos Monkeys Antonio Garcia Martinez
Thief Of Time Terry Pratchett
Coders Clive Thompson
Moons Over Soho Ben Aaronovitch
The Reason For God Timothy Keller
So Good They Can’t Ignore You Cal Newport
Jingo Terry Pratchett
Small Gods Terry Pratchett
The Way of Zen Alan Watts
Snow Crash Neal Stephenson
Rivers Of London Ben Aaronovitch
Godel Escher Back Douglas Hofstadter
reamde Neal Stephenson
Man’s Search For Meaning Vikor Frankl
The Doors Of Perception Aldous Huxley
The Lean Startup Eric Ries
A Mind At Play: How Claude Shannon Invented The Information Age Jimmy Sonni, Rob Goodman
Blitzscaling Reid Hoffman, Chris Yeh
Diaspora Greg Egan
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal M. Mitchell Waldrop
Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Use Of Weapons Iain M. Banks
Permutation City Greg Egan
How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics Michael Pollan
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz Aaron Swartz
Freedom Daniel Suarez
The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu Charlie English
Daemon Daniel Suarez
Excession Iain M. Banks
Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes
The WTF?! Economy Tim O’Reilly
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference William MacAskill
The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris
Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson
Anathem Neal Stephenson
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World Timothy Ferriss
Ego Is the Enemy Ryan Holiday
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Nick Bostrom
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life Michael Puett, Christine Gross-Loh
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution Walter Isaacson
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Cal Newport
Digital Gold: The Untold Story of Bitcoin Nathaniel Popper
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life William Finnegan
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers Timothy Ferriss
The Consolations of Philosophy Alain de Botton
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia: A Novel Mohsin Hamid
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles Steven Pressfield
Evolving Ourselves Juan Enriquez, Steve Gullans
Consider Phlebas Iain M. Banks
The Player of Games Iain M. Banks
Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?: Olympic-winning strategies for everyday success Harriet Beveridge, Ben Hunt-Davis
American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis
Selected Journalism Ben Goldacre
Creative Schools: Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica
How to Develop Emotional Health Oliver James, The School of Life
The Case for Working with Your Hands: Or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good Matthew Crawford
Cat’s Cradle: A Novel Kurt Vonnegut
The World Beyond Your Head: How to Flourish in an Age of Distraction Matthew Crawford
We Learn Nothing: Essays and Cartoons Tim Kreider
The Slow Regard of Silent Things: A Kingkiller Chronicle Novella Patrick Rothfuss
The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes It Hard to be Happy Michael Foley
The Shock of the Fall Nathan Filer
How I Escaped My Certain Fate Stewart Lee
Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand
Cracked: Why Psychiatry Is Doing More Harm Than Good James Peter Davies
Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals Robert M. Pirsig
Tao: The Watercourse Way Alan Watts
Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation Alan Watts, Mark Watts
The Dharma Bums Jack Kerouac
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: Picador Classic Oliver Sacks
Phra Farang: An English Monk in Thailand Phra Peter Pannapadipo
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Robert M. Pirsig
The Royal Game Stefan Zweig
Syrup: A Novel Max Barry
The Longer Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand Chris Anderson
Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life Adam Phillips
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Patrick Susskind
Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction Damien Keown
The Wise Man’s Fear Patrick Rothfuss
Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization K. Eric Drexler
The Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance Josh Waitzkin
The Enchiridion of Epictetus Epictetus Epictetus
What are You Looking At? 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye Will Gompertz
The Year Of The Flood Margaret Atwood
The Future of the Internet–And How to Stop It Jonathan Zittrain
Thus Spoke Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel Rolf Potts
Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk
Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction in Life and Markets John Brockman
Thinking Physics Lewis C. Epstein
Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium Seneca
The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett
Sustainable Energy–without the Hot Air David J. C. MacKay
Status Anxiety Alain de Botton
Mostly Harmless Douglas Adams
Farewell to Reality Jim Baggott
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda Noam Chomsky
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes Maria Konnikova
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics Leonard Susskind, George Hrabovsky
Introducing Quantum Theory Joseph P. McEvoy, Oscar Zarate, Richard Appignanesi
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Ludwig Wittgenstein
Reactions: The Private Life of Atoms Peter Atkins
This Explains Everything: 150 Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works John Brockman
The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable James Owen Weatherall
Isaac Newton James Gleick
“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton
Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down J. E. Gordon
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Joshua Foer
How the World Works Noam Chomsky
The Quantum Universe: Everything that Can Happen Does Happens Brian Cox, Jeffrey Robert Forshaw
The Two Cultures C. P. Snow
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Jared M. Diamond
Introduction to Chemical Engineering: Tools for Today and Tomorrow Kenneth A. Solen, John Harb
Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe George Dyson
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen W. Hawking Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. Levitt
Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime Aubrey de Grey, Michael Rae
The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Douglas Adams
Cancer: A Very Short Introduction Nick James, Nicholas James
The Book of General Ignorance John Lloyd, John Mitchinson
The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance Nessa Carey
Life, the Universe and Everything Douglas Adams
Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction Michael Tanner
Hitch-22: A Memoir Christopher Hitchens
Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Matt Ridley
This Will Make You Smarter: 150 New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking John Brockman
Seventeen Equations that Changed the World Ian Stewart
Shakespeare Bill Bryson
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work Shawn Achor
No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy
Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut
A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life J. Craig Venter
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves Matt Ridley
Brave New World Revisited Aldous Huxley
The Go-Between L. P. Hartley
The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success Matthew Syed
The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes
The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Ray Kurzweil
Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood
Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge Cass R. Sunstein
Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert
Why Does e=mc² (And Why Should We Care?) Brian Cox, Jeffrey Robert Forshaw
The God Delusion Richard Dawkins
Irrationality Stuart Sutherland
The Philosophy Gym: 25 Short Adventures in Thinking Stephen Law