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Book Notes

Last updated: 26. Jan 2025

Inspired by Stephen Weiss, Derek Sivers

How I read:

  • I buy any book I want and give myself a basically unlimited budget for books. I realized that 'financial freedom' to me means being able to buy and read any book I want. This comes out to buying 1-2 every week. Also see: Ramit's Book-Buying Rule.
  • I open a lot of books and finish probably 1-2 out of every 10, especially for business and self-help types. Why? I smash through books, allow myself to quit bad ones, and align with most of Naval Ravikant's 16 reading tips.
  • Despite loving the touch and smell of paper books, I read almost exclusively on Kindle for the benefit of being able to automatically capture and review my highlights.

Actively Reading

  • The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway
  • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
  • The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway

2025

  • A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson – After walking ("tramping" as the Kiwis say) the Routeburn Track, I wanted to feel inspired to hike. Surprisingly funny and informative. I want to read more Bill Byrson. 4/5
  • On the Road by Jack Kerouac – Read this on our first road trip via camper van in New Zealand. First of all, he's hitchhiking and not driving. I suppose it was on me to know that. Second, there was no story, no philosophy, nor any point to it all. Gave up 1/4 into the book. 2/5

2024

TBD: I still need to add books from July to December 2024.

Non-Fiction: Business and Self-Help:

  • Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal/ 4/5
  • Entrepreneur Revolution by Daniel Priestley. 4/5
  • Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg. 5/5
  • Work from the Inside Out: Seven Steps to Loving What You do by Nancy O'Hara. 1/5
  • Happen to Your Career by Scott Anthony Barlow. 5/5
  • Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. 5/5
  • Pencil Me In by Christina Wodtke. 4/5
  • Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Timothy A. Pychyl. 5/5
  • A Technique for Producing Ideas. 4/5
  • All It Takes Is a Goal by Jon Acuff. 5/5
  • $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi. 5/5

Non-Fiction: Others

  • Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Bird of the FBI. 4/5
  • Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 4/5
  • Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. 5/5

Fiction

  • Babel by R.F. Kuang. 5/5
  • Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko. 3/5
  • Septimus Heap book series by Angie Sage. 5/5
    • Book 1: Magyk. 5/5
    • Book 2: Flyte. 5/5
    • Book 3: Physik. 5/5
    • Book 4: Queste. 5/5
    • Book 5: Syren. 4/5
    • Book 6: Darke. 4/5
    • Book 7: Fyre. 5/5
  • Misery by Stephen King. 3/5
  • The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. 5/5

2023

  • Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel. 5/5
  • Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink. 5/5
  • Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick. 5/5
  • Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. 4/5
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. 5/5
  • The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd. 4/5
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. 5/5
  • The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan. 5/5
  • The Good Enough Job by Simone Stolzoff. 5/5
  • Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier. 4/5
  • The Product Ops Pillars: Connect and organise your team to deliver customer value by Simon Hilton – This is so far the best resource on Product Ops out there. I curated the parts that most resonate with me into an internal Confluence page. It should help align with my manager, the PMs, and our business stakeholders. 5/5
  • Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall by Helema Merriman – Recommended by Ryan Holiday in his January 2023 Reading List. The best book I've read in a long time. So readable and I feel like I finally have a good grasp of the Berlin Wall and what it meant for the people who had to live with it, the Stasi, and so on. Berliners will find it so relatable, reading about places that are still here such as Bernauer Straße, Greifswalder Straße, etc. 6/5
  • The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen – I miss feeling engrossed with a book. Found this in a 'best thrillers' list. Took 25% of the book to get going, but ultimately satisfying. 5/5

December 2022

  • It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover - A page-turner. More than a love story. 5/5.
  • Bibi: My Story by Benjamin Netanyahu - Engaging and personal overview of what’s going on in Israel and the Middle East. Now I need to check what propaganda has filled my head 😅. 5/5

July 2022

Watching 'The Lincoln Lawyer' on Netflix got me on a Michael Connelly kick. It was entertaining while it lasted.

  • The Reversal by Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer #3. The Netflix show is based on book #2, so I started with #3. Engrossing! 4/5
  • The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer #4. 4/5
  • The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer #5. 4/5
  • The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer #6. 5/5
  • The Black Echo by Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch #1. A book about Mickey Haller's (the "Lincoln Lawyer") paternal half-brother. It's good, but he's less interesting for me. 4/5

September 2021

  • Iacocca by Lee Iacocca - Love it. 5/5.
  • The Sweet Life in Paris - To mentally prepare for Paris trip. Funny!