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Bookshelf

·11 mins

Collection of things that I have read from late 2023 onwards. Mostly logging to jog my own memory. Books that I really liked or would like to revisit get a ⭐.

Last updated: 2026-05-17

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - May 2026
    • Actually really liked this. Very much in the vein of “how to be a decent human”, rather that the slightly manipulative spin that the book seems to have gained in modern culture. The examples were over-the-top and simplified, but I really do think there is a lot to be taken from this book. Felt a lot like a book version of Speaking in Front, a speaking course I did in London early last year.
  • The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life by Morgan Housel - December 2025
    • Am a little torn by this one. In the first half I found it very repetitive and was set on putting it in the “could have be a blog post” category of books. But I do really like Housel writing, especially his blog posts, and the book brought me around. Some interesting ideas on what financial freedom actually is. As well as the choices that each of us should consciously make with our money - rather than just keeping up with the Joneses.
  • A Promised Land by Barack Obama - November 2025
    • Have been meaning to read something from Obama for a while and ended up listening to this tome. A 30 hour memoir that was a genuinely interesting insight into the man, his journey, and his time in office. Probably my biggest takeaway is just how large an impact circumstance seems to have on politics. What’s in the news cycle, who is up for re-election soon, who has a special interest head-quartered in state, and who’s side you are on all seem to matter more than the content of a policy. Not sure how that makes me feel.
  • ⭐ The Sweaty Startup: How to Get Rich Doing Simple Things by Nick Huber - August 2025
    • Snuck in a little business book. And the message, that the best way to build a startup is to copy existing simple business models, is a compelling one. I also think that Huber does well to convey that entrepreneur of the style he suggests is not a get rich quick scheme. There is hard work, there is fear, and there is failure. The second half of the book is pretty sobering. I think there is a lot to take away from this as a professional or as an aspiring entrepreneur; everything is sales, you have to find time for the important and not urgent work, people are at the center of everything. And possibly most importantly, you should remember why you’re doing it all. Not for monetary wealth, but for time. As real wealth, real freedom, is being the master of your own time.
  • The Pearl by John Steinbeck - June 2025
    • Bookclub! Nice little read. Steinbeck’s way of writing pulls you along through this story, set in this little (real?) world that he has created. Loved a lot of the imagery, and found the lack of dialogue early doors very interesting. As for the parable itself, not sure I am on board with what I understood as a pretty straightforward “God punishes those who attempt to rise above their station”.
  • Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters - April 2025
    • Back into business book land. I have a lot to say about this one. Let’s start with the negative. This book lays it on thick with the Silicon Valley self-aggrandizing views. Founders, the author included, are a special breed. They are building the future, and the only ones capable of doing so. Real nerds that are changing the world wear t-shirts not suits. Also there was what I could only describe as an AD break for Palantir about 2/3rds through, which was very strange. Lastly, the lording of Elon Musk and his companies if very interesting reading with 2025 eyes. I do wonder what the author thinks of his antics in the last couple of years. On the business side there are lots of interesting take-aways. One of the things I think will stick with me is the view that a start-up should start by targeting a niche. Attempting to take a large share of a small market. Not a new idea by any means, but the framing and example of Paypal targeting Ebay power-sellers in the early days were useful. I also enjoyed the highlighting of how important sales and distribution are to the success of a business.
  • Life for Sale by Yukio Mishima - April 2025
    • Another KD recommendation, after my trip to Japan. Don’t really know how to talk about this one. I really liked the premise, thought it was interesting and had a lot of potential. But I struggled a lot with the writing. I found it so terse and kind of soulless. Maybe because of the translation? Also the ending was just nothing.
  • The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore - March 2025
    • Bit of an odd one. The book like a magazine. I believe that mags like Wired were actually influenced by this book. Some really interesting, and eerily accurate, insights of how media will affect society in the future. But also a tonne of stuff I couldn’t really follow.
  • On Writing by Stephen King - February 2025
    • The classic book on writing and what Mr King thinks it takes to be a writer. It is a book I have been meaning to read for years (and have even gifted). It was more memoir than I imagined, and I enjoyed that section a lot. This focus on the technical part of writing was a bit of a mixed bag. Some interesting and tactical suggestions, mixed in with a good does of subjectivity/common sense.
  • The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang - January 2025
    • I really don’t know how to feel about this one. I really enjoyed the first 3/4. With a YA like school for gifted children feel, set in an interesting world. But things descended in the last quarter. The level of brutality ratchetted up to new heights. The protagonist, that I wasn’t 100% on board with, took a major left turn. And it all got a little dark to be honest. I think that, on balance, I enjoyed the book - and I am curious how the series continues. But I doubt that I’ll be picking up another tomb to read about a protagonist that I don’t really like or empathize with.
  • Written on The Body by Jeanette Winterson - November 2024
    • KD recommendation, and unlike anything I have ever read before. An exploration of love, desire, and the human body. Winterson’s writing is intense, visceral. Conveying well the narrators feelings to the reader. This paired with her “scatterbrained” style made for an interesting read. Raw emotion; lust, desire, loss. Intermingled with musings on the body, it’s senses, and a philosophical exploration of what it all means. Winterson also threw in the odd scientific or historical tangent, which often acted as a welcome respite from the intensity. The story itself was compelling for the first 9/10, but the ending was a little to open to interpretation for my liking. But perhaps that’s just a part of the magic?
  • Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense by Rory Sutherland - September 2024
    • This was something I ended up reading after listening to a couple of Rory Sutherland interviews on the Modern Wisdom Podcast. Was a super interesting read. Mostly based on Sutherland’s thesis that pure logic isn’t always the right method for addressing problems when it comes to people - and that there are novel (and sometimes better) solutions available to those that are willing to think outside the box. Pretty interesting insight particularly given my current job as a product manager.
  • Was man von hier aus sehen kann von Mariana Leky - June 2024
    • Welch interessanter Roman. Ich habe keine Ahnung, wie ich ihn beschreiben soll. Aber er hat mir gefallen. Es war eine einfache Geschichte über Liebe und Tod. Doch der einzigartige Stil von Leky macht das Buch aus. Man schwebt irgendwie hindurch, mit einem Lächeln im Gesicht. Wunderbar!
  • When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut - May 2024
    • A curious book that was recommended to me by a colleague. Comprised of a fictional narrative around some of the most significant discoveries in Maths, Chemistry, and Physics - and the people behind them. The author has a kind of meandering style of writing which takes a little getting used to, and I’m not sure how accessible this book would be to someone who hadn’t spent a decent amount of times in STEM classrooms. But I actually had a great time. It was cool to see in narrative form how science builds upon itself. I also really enjoyed trying to preempt the roles of people in the story based off of my knowledge of theories or constants that bear their names.
  • Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze - April 2024
    • A recommendation from my house mate. A first hand account of the London experience from a (former?) roadman. Pretty brutal throughout, a really eye opener. It has instilled a dose of paranoia in me when I walk around the city which I didn’t have before. Not sure if this is for the better. It’s written as Krauze speaks, filled with slag that I was not familiar with. This is paired with sprinkles of Krauze’s beautiful prose, view of the world, and us of simile. This book was the first time in a long time that I have thought, “wow, that is beautiful” after reading a passage. And it happened repeatedly.
  • ⭐ The Courage to Be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi - March 2024
    • This one was pretty dense. An investigation of Adlerian psychology in the form of a conversation between a philosopher and a young man. Where Adler was a lesser known contemporary of Sigmund Freud. A lot to learn from this, but not something that can be taken on in one read through.
  • ⭐ Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers - March 2024
    • This was a re-read of a lovely little business book from Dereck Sivers. Ideas are pretty simple and align well with my own philosophy. Or at least what I aspire to. Was interesting to read it with my PM hat on. “I was doing it for the customer”.
  • Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity, and Living a good life by Morgan Housel - March 2024
    • Back to non-fiction, and from a writer that I have a lot of experience of from their blog. Same as Ever didn’t disappoint. Housel walks through some phenomena that he has identified as being repeated throughout history, wrapped with interesting stories that reflect the learnings in life and/or investing. This is all written in a manner that is super easy to read (or listen to as I did). Some ideas that really resonated with me, and that I will be returning to; the best story wins, “risk is what is left when you think have thought of everything”, all good things come from compounding therefore a key question is “what are the returns (read, changes) that I can sustain for the longest time period”.
  • ⭐ Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang - March 2024
    • A long overdue return to reading fiction, and glorious one at that. I don’t remember the last time I got lost in a book to the point that I forwent sleep (and ruined the next workday). The book, set in a retro sci-fi 19th Oxford, is filled with culture, languages, and a interesting reimagining of the incentives driving the British empire. I was drawn in as a language nerd, and left with a thirst to learn more about the cruel history of the country I call home - and the impact it had on the country from which my parents hail.
  • No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert A. Glover - Jan 2024
    • In the vein of dating and relationships again. Little dated, but interesting. Lots of things to think on from this one.
  • How to Be Confident by James Smith - Jan 2024
    • My first ever audiobook listen. Yes, I’m pretty late to the party. The book itself was ok. Some interesting snippets in there. But the bulk was a long list of loosely related heuristics and pop-sci. Really like the guy’s channel on Youtube though.
  • Models by Mark Manson - Late 2023
    • More Manson. This is his first book (and you can tell a little). Interesting view on the world of dating. First half is pretty cool, a lot of focus on the self and getting over your own idiocracies. Second half gets a little too PUA for me.
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson - Late 2023
    • Actually quite enjoyed this. Is a really easy read, with some interesting thoughts on how you can lead your life on your own terms. Writing this a few months after reading, so a bit iffy on the details. Well worth the read though.