I read 52 books in 2023 (about the same as in 2022, 2021 and 2020.) Here’s what I read (best books first).
Fiction
- The Kingkiller Chronicle. I picked it up before a flight to London in 2014. Read it through the flight. Read it late into the night at our AirBnB. Skipped my workshop prep. Read it during the workshop breaks. Read it on the flight back. And I re-read it every year or two. The language is beautiful and the story gripping. I feel miserable this series isn’t complete.
- The Stormlight Archive. Another series I re-read regularly. Brandon Sanderson takes the scale of the story up a notch in every book.
- Andy Weir’s books. Since my daughter re-reads The Martian (laughing loudly), I picked up Project Hail Mary. It’s a brilliant depiction of alien physiology and communication, with a weird kind of humour I love.
- Red Rising Saga. A pleasant discovery of a new series. Somewhat like The Hunger Games and Divergent.
- Blake Crouch’s books. The two I read were both time-travel related and I love that genre. These do a great job of exploring some of the deeper implications of time-travel.
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ⭐⭐⭐. It’s as good as the movie with slightly different scenes.
- The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson. Another series I re-read.
- The Year of Sanderson. Brandon Sanderson’s kickstarter raised $41m for 4 books this year (mostly Cosmere). The stories themselves were OK but the hints they drop about the Cosmere are invaluable.
- Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. After Death Note, it felt like a let-down when it started. A mundane story. Then it grew funny. Showed shades of a much deeper story. I’m mid-way through the series and I’m hooked.
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 2 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 3 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 4 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 6 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 7 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 8 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 9 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 10 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 11 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐
- Mono no Aware e altre storie by Ken Liu ⭐⭐⭐. A nice short story
- Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer ⭐⭐⭐. A well-writter fast-paced average story.
- Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐. Average story but with lots of “secrets” about the Cosmere.
- Asterix and the Griffin by Jean-Yves Ferri ⭐⭐. Some good jokes but not as good as the original series.
Non-fiction
- The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I took more notes for this book than most other books combined. It’s a hard read but worth it. Each chapter can be read independently. I particularly love how he uses “As a student of human nature…” and truly becomes one.
- Learn Like a Pro by Barbara Oakley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The best book for practical tactics on how to learn better, with excellent tips such as active recall which helps you remember what you learned. I’ve been applying parts of this for a year now.
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes ⭐⭐⭐⭐. An epic story of the atom bomb. Part of the inspiration behind Oppenheimer. It covers the science in the first half and the engineering in the second half with equal depth.
- What If? 2 by Randall Munroe ⭐⭐⭐⭐. A continuation of Randall Munroe’s brilliant answers to absurd scientific questions, ranging from riding helicopter blades to lava lava-lamps.
- No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings ⭐⭐⭐⭐. A systematic approach to the principles behind the Netflix culture — and how the elements fit together.
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Very practical lessons on running a business, drawn from hard experiences.
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick ⭐⭐⭐⭐. A must-read book on how to get honest feedback from customers.
- Chip War by Chris Miller ⭐⭐⭐. An excellent overview of the semiconductor industry, right from it’s origin to the US-China trade war.
- On the Shortness of Life by Seneca ⭐⭐⭐. Ancient, timeless wisdom on how to live a good life.
- The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby ⭐⭐⭐. A good history of venture capital.
- The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger ⭐⭐⭐. An honest, down-to-earth, view of Bob Iger’s career at Disney.
- The Big Short by Michael Lewis ⭐⭐⭐. The story of the 2008 financial crisis, told through the eyes of the people who saw it coming.
- The Second Kind of Impossible by Paul J. Steinhardt ⭐⭐⭐. A story of the discovery of quasicrystals, which are crystals that break the rules of crystallography.
- The Premonition by Michael Lewis ⭐⭐⭐. A story of the people who saw the pandemic coming and tried to warn the world.
- The Lighter Side of Teaching by Aaron Bacall ⭐⭐⭐. A collection of funny stories from a teacher.
- Has Anyone Seen the President? by Michael Lewis ⭐⭐⭐. A collection of stories from the Trump presidency.
- Sridevi by Amborish Roychoudhury ⭐⭐⭐. A outsider’s biography of Sridevi (from a Bengali who hadn’t watched Tamil films).
- Spare by Prince Harry ⭐⭐⭐. A royal biography. Great content but not well written.
How I read books
- Select. I add book recommendations to my GoodReads – To-read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.
- Listen. I listen to non-fiction audiobooks during walks.
- Read: I read fiction as ePUBs on my laptop or phone.
- Stop: I stop reading books that are boring, with no guilt. I’ve better things to do.