1. Breath by James Nestor (reread)
Rating: 10/10
I reread this book looking to understand the techniques that were mentioned and the sources a bit better. I don’t know if what’s in the book is true, but if it is I would give this a 10/10.
2. Russian Shores of the Black Sea by Laurence Oliphant (continued from last year)
Rating: Not yet completed
3. Through The Eye Of A Needle by Peter Brown (continued from last year)
Rating: Not yet completed
4. Deep by James Nestor
Rating: 10/10
This book was cool because
- It dovetails really well with my interest on breathing lately
- because (diving) apnea is just the intentional version of sleep apnea. It’s scary and fun to read about seeing what happens to the conscious body when it tries to do what I do every night, unintentionally
- It’s a good survey. I enjoyed reading about personalities and interesting tidbits. It’s more a book of interesting vignettes and factoids
Freediving is still relatively unknown — I didn’t know much about it before reading this book. The way that Nestor describes freediving is actually quite appealing. I know I was never interested prior to reading this book. He describes the sense of calm, the connection you have to the ocean.
What I appreciate is that he actually did a lot of fieldwork. It’s not just primary sources rehashed, he actually went, did the leg work, and tried freediving himself.
The book combines freediving, the ocean, and the human body. I appreciated that this didn’t try to disentangle the various elements of diving on a wall, instead viewing it holistically as man in connection to the ocean through the water.
Enjoyable book
5. Principles by Ray Dalio
Rating: Not yet completed
6. The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Rating: 9/10
This backfired on me. I borrowed the comic book from my local library in order to avoid reading the full book. But, for better or worse, the comic book was so engaging that now I feel compelled to read the whole thing. I think I had absorbed a little bit of the Goal from Twitter, but it was enlightening to actually read about it in detail.
One thing that struck me was that you could apply this to your personal work. Specifically, having enough slack, addressing bottlenecks, and ensuring that you’re actually working on your goal.
Some of the comic books were less than fully detailed. I had to ask Claude for clarification a couple of times. I presume this isn’t an issue with the actual full book, but as an intro in comic book form, I don’t think you could do better than this. Any sort of additional detail would bog down the reader.
I recommend it.
7. Conscious Breathing by Anders Olsson
Rating: 8/10
This is the good practice book to James Nestor’s Breath survey book. In general, it takes the form of an oddly structured extremely long blog post about the practical matters of breathing and improving breath health.
I found it to be mostly review, but I think for an introductory text it’s good and it tends towards practically focused. If you’re looking to just get right into breathing correctly, you can’t do better than this book. I did find the formatting a little weird and it was clearly self-published, but overall worth the read.
8. Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka
Rating: 10/10
Provides a convincing argument that we’re entirely misdiagnosing government dysfunction. I recommend everyone read this book, it’s rather short and easy to read. Will return to review more in depth
9. Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rating: 7/10
I’m a sucker for anything related to Arnold Schwarzenegger, so I enjoyed this book. However, it felt weaker than his previous autobiography, Total Recall.
It’s essentially a blend of autobiography and self-help. Arnold provides some added perspective on his life, what worked for him and what didn’t — and it serves as decent inspiration. It’s a good, quick read, perfect for an airplane.
10. Mask by Chris Rainier
Rating: 9/10
I’m a sucker for masks. I wish the book had a more documentary style, but I have to admit that the images are quite striking and well-edited. As a coffee table book, it’s meant to be visually appealing rather than strictly documentary, though I do feel there’s room for more content.
The images capture the experience of encountering masks in person, which is really appealing. Plus, the book has a wonderful global focus, featuring pieces from every inhabited continent, and it leaves me wanting more.
11. Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram
Rating: Not yet completed
12. The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich
Rating: 9/10 (Did not finish)
I got about halfway before realizing it was just going to be yet more evidence pointing to the same conclusion. I enjoyed this book because of the mountain of proof presented. One specific feature I really appreciated was how graphs were inserted directly into the text, so you can verify yourself that these aren’t some ridiculous stats hacking behind the scenes. Overall, this was far more compelling to me than Why Nations Fail, even if it was mono-causal.
13. Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey
Rating: 10/10 if you haven’t been exposed to these ideas before Otherwise, 8/10
This book was rather confusing to me. While I completely understood its central message and found its diagnosis both worthwhile and accurate, I felt that it struggled to provide effective solutions. Many of the concepts were already familiar, circulating in TPOT, and it was valuable to have them all compiled and clearly explained in one place.
I found it challenging, however, to implement the ideas. In particular, Self 1 feels more like an emotional takeover, and Gallwey’s techniques did not work well for me. It’s hard to critique the book further because its influence has permeated my environment, a bit of a Seinfeld effect, if you will.
I wonder if anyone has ever managed to get their “Self 1” functioning at a pro athlete level?
14. Inner Game of Work by Timothy Gallwey
Rating: Not yet completed
15. DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson
Rating: 6/10
The book was acceptable, but I struggle to remember its content. Its writing style didn’t resonate with me—overly lengthy with too many personal anecdotes.
The material itself is useful, offering a clear introduction to building funnels. I just wish the format were more concise instead of an exhaustive breakdown of every detail.
Should’ve been a blog post
16. The Joy of Oysters by Nils Bernstein
Rating: 10/10
I don’t think you can find a better book about oysters than this one. I really appreciated that it didn’t dive into excessive, nerdy details about every type of oyster — instead, it offered a brief, clear explanation.
The recipes are excellent, I tested a few, and they turned out great. The illustrations and colors are wonderful, and the book itself is a beautiful ornament. It truly inspires a joy of oysters in me.
17. Novelist as Vocation by Haruki Murakami
Rating: Not yet completed
18. Collapse by Vladislav M. Zubok
Rating: Not yet completed
Just 100 pages in, but I have never read a book where every page makes me raise my eyebrows. I might get stuck like this because of Gorby!
My reaction is disbelief. I actually checked reviews to see if the author had an axe to grind. It’s nuts!!
19. Skunk Works by Ben Rich
Rating: 7/10
The book itself is fine, but it’s really more fun than thoughtful content. I was really hoping that it would be more detail-oriented.What it ends up being is basically a series of anecdotes, which is a lot of fun to read, but there’s not much there. I was hoping to get more about the management strategies, the sort of intricate details. It was a hell of a lot of fun though and a great read if you enjoy learning about Kelly Johnson and the Skunk Works.
20. Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Rating: 5/10
I got what I came for. I think there are a couple really great ideas in here. Frankly, the text is so difficult to parse that I’m not really sure I understood much.
Coulda been an amazing blog post. Please write one for those of us who aren’t into German philosophy.
21. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Rating: 8/10
If you’re looking for some fun competence porn, this book is quite good. Lots of plausible science! A great imagination stimulant!
It was made weaker by the political wish fulfillment — I found the Earth bits tested my suspension of disbelief.
22. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rating: Not yet completed
23. Writing For Developers by Cynthia Dunlop and Piotr Sarna
Rating: Not yet completed
24. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Rating: 9/10
It’s the story of how Phil Knight built Nike. it’s a bit overwrought at times, but if you’re into business it’s quite enjoyable.
25. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Rating: Not yet completed
26. Death Is Our Business by John Lechner
Rating: 9/10
An interesting book, really more of a current events journalism piece — filled in a lot of knowledge gaps I had about Wagner and Russia’s African interests. Wish it had yet more detail (which i’m not certain is possible)
27. Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Rating: 6/10
TBH, I was very underwhelmed. I wish I was qualified to write a real takedown of this, but basically my qualms are that the institution’s argument is almost tautological. What generates these good institutions? How do they stay around? a useful book to stay current in the larger conversation, but i found it simplistic?
28. Congo: The Epic History of a People by David Van Reybrouck
Rating: 10/10
A wonderful, wonderful book. basically a history of the congo, with a focus on the congolese perspective, not the western one. due to a paucity of congolese sources, he’s forced to rely on oral history a lot, but i think this gives the book a personal and grounded character. many eye opening bits in the book, especially surrounding independence. If you’re curious about the Congo or about African governance in general, this is a key read in my opinion.
29. The State of Africa by Martin Meredith
Rating: 8/10
A good summary book that sort of gets you up to speed on what’s happened in post colonial africa. it does a solid job of providing an overview while keeping you engaged by flitting between various countries. It zooms into the personal with some frequency, which also helps pacing and retaining my engagement.
30. The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham
Rating: 5/10
Read this on patio11’s rec, but frankly found this one a bit weak. not nearly enough banking tbh. I also found the plot thin.
31. Out There: The Wildest Stories from Outside Magazine
Rating: 7/10 (Did not finish)
A few pretty fun stories, I enjoyed the one about Mongolian horse racing.
32. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
Rating: 8/10 (Did not finish)
Got about halfway. seemed to be working? The upside down drawing really did have a good result! I’d like to continue if I have more time. The brain stuff seems a bit woo, but as a drawing handbook seems solid.
33. Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville
Rating: Not yet completed
34. Book of Mark, KJV by Mark the Evangelist
Rating: Not yet completed
35. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (still goated)
Rating: Not yet completed
36. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
Rating: Not yet completed
37. Theoderic the Great by Hans-Ulrich Wiemer
Rating: Not yet completed