The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant

Rating: 10/10

Date Read: December 20, 2020

The Lessons of History is a fantastic book, the best one I read in 2020. It is undervalued. While people talk about recent bestsellers this gem is waiting to be read. Any person can gain valuable insight and knowledge from this book.

Economical Writing by Deirdre N. McCloskey

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: December 25, 2020

Even though this book is titled and marketed as a book for economists, in reality, it can help anyone to improve their writing (especially, nonfiction writers).

Getting Real by 37 Signals

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: July 11, 2024

Building software doesn’t need a large team, huge budget, or a perfect plan up front. Products should do less and work smarter by focusing on solving real problems and evolving with user feedback. The key is to create sustainable software by making smart, incremental improvements that truly meet users’ needs.

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: December 11, 2024

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to read better. It's not easy to read, but it's worth it.

How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: December 12, 2020

If you've heard the term 'Zettelkasten' flying around recently, then you might be wondering what is all the rage. Well, this book pretty much started this trend. Sönke Ahrens describes in great detail the note-taking process through which Niklas Luhmann was able to achieve phenomenal productivity in writing academic papers. Good news is that you can use this method too.

Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: March 1, 2025

I am a huge fan of this book. This is **the** book I'm recommending to all parents. I believe that this book can make the whole world a better place just by helping parents figure out how to have fun with their kids and not be all tires and depressed.

Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: September 5, 2024

Andrew Wilkinson's autobiography on his path to become an accidental billionaire. Captivating and full of little golden nuggets to pick up by aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Art and Business of Online Writing by Nicolas Cole

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: September 25, 2024

Wonderful book about writing content that people will resonate. Very simple approach, but that is not to say it is not easy. It will take work to implement, but I have no doubt it will work.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: September 15, 2021

In this book the reader is taken on a journey of learning, improving, and personal growth. Josh is an incredible human, who achieved great success in different fields all thanks to his ability to learn. In this book, we get to see stories from his life as he tells them and see what is it that makes a great learner.

The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia

Rating: 9/10

Date Read: May 8, 2021

This is my favorite book on the topic of entrepreneurhip. It doesn't matter what stage you are at, whether just trying to find an idea to work on, or already have a profitable company, you will surely learn something new from Sahil.

The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: June 26, 2024

Great guide to building financial security in our modern, tech-driven world. Cuts through the bullshit and just speaks plain facts.

Apology by Plato

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: January 24, 2022

The Apology is Plato's record of the speech given by Socrates in court as he tries to defend himself in 399BCE against the accusations of 'corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes'.

The Anthology of Balaji by Eric Jorgenson

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: June 30, 2024

Great book for people interested in optimistic high-tech future. If you are a 'side-project' person, you'll get many ideas from this book.

The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: November 26, 2023

Making investments is all about minimizing risk and maximizing returns. Learn all about Mohnish's "Heads, I win; tails, I don’t lose much!" approach.

Doing Content Right by Steph Smith

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: December 2, 2021

Steph is taking you on a journey from figuring out what you can write about all the way to earning money from it.

The Happy Sleeper by Julie Wright & Heather Turgeon

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: September 15, 2022

This book will help you to teach your baby to fall asleep by himself. That's it, that's the premise on the book. And let me tell you... It delivers. The earlier you begin the better.

The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: March 15, 2023

The Millionaire Fastlane is a highly motivational guide advocating entrepreneurship and smart money management. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their life financially.

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: September 25, 2023

This books is an amazing resource for upping you mental game. It's super dense, so you might not finish it in one sitting, nor should you. If you implement at least 5% of the advice in this book you will drastically improve as a human being.

The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: April 5, 2021

'The Richest Man In Babylon' is a collection of short and educational stories. These stories tell you about people living in ancient Babylon. Each story teaches you a small lesson on how to make progress towards financial stability.

The Code Book by Simon Singh

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: July 25, 2024

This is a great intro into the world of Cryptography, if that is something you are into. Reads as easy as a novel.

The Way of Superior Man by David Deida

Rating: 8/10

Date Read: March 7, 2021

David Deida explores the most important issues in men's lives—from career and family to women and intimacy to love and spirituality and relationships—to offer a practical guidebook for living a masculine life of integrity, authenticity, and freedom.

Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Rating: 7/10

Date Read: June 25, 2023

This is a beautiful and engaing story of wrongful imprisonment and a desire for a revenge. At times a little slow, but exciting enough in other parts to fully compensate.

Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner

Rating: 7/10

Date Read: December 10, 2020

Gabriel shares his expeience and his research into the most effective ways of learning any foreign language. THe main idea of the book is to use an SRS like Anki. But there are a ton of other details that will help you excel in you journey of learning a language.

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

Rating: 7/10

Date Read: September 1, 2023

Great book about our relatinship with time and productivity. The core idea is that we are to consumed by the idea of being at maximum productivity and that harms us and stops from enjoying life.

Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Rating: 7/10

Date Read: May 14, 2020

This is a good, solid read. I wouldn't call it life changing for me, more life upkeeping. For some people it can be life changing though. In this book, Austin argues that we should all share our work. He will share a lot of useful advice for doing work in public. Austin is very convincing. If you never considered sharing your work, by the end of this books, you will be convinced.

The Great Conversation by Robert Hutchins

Rating: 7/10

Date Read: January 17, 2021

This is an intro book to the Great Books of the Western World series. Authors do a great job of convincing you to invest your life in pursuing this series, that they refer to as Liberal Education.

Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler by Jamie Glowacki

Rating: 6/10

Date Read: June 29, 2024

Good book about raising a toddler. If you are reading this book, you are probably running into some difficulties with your kid. This book won't solve them in the way you are hoping, but it will still help.

The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim

Rating: 6/10

Date Read: February 1, 2023

Great book to listen to while doing chores. A lot of the principles have penetrated the tech industry, so you will be familiar with what this book has to offer. However, you should still give it a try, since there aren't many book like that one. A fictious story about DevOps practices. THat's pretty cool and unique.

Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

Rating: 5/10

Date Read: July 17, 2022

Building a Second Brain is a great PKM approach created by Tiago Forte. He has been teaching that course for a while now and has been publishing for many years at Forte Labs. This books is a collection of methods, techniques and ideas that he has formulated over those years. This book is perfect for someone who hasn't yet started collecting thoughts and ideas in a Second Brain.

Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright

Rating: 4/10

Date Read: April 25, 2021

Why Buddhism is True feels a little too watery, however I can't judge it fully since I haven't finished it. The reason I did was that after Chapter 7 I wasn't getting any new information, it felt like 7 chapters of the same thing.