Last Updated – June 13th, 2021

This is a list of the most unique, useful, or interesting books I’ve ever read – the books that stand out. All books are sorted by category, and then sorted into 1. Favorites (full endorsement), 2. Recommended (good to read), and 3. Honorable Mentions (interesting, but read with caution).

Finally, each book has an Amazon link (I get a small reward, and you get an awesome book at no extra cost to you).

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Most Recently Added

• “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries (Business – Recommended)
• “Time Enough for Love” by Robert Heinlein (Fiction – Recommended)
• “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran (Poetry – Recommended)
• “Notes from Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Fiction – Recommended)

 

Biography, Memoir, and Letters

Favorites:

• “Elon Musk” by Ashlee Vance
• “Total Recall” by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Recommended:

• “84 Charing Cross Road” by Helene Hanff
• “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins
• “Educated” by Tara Westover
• “Einstein” by Walter Isaacson
• “Emergency” by Neil Strauss
• “The Game” by Neil Strauss

 

Business, Economics, and Finance

Favorites:

• “Principles” by Ray Dalio
• “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel

Recommended:

• “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Al Ries
• “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
• “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers
• “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker
• “How to Win at the Sport of Business” by Mark Cuban
• “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries
• “Only the Paranoid Survive” by Andy Grove
• “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” by Harv T. Eker
• “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek

 

General, How To, and Art

Favorites:

• “Impro” by Keith Johnstone

Recommended:

• “It’s All Relative” by A.J. Jacobs
• “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon

 

Green and Environmental

Favorites:

• “Whole Earth Discipline” by Stewart Brand

 

History

Favorites:

• “Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford
• “The Lessons of History” by Will Durant and Ariel Durant

 

Philosophy and Religion

Favorites:

• “Doing Good Better” by William MacAskill
• “The Precipice” by Toby Ord
• “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs
• “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig

Recommended:

• “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu
• “A Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi
• “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen
• “The Daily Stoic” by Ryan Holiday
• “Lila” by Robert Pirsig
• “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
• “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius
• “Striking Thoughts” by Bruce Lee
• “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu
• “Zen in the Art of Archery” by Eugen Herrigel

 

Politics and Society

Favorites:

• “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt

Recommended:

• “The Big Sort” by Bill Bishop
• “Moral Politics” by George Lakoff
• “The War on Normal People” by Andrew Yang

 

Psychology and Neuroscience

Favorites:

• “Influence” by Robert Cialdini

Recommended:

• “Feeling Good” by David Burns
• “Your Brain On Porn” by Gary Wilson

Honorable Mentions:

• “Radical Honesty” by Brad Blanton

 

Science and STEM

Favorites:

• “The Demon-Haunted World” by Carl Sagan
• “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins

Recommended:

• “Dataclysm” by Christian Rudder
• “Superforecasting” by Philip Tetlock

 

Self-Help, Relationships, and Health

Favorites:

• “The 4-Hour Chef” by Timothy Ferriss
• “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
• “Models” by Mark Manson
• “Six Pillars of Self-Esteem” by Nathaniel Branden
• “Tools of Titans” by Timothy Ferriss

Recommended:

• “The 4-Hour Body” by Timothy Ferriss
• “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman
• “5/3/1 Forever” by Jim Wendler
• “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande
• “Data, A Love Story” by Amy Webb
• “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
• “Lever Up Your Life” by Steve Kamb
• “No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Robert Glover
• “Tribe of Mentors” by Timothy Ferriss
• “The Truth” by Neil Strauss
• “What Women Want” by Tucker Max and Geoffrey Miller

Honorable Mentions:

• “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene
• “The Ethical Slut” by Dossie Easton

 

Fiction and Poetry

Favorites:

• “1984” by George Orwell (or get the edition combined with Animal Farm)
• “Dune” by Frank Herbert (part of the Dune series)
• “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov (part of the Foundation series)

Recommended:

• “Animal Farm” by George Orwell (or get the edition combined with 1984)
• “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
• “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality” by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen
• “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien (part of the Lord of the Rings series)
• “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach
• “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• “Notes From Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• “Player Piano” by Kurt Vonnegut
• “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
• “Time Enough for Love” by Robert Heinlein

Honorable Mentions:

• “Anthem” by Ayn Rand
• “Fight Club” by Chuck Palahniuk

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I read all kinds of strange, interesting books; feel free to send me suggestions for what to read next!