First came the realization that I have been reading more in the last three years than in any year before. Next, came the question: what did I read? A compilation of titles started to form, beginning the quest to locate all of the books I’ve purchased in that time, and then sorting out those that I have actually read.
It dawned upon me that in those previous years, and in fact many more years before, I have had read zero books in my mother tongue. All were in English. Some I possessed in their physical form, ordering them from online vendors. Others were read on my phone’s 4-inch screen. Kindle in the house was a game changer.
It dawned upon me that in those previous years, and in fact many more years before, I have had read zero books in my mother tongue. All were in English. Some I possessed in their physical form, ordering them from online vendors. Others were read on my phone’s 4-inch screen. Kindle in the house was a game changer.
Methods
The practice of marking interesting words and sentences began with underlining them. From the start it felt as desecration, from the aesthetic point of view. Then came brackets. Seemed to be more returning-reader-friendly. Still, imperfect and painful to the eye. Anxiety that I might like the book, feel compelled to give it to someone only for their enjoyment to be tainted, forced me to change my wicked ways. At the moment of typing this, asterisk is the solution. A mark on the margin, easily detectable yet discreet.
Upon finishing a book, a pause ensues, and after a few days I return to the it in order to extract those marked sentences. In 2017 they were typed down in a file on HDD. That HDD perished. Now they are being typed down in a file which is both offline and on a cloud-based service. Fingers crossed.
Began using Notion as an individual this year, a wonderful app for tracking many things including to read / reading / read / memoed lists of books.
As many have, I’ve been taught to respect the author by going cover-to-cover, no word left behind. Thankfully, it was the long dread of an uncompleted book that was finally pulverized by people who led me to observe books as tools, not as a deity. The practice of focused skimming ensued, after realizing whether the author whose work I am reading has a knack for fluff.
Finally, having decided to actually publish this instead of keeping it to myself (without notes), in no specific order:
Upon finishing a book, a pause ensues, and after a few days I return to the it in order to extract those marked sentences. In 2017 they were typed down in a file on HDD. That HDD perished. Now they are being typed down in a file which is both offline and on a cloud-based service. Fingers crossed.
Began using Notion as an individual this year, a wonderful app for tracking many things including to read / reading / read / memoed lists of books.
As many have, I’ve been taught to respect the author by going cover-to-cover, no word left behind. Thankfully, it was the long dread of an uncompleted book that was finally pulverized by people who led me to observe books as tools, not as a deity. The practice of focused skimming ensued, after realizing whether the author whose work I am reading has a knack for fluff.
Finally, having decided to actually publish this instead of keeping it to myself (without notes), in no specific order:
The Last Safe Investment
Thinking of a gift for a high school student? Look no further. Received it as a gift from Isaac Morehouse. Placed it on a shelf presuming that its mostly financial-self-help-mumbo-jumbo. Absolutamente no! Changes the lens on how to make long-term choices, and as such is especially useful for those who are just about to break through their most comfortable years.
If the basic economic problem is the mismatch between finite resources and infinite desires, then false wealth is the accumulation of finite resources in the hope of satisfying infinite desires.
The War of Art
Resistance is the enemy. It goes by many other names but is the primary bane of all creative endeavor. The more important an action to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we face. One of those books for which a recommendation pops-up from time to time, a fine motivator to go back to when I need a push.
Have you ever worked in an office? Then you know about Monday morning status meetings.
I have one of those meetings with myself every Monday. I sit down and go over my assignments. Then I type it up and distribute it to myself.
I have one of those meetings with myself every Monday. I sit down and go over my assignments. Then I type it up and distribute it to myself.
The Great Divorce
For a very long time, Narnia was two things for me: a work by CS Lewis and a poor attempt to come close to the Lord of the Rings (an opinion based on movies). My first literary contact with Lewis was the wonderful A Grief Observed. How exactly did I get to the Great Divorce I cannot say, but it resonated instantly, probably due to an affinity for Christian apologetics. A very nice exercise in unorthodox observation of Heaven and Hell.
I think Earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell; and Earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.
Bird by Bird
A fine book to draw inspiration for persisting in writing and accept that it may, more often than not, result in pain.
For example, let’s say you have a main character whose feelings can be hurt if he’s spoken to sharply — unlike you, ha-ha-ha.
Slide:ology
Late 2000s design, perennial tactics and structure for good presentation design.
Corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising, marketing and PR to attract and retain consumers.
…few things could be more anticlimactic than a massive campaign followed by an unorganized, unmoving presentation that might not be relevant to what the audience needs from you or the company.
…few things could be more anticlimactic than a massive campaign followed by an unorganized, unmoving presentation that might not be relevant to what the audience needs from you or the company.
One of Us
A fantastic immersion into stories of lives that crossed paths on July 22nd 2011 with an important insight into what followed. The title says it all. No more adjectives, for ones that I can think of are inadequate.
‘And the shot in the head, how has it affected you since?’
‘I lost this eye, but that’s useful: it means I don’t have to look over there.’
Viljar nodded towards the defendant, who was sitting to his right. It took a second or two , as if Breivik needed a little time to appreciate what the boy in the witness box had said before starting to smile. The whole room smiled.
‘I lost this eye, but that’s useful: it means I don’t have to look over there.’
Viljar nodded towards the defendant, who was sitting to his right. It took a second or two , as if Breivik needed a little time to appreciate what the boy in the witness box had said before starting to smile. The whole room smiled.
Steal Like an Artist
Leads you through the process of forgiving and allowing yourself to do what has been done since forever, without having to reach for euphemisms.
Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.
Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding
My lack of ability to produce visually appealing images made me hate art classes in school — this book came to me late, when it should have been, at least parts of it, art class textbook.
The basic structure is that a conflict is presented that leads to an inevitable confrontation and climax and then resolution.
Man’s Search for Meaning
Written within nine days in 1945, it is a viewpoint of a psychiatrist who experienced several of the worst concentration camps in WW2. To say that it is an important book would be a major understatement.
Only slowly could these men be guided back to the commonplace truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.
Letter to my Daughter
Collection of essays titled for a daughter Angelou never had, but written for all of us.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Pitch Anything
As it was published in 2011 and served as inspiration for many guides on how to present ideas effectively, it is surprising that not many people extract value from this book—although some, if not most of stories are a bit dubious.
If you have to explain your authority, power, position, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame.
Start Writing Your Book Today
It took me about four hours to read it, and no, I did not start writing my book that day. Or any other day since reading it months ago. However, if I do decide to write any kind of a long read, this is the lean-on-bullshit manual for writing that I will open up and create an outline.
You don’t have to be the ultimate expert before you start writing a book because the process of writing a book is a journey towards expertise.
The Lazarus Project
Picked up based on recommendation from Teju Cole’s Known and Strange Things. Enjoyed it very much, especially as some scenes unfold in Sarajevo, several hundred meters away from where I was smoking a pipe and reading the book. Two well packed and nicely laid out complementary stories.
I am just like everybody else, Isador always says, because there is nobody like me in the whole world.
Creative Strategy and the Business of Design
UX attracted me as a subject some years ago and while researching it I came across a video in which two guys dissect and audit a website. Three years later, The Futur is the only see-first content in my FB feed and go-to place when I need a spark to get me out of a rut. This book ended up on my list as their recommendation and was instrumental for the way I think of my clients.
You always know the difference between someone “selling” and someone who took the time to understand why you came to the store.
Have a Little Faith
I’ve been an Albom fan since early 2000s when a family friend brought Tuesdays With Morrie as a gift from the US. His books feel like classes in discovering or reminiscing the appropriate detail to describe, while telling a true story.
I didn’t think a holy man had a doorbell.
I surely wasn’t ready for the man who answered it.
I surely wasn’t ready for the man who answered it.
The Coaching Habit
Many managers I came in contact with could use this. As could many parents, family members, friends, partners, and others who would like to help others in earnest.
Slow down the rush to react. If there is a proliferation of problems, make them choose one. You can only coach the person in front of you, not ghosts — do not talk of other people and advices for them: I think I understand what’s happening with him — what’s the real challenge for you here?
Learning All the Time
Instills humility towards children and their learning capacities, drives a person back to where they were at the time of their intellectual growth and wakes up to the inadvertent damage caused by schooling, both institutional and home based.
Children observe, they wonder, they speculate, and they ask themselves questions. They think up possible answers, they make theories, they hypothesize, and then they test theories as needed, or reject them, and the process continues.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
This title popped-up occasionally when someone would pose the question Which book influenced you the most? For me its not on that level, however it does contain good points on ways to think about life and money.
Without that little greed, the desire to have something better, progress is not made. Our world progresses because we all desire a better life.
The Creative Habit
A choreographer on nurturing creativity, understanding that one is in a rut, and finding a way to climb out of it. All over the book are nicely scattered tips on how to uncover new ideas.
It’s not the solitude that slays a creative person. It’s all that solitude without a purpose.
Own the Day, Own Your Life
Nope, just as I did not start writing a book today, I also have yet to own the day. Pretty comprehensive, could be seen by some people as kind of a life-setup bible, but does provide a compelling path towards taking the reins of one’s life.
You know what is beyond that mountain? More fucking mountains. If you’re going to climb, then you better adapt.
Thinking in Systems
A very good intro to systems thinking.
Because resilience may not be obvious without a whole-system view, people often sacrifice resilience for stability, or for productivity, or for some other more immediately recognizable system property.
Known and Strange Things
Years ago, while reading books on behavioral economics, I jotted down titles of referenced psychological research that seemed important. It ended up as a three-page list of papers and publications, almost all of which I will never read. With time, I realized that books hoarded into lists will end up just as that research — pointless wishlists. Today, I purge my to-read list from time to time, keeping it down below ten titles. Known and Strange Things wrecked that list with Teju Cole’s wonderful style, as every book he describes in his essays seems unavoidable. So much can be learned from his writing.
In the presence of the admirable, some are breathless not with admiration but with rage.
Rising Out of Hatred
Had a go at a couple of audio books before, never went past the first ten minutes. On one occasion, having to drive for 5–6 hours, instead of listening the same CDs again and again, I downloaded Audible and selected one free book that a user gets each month. I chose this one as it gave the impression of an interesting listen/read, and my intuition proved correct. Disregarding several repetitions, this story of a young white nationalist star going full liberal is a very important piece of writing for this age.
People who disagreed with me were critical in this process. Especially those who were my friends regardless, but who let me know when we talked about it that they thought my beliefs were wrong, and took the time to provide evidence and civil arguments. I didn’t always agree with their ideas, but I listened to them and they listened to me.
The Time Keeper
Albom again, third book of his in the last two years. This time fiction, a very interesting perspective about the first person to begin measuring time, and his curse.
Beneath the unruly beard and cascading hair — signs of life, not death — his body is lean, his skin unwrinkled, immune to the very thing he lords over.
I’m happy that this happened.