I loved reading through Aaron Swartz’s thoughts of the books he read so I’ve finally decided to collect all my books on a page too.
If you know me and live in New York City, feel free to borrow a book. Just be warned that if it’s not blue for unread, it means it will have lots of highlights and scribbles in it.
Dear self, please stop buying books until you finish reading all 44 out of the 95 books in your library.
Contents
Books that Changed my Life:
The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
To Live by Yu Hua
Let my People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Favorites:
How to Fight by Thich Nhat Hanh (I wish Joanne could give me my copy back)
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
Seeking Wisdom from Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin
Zero to One by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday
Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
Principles by Ray Dalio
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
Economics:
The Cartoon Introduction to Economics- Volume One: Microeconomics by Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman, Ph.D.
Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets by John McMillan
Business:
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham
A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Edward O. Thorp
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
The E-Myth Revisted: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About it by Michael E. Gerber
Invent It, Sell It, Bank It! by Lori Greiner
Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
Business Accounting:
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz
The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand by Darrell Mullis and Judith Orloff
Business Management:
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Business Sales:
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life by Grant Cardone
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson of CEB
Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
Business Marketing:
Cashvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone by Drew Eric Whitman
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice by Todd Henry
Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth by Eddie Yoon
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontensted Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
Expert Secrets: The Underground Playbook to Find Your Message, Build a Tribe, and Change the World… by Russell Brunson
Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Manufacturing:
The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware by Andrew “bunnie” Huang
Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the China Production Game by Paul Midler
The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa by Irene Yuan Sun
Selling on Amazon:
Suspension Prevention: Get Reinstated and Protect Your Amazon Seller Account by Cynthia Stine (Thank you Cynthia for giving me a free copy of your book!)
STEM:
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel
The Politics of Cancer by Samuel S. Epstein
Toxic Beauty: How Cosmetics and Personal-Care Products Endanger Your Health and What You Can Do About It by Samuel S. Epstein MD
Killer Clothes: How Seemingly Innocent Clothing Choices Endanger your Health and How to Protect Yourself by Anna Maria Clement (Do NOT read. Your time will be better spent reading Samuel Epstein’s work)
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming edited by Paul Hawken
Living with Water Scarcity by David Zetland
Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind by Brian Fagan
The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman
The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics by Alan Dabney and Grady Klein (Delightful introduction)
How Not to be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2020 by Michio Kaku
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
Programming:
Eloquent Javascript: A Modern Introduction to Programming by Marjin Haverbeke
Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson
Philosophy:
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
Politics/History/Social Issues:
Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
Real Impact: The New Economics of Social Change by Morgan Simon
Personal Help:
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki
Refuse to Choose! Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of your Dreams by Barbara Sher
I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What it Was by Barbara Sher
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft (Thank you Rebecca for saving my life.)
The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone (Basically don’t whine and do 10x the work as everyone else until you make it)
Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins
I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (Highly recommend this book for personal finance 101)
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt
Being With Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Joan Halifax
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams
Money and the Meaning of Life by Jacob Needleman
What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*Ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson (Unfortunately I could not stand the author.)
The Thinking Girl’s Guide to the Right Guy: How Knowing Yourself Can Help You Navigate Dating, Hookups, and Love by Joanne Davila and Kaycee Lashman (I’m glad I don’t need this book anymore, knock on wood.)
Science Fiction:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (Also known as Bladerunner)
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Enjoyable young adult novel, great ideas, would not read again.)