This is a list of every book I recommend and why. This page is constantly being updated.

This is based off of some of the lists other people have shared, like Mark's.

I also have the opposite page, Books I Hate.

Literature

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Great book about a man looking for treasure and all the learnings he has as he looks for it. It is one of my most treasured books.

Ham on Rye by Bukowski

It's hard to find an author who has let their inner thoughts spill over the page more than Bukowski, you will not be spared thoughts that other authors would have considered "too harsh" or "too raw". That is what Bukowski is about, and if you read this book, you might find out why he is this way.

A Study in Red by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the first book that got me into reading books. It's the first Sherlock Holmes novel. It's an amazing thing to see how a master in deduction operates, and since Arthur worked with Joseph Bel,l a genius in drawing astute findings from tiny details, he had a lot to draw from.

It's my favorite novel by far and shows how training your mind to notice, you can the world opens up to you.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Read this book. You might not like the story, you might hate how its being told, it's still a great book nonetheless and you will find something profound by reading it, you might agree with the cynicism towards religion that the author repeats throughout the book, you might disagree with it, you might see the protagonist as a villain, or a misunderstood hero. You could be amazed by the worldbuilding, the lore, the dialogue, or the psychedelic flow of the story, or you might not, but you will not be apathetic towards this book.

This is a book about humanity, it could be described as Shakespeare in space on drugs. You will find how humans adapt to a reality that demands technology but that forces it to occur via human augmentation, not robots, not AI. By far one of the most surprising science fiction books I have ever read.

I, Robot by Azimov

One of the best books I read growing up. Really makes your imagination fly with all the possibilities of life alongside robots, and how the relationship amongst humans would change with them in the picture. Somehow a complete 180 from Dune.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

This is a great book period, it reads well, it has texture, multiple stories coming together alongside the main one in a beautiful way.

Artsy

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

One of those books that you can reread endlessly and still find new things in it. I love reading this book whenever I'm feeling creatively drained and need a pick me up.

Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

This changed my mind completely on how to do great design, how to have an eye for bullshit and how to do great presentations.

Inspired these blog posts:

• Next Level Presentations [1/3]: 🙉 Preparation!
• Next Level Presentations [2/3]: 🙈Design!
• Next Level Presentations [3/3]: 🙊Delivery!!!

Update: Garr has since followed me on X, I'm very honored by it.

Steal Like an Artist

Brilliant book to get out of your head and into whatever you call your art in life. Really quick one, you can read in an afternoon, but the insights will seep into all parts of your life where you block your own progress.

Philosophy

Anti-Fragile (and the rest of the Incerto) by Nassim Taleb

AntiFragile, Black Swan, Skin in the Game, ... by Nassim Taleb -> completely changed my mind on business, personal philosophy, travel, and economy.

Inspired these blog posts:

• 🧠 Intelligent Investments with Nassim Taleb
• 🏅Extremistan - The Place Where Winners Take it All

12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Helped me get better in a bad period of my life, made me start structuring more since I'm a creative mess of a person. Chaos was my ally, but I never understood why structure could add to my creative process.

Funny that both of these authors hate each other's guts. Anyways, fun times

I'm looking to enhance this section of my books to recommend. If you have any philosophical books you recommend, feel free to message me on X.

Historical

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari

Such a great book to understand how many factors changed human trajectory, how religion, agriculture, and scientific revolutions shaped the world we live in today.

Update: This could soon be replaced by Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

This is a breath of fresh air in times when all you see about new technologies is cynicism and depression. This is a book about humanity as it builds new technologies and what happens when we are faced with questions never faced before. It is a book about human ingenuity and a call to action to build a better world.

Science

Collapsing Universe

If I had to recommend only one book to give to a teenager who isn't interested in physics because of how school teaches it, it would be this one. This book makes physics human, it shows how we have tried to categorize and understand reality since the beginning of times and where our current understanding lies now. It provides experiments people can try today to see how the old physicists grew their knowledge of the world back then, and how they identified new ways of understanding.

Some other thoughts, since I've written this list many of the authors here have hit – lets say – a rough patch in social media, this does not change how I feel about the books they wrote, they are still pretty good, even if I don't like how they have acted online since then.