Bookshelf
Last updated: August 20, 2024
Good books I’ve read recently
- Seeing that Frees by Rob Burbea
Masterpiece of Buddhist thought requiring no prior background; insightful, useful, practical for everyone and worth re-reading every couple years
- Thirteen Days in September by Lawrence Wright
Eye-opening “inside look” retelling of the Camp David Accords
- Money Games by Weijian Shan
Another “inside look,” but this one of Newbridge/TPG’s takeover of Korea First Bank, written by the principal who did the deal
- Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Fun space opera sci-fi with excellent world-building
- Crooked by Austin Grossman
A cheesy, easy, fun retelling of Nixon’s life, but with occult magic involved. Somehow almost plausible??
- The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
Shockingly good “business novel” (if you’ve heard of the “Theory of Constraints,” this is where it comes from)
- Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Dense-ish modern philosophy on society’s change from discipline-driven to “excess positivity” and its implications
Good articles I’ve read recently
- Reality is Very Weird and You Need to be Prepared for That
Well-told story and you will begin to see the conclusions everywhere. Originally thought it was “just” a solid read, but now two years later I still reference it at least once a month…
- Does Reality Drive Straight Lines on Graphs, or Do Straight Lines on Graphs Drive Reality?
SSC classic that gives you a mental model you can’t unsee around the causality of events and outcomes
- Principles of Vasocomputation
Heterodox view on how smooth muscle tissue could be our body’s hidden control system. Don’t get scared off by the Buddhist terminology.
- How to Drop Out
A totally foreign (to me) perspective written in a way that enabled me to understand it (on leaving “normal” society behind). Always powerful to get a deep, clarifying glimpse into a different life.
- Superlinear Returns
Yes, a Paul Graham essay, so cliche — but it’s really good
- Becoming a Magician
On the malleability of life and the feeling of observing greatness
- Kayfabe
Eric Weinstein gave us a tool that feels even more ripe nearly a decade and a half after publication
All-time books
I have big plans to fill this out…
All-time articles
This too…