Mastery

Robert Greene

A recipe book for anyone looking to become a master of their chosen field. The lessons in this book are general enough that you can apply them to any area of your life and are stunningly told through historical and contemporary stories.

Antifragile

Nassim Nicolas Taleb

If we agree that prediction models are incorrect (The Black Swan), then we’re exposed to damages from prediction errors. The antidote is ‘antifragility’. A property where something thrives and grows when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, stressors and risk.

The Black Swan

Nassim Nicolas Taleb

How I view risk and the future will never be the same. Nassim makes a strong case for why many (if not all) of the models of prediction we use in modern society are broken.

Inspired

Marty Kagan

The PM bible? A how-to on the people, products and process required to create tech world class tech products.

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

Al Reis & Jack Trout

A more accurate title would read “22 (mostly) Immutable Laws of Marketing” as there are cases for when each of these laws have been broken. Generally speaking though, the laws hold and should be respected. Notable mentions include: “The Law of Leadership” i.e first-mover advantage, “The Law of Category” i.e It’s better to create your own category if you can’t be first in an existing category.

The Lessons Of History

Will & Ariel Durant

A short collection of essays that somehow weave together the concepts of economics, morals, socialism, government, war, religion, and history told through the stories of the human race and spanning 5000 years.

**The Moral Landscape
**

Sam Harris

This book really shifted my perspective on moral systems. We’re often told to be tolerant of other cultures (moral systems) as there is no one ‘correct’ way. Sam disagrees, he proposes that moral systems can be weighted against each other by measuring their effect on human wellbeing.

The Odyssey

Homer

There’s a reason this poem is still getting modern translations more than 2800 years after it was written. The captivating and magical story of Odysseus as he winds his way around the Mediterranean on his way home from the siege of Troy. I went for the Robert Fagles translation.

The Four Hour Work Week

Tim Ferriss

I read this book at just the right time in my life and honestly it really did change my life. Off the back of this book, I somehow managed to build and sell two startups which still boggles my mind.

**An Elegant Defence
**

Rudy Rucker

A primer on the human immune system told through the stories of real people with different immunological conditions. The language is simple enough that anyone can pick it up and learn a lot about how the immune system works and interacts with other ‘departments’ of the body as well as other human beings.

Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands

Douglas Holt

This book cuts straight through to why some marketing succeeds while others fail. The thesis is that messaging that catches a growing but unspoken cultural trend will likely succeed because it’s resonating with a buyer’s ideology.

Principles: Life and Work

Ray Dalio

The distilled wisdom of one of the worlds most successful business people articulately expressed and logically divided into easily digestible pieces. A must-read.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive

Jared Diamond

Collapse recounts the stories of populations like Easter Island, Maya and Greenland Norse from colonisation to collapse. The story is almost always the same, humans slowly destroyed their environment until it could no longer sustain life.

Utopia for Realists

Rutger Bregman

Universal basic income will become increasingly important as human labor is traded for machine labor. This book breaks it down.
Fun fact, did you know that US President Nixon tried to implement UBI in 1969? The proposal made it through the House but couldn’t get through the senate.

Sapiens

Yuval Noah Harari

One of the best “History of the human race” books out there. Sapiens takes the reader through the story of us from beginning to present while explaining some of the curious things we’ve created (Money, limited liability companies) to support our society.

Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Jack Weatherford

The history of Ghengis Khan from his beginnings in a small nomadic village on the steppes to building the 2nd largest empire in history (1st going to Britain). Ghengis’s legacy would continue for hundreds of years through dynasties led by his descendants in China, India and Iran.

The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life

David Quammen

A strangely exciting tale of the discovery of a whole new domain of single-celled organisms, Archaea, as well as a deep look into the origins of life on earth and how single-celled organisms although individual would ‘combine’ by passing through and staying inside each other’s cell walls creating new organisms. For example, all plants on earth.

The Poison King

Adrienne Mayor

The story of Mithridates, king of Pontus. Father of toxicology, he was able to protect himself from poisoning by constantly consuming a substance he invented called mithridatium. Oh and he also went to war with Rome three times.

The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization

Vince Beiser

Never expected to find a book on sand that interesting but here we have it on my recommended books list. Sand is the hidden key to basically all of modern society. Without sand we’d have no concrete (buildings, roads, highways, bricks, irrigation), smartphones, glass, computer chips to name a few. The world is running out and a black market has emerged complete with murderous gangs.

The E-Myth Revisited

Michael E. Gerber

Every starting entrepreneur should read this book or risk the fate of accidentally building a business that cannot run without them thus creating an unsustainable, unscalable prison for the entrepreneur.

On The Shortness of Life

Seneca

A letter Seneca the Younger wrote to his father in law on life and how he believed one can make the best use of their short time on this earth. Seneca delivers the same message we hear today, to not wait until retirement to live one’s life. That we shouldn’t moan about the shortness of life because ‘Life is long if you know how to use it’.

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

Chris Voss

The author argues that emotional intelligence and empathy is how you succeed in negotiations. Simply, you get what you want by first gaining a deeper understanding of what they want. Makes sense.

Give & Take

Adam Grant

A deep look at why givers (people who give more than they receive) succeed over takers (people who take more than they give) and matchers (people who give as much as they take) in the workplace but also are likely to get stepped on if they are not careful.

Living with a SEAL

Jesse Itzler

A humorous account of a rich guy who happened upon an ex Navy SEAL at a marathon. He then decided to ‘hire’ the SEAL to live and train him for 31 days. The lessons in this book are numerous with one of the most powerful being “when you think you’re done, you’re only at 40% capacity”

**Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen
**

Steve Sims

A guide to ethical hustling with an emphasis on creating win-win situations, seemingly from thin air. The short and snackable chapters make this book easy to pick up whenever you need a hustle top-up.

Haroun And The Sea of Stories

Salman Rushdie

I don't read much fiction but somehow started this one and it's most delightful reads I’ve ever experienced. Salman’s use of language swiftly pulls you into the deep magical world he created, and enjoyment ensures.

Man's Search For Meaning

Viktor Frankl

The author, a psychiatrist and holocaust survivor noticed one of the main differences between people that survived or died in concentration camps had to do with if they felt they had a reason to survive. Viktor went on to develop the concept of logotherapy, where one’s mental illness is treated with meaning.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Steven R Covey

A timeless guide to improving oneself in all areas of life be it mentally, physically, emotionally, socially or spiritually. If I could only one self-development book I’d recommend it would likely be this one.

The Culture Code

Daniel Coyle

Culture is one of the most import things we do as leaders. This book helps us unlock the potential of our teams by building safety, sharing risk and story.

Ego is the Enemy

Ryan Holiday

Ego drags us down like the law of gravity. This book advocates for being “Humble in our aspirations. Gracious in our success. Resilient in our failures” Something I try to remind myself of as much as possible.

Life 3.0

Max Tegmark

The future is going to be... interesting...

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Lux butter

AKA
the most luxurious bread spread

Lux butter

AKA
the most luxurious bread spread