Books

2020 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Too Much Stuff – Capitalism In Crisis Kozo Yamamura Overly simplified – lacking depth
2 The Rise of Carry: The Dangerous Consequences of Volatility Suppression and the New Financial Order of Decaying Growth and Recurring Crisis Tim Lee, Jamie Lee and Kevin Coldiron Persuasive case
3 The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking In American Culture David Shi The idealistic journey toward simplicity
4 Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World David Epstein “Compare yourself to yourself yesterday, not to younger people who aren’t you.”
5 Stoner John Williams Depressing – main character never really progressed in his relationships
6 At the Center of Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life Fenton Johnson Well crafted prose on the path from loneliness to solitude
7 News of the World Paulette Jiles Lovely western set in 1870 Texas
8 Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events Robert Shiller Applying the math of pandemics to viral stories
9 The Price of Tomorrow Jeff Booth Part about the impact of falling energy costs due to renewables was the most interesting
10 Middlemarch George Eliot Excellent. Loved the insight into 19th-century economics
11 The Book of Longings Sue Monk Kidd Story of Jesus’ wife, without much of Jesus
12 The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith Joanna Brooks Well written memoir
13 Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life Beth Kimpton Applying wabi-sabi in our daily life
14 In Praise of Shadows Junichiro Tanizak A short eclectic book on dimness
15 Money: The True Story of A Made Up Thing Jacob Goldstein A well-written book on the history of money
16 When More Is Not Better: Overcoming America’s Obsession with Economic Efficiency Roger L. Martin Enlightening

List of Annual Readings

2019 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Digital Minimalism: Choosing A Focused Life in a Noisy World Cal Newport Great tips for reducing digital clutter.
2 The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking and the Future of the Global Economy Mervyn King Humble tome on coping with radical uncertainty
3 Sister Saints: Mormon Women since the End of Polygamy Colleen McDannell Fascinating history
4 A Philosophy of Walking Frédéric Gros Beautiful and inspiring. Best book in a long time.
5 A Stern Man Elizabeth Gilbert Lobster wars. Not my favorite.
6 A Company of One Paul Jarvis Being better, not growing bigger
7 Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is Friedrich Nietzsche “I look upon my future, a broad future, as a calm sea, no sigh of longing makes a ripple on its surface.”
8 The Art of the Siesta: A Book about Stealing Moments of Repose Thierry Paquot A manifesto against the overconsumption of time and taking back control by taking a nap
9 The Red and the Black Stendahl “Society in 1830s France.”
10 Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote “When seriously explored, the short story seems to me the most difficult and disciplining form of prose writing extant.”-T. Capote
11 Broke Millenial Takes On Investing Erin Lowry Good basic investing book
12 The Simple Path To Wealth JL Collins The case for 100% in stocks
13 Lost and Wanted: A Novel Nell Freudenberger Well written novel featuring physics and ghosts
14 Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We’re Thriving in a New World of Possibility David Weinberger Good overview of AI and its consequences
15 How To Do Nothing Jenny Odell The importance of connection to place
16 Chances Are…: A Novel Richard Russo Entertaining beach read by a master storyteller
17 An Economist Walks into a
Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk		 Allison Schrager 3 steps: What do you want? Is there a risk-free way to get it? and if not, how much risk do you need to take to get what you want?
18 We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins At Breakfast Jonathan Safran Foer The environmental cost of eating animal products
19 Stillness Is the Key Ryan Holiday Nice overview of eastern and western traditions on stillness and solitude
20 The Dutch House Ann Patchett Interesting, but felt like I never truly understood characters’ motivations
21 Safety-first Retirement Planning: An Integrated Approach for a Worry-free Retirement Wade Phau Best book I have read for how to think about and use annuities

2018 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts Ryan Holiday Helpful perspective today’s marketing environment
2 Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng Brilliant work. Best novel I’ve read in a long time
3 The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance Henry Petroski Fascinating history
4 Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel George Saunders Different.
5 Skin In the Game Nassim Nicholas Taleb Always thought provoking
6 The Tao of Pooh Benjamin Hoff Loved it
7 The Rooster Bar John Grisham Flat
8 Thinking In Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts Annie Duke Outcome versus decision process
9 The Three Simple Rules of Investing Michael Edesess, Kwok L. Tsui, Carol Fabbri and George Peacock Interesting take on rebalancing
10 Warlight: A Novel Michael Ondaatje Decent story of espionage post WW2
11 Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis John C. Goodman Thought provoking
12 Mastering The Market Cycle Howard Marks Excellent
13 Pachinko Min Jin Lee Not my favorite
14 The Formula: The Universal Law of Success Albert-László Barabási Intriguing
15 Balanced Asset Allocation: How to Profit in Any Economic Climate Alex Shahidi Thought provoking
16 This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See Seth Godin Brilliant

2017 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Seinfeldia: How A Show About Nothing Changed Everything Jennifer Keishin Armstrong Using true stories as springboards
2 Who Gets What – And Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design Alvin E. Roth Signaling
3 The Patron Saint of Liars Ann Patchett Life among nuns
4 The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach The hive mind
5 Going For Broke: Deficits, Debt and the Retirement Crisis Michael D. Tanner Disagree
6 The End of Theory: Financial Crisis, the Failure of Economics, and the Sweep of Human Interaction Richard Bookstaber Complexity and heuristics
7 The Wisdom of Finance: Discover Humanity in the World of Risk and Return Mihir A. Desai Optionality
8 Camino Island John Grisham Good beach read
9 The Internet of Money Andreas M. Antonopoulous Excellent overview of cryptocurrencies
10 Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River David Owen The complexities of the Law of the River
11 Adaptive Markets: Evolution at the Speed of Light Andrew W. Lo Brilliant book on why market conditions matter.
12 Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies and Companies Geoffrey West The power of cities and finite time singularity
13 The Money Problem: Rethinking Financial Regulation Morgan Ricks Great book on how money and banking works in a modern economy.
14 The Famine Plot: England’s
Role in Ireland’s Great Tragedy		 Tim Pat Coogan Excellent history of the Irish Great Famine
15 Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in The Dutch Golden Age Anne Goldgar Great insight into how bubbles are formed.
16 Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How To Spend Smarter Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler Great overview of behavioral finance
17 Future Home of the Living God Louise Erdrich Evolution in reverse
18 Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success In A Distracted World Cal Newport Very helpful.

2016 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes In Havana Marc Frank Insightful
2 Look Who’s Back Timur Vermes Frightenly prescient
3 Letters From A Stoic Seneca Timeless
4 Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Sought to Save the Financial System – and Themselves Andrew Ross Sorkin No one’s in charge
5 Throwing Rocks At The Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity Douglas Rushkoff Why growth?
6 Debt: The First 5,000 Years David Graeber Anthropology meets economics
7 Nora Webster: A Novel Colm Toibin Author of Brooklyn
8 Rework Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson Solid Advice
9 Disrupted:My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble Dan Lyons Acerbic
10 Fluke: The Math and Myth of Coincidence Joseph Mazur Law of large numbers
11 Big Magic Creative Living Beyond Fear Elizabeth Gilbert Inspiring
12 Smart Cuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking Shane Snow Okay
13 Originals: How Non Conformists Rule The World Adam Grant Well done
14 Commonwealth Ann Patchett Eloquent
15 Messy: The Power of Disorder To Transform Our Lives Tim Harford Thought provoking
16 The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New Annie Dillard Beautiful
17 The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changes Our Minds Michael Lewis Excellent foundation in behavioral finance by a master story teller.l

2015 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System James Rickards Interesting insights on gold
2 Run Ann Patchett Good
3 Essays in Idleness and Hojoki Chomei, Kenko Excellent
4 The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of Scandinavia Utopia Michael Booth Narrow
5 Complexity: A Guided Tour Melanie Mitchell Good overview
6 The Philosophical Investor: Transforming Wisdom Into Wealth Gary Carmell Okay
7 Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of Misfits and Millionaires Trying To Reinvent Money Nathaniel Popper Excellent overview of Bitcoin’s early days
8 Living With A Wild God: A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth about Everything Barbara Ehrenreich Interesting
9 The Accidental Universe Alan Lightman Fascinating
10 Truants Ron Carlson Early work
11 You Are Not a Gadget Jaron Lanier Insightful
12 The Samurai’s Garden Gail Tsukiyama Tender story, beautifully written
13 Rule #1:The Simple Strategy For Successful Investing In Only 15 Minutes Per Week Phil Town Viable but will take more than 15 minutes
14 Humans Are Underated Geoff Colvin Robots will do everything that humans will permit
15 The Retirement Miracle Patrick Kelly Generalities on Indexed Universal Life Insurance
17 Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want Tess Vigeland Very relatable
16 The All of It Jeanette Haien Delightful tale of an Irish priest, a parishioner, and fly fishing
17 The Bone Clocks David Mitchell Apocalyptic
18 A Field Guide To Getting Lost Rebecca Solnit Elegant
19 Pig In Heaven Barbara Kingsolver Bean Tree sequel from 2005
20 Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style W. David Marx Fascinating
21 Are You A Stock Or A Bond?: Identify Your Own Human Capital for a Secure Financial Future Moshe A. Milevsky Ground breaking

2014 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Trying Not To Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity Edward Slingerland Great intro into early Chinese philosophy
2 The Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings Zhuangzi Illuminating
3 All The Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Excellent except ending
4 Intertwingled: Information Changes Everything Peter Morville Some interesting ideas on web site structure
5 The Dao of Capital Mark Spitznagel Roundabout
6 Saved Ben Hewitt Minimalism and what is money
7 How Much Money Do I Need To Retire Todd Tressider Solid
8 Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free Cory Doctorow Eye opening
9 The Good Creative Paul Jarvis Unremarkable
10 The Essential David Bohm edited by Nichol Lee Fascinating insights
11 True Wealth Juliet B. Schor She gets it
12 What To Do When It’s Your Turn Seth Godin Choose yourself
13 Embracing Defeat – Japan In The Wake Of World War II John W. Dower Illuminating
14 Risk Saavy: How To Make Good Decisions Gerd Gigerenzer Instructive
15 Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Greg Mckeown

2013 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Audition Ryu Murakami Unpleasant
2 The Housekeeper and the Professor Yoko Agawa Uplifting story.
3 The Street of a Thousand Blossoms Gail Tsukiyama Lovely
4 Retiring Sooner: How to Accelerate Your Financial Independence Darrow Kirkpatrick Same old same old
5 How Much Is Enough?: Money and the Good Life Robert and Edward Skidelsky Thought provoking
6 The Confessions Saint Augustine Inspiring
7 The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius Fascinating
8 Collected Epistles Ignatius of Antioch Instructive
9 The God Delusion Richard Dawkins Fighting against a god foreign to me
10 Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now Douglas Rushkoff Fascinating
11 The Invention of Hugo Cabret Brian Selznick Just okay.
12 Enders Game Orson Scott Card Disappointing
13 The Hunger Games Trilogy 1 & 2, part of 3 Suzanne Collins Just okay
14 The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle Classic – one of the best books read this year.
15 Flight Behavior Barbara Kingsolver Realistic.
16 Everything I Know Paul Jarvis Better than many self-published books on creativity

2012 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell Both intriguing and disturbing. Brilliantly written.
2 Adapt: Why Success Starts with Failure Tim Harford Be willing to fail, but with margin of safety so you can learn and adapt from it
3 The Misbehavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal market losses are far worse, happen more frequently, cluster together and are unpredictable
4 To Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge David Weinberger Building smart rooms—that is, how to build networks that make us smarter
5 Grouped Paul Adams Marketing to small group of connected friends
6 The Smarter Science of Slim Jonathan Bailor Summary of latest weight loss research
7 The Click Moment Frans Johannsan Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World
8 Antifragile Nicolas Nassim Taleb Brilliant Black Swan Followup
9 Born Standing Up Steve Martin Fascinating autobiography. Shows how hard he worked.
10 Icarius Deception Seth Godin Pick Yourself.
11 Voluntary Simplicity Duane Elgin Economics of simplicity.
12 Nature Principle Richard Louv Reconnecting to Life in a Virtual Age
13 Small is Beautiful E.F. Schumacher Interesting economics

2011 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Eating Animals Jonathan Safran Foer Compelling case for vegetarianism
2 The China Study T. Colin Campbell Medical/scientific case or veganism
3 In Pursuit of Elegance Matthew E. May Elegance (Shibui) = Symmetry, Seduction, Subtraction and Sustainability
4 Poke the Box Seth Godin Start. Then Ship.
5 Program or be Programmed: Ten Commandments for a Digital Age Douglas Rushkoff Be aware of biases embedded in technology
6 The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms Nassim Nicholas Taleb Seek a poetic, noble, elegant, robust and heroic life
7 Siddhartha Herman Hesse Om, the music of life, perfection.
8 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck Shocking, but very well done.
9 The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle Steven Pressfield Be a professional
10 The Art of Non-Conformity Chris Guillebeau Average. Focus on great work.
11 Brain Rules John Medina Sight, Emotion, Short Attention, Repetion
12 The Wholeness of Nature Henri Bortoft See comprehensively by experiencing the whole through the intrinsic connections found in the parts
13 Do the Work Steven Pressfield Follow up to The War of Art
14 The Idea Hunter Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer Curiosity and Breadth
15 The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood James Gleick Logical Depth
16 Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do Albert Laszio Barabasi Prioritization = Power Laws and Burstiness
17 State of Wonder Ann Patchett Amazonian saga
18 The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien Classic
19 Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly John Kay Indirect approach to life
20 End Malaria Michael Bungay Stanier Multiple authors give their take on doing great work
21 Linchpin Seth Godin Make Art
22 Exorbitant Privilege Barry Eichengreen Currency wars and history
23 Country Driving Peter Hessler Fascinating experiences in China
24 We Are All Weird Seth Godin Normal Distribution Flattening, Fatter Tails
25 The Education of a Millionaire Michael Ellsberg Makes case for not going to college
26 Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel For Brilliance Jonathan Field Techniques for overcoming the lizard brain
27 Content Rules Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman and David Meerman Overly basic tome on blogging, video, podcast, etc.
28 Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson Insight full account, particularly on Jobs’ design philosophy
29 The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris David McCullough Delightful account of American artists in Paris during the 19th century
30 Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design and Engineering of Contagious Ideas Dan Zarrella Some helpful hints for Twitter

2010 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Sonic Boom Gregg Easterbrook Positive thoughts on the global economy and innovation
2 The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Michael Lewis Sad tale of financial abuse
3 Iconoclast: A Neuroscience Reveals How to Think Differently Gregory Berns Simply Put: Think Different, Face Fear, Social Intelligence
4 The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver Beautiful and clever
5 The Signal Ron Carlson Master story telling as always
6 Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocoust Immaculee Ilibagiza For book club – sad
7 The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict The Arbinger Institute For book club – best of the self deception lot
8 Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas Richard Ogle Tune into the dynamics of key networked idea-spaces – original and insightful
9 You Say More Than You Think: Use the New Body Language to Get What You Want Janine Driver Helpful tips
10 Hamlet’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age Williams Powers Take time to reflect
11 Graceful Seth Godin Extends Linch Pin
12 The Great Reset Richard Florida Geographic fallout from the Great Recession
13 Cognitive Surplus Clay Shirky Using the world’s excess mental power
14 Simple Guide to Minimalist Life Leo Babauta Simplify
15 About Grace Anthony Doerr Beautiful novel
16 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami Unusual
17 Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation Steven Johnson Ideas, innovation. One of best books this year.
18 Wabi Sabi: For Artists Designers Poets and Philosophers Leonard Koren Inspiring
19 Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence Andrew Juniper More detail on Wabi Sabi
20 The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty Soetsu Yanagi Favorite book this year
21 Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement Leonard Koren The depth of displays
22 Which Aesthetics Do You Mean: 10 Definitions Leonard Koren Not his best
23 The Flower Shop: Charm, Grace, Beauty & Tenderness in a Commercial Context Leonard Koren New ways to arrange flowers
24 Fault Lines Raghuram G. Rajan The fissures that led to the Great Recession and how they haven’t been fixed.
25 Beatrice and Virgil Yann Martel Falls well short of Life of Pi
26 The New Capitalist Manifesto Umair Haque A compelling pathway out of our global economic and environmental funk
27 Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual Michael Pollan Straightforward eating guide

2009 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd Wonderful novel based in the South
2 The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Niall Ferguson Liked section regarding inflationary aspects of gold
3 Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges C Otto Scharmer Theory U = Downloading, Seeing, Sensing, Presenscing, Crystallizing, Prototyping, Performing
4 How We Decide Jonah Lehrer Rely on emotional brain to make complex. Think about thinking
5 Stabilizing An Unstable Economy Hyman P. Minksy The theory of debt, crash and the lender of last resort.
6 Gold Standard In Theory & History Barry Eichengreen Gold standard no panacea
7 Into the Beautiful North: A Novel Luis Alberto Urrea Novel of Mexico and Immigrants
8 Five Skies Ron Carlson Master Story Teller
9 Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism George A. Akerlof, Robert J. Shiller Behavioral Finance
10 Create Your Own Economy Tyler Cowen Uses autism as a platform for writing tedious book
11 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown Masonic novel
12 Stop Acting Rich: And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire Thomas J. Stanley Cynical – disregards those that pay up for true quality
13 Wall Street Revalued: Imperfect Markets and Inept Central Bankers Andrew Smithers Fed, bubbles and effectiveness of P/E’s based on normalized earnings for valuation criteria.
14 This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff First bank failures, then deep recession, then sovereign defaults
15 Fixing Global Finance Martin Wolf The case for global rebalancing
16 The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies Murray N. Rothbard Speculation and Collapse
17 The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons form Japan’s Great Recession Richard C. Koo Balance sheet recessions
18 Ahead of the Curve: Common Sense Guide to Forecasting Business Cycles Joseph H. Ellis Focus on trailing one year data
19 The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It Joshua Cooper Ramo Complexity and world disorder, one of the best books read in 2009

2008 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 Finding Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow: When goals are clear, feedback relevant, and challenges and skills are in balance, attention becomes ordered and fully invested.
2 Retire on Less Than You Think Fred Brock Some helpful sections and links, particularly on cost of places to live and health insurance.
3 The How of Happiness Sonja Lyubomirsky Best when describing research on goals
4 The Mind of the Market Michael Shermer A little too random, not enough synthesis Best when discussing capitalism and democracy.
5 The Blue Star Tony Early Beautiful story.
6 Ron Carlson Writes a Story Ron Carlson Best book I have ever read on writing short fiction
7 The Middle Class Millionaire Russ Alan Prince and Lewis Schiff The “new rich” come across as money obsessed and workaholics
8 Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely Excellent summary of studies within behavioral economics
9 What Now? Ann Patchett Humorous essay that touches on the writing life and its quintessential activity – staring
10 The Adventures of Johnny Bunko Daniel H. Pink Clever career guide in Manga form
11 No More Mondays – and Other Revolutionary Ways to Discover Your True Calling at Work Dan Miller Okay. Much of it I have read in other places
12 It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be Paul Arden Short but poignant
13 Refuse to Choose Barbara Sher Discussion of the Scanner personality
14 The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One Barbara Lowenstine Similar to Refuse to Choose.
15 A Perfect Mess:The Hidden Benefits of Disorder Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman The art of disorder
16 Everything is Miscellaneous David Weinberger Very well done
17 Made to Stick Chip Heath and Dan Heath Thesis stuck
18 Lost on Planet China J. Maarten Troost How China appears to the traveling layman. Fascinating
19 The Dip Seth Godin Succinct as always
20 Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us Seth Godin Inspiring
21 The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy David M. Smick Best finance book of the year
22 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell Fascinating Thesis – A bit too drawn out at parts
23 Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change How the World Learns Clayton Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, Michael B. Horn Same theory different venue
24 Back of the Napkin Dan Roam Getting Ideas Across with Pictures
25 Presentation Zen Garr Reynolds Designing the Perfect PowerPoint
26 Slide:ology Nancy Duarte Designing the Perfect Powerpoint v2
27 Creativity Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Detailed study on the topic

2007 Books Read

No. Title Author Comments
1 The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bill Bryson Just Okay. A Walk in the Woods and his book on Australia were much better.
2 The Fate of Africa Martin Meredith A well documented history of a sad state of affairs
3 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver Life changing – best novel I have read this decade
4 Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future Bill McKibben Thought provoking thesis of why go local
5 The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Nassim Nicholas Taleb Brilliant Analysis
6 The Broker John Grisham Not his best.
7 The 4-Hour Work Week Timothy Ferriss Poorly written. Example of the hubris of exatrapolating one’s short-term personal success into a “system” that anyone can learn
8 The Road Cormac McCarthy Beautiful prose but sad and disturbing
9 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling It’s over.
10 Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster Dana Thomas Eyeopening
11 Mr. Pip Lloyd Jones Beautiful setting, haunting story.
12 Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconcious Gerd Gigerenzer Very well done. Eye opening. Second most influential book I read this year.
13 Season of Life Jeffrey Marx Book club book. What it means to be a man.
14 Microtrends: The small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes Mark J. Penn Decent. Not much depth. Trends seemed self evident.
15 How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read Pierre Bayard Relieves the guilt of not finishing books, skimming books and forgetting books.
16 Stumbling Upon Happiness Dan Gilbert Detailed description of why we can’t predict how we will feel in the future.

2006 Books Reads

No. Title Author Comments
1 The City of Falling Angels John Berendt The oddities of Venice. Not particularly spellbounding, but interesting nonetheless.
2 Oaxaca Journal OIiver Sacks Pleasant profile of a week in Oaxaca. Heavy on ferns and other plants.
3 The Number Lee Eisenberg Ramblings on the New Retirement. Basic Theme: Save alot and find purpose in life beyond golf.
4 Drinking Coffee Elsewhere ZZ Packer Beautiful prose, disturbing themes.
5 The Final Solution Michael Chabon Okay. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was much better
6 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Jared Diamond Eye opening, sobering, and way too long.
7 The Way We Eat – Why Our Food Choices Matter Peter Singer and Jim Mason Excellent overview of the ethical issues surrounding food production and consumption
8 The Ominvore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan Most interesting book read so far this year. The corn chapters were fascinating
9 American Theocracy Kevin Phillips Long and disconcerting
10 Cesar’s Way Cesar Millan Makes dog raising seem both straightforward and time consuming
11 The White Man’s Burden William Easterly Excellent profile on why small scale attempts to relieve suffering are more effective than big plans.
12 The Reluctant Mr. Darwin David Quammen Exquisite biography of Charles Darwin
13 Success Built to Last Porras, Emery & Thompson This year’s requisite self help book. Some notable quotes
14 Prodigal Summer Barbara Kingsolver Exquisitely written. Perfect summer reading.
15 Audacity of Hope Barack Obama Hopeful indeed.

2005 Books Read

No. Title Author
1 Writers on Writing Vol. 2 New York Times Essays
2 Complexity, Risk & Financial Markets Edgar E. Peters
3 The 80/20 Individual Richard Koch
4 Go It Alone Bruce Judson
5 A Whole New Mind Daniel H. Pink
6 Seeing What’s Next Clayton Christiansen
7 The World Is Flat Thomas L. Friedman
8 Now Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham & Donald O Clifton
9 Cities of the Plains Cormac McCarthy
10 1776 David McCullough
11 Hot Commodities Jim Rogers
12 The Bean Tree Barbara Kingsolver
13 Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
14 In a Sunburned Country Bill Bryson

2004 Books Read

No. Title Author
1 Cold Mountain Charles Frazier
2 The Last Juror John Grisham
3 Bel Canto Ann Patchett
3 Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier
4 A New Kind of Flying Ron Carlson
5 Waiting Ha Jin
6 The Cabal Elaine Gilchrist
7 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon
8 Old School Tobias Wolff
9 East of the Mountains David Guterson
10 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime Mark Haden
11 Life of Pi Yann Martel
12 Life 2.0 Richard Karlgaard
13 On Paradise Drive David Brooks
14 Running Money Andy Kessler
15 Soloing Harriet Rubin