Sriram Krishnan
Investor @a16zcrypto. Into tech and optimism. Host "GTS" podcast with @aarthir. More: https://t.co/VIQU0kxbhH
80+ Book Recommendations by Sriram Krishnan
Madly, Deeply
Alan Rickman
Related: just read Alan Rickman's diaries this year (with Emma Thompson writing a moving foreword). Highly recommended. https://t.co/xH6cibBfmm
The Lincoln Highway
Amor Towles
Lincoln Highway https://t.co/HXuZFblsCi
The Ancient City - Imperium Press (Traditionalist Histories)
Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges
Fustel de Coulanges hands us the skeleton key unlocking classical civilization: the Indo-European domestic cult. This is the story of the descent of the traditional social order par excellence into something approximating liberalism, and it has never been better told, nor more fully explained.And of course, two books @pmarca should pick up promotional fees on https://t.co/UQFlWrqdzi https://t.co/xXE9WFCUlN
The Machiavellians
James Burnham
And of course, two books @pmarca should pick up promotional fees on https://t.co/UQFlWrqdzi https://t.co/xXE9WFCUlN
Who Is Michael Ovitz?
Michael Ovitz
Who is Michael Ovitz https://t.co/w6mgYjwkTZ
The Courage to Be Disliked
Ichiro Kishimi
“Marie Kondo, but for your brain.” —HelloGiggles “Compelling from front to back. Highly recommend.” —Marc Andreessen Reading this book could change your life. The Courage to Be Disliked, already an enormous bestseller in Asia with more than 3.5 million copies sold, demonstrates how to unlock the power within yourself to be the person you truly want to be. Is happiness something you choose for yourself? The Courage to Be Disliked presents a simple and straightforward answer. Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of nineteenth-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, this book follows an illuminating dialogue between a philosopher and a young man. Over the course of five conversations, the philosopher helps his student to understand how each of us is able to determine the direction of our own life, free from the shackles of past traumas and the expectations of others. Rich in wisdom, The Courage to Be Disliked will guide you through the concepts of self-forgiveness, self-care, and mind decluttering. It is a deeply liberating way of thinking, allowing you to develop the courage to change and ignore the limitations that you might be placing on yourself. This plainspoken and profoundly moving book unlocks the power within you to find lasting happiness and be the person you truly want to be. Millions have already benefited from its teachings, now you can too.Courage to be Disliked https://t.co/19PsoRPgjd
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo https://t.co/53e2vtQYOH
American Prometheus
Kai Bird
American Prometheus https://t.co/9pv7oCfVjz
Leonardo da Vinci
Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson's Da Vinci https://t.co/pJ3PyTFCEO
The Man from the Future
Ananyo Bhattacharya
A vibrant biography of the renowned scientist and the world he made.@Ananyo love your book
The Billionaire Raj
James Crabtree
@Appyg99 There’s a Tamil Nadu chapter in there!
I, Robot
Isaac Asimov
The classic collection of Robot Stories from the master of the genre. Earth is ruled by master-machines but the Three Laws of Robotics have been designed to ensure humans maintain the upper hand: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or allow a human being to come to harm. 2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict withe the First or Second Law. But what happens when a robot's idea of what is good for society contravenes the Three Laws?Childhood sci fi books that most influenced me - 2001 - Jurassic Park - Sphere - Rendezvous with Rama ( and several Clarke short stories) - Snowcrash - I, Robot
Snow Crash
Neal Stephenson
The “brilliantly realized” (The New York Times Book Review) modern classic that coined the term “metaverse”—one of Time’s 100 best English-language novels and “a foundational text of the cyberpunk movement” (Wired) In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous . . . you’ll recognize it immediately.Childhood sci fi books that most influenced me - 2001 - Jurassic Park - Sphere - Rendezvous with Rama ( and several Clarke short stories) - Snowcrash - I, Robot
Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton
An American bioengineering research firm erects a theme park on a Caribbean island, complete with living dinosaurs, and invites a group of scientists to be its first terrified guests.Childhood sci fi books that most influenced me - 2001 - Jurassic Park - Sphere - Rendezvous with Rama ( and several Clarke short stories) - Snowcrash - I, Robot
Rendezvous With Rama
Arthur C. Clarke
A science-fiction classic, Rendezvous with Rama is one of Arthur C. Clarke's best novels and a winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards.Childhood sci fi books that most influenced me - 2001 - Jurassic Park - Sphere - Rendezvous with Rama ( and several Clarke short stories) - Snowcrash - I, Robot
Red Plenty
Francis Spufford
“Spufford cunningly maps out a literary genre of his own . . . Freewheeling and fabulous.” —The Times (London) Strange as it may seem, the gray, oppressive USSR was founded on a fairy tale. It was built on the twentieth-century magic called “the planned economy,” which was going to gush forth an abundance of good things that the lands of capitalism could never match. And just for a little while, in the heady years of the late 1950s, the magic seemed to be working. Red Plenty is about that moment in history, and how it came, and how it went away; about the brief era when, under the rash leadership of Khrushchev, the Soviet Union looked forward to a future of rich communists and envious capitalists, when Moscow would out-glitter Manhattan and every Lada would be better engineered than a Porsche. It’s about the scientists who did their genuinely brilliant best to make the dream come true, to give the tyranny its happy ending. Red Plenty is history, it’s fiction, it’s as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant, and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne.@mattmcd @tarunchitra @ks_kulk Was just about to suggest this. Fantastic book
Talent
Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross's Talent offers strategies on how to spot, assess, woo, and retain highly talented people. How do you find talent with a creative spark? To what extent can you predict human creativity, or is human creativity something irreducible before our eyes, perhaps to be spotted or glimpsed by intuition, but unique each time it appears? The art and science of talent search get at exactly those questions. Renowned economist Tyler Cowen and venture capitalist and entrepreneur Daniel Gross guide the reader through the major scientific research areas relevant for talent search, including how to conduct an interview, how much to weigh intelligence, how to judge personality and match personality traits to jobs, how to evaluate talent in on-line interactions such as Zoom calls, why talented women are still undervalued and how to spot them, how to understand the special talents in people who have disabilities or supposed disabilities, and how to use delegated scouts to find talent. Identifying underrated, brilliant individuals is one of the simplest ways to give yourself an organizational edge, and this is the book that will show you how to do that. It is both for people searching for talent, and for those being searched and wish to understand how to better stand out.If you’re in the job of evaluating talent ( and almost of us are), I can’t endorse @tylercowen and @danielgross’s new book strongly enough. Written by two people who deeply understand human beings.
The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson
'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .@_BillHowe @SahilBloom Fantastic book
Tokyo Vice
Jake Adelstein
An American journalist offers a unique, firsthand, revelatory look at Japanese culture from the underbelly up, in a book where he recounts his time as a crime reporter in the seedy side of Japan where extortion, murder, human trafficking and corruption were the norm.@bamarc Tokyo Vice (the book)
A Pattern Language
Christopher Alexander
Two hundred and fifty-three archetypal patterns consisting of problem statements, discussions, illustrations, and solutions provide lay persons with a framework for engaging in architectural design@smc90 @nabeel @jessewldn @alive_eth @Iiterature Amazing book
Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet— Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Meadows' newly released manuscript, Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.@alive_eth Fantastic book
Will
Will Smith
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! “It's the best memoir I've ever read.” —Oprah Winfrey “Will Smith isn't holding back in his bravely inspiring new memoir . . . An ultimately heartwarming read, Will provides a humane glimpse of the man behind the actor, producer and musician, as he bares all his insecurities and trauma.” —USA Today One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had. Will Smith’s transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale—but it’s only half the story. Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over. This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.@businessbarista @RealWillSmithFP Love the book and how the process was documented on YouTube too
The Cold Start Problem
Andrew Chen
A venture capitalist draws on expertise developed at the premier venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, and as an executive at Uber to address how tech's most successful products have solved the dreaded "cold start problem"--by leveraging networks effects to launch and scale towards billions of users. Although software has become easier to build, launching and scaling new products and services remains difficult. Startups face daunting challenges entering the technology ecosystem, including stiff competition, copycats, and ineffective marketing channels. Teams launching new products must consider the advantages of "the network effect," where a product or service's value increases as more users engage with it. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants utilize network effects, and most tech products incorporate them, whether they're messaging apps, workplace collaboration tools, or marketplaces. Network effects provide a path for fledgling products to break through, attracting new users through viral growth and word of mouth. Yet most entrepreneurs lack the vocabulary and context to describe them--much less understand the fundamental principles that drive the effect. What exactly are network effects? How do teams create and build them into their products? How do products compete in a market where every player has them? Andrew Chen draws on his experience and on interviews with the CEOs and founding teams of LinkedIn, Twitch, Zoom, Dropbox, Tinder, Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest -- to provide unique insights in answering these questions. Chen also provides practical frameworks and principles that can be applied across products and industries. The Cold Start Problem reveals what makes winning networks successful, why some startups fail to successfully scale, and most crucially, why products that create and compete using the network effect are vitally important today.Remember @andrewchen talking to me about the idea of writing a book years ago. Since then it’s been amazing to see the journey his book ( and our lives!) have taken. Special to now tweet this as a colleague. His book is out today, go get a copy! https://t.co/kA8pYPUMwG
Shards of Earth (Volume 1) (The Final Architecture, 1)
Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary new space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all. The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . . Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity's heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared - and Idris and his kind became obsolete. Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It's clearly the work of the Architects - but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.@martin_casado Just read this over the last two days. Amazing book! Really loved it
The Company
John Micklethwait
The authors of A Future Perfect provide a close-up look at the history of the joint-stock company and examine its influence on world history, describing the institution's continually evolving forms and how it continues to shape global power. Reprint. 32,500 first printing.Here's the book -> https://t.co/wK07FKBNHD
@immad Related - this is a great book https://t.co/1kWwc3KABk
Loonshots
Safi Bahcall
@brian_armstrong love this book cc @SafiBahcall
Gamestorming
Dave Gray
Great things don't happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming. This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world's most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. This book is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace. Find out why -- and how -- with Gamestorming. Overcome conflict and increase engagement with team-oriented games Improve collaboration and communication in cross-disciplinary teams with visual-thinking techniques Improve understanding by role-playing customer and user experiences Generate better ideas and more of them, faster than ever before Shorten meetings and make them more productive Simulate and explore complex systems, interactions, and dynamics Identify a problem's root cause, and find the paths that point toward a solution. @shishirmehrotra "“Design your meetings like you design your apps.” Recommend the book "Gamestorming". Games are different from play in that they require the development of rules. Structure your meetings intentionally, drawing on principles of game design for inspiration.
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel
Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.@skupor @morganhousel Love that book
Scientific Freedom
Donald W. Braben
Stripe Press is one of my favorite institutions right now. Every book is a work of art. https://t.co/gbsPsoARSA
Trekonomics
Manu Saadia
"Trekonomics" explores the economics of the Star Trek universe as if it were real, and discusses how our own world can work towards that model.@ruchowdh @zeynep @trekonomics Love that book!
The Making of Prince of Persia
Jordan Mechner
@lennysan @kivestu It’s a brilliant book
How Innovation Works
Matt Ridley
"Originally published as How Innovation works: serendipity, energy and saving of time in Great Britain in 2020 by 4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers."--Title page verso.Loving @mattwridley’s “How innovation works”. One of the best books on “innovation” and entrepreneurship and the engine of making new things.
Working in Public
Nadia Eghbal
@antoniogm @nayafia I got to see an early version of this and love this book! Cc @patrickc
The Deficit Myth
Stephanie Kelton
Reading @StephanieKelton’s new book. I’m a n00b on MMT but something jumps out quickly - this is someone who knows how to write well ( and with humor) and understands the power of naming things. https://t.co/dqj3bqjq1G
See https://t.co/KQtVT6tDiD for summary of the book but highly recommend reading all of it.
Leonardo da Vinci
Walter Isaacson
The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker). Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius. In the “luminous” (Daily Beast) Leonardo da Vinci, Isaacson describes how Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and, like talented rebels in any era, to think different. Here, da Vinci “comes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacson’s ambitious new biography…a vigorous, insightful portrait” (The Washington Post).@dev_chhatbar Walter Isaacson’s book on Da Vinci
The Beautiful Fall
Alicia Drake
@gasca Can I do another book? The Beautiful Fall documenting the YSL vs Karl Lagerfeld feud. Just read the first 15 pages. It oozes with glamor and fashion.
The Origin of Wealth
Eric D. Beinhocker
What is wealth?How is it created? And how can we create more of it for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and societies?In The Origin of Wealth,Eric Beinhocker provides provocative new answers to these fundamental questions. Beinhocker surveys the cutting-edge ideas of economists and scientists and brings their work alive for a broad audience. These researchers, he explains, are revolutionizing economics by showing how the economy is an evolutionary system, much like a biological system. It is economic evolution that creates wealth and has taken us from the Stone Age to the $36.5 trillion global economy of today. By better understanding economic evolution, Beinhocker writes, we can better understand how to create more wealth. The author shows how “complexity economics” is turning conventional wisdom on its head in areas ranging from business strategy and organizational design to investment strategy and public policy. As sweeping in scope as its title,The Origin of Wealthwill rewire our thinking about the workings of the global economy and where it is going.@gasca Can I do another book? The Beautiful Fall documenting the YSL vs Karl Lagerfeld feud. Just read the first 15 pages. It oozes with glamor and fashion.
The Making of Prince of Persia
Jordan Mechner
@kaustiwari Amazing. The look and feel itself is just amazing. The Prince of Persia book is a visual masterpiece.
The 40s
The New Yorker Magazine
A cultural and political history of a watershed decade as reflected in the pages of New Yorker magazine covers such topics as the Nuremberg Trials, the statehood of Israel, and the bombing of Hiroshima.Loving these New Yorker decade collections. Here’s a little 40s one on Einstein ( didn’t know the bit on passports!) https://t.co/dqe4Yopam0
Skunk Works
Ben R. Rich
This classic history of America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies is "a gripping technothriller in which the technology is real" (New York Times Book Review). From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. Filled with telling personal anecdotes and high adventure, with narratives from the CIA and from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a riveting portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the twentieth century. "Thoroughly engrossing." --Los Angeles Times Book ReviewHighly recommend “Skunkworks”, one of my all time favorite books on organizational culture.
Always Day One
Alex Kantrowitz
At Amazon, 'Day One' is code for working inventively and urgently, as if it were the first day of your startup. Amazon and its fellow tech giants are under fire for their size and power, but there's more to their story than anti-competitive practices and tax avoidance. These companies have kept ahead of the competition by embracing a new leadership model, one built for an age where companies can spin up new products and services at record speed. For these new goliaths, it's always day one. Go behind the scenes with first-time interviews and exclusive scoops with all the major players - Pichai, Nadella, Zuckerberg, and Bezos.As an "insider", I'm often pleasantly surprised when I learn something new from books in tech. @Kantrowitz's "Always Day One" is a really fun read. Especially learned a bunch on how Amazon's memo process/culture that I didn't know of before.
The Victory Machine
Ethan Sherwood Strauss
From a top NBA reporter, a look at the fast-moving, deal-making, often brutal world that built an NBA dynasty--the Golden State Warriors--and now perhaps threatens to break it apart. The Golden State Warriors are the envy of the modern NBA. Chasing their third consecutive championship, they have assembled an incredible wealth of athletic talent, lead the league in merchandise sales, and are planning to move into a glitzy new stadium next season. Their owner, Joe Lacob, regularly hosts the top CEOs and influencers of Silicon Valley in his box, fashioning himself into one of the most powerful men in the world. Yet inside the organization, there is considerably more strife. In this breakthrough work of reportage, star NBA reporter Ethan Sherwood Strauss investigates the team's culture, its financial ambitions and struggles, and the toll that being a super-team can take. In so doing, he not only rewrites the story of the Warriors, but reveals how the Darwinian business of NBA basketball really works. Reconstructing the deals that lured Steph Curry away from Nike and Kevin Durant away from Oklahoma City, Strauss shows how the smallest mistakes can define success or failure for years. And, as he looks ahead to the 2020 season, Strauss ponders whether this organization can survive its own ambitions. Written with great personality and remarkable breadth, The Victory Machine shows what it takes to win when you are constantly under siege.Loving @SherwoodStrauss’s new book on GSW and 🏀 One of many *great* stories: how GSW were bought out from under Ellison’s nose. Show how a) you got to travel for big deals in person (even post-COVID) b) ppl+chemistry makes the difference c) knowing who’s the stakeholder. https://t.co/5C2f7WpGPk
The Lords of Strategy
Walter Kiechel
Journalist and editor Walter Kiechel recounts the birth and evolution of strategy, arguably the most influential business paradigm of the past half century and the trials and triumphs of the disruptors who invented it.@kevinakwok @patrickc Lords of Strategy also a good book here
Little Blue Truck board book
Alice Schertle
@JoannaG https://t.co/VD1SUx2cOQ https://t.co/cxKT5K6HMI Can strongly endorse!!!
The Hair Book (Bright & Early Books(R))
GRAHAM TETHER
"A celebration of hair--and all the things you can do with it!"--@JoannaG https://t.co/VD1SUx2cOQ https://t.co/cxKT5K6HMI Can strongly endorse!!!
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Immersing himself in a mid-21st-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's super-wealthy creator, who has promised that the winner will be his heir. (This book was previously listed in Forecast.)@collision @USMC Ready Player One and Starship Troopers?!
Starship Troopers
Robert Anson Heinlein
@collision @USMC Ready Player One and Starship Troopers?!
Agent Running in the Field
John Le Carre
A new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author John le Carré Set in London in 2018, Agent Running in the Field follows a twenty-six year old solitary figure who, in a desperate attempt to resist the political turbulence swirling around him, makes connections that will take him down a dangerous path. In his plot and characterization le Carré is as thrilling as ever and in the way he writes about our times he proves himself, once again, to be the greatest chronicler of our age.@gasca If you like the blog you’ll like it. I have something better. Agent running in the field by Le Carré. Just amazing
Atomic Habits
James Clear
James Clear presents strategies to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that help lead to an improved life.@gasca Just discovered Atomic Habits by James Moore
Cyberwar
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
The question of how Donald Trump won the 2016 election looms over his presidency. In particular, were the 78,000 voters who gave him an Electoral College victory affected by the Russian trolls and hackers? Trump has denied it. So has Vladimir Putin. Others cast the answer as unknowable. In Cyberwar, Kathleen Hall Jamieson marshals the troll posts, unique polling data, analyses of how the press used hacked content, and a synthesis of half a century of media effects literature to argue that, although not certain, it is probable that the Russians helped elect the 45th president of the United States. In the process, she asks: How extensive was the troll messaging? What characteristics of social media did the Russians exploit? Why did the mainstream press rush the hacked content into the citizenry's newsfeeds? Was Clinton telling the truth when she alleged that the debate moderators distorted what she said in the leaked speeches? Did the Russian influence extend beyond social media and news to alter the behavior of FBI director James Comey? After detailing the ways in which Russian efforts were abetted by the press, social media, candidates, party leaders, and a polarized public, Cyberwar closes with a warning: the country is ill-prepared to prevent a sequel. In this updated paperback edition, Jamieson covers the many new developments that have come to light since the original publication.Here’s the book he recommends-> https://t.co/WSu1cZAQiG
Dealers of Lightning
Michael A. Hiltzik
For example: here’s a casual reference to a young Charles Symoni in Dealers of Lightning. https://t.co/ImQzhaSSun
Trick Mirror
Jia Tolentino
‘A whip-smart, challenging book. It filled me with hope’ Zadie Smith From one of the brightest young chroniclers of US culture comes this dazzling collection of essays on the internet, the self, feminism and politics.There's many good reasons to read @jiatolentino's "Trick Mirror" (*the* book of the summer). Here's a less mentioned one - if like me, you work on products that help people express themselves online, this is a MUST read to help understand the impact our platforms have.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Shoshana Zuboff
THE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Shortlisted for the FT Business Book of the Year Award 2019 'Easily the most important book to be published this century. I find it hard to take any young activist seriously who hasn't at least familarised themselves with Zuboff's central ideas.' - Zadie Smith, The Guardian The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control us. The heady optimism of the Internet's early days is gone. Technologies that were meant to liberate us have deepened inequality and stoked divisions. Tech companies gather our information online and sell it to the highest bidder, whether government or retailer. Profits now depend not only on predicting our behaviour but modifying it too. How will this fusion of capitalism and the digital shape our values and define our future? Shoshana Zuboff shows that we are at a crossroads. We still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in, and what we decide now will shape the rest of the century. Our choices: allow technology to enrich the few and impoverish the many, or harness it and distribute its benefits. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. Most critically, it shows how we can protect ourselves and our communities and ensure we are the masters of the digital rather than its slaves.Just read @shoshanazuboff’s “Age or Surveillance Capitalism”. It is definitely one of the more researched/thought out books on basically the last 20 years of tech.
The Geneva Option
Adam LeBor
A gripping thriller of international espionage, The Geneva Option by Adam LeBor pits a sexy, young UN staffer against a brutal conspiracy to control Africa’s natural resources. Yael Azoulay does the United Nations’ dirty work. Sent by the UN’s Secretary General to eastern Congo to negotiate with Jean-Pierre Hakizimani, a Hutu warlord wanted for genocide, she offers a deal: surrender to the UN tribunal, in exchange for a short sentence and a return to politics. The plan is to bring stability to the region so the West can exploit the region’s mineral wealth. But Yael soon realizes that the UN is prepared to turn a blind eye to mass murder. Yael finds herself on the run, hunted by the world’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies—and haunted by her past—ultimately learning that salvation means not just saving other’s lives but confronting her own inner demons. Written by Adam LeBor, a high-profile foreign correspondent and critically acclaimed investigative journalist, The Geneva Option takes readers on a nonstop journey through the secret corridors of international power.@adamlebor @FT Absolutely loved The Geneva Option.
Anathem
Neal Stephenson
The latest magnificent creation from the award-winning author of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle trilogy. Erasmas, 'Raz', is a young avout living in the Concent, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers. Three times during history's darkest epochs, violence has invaded and devastated the cloistered community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe. But they now prepare to open the Concent's gates to the outside world, in celebration of a once-a-decade rite. Suddenly, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet...and beyond.@mdlevinson Hmm. First third amazing. After that YMMV. Just read till page 300 or so. I loved Snow Crash, liked Anathem, liked Reamde, found Seveneves to be too many things in one book.
Loonshots
Safi Bahcall
*Wall Street Journal bestseller *Next Big Idea Club selection—chosen by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, and Adam Grant as one of the "two most groundbreaking new nonfiction reads of the season" *Washington Post's "10 Leadership Books to Watch for in 2019" *Inc.com's "10 Business Books You Need to Read in 2019" *Business Insider's "14 Books Everyone Will Be Reading in 2019" “This book has everything: new ideas, bold insights, entertaining history and convincing analysis. Not to be missed by anyone who wants to understand how ideas change the world.” —Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow What do James Bond and Lipitor have in common? What can we learn about human nature and world history from a glass of water? In Loonshots, physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs. Drawing on the science of phase transitions, Bahcall shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing wild new ideas to rigidly rejecting them, just as flowing water will suddenly change into brittle ice. Mountains of print have been written about culture. Loonshots identifies the small shifts in structure that control this transition, the same way that temperature controls the change from water to ice. Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, Bahcall shows how this new kind of science helps us understand the behavior of companies and the fate of empires. Loonshots distills these insights into lessons for creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries everywhere. Over the past decade, researchers have been applying the tools and techniques of phase transitions to understand how birds flock, fish swim, brains work, people vote, criminals behave, ideas spread, diseases erupt, and ecosystems collapse. If twentieth-century science was shaped by the search for fundamental laws, like quantum mechanics and gravity, the twenty-first will be shaped by this new kind of science. Loonshots is the first to apply these tools to help all of us unlock our potential to create and nurture the crazy ideas that change the world.@SafiBahcall The first review on the Amazon page does a great summary on the book -> https://t.co/0nOByyKTKA
- A Winner of the Alex Award, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction, named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything--instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele's behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends. But when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls. Rendered with irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave.
"Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore". A real delight. A quirky fantasy fiction/thriller which feels like Harry Potter but more..fun. And filled with love for books. And SF. After reading, discovered the author @robinsloan is an ex-tweep! This needs to be a movie.
Lethal White
Robert Galbraith
'Hugely absorbing. . . the best Strike novel yet' SUNDAY MIRROR 'Highly inventive storytelling' GUARDIAN 'Outrageously entertaining' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Come for the twists and turns and stay for the beautifully drawn central relationship' INDEPENDENT 'Blistering piece of crime writing' SUNDAY TIMES 'Fans will love it' HEAT ----- When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic. Trying to get to the bottom of Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott - once his assistant, now a partner in the agency - set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside. And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been - Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that . . . The most epic Robert Galbraith novel yet, LETHAL WHITE is both a gripping mystery and a page-turning next instalment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. ----- PRAISE FOR THE STRIKE SERIES: 'One of the most unique and compelling detectives I've come across in years' MARK BILLINGHAM 'The work of a master storyteller' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Unputdownable. . . Irresistible' SUNDAY TIMES 'Will keep you up all night' OBSERVER 'A thoroughly enjoyable classic' PETER JAMES, SUNDAY EXPRESS"Lethal White" - the newest J.K.Rowling Cormoran Strike books. It's no secret I'm a huge JKR fan and her Strike books are better than HP in some ways. She writes freely and you see how talented she is. This is not the best in the series but still towers above everyone else.
"The Sentence Is Death" by @AnthonyHorowitz. Discovering his work has been a delight (his Sherlock series is amazing too). This along with Word is Murder and Magpie Murders form a delightful set of "fourth wall breaking" English detective fiction.
The Woman in the Window
A. J. Finn
#1 New York Times Bestseller – Soon to be a Major Motion Picture starring Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and Gary Oldman “Astounding. Thrilling. Amazing.” —Gillian Flynn “Unputdownable.” —Stephen King “A dark, twisty confection.” —Ruth Ware “Absolutely gripping.” —Louise Penny For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most anticipated debuts, to be published in thirty-six languages around the world and already in development as a major film from Fox: a twisty, powerful Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house. It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . . Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems. Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock."The Woman In the Window" by A.J.Finn. I confess I only read this due to the recent controversy around the author. It feels derivative of the "Gone Girl" unreliable narrator genre but will sustain your interest for an afternoon.
Death Notice
Zhou Haohui
“Fiendishly inventive.” —The Wall Street Journal Chengdu, China: The vibrant capital of Sichuan Province is suddenly held hostage when a shocking manifesto is released by an anonymous vigilante known as Eumenides. It is a bold declaration of war against a corrupt legal system, with Eumenides acting as judge and executioner. The public starts nominating potential targets, and before long hundreds of names are added to his kill list. Eumenides's cunning game has only just begun. First, he publishes a “death notice,” announcing his next target, the crimes for which the victim will be punished, and the date of the execution. The note is a deeply personal taunt to the police. Everyone knows who is going to die and when it's going to happen, but the police fail to stop the attack. The 4/18 Task Force, an elite group of detectives and specialists, is assembled to catch Eumenides before he strikes again. In the process, they discover alarming connections to an eighteen-year-old cold case, and they find out that some members of the team have much to hide."Death Notice" by Zhou Haohui. I got @aarthir a Daunt Book subscription for Christmas but I've been reading her books first 😄. A massive Chinese hit translated into English. It feels very non-American but also familiar. Indian and Chinese culture have a lot of overlap apparently
Boyd
Robert Coram
John Boyd may be the most remarkable unsung hero in all of American military history. Some remember him as the greatest U.S. fighter pilot ever -- the man who, in simulated air-to-air combat, defeated every challenger in less than forty seconds. Some recall him as the father of our country's most legendary fighter aircraft -- the F-15 and F-16. Still others think of Boyd as the most influential military theorist since Sun Tzu. They know only half the story. Boyd, more than any other person, saved fighter aviation from the predations of the Strategic Air Command. His manual of fighter tactics changed the way every air force in the world flies and fights. He discovered a physical theory that forever altered the way fighter planes were designed. Later in life, he developed a theory of military strategy that has been adopted throughout the world and even applied to business models for maximizing efficiency. And in one of the most startling and unknown stories of modern military history, the Air Force fighter pilot taught the U.S. Marine Corps how to fight war on the ground. His ideas led to America's swift and decisive victory in the Gulf War and foretold the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On a personal level, Boyd rarely met a general he couldn't offend. He was loud, abrasive, and profane. A man of daring, ferocious passion and intractable stubbornness, he was that most American of heroes -- a rebel who cared not for his reputation or fortune but for his country. He was a true patriot, a man who made a career of challenging the shortsighted and self-serving Pentagon bureaucracy. America owes Boyd and his disciples -- the six men known as the "Acolytes" -- a great debt. Robert Coram finally brings to light the remarkable story of a man who polarized all who knew him, but who left a legacy that will influence the military -- and all of America -- for decades to come . . .(4) "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War". Boyd invented the OODA loop and the heart of not just modern battle strategy but also organizational strategy. Also rare for a *strategist* to have such huge impact.
Doing the Impossible
Patrick Bet-David
What does Doing the Impossible really mean? This book is for those who have a desire to achieve greatness and are ready to take the steps to turn that desire into a reality. At one point or another in this book, you will experience several different reactions - excitement, curiosity, joy, laughter, or even tears - but the ultimate goal is to encourage and challenge you to make a decision to do the impossible. That may have a totally different meaning to you than it did to Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, or any of the other role models we will look at; but whatever Doing the Impossible means to you, the goal of this book is to help you realize that you have the capacity to do what the critics think is impossible. - Patrick Bet-David, Introduction to Doing the Impossible. Doing the Impossible is a roadmap for those who want to do something big with their lives. The book goes over 25 steps that the reader should take to re-create themselves, identify their cause, and make history. Patrick Bet-David shares his own impossible crusade and gives key principles for anyone looking to do the same.(1) "Doing the Impossible": Chronicles George. E. Mueller's overhaul of NASA to make Apollo possible. I've come to now see Apollo as much as an "organizational success story" as much a science/engineering one. Mueller is a true organization genius.
The Rickover Effect
Theodore Rockwell
"A notable, anecdote-rich biography of the controversial 'father of the nuclear navy.'"—Publishers Weekly "This thought-provoking, well-written, and stimulating book . . . is an honest tribute to a man whose greatness will one day be recognized even more than it is today."—Associated Press "Together with Rhodes's definitive account of the race . . . to develop a nuclear bomb, these two works constitute the most important contributions to date on the history of atomic energy."—Nuclear News "The consummate inside story of Rickover's team: how they developed nuclear power, how they worked together, and their relationships with a revered, though controversial, boss."—Captain Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret.), author of Run Silent, Run Deep In less than a decade, Hyman G. Rickover created the world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, and built the world's first atomic power station. His unprecedented technological achievements overcame both natural and human obstacles and gave new meaning to the concept of industrial quality control. Here is the critically acclaimed, authentic inside story, told by the man who worked at Rickover's side for fifteen years. Theodore Rockwell takes us behind the "zirconium curtain" to see the emergence of the commercial nuclear industry through the eyes of those who shaped it and to discover why Rickover provoked a storm of controversy. The Rickover Effect is a riveting tale of genius and dedication told in intimate, human terms. Theodore Rockwell is an editor and author, as well as an expert on nuclear reactors who worked with Admiral Rickover from 1949 to 1964. He served as technical director of the U.S. Naval Reactors Program from 1954 to 1964.(3) "The Rickover Effect: The Inside Story of How Adm. Hyman Rickover Built the Nuclear Navy" This was a surprise. I knew little of Adm. Rickover but now I'm a fan. In retrospect, you see how remarkable building of our subs are - cross-disciplinary/agency.
Team of Teams
General Stanley McChrystal
What if you could combine the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization? When General Stanley McChrystal took command of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq in 2003, he quickly realized that conventional military tactics were failing. The allied forces had a huge advantage in numbers, equipment and training - but none of the enemy's speed and flexibility. McChrystal and his colleagues discarded a century of conventional wisdom to create a 'team of teams' that combined extremely transparent communication with decentralized decision-making authority. Faster, flatter and more flexible, the task force beat back al-Qaeda. In this powerful book, McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relevant to any leader. Through compelling examples, the authors demonstrate that the 'team of teams' strategy has worked everywhere from hospital emergency rooms to NASA and has the potential to transform organizations large and small. 'A bold argument that leaders can help teams become greater than the sum of their parts' Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit 'An indispensable guide to organizational change' Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs(5) "Team of Teams" by Stanley McChrystal. I didn't love this as much as others have but definitely a part of this pantheon.
Now It Can Be Told
General Leslie R. Groves
General Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer were the two men chiefly responsible for the building of the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, code name "The Manhattan Project." As the ranking military officer in charge of marshalling men and material for what was to be the most ambitious, expensive engineering feat in history, it was General Groves who hired Oppenheimer (with knowledge of his left-wing past), planned facilities that would extract the necessary enriched uranium, and saw to it that nothing interfered with the accelerated research and swift assembly of the weapon.This is his story of the political, logistical, and personal problems of this enormous undertaking which involved foreign governments, sensitive issues of press censorship, the construction of huge plants at Hanford and Oak Ridge, and a race to build the bomb before the Nazis got wind of it. The role of groves in the Manhattan Project has always been controversial. In his new introduction the noted physicist Edward Teller, who was there at Los Alamos, candidly assesses the general's contributions-and Oppenheimer's-while reflecting on the awesome legacy of their work.(2) "Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project" - similar read but on the Manhattan Project. I thought I knew the basic outlines but this was a fascinating read.
Programming Windows Azure
Sriram Krishnan
Learn the nuts and bolts of cloud computing with Windows Azure, Microsoft's new Internet services platform. Written by a key member of the product development team, this book shows you how to build, deploy, host, and manage applications using Windows Azure's programming model and essential storage services. Chapters in Programming Windows Azure are organized to reflect the platform's buffet of services. The book's first half focuses on how to write and host application code on Windows Azure, while the second half explains all of the options you have for storing and accessing data on the platform with high scalability and reliability. Lots of code samples and screenshots are available to help you along the way. Learn how to build applications using the Windows Azure toolset Discover how Windows Azure works under the hood, and learn the how and the why behind several features Choose to write application code in .NET or other languages such as C/C++, PHP, or Ruby Understand the various options for managing your service Get up to speed on Azure's storage services, including blobs, queues, and tables Build a secure backup system, and learn about cloud application security, cryptography, and performance@ritaparada Very old reference -> https://t.co/xXzSe2Ef0J
The Revolt of the Public
Martin Gurri
Riding a tsunami of information, the public has trampled on the temples of authority in every domain of human activity, everywhere. The Revolt of the Public tells the story of how ordinary people, gifted amateurs networked in communities of interest, have swarmed over the hierarchies of accredited professionals, questioned their methods, and shouted their failures from the digital rooftops. In science, business, media - and, pre-eminently, in politics and government - established elites have lost the power to command attention and set the agenda.The consequences have been revolutionary. Insurgencies enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere have mobilized millions, toppling dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, crushing the ruling Socialist Party in Spain, inspiring "Tea Parties" and "Occupations" in the United States. Trust in political authority stands at an all-time low around the world. The Revolt of the Public analyzes the composition of the public, the nature of authority and legitimacy, and the part played by the perturbing agent: information. A major theme of the book is whether democratic institutions can survive the assaults of a public that at times appears to be at war with any form of organization, if not with history itself.@stripepress @eladgil @tylercowen @mgurri @mgurri is a new discovery for me and his "Revolt of the Public" is a work of passion on how society is navigating social media - and one of the rare works to see it from both sides.
The Book of Why
Judea Pearl
How the study of causality revolutionized science and the world Cause and effect: it's at the center of scientific inquiry, and yet for decades scientists had no way of answering simple questions, such as whether smoking causes cancer. In The Book of Why, Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie show how Pearl's work on causality has broken through this stalemate, unleashing a revolution in our knowledge of the world. Anyone who wants to understand how science, the human mind, or artificial intelligence works needs The Book of Why. "Illuminating. . . a valuable lesson on the history of ideas." --New York Times "This book really gets you thinking about cause and effect as it applies to issues of our time. . . . Extraordinary." --Science Friday"The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect" Best book on causation you'll find. https://t.co/SOqwECXx93
Personal History
Katharine Graham
As seen in the new movie The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep, here is the captivating, inside story of the woman who piloted the Washington Post during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of American media. In this bestselling and widely acclaimed memoir, Katharine Graham, the woman who piloted the Washington Post through the scandals of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, tells her story - one that is extraordinary both for the events it encompasses and for the courage, candour and dignity of its telling. Here is the awkward child who grew up amid material wealth and emotional isolation; the young bride who watched her brilliant, charismatic husband - a confidant to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson - plunge into the mental illness that would culminate in his suicide. And here is the widow who shook off her grief and insecurity to take on a president and a pressman's union as she entered the profane boys' club of the newspaper business. As timely now as ever, Personal History is an exemplary record of our history and of the woman who played such a shaping role within them, discovering her own strength and sense of self as she confronted - and mastered - the personal and professional crises of her fascinating life."Personal History: Katharine Graham" Bought this after watching "The Post". You can sense how much larger-than-life she was and her personality/grit jumps off the pages. https://t.co/FODSVAUVzw
But What If We're Wrong?
Chuck Klosterman
What if everything we are most certain about turns out to be totally wrong?"But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past - Chuck Klosterman" - People either love this or hate it. I found it uneven but it forces you to look at a few spaces differently. https://t.co/qQXF6APuhk
An Unfinished Life
Mark Spragg
Seeking to escape her brutal boyfriend and hoping to introduce her daughter, Griff, to the grandfather she has never met, widow Jean Gilkyson seeks refuge in her late husband's Wyoming hometown with her estranged father-in-law, who blames her for his son's death. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 60,000 first printing."An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy" - none of the JFK books are complete/good by themselves but this comes close. https://t.co/OaaLiejgAN
Creative Selection
Ken Kocienda
* WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * An insider's account of Apple's creative process during the golden years of Steve Jobs. Hundreds of millions of people use Apple products every day; several thousand work on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California; but only a handful sit at the drawing board. Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly-respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era—the Golden Age of Apple. Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For fifteen years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad, and the Safari web browser. His stories explain the symbiotic relationship between software and product development for those who have never dreamed of programming a computer, and reveal what it was like to work on the cutting edge of technology at one of the world's most admired companies. Kocienda shares moments of struggle and success, crisis and collaboration, illuminating each with lessons learned over his Apple career. He introduces the essential elements of innovation—inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste, and empathy—and uses these as a lens through which to understand productive work culture. An insider's tale of creativity and innovation at Apple, Creative Selection shows readers how a small group of people developed an evolutionary design model, and how they used this methodology to make groundbreaking and intuitive software which countless millions use every day."Creative Selection - Ken Kocienda" - this is not just a great Apple book but a great all-time book on engineering. Made me feel the love for computer science all over again. https://t.co/We5YEcX3xn
The Coddling of the American Mind
Jonathan Haidt
'Excellent, their advice is sound . . . liberal parents, in particular, should read it' Financial Times The New York Times bestseller What doesn't kill you makes you weaker Always trust your feelings Life is a battle between good people and evil people These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. And yet they have become increasingly woven into education, culminating in a stifling culture of "safetyism" that began on American college campuses and is spreading throughout academic institutions in the English-speaking world. In this book, free speech campaigner Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt investigate six trends that caused the spread of these untruths, from the decline of unsupervised play to the corporatization of universities and the rise of new ideas about identity and justice. Lukianoff and Haidt argue that well-intended but misguided attempts to protect young people can hamper their development, with devastating consequences for them, for the educational system and for democracy itself."The Coddling of the American Mind" - Jonathan Haidt - provocative look at what's happening in campuses today (this is a bit of a sequel to The Righteous Mind) https://t.co/O7MbHfzyMB
Churchill
Andrew Roberts
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, ECONOMIST, DAILY TELEGRAPH, EVENING STANDARD, OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Undoubtedly the best single-volume life of Churchill ever written' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times A magnificently fresh and unexpected biography of Churchill, by one of Britain's most acclaimed historians Winston Churchill towers over every other figure in twentieth-century British history. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world. There have been over a thousand previous biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over forty new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, used in no previous Churchill biography to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors. The book in no way conceals Churchill's faults and it allows the reader to appreciate his virtues and character in full: his titanic capacity for work (and drink), his ability see the big picture, his willingness to take risks and insistence on being where the action was, his good humour even in the most desperate circumstances, the breadth and strength of his friendships and his extraordinary propensity to burst into tears at unexpected moments. Above all, it shows us the wellsprings of his personality - his lifelong desire to please his father (even long after his father's death) but aristocratic disdain for the opinions of almost everyone else, his love of the British Empire, his sense of history and its connection to the present. During the Second World War, Churchill summoned a particular scientist to see him several times for technical advice. 'It was the same whenever we met', wrote the young man, 'I had a feeling of being recharged by a source of living power.' Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary, wrote 'Wherever he was, there was a battlefront.' Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Churchill's essential partner in strategy and most severe critic in private, wrote in his diary, 'I thank God I was given such an opportunity of working alongside such a man, and of having my eyes opened to the fact that occasionally supermen exist on this earth.'"Churchill: Walking with Destiny" - I'm a Churchill buff and while nothing can compete with the Manchester series, this is a great read. https://t.co/DGWxxyfRR5
Born Standing Up
Steve Martin
Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'. BORN STANDING UP is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era."Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life - Steve Martin" - Not sure how I never read this before 2018, one of the best autobiographies you'll read. https://t.co/jPCeRXaNI6
The Big Picture
Sean Carroll
Where are we? Who are we? Do our beliefs, hopes and dreams mean anything out there in the void? Can human purpose and meaning ever fit into a scientific worldview? Acclaimed award-winning author Sean Carroll brings his extraordinary intellect to bear on the realms of knowledge, the laws of nature and the most profound questions about life, death and our place in it all. In a dazzlingly unique presentation, Carroll takes us through the scientific revolution’s avalanche of discoveries, from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness and the universe itself. Delving into the way the world works at the quantum, cosmic and human levels, he reveals how human values relate to scientific reality. An extraordinary synthesis of cosmos-sprawling science and profound thought, The Big Picture is Carroll’s quest to explain our world. Destined to sit alongside the works of our greatest thinkers, from Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan to Daniel Dennett and E. O. Wilson, this book shows that while our lives may be forever dwarfed by the immensity of the universe, they can be redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning."The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies" - *The* book on where the movie industry is headed in 2018 and beyond. https://t.co/jTGUbYlLku
Private Truths, Public Lies
Timur Kuran
Preface Living a Lie The Significance of Preference Falsification Private and Public Preferences Private Opinion, Public Opinion The Dynamics of Public Opinion Institutional Sources of Preference Falsification Inhibiting Change Collective Conservatism The Obstinacy of Communism The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System The Unwanted Spread of Affirmative Action Distorting Knowledge Public Discourse and Private Knowledge The Unthinkable and the Unthought The Caste Ethic of Submission The Blind Spots of Communism The Unfading Specter of White Racism Generating Surprise Unforeseen Political Revolutions The Fall of Communism and Other Sudden Overturns The Hidden Complexities of Social Evolution From Slavery to Affirmative Action Preference Falsification and Social Analysis Notes Index."Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification" - nuanced look into what people do to fit into larger groups. Out of print but incredibly relevant to 2018. https://t.co/3o42EVc2Wm
Negotiating the Impossible
Deepak Malhotra
Some negotiations are easy. Others are more difficult. And then there are situations that seem completely hopeless. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back down. And to top it off, you have little power or other resources to work with. Harvard professor and negotiation adviser Deepak Malhotra shows how to defuse even the most potentially explosive situations and to find success when things seem impossible. Malhotra identifies three broad approaches for breaking deadlocks and resolving conflicts, and draws out scores of actionable lessons using behind-the-scenes stories of fascinating real-life negotiations, including drafting of the US Constitution, resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, ending bitter disputes in the NFL and NHL, and beating the odds in complex business situations. But he also shows how these same principles and tactics can be applied in everyday life, whether you are making corporate deals, negotiating job offers, resolving business disputes, tackling obstacles in personal relationships, or even negotiating with children. As Malhotra reminds us, regardless of the context or which issues are on the table, negotiation is always, fundamentally, about human interaction. No matter how high the stakes or how protracted the dispute, the object of negotiation is to engage with other human beings in a way that leads to better understandings and agreements. The principles and strategies in this book will help you do this more effectively in every situation."Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts" - Now apply tips from this to real life situations all the time. https://t.co/DJTnL0JMBV
The Elephant in the Brain
Kevin Simler
"This book exposes our unconscious selfish motives, those we're reluctant to discuss or even think about. These motives drive our body language, laughter, and conversation, as well as venerated institutions like art, school, charity, medicine, politics, and religion"--"The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life" - one of many fun books this year on human behavior. https://t.co/A5FtmiNMO4
- Over the past two decades India has grown at an unprecedented rate. Yet while the 'Bollygarchs' revel in new riches, millions still languish in their shadows, trapped in the teeming slums of the country's megacities. From the sky terrace of the world's most expensive home to mass political rallies in the streets, James Crabtree documents the struggle between equality and privilege playing out at the heart of this emerging superpower. Against a combustible backdrop of aspiration, class and caste, reformers fight for change while fugitive tycoons and shadowy political power brokers struggle to remain hidden and out of reach. The Billionaire Raj is a vivid portrait of a divided democracy whose future will shape the world.
"The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age". Probably my favorite non-fiction book of the year. Helped me rediscover modern India. *The* book to understand the country in 2018. https://t.co/VhshVNRm6z
Revolution Française
Sophie Pedder
He emerged from nowhere to seize the presidency, defeat populism and upend French party politics. Who is Emmanuel Macron? How far can he really change France? In Revolution Française, Sophie Pedder examines the first year in office of France's youngest and most exciting president in modern times, with unique perspective from her time as head of The Economist's Paris bureau. President Emmanuel Macron's vision for France is far more radical than many realise. His remarkable ascent from obscurity to the presidency is both a dramatic story of personal ambition and the tale of a wounded once-proud country in deep need of renewal. What shaped this enigmatic character, the precociously bright student and talented networker from northern France; the philosophy graduate and Rothschild banker who married his school drama teacher? How did a political outsider manage to defy the unwritten rules of the Fifth Republic and secure the presidency at his first attempt? And what are the underlying ideas behind his vision? This book chronicles Macron's remarkable rise from independent outsider to the Élysée Palace, situating the achievement in a broader context: France's slide into self-doubt, political gridlock and a seeming reluctance to embrace change; the roots of populism and discontent; the fractures caused by globalisation and the Le Pen factor. Looking back on the young president's dramatic first year in power, with analysis of his key reforms and lofty ambitions, it asks how far it is possible for Macron to reinvent a conservative nation uneasy about embracing the future. Can the man nicknamed 'Jupiter' really return France to its former greatness, or will he, by the time his mandate expires, end up as just another side note in political history? Punctuated with first-hand conversations and reporting, this book takes on all of these questions, concluding with a fascinating and exclusive interview with Macron recorded in early 2018. Pedder's riveting, and essential, book will be one of the most captivating political books of this year."Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the quest to reinvent a nation" - Helped me understand the Macron phenomenon. This might need a new section now post yellow-vests. https://t.co/iM0ENzXAPh
The Jasons
Ann Finkbeiner
The Jasons are a well-guarded group of world-class scientists, briefly outed in the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, who have been meeting every summer since 1960 to tackle classified problems that the Defense Department cannot solve. Among many stunning innovations, they helped invent our electronic battlefield and Star Wars missile defense technology, and are now looking into ways to improve our intelligence gathering. Recounting the unknown story of these brilliant, stubbornly independent thinkers, Ann Finkbeiner takes advantage of her unprecedented access to this elite group to explore the uncertain bargains between science and politics. It is a story older than Faust and as timely as tomorrow’s headlines."The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite" - another @patrickc recommendation. Fascinating story of a secretive scientific/military alliance that exists to this day. https://t.co/7JYt7VDPuD
- 'Adrian has a unique gift for understanding drivers and racing cars. He is ultra competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.' Damon Hill
"How to Build a Car" - Adrian Newey. I grew up as a F1 fan and this is probably the best F1 bio out there, better than Ross Braun's. Gets very technical but is so much fun. https://t.co/MzVi4Uqd0M
Millikan's School
Judith R. Goodstein
Relates the history of the first hundred years of the California Institute of Technology and describes the contributions of its professors, graduate students, and researchers to various fields of science and the humanities"Millikan's School: A History of the California Institute of Technology" - I believe I found this via @patrickc. Great read on how an institution came to be. https://t.co/kkoar1c6ms