Books are ordered by author rather than my personal ratings. It's too hard to order these books by rating. The stand-out books are all terrific.
| Title | Author | My Thoughts on this Book |
|---|---|---|
| How to Live on 24 Hours a Day |
Arnold Bennett | Written in 1908, this is a classic gem that I have a hard time believing I'd never heard of sooner. Common sense, short, and worthwhile advice for making the most of a precious resource: time. |
| Tiny Habits The Small Changes That Change Everything |
BJ Fogg | This is the revolutionary book on habit-forming in my opinion. It is far better than the others I've read, and I've read many. If you want to form habits, read this! |
| Atlas of the Heart Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience |
Brené Brown | Definitions of emotions are not easy to distinguish in some cases. Do you know the difference between envy and jealousy? Learn this and much more from this book. |
| Loving What Is Four Questions That Can Change Your Life |
Byron Katie | We pick up wrong lessons from our experience, and this is a way to challenge those lessons, unlearn them, and learn better ones. |
| Mindset The New Psychology of Success |
Carol S. Dweck PhD | Don't fall victim to thinking any of your traits are fixed. We can all change almost everything, and many do through the correct perspective on their growth. |
| Good Energy The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health |
Casey Means, Calley Means | Your body has around 37 trillion cells. It's no wonder that metabolism—the act of those cells turning food into energy—is so vital. Learn the details. You'll be better off for it. |
| How to Win Friends & Influence People | Dale Carnegie | This is a classic and deserves its spot here for its conveying of the basics of human interaction. This really is foundational reading on being a social creature. |
| Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman | This is my favorite book. The intricacies of human thought are extremely interesting and well-defined here. We're quirky creatures, us humans. It behooves you to learn how. |
| Thinking in Systems a Primer |
Donella H. Meadows | Complex systems are everywhere. Learn how to talk about them and how to see them where you never would have imagined before. Learn how to tweak a system to change its output, and how to build new systems. |
| The Choice Escaping the Past and Embracing the Possible |
Dr. Edith Eva Eger | A holocaust survivor, Edith Eva Eger has an amazing story. Full of tragedy, yes, but full of inspiration and wisdom also. I think of Eger as the female counterpart of Viktor Frankl, not just in her holocaust story but in the eventual outcome. |
| Resilience Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life |
Eric Greitens | These letters written from one Navy SEAL to another are absolutely jam-packed with real, down-to-earth, applicable wisdom on how to be resilient and overcome. |
| The Art of Clear Thinking A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions |
Hasard Lee | If you ever wanted to know how to make correct decisions as quickly as possible, this outlines many ways to do it. |
| The Book of Joy Lasting Happiness in a Changing World |
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams | A classic not just due to the authors, but also because it's a message that everyone needs to hear, especially today. |
| A Life of Meaning Exploring Our Deepest Questions and Motivations |
James Hollis, PhD | Surviving is not enough. All the success in the world does not matter unless you get a sense of purpose from your life. This is at no time more obvious than when one approaches middle age. |
| The Happiness Hypothesis | Jonathan Haidt | I thought for sure this would be boring, but I learned more about happiness and how it can be thought of and attained than pretty much any other source. |
| 12 Rules for Life an Antidote to Chaos |
Jordan B. Peterson, Norman Doidge MD | Despite what you think of Peterson, this book is almost completely apolitical and full of great life advice that everyone should heed. |
| How Emotions are Made The Secret Life of the Brain |
Lisa Feldman Barrett | There is no better resource for learning the mechanisms of emotion than this book. It will surprise you at some points, but delightfully so. |
| Revenge of the Tipping Point Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering |
Malcolm Gladwell | Better than the original in my opinion, this book explores some hard problems society faces and particularly how Ivy League educational institutions purposefully control the races and ethnicities at their schools. |
| The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life |
Mark Manson | A somewhat sarcastic and funny approach to becoming happy with life. Refreshing in how it differs from the normal, saccharine self-help approach. |
| Nonviolent Communication Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with Your Values |
Marshall Rosenberg PhD | The title is somewhat misleading on this book. Figure out how to communicate your feelings to others and to yourself, and avoid the common pitfalls of miscommunication. |
| We Have Never Been Woke The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite |
Musa al-Gharbi | This is probably the best sociology book I've read about modern times, explaining what motivates "the great awokenings" and lessons to be taken from all four of them, chief among them: we have never been woke. |
| Antifragile Things that Gain from Disorder |
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Some things are fragile. Some things are resilient and can withstand stress. Some things, however, are antifragile and benefit from stress. Humans are the most notable of examples. |
| The Antidote Happiness for People who Can't Stand Positive Thinking |
Oliver Burkeman | Balancing optimism and pessimism is a tricky business, but can be done well. This does a good job of showing that. |
| Think Like a Rocket Scientist Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life |
Ozan Varol | If you have a complicated problem, then thinking clearly about the problem and its solution is vital, and there are lots of strategies here that you can employ, as delivered by a real-life rocket scientist. |
| Outlive The Science and Art of Longevity |
Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford | The modern approach to medicine is to wait for symptoms and then fix the symptoms. What about prevention and early intervention? What about the root causes? |
| Behave The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst |
Robert M. Sapolsky | An objective and sometimes-surprising view of human behavior, where it comes from, and how we should perceive it. |
| Making Sense Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity |
Sam Harris | This can get a little anti-religious at times, but I think that there is a ton of wisdom about consciousness here from a less ethereal perspective that starts to bring the conversation about consciousness closer to the ground. |
| Ultralearning Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career |
Scott H. Young | This has a ton of practical tips for really learning a subject in-depth and in a serious, dedicated fashion. |
| The Lost Art of Running A Journey to Rediscover the Forgotten Essence of Human Movement |
Shane Benzie, Tim Major | You likely have been running wrong. No, seriously. Even if you run every day, if you haven't consciously considered your running form, it may be time to do so for your own health and wellbeing. |
| The Art of Impossible A Peak Performance Primer |
Steven Kotler | FLOW, baby! This book has even more information on how to set the proper conditions for its attainment than the seminal book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow). |
| How the Mind Works | Steven Pinker | The most comprehensive (at the time of writing) look at the brain that I have yet encountered while still being written in plain language. |
| Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking |
Susan Cain | Shy people are not necessarily introverts. Introverts are not necessarily shy. Introverts can be outgoing just as extraverts can be shy. Learn more about introversion than you ever thought was knowable. |
| What's Our Problem? A Self-Help Book for Societies |
Tim Urban | A much-needed look at what's wrong with society. It sounds like a horrible read described this way, but the popular author of the blog Wait, but Why?, Tim Urban is a fantastic writer that exudes clarity and sensibility in his words and illustrations. |
| Man's Search for Meaning | Viktor E. Frankl | A book on meaning like no other because of the author's history in a Nazi concentration camp, how he survived it by gleaning meaning from his life, and became a highly-influential psychologist thereafter. |
| The Practicing Stoic | Ward Farnsworth | Probably the best primer on the Stoic philosophy that I've yet found. It does a great job of distilling the views of my chosen philosophy. |
| Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind |
Yuval Noah Harari | It is really a brief history of humankind despite being a longer book. It explains things quite well with a through-line you can follow through the whole thing. |
| Title | Author |
|---|---|
| Attached The New Science of Adult Attachment and How it Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love |
Amir Levine, Rachel Heller |
| Grit The Power of Passion and Perseverance |
Angela Duckworth |
| Being You a New Science of Consciousness |
Anil Seth |
| Longpath Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs – An Antidote for Short-Termism |
Ari Wallach |
| The Body a Guide for Occupants |
Bill Bryson |
| 5 Types of People Who Can Ruin Your Life Identifying and Dealing with Narcissists, Sociopaths, and Other High-Conflict Personalities |
Bill Eddy |
| The Power of Vulnerability Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage |
Brené Brown |
| 101 Essays that will Change the Way You Think | Brianna Wiest |
| The Mountain is You Transforming Self-Sabotage into Self-Mastery |
Brianna Wiest |
| Deep Work Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World |
Cal Newport |
| Supercommunicators How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection |
Charles Duhigg |
| Breaking the Social Media Prism How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing |
Christopher A. Bail |
| The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us |
Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons |
| The Mind Illuminated a Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science |
Culadasa John Yates PhD, Matthew Immergut PhD, Jeremy Graves |
| The Honest Truth About Dishonesty How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves |
Dan Ariely |
| Altered Traits Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body |
Daniel Goleman, Richard Davidson |
| Emotional Intelligence Why it Can Matter More than IQ |
Daniel Goleman |
| When the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing |
Daniel H. Pink |
| The Molecule of More How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity - And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race |
Daniel Z. Lieberman MD, Michael E. Long |
| How to Know a Person | David Brooks |
| The Road to Character | David Brooks |
| Range Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World |
David Epstein |
| Your Brain at Work Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long |
David Rock |
| How to Think Like a Roman Emperor The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius |
Donald J. Robertson |
| How to Think Like Socrates Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern World |
Donald J. Robertson |
| Dopamine Nation Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence |
Dr. Anna Lembke |
| Ben & Me In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life |
Eric Weiner |
| Chatter The Voice in our Head, Why it Matters, and How to Harness It |
Ethan Kross |
| Gut The Inside Story of our Body's Most Underrated Organ |
Giulia Enders |
| The Canceling of the American Mind Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution |
Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott |
| Original Love The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening |
Henry Shukman |
| Atomic Habits An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones |
James Clear |
| Prisms Reflections on this Journey we Call Life |
James Hollis, PhD |
| A Practical Guide to Breathwork a Remedy for the Modern Human Condition |
Jesse Coomer |
| Rejection Proof How I Beat Fear and Became Invicible Through 100 Days of Rejection |
Jia Jiang |
| Whole Brain Living The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life |
Jill Bolte Taylor |
| Extreme Ownership How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win |
Jocko Willink, Leif Babin |
| The Anxious Generation How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness |
Jonathan Haidt |
| Beyond Order 12 More Rules for Life |
Jordan B. Peterson |
| Radical Candor Be a Kick-Ass Boss without Losing Your Humanity |
Kim Scott |
| Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain | Lisa Feldman Barrett |
| Complexity The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos |
M. Mitchell Waldrop |
| David and Goliath Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants |
Malcolm Gladwell |
| A Handbook for New Stoics How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control; 52 Week-by-Week Lessons |
Massimo Pigliucci, Gregory Lopez |
| Think Faster, Talk Smarter How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot |
Matt Abrahams |
| Why We Sleep Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams |
Matthew Walker |
| This is Your Mind on Plants | Michael Pollan |
| The Bed of Procrustes Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms |
Nassim Nicholas Taleb |
| Stop Overthinking 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present |
Nick Trenton |
| Meditations for Mortals Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts |
Oliver Burkeman |
| The Charisma Myth How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism |
Olivia Fox Cabane |
| Psych The Story of the Human Mind |
Paul Bloom |
| Nudge Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness |
Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein |
| Exhale 40 Breathwork Exercises to Help You Find Your Calm, Supercharge Your Health, and Perform at Your Best |
Richie Bostock |
| Determined A Science of Life Without Free Will |
Robert M. Sapolsky |
| Peak Secrets from the New Science of Expertise |
Robert Pool, Anders Ericsson |
| The Happiness Trap How to Stop Struggling and Start Living |
Russ Harris |
| The Power of Character Strengths Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality |
Ryan M. Niemiec, Robert E. McGrath |
| Waking Up A Guide to Spirituality without Religion |
Sam Harris |
| Do Hard Things Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Suprising Science of Real Toughness |
Steve Magness |
| Insight Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life |
Tasha Eurich |
| The Art of Living Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now |
Thích Nhất Hạnh |
| Redirect The Surprising New Science of Psychological Chang |
Timothy D. Wilson |
| Outrage Machine How Tech Amplifies Discontent, Disrupts Democracy—and What We Can Do About It |
Tobias Rose-Stockwell |
| Money: Master the Game 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom |
Tony Robbins (only thing of his worth reading imo) |
| Leonardo da Vinci | Walter Isaacson |
| The Socratic Method A Practitioner's Handbook |
Ward Farnsworth |
| A Guide to the Good Life The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy |
William B. Irvine |
| Alcohol Explained | William Porter |
| The Wim Hof Method Activate Your Full Human Potential |
Wim Hof, Elissa Epel PhD |
| Homo Deus A Brief History of Tomorrow |
Yuval Noah Harari |
| Nexus A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI |
Yuval Noah Harari |