On the reading shelf: The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch; Gödel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hofstadter; Hyperion, Dan Simmons.
On the movie shelf: Her, Arrival...
Main genres: science fiction; fantasy; personal growth; cognitive science.
I will typically read the first chapter (or few chapters). If I'm hooked, the book will be read in a few days.
If I'm not hooked, the book will meander until it's either read or forgotten about.
I use the Kindle app on my phone. At first, it was just for convenience. Now, I think I prefer it to paper books.
2025
In progress!
2024
Wind and Truth, Brandon Sanderson. Book 5 of the Stormlight Archive! Not posting a review for spoiler's sake, but if you enjoy Stormlight Archive you'll most likely continue to enjoy this series :)
Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card. It's fun to read this after Ender's Game. And man, I love Bean.
Shadow of the Hegemon, Orson Scott Card. If I recall this theme of grand-scale strategy is what motivated Card to write sci-fi. It really shines here and continues like that throughout the series.
Shadow Puppets, Orson Scott Card. Nothing much to say here, continues the last book well!
Shadow of the Giant, Orson Scott Card. Ditto above.
Shadows in Flight, Orson Scott Card. A fun, shorter, more epilogue-like story with an ending that nearly made me cry.
Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson. Ambitious, inspirational, cautionary, astounding, and uncomfortable.
No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai. It took me maybe a year, half a year to read this? I forget why I picked this up in the first place. Mostly forgettable, but it had its moments.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky. I remember I tried reading this maybe 2 years ago and couldn't get past the first few chapters. Well, it came up in conversation again and I ended up reading it through. I liked it!
Going Infinite, Michael Lewis. People will just do anything. Wish the author had delayed publication until the trial results, but still a good read.
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. I thought this was a good read. I've had the ending spoiled (just because it's old and famous), which probably dampened it for me. But it was very good!
Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card. Thought this was much better than Ender's Game -- though maybe this is just because I wasn't spoiled this time. I loved the character interaction. The plot was well-paced and imaginative.
Xenocide, Orson Scott Card. Blazed through this. Really good.
Children of the Mind, Orson Scott Card. A fitting finale to the trilogy.
Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card. I was kinda burned out on Ender as I was reading this, so I finished maybe 90% of it.
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself, Harvard Business Review. Easy to read lessons. As is always the case, it's difficult to implement.
Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness, Patrick House. Shelved for now -- not what I expected, but I do want to come back to this at some point.
Feeling Good, David Burns. Slightly outdated but still very useful. Would recommend.
Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert. Finally picked this one up again!
Children of Dune, Frank Herbert. The twins are my favorite characters.
God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert. This was a weaker read for me. Setting the series aside for now.
No Fears, No Excuses, Larry Smith. Very good read. Now comes the hard part: acting on it.
2023
How Minds Change, David McRaney. Pretty good, felt a bit too long. Definitely some stuff here that I could practice more.
The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene. Not really digging this one. Shelved.
Paul Graham's Blog. Very good reads.
Neel Nanda's Blog. Very good reads. Learned a lot here. Still going through the posts.
The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch. I see a lot of people recommending this but it doesn't seem to be saying anything yet. Shelved for now.
The Pathless Path, Paul Millerd. Very good short read. Lots of lessons to be learned here. Interesting to contrast with other perspectives.
Superforecasting, Philip E. Tetlock & Dan Gardner. Pretty good read.
The Kindness Method, Shahroo Izadi. 10/10. Strongly influenced my thinking.
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky. 10/10. On par with Three Body Problem.
Children of Ruin, Adrian Tchaikovsky. 9/10.
Thinking In Systems, Donella Meadows. Another book that many recommend but doesn't seem to be saying anything. Will pick this up later. Shelved for now.
The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt. Pretty good read.
What's Our Problem?, Tim Urban. Pretty good read.
2022
Doing Good Better, Will MacAskill. Very good read.
Never Finished, David Goggins. Very good read. "I know that atmospheric line between blue and black."
Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang. 10/10. Chiang is so good.
I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy. An interesting life story. I'm grateful that I can't relate to much of it.
The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro. Very good read.
So Good They Can't Ignore You, Cal Newport. Pretty good read. Very useful framing.
Exhalation: Stories, Ted Chiang. 10/10 for everything... except The Lifecycle of Software Objects. I might be too young to get that one, though.
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson. Fun read.
The Stormlight Archive (1-4), Brandon Sanderson. Very good reads. Sanderson's solid. Love his universe.
Elantris, Brandon Sanderson. Thought this was weaker but still fun.
Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson. This one's great. Still waiting for the sequel.
The Expanse (series), James S. A. Corey. The characters, world-building, and plot are just off the charts. This has become my comfort series. I've read from Book 1 through Book 9 at least four times.
Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman. A wiser lens to view life through.
2021
The Three Body Problem (series), Cixin Liu. 10/10. A series that ramps up without feeling too fast.
Foundation (series), Isaac Asmiov. Really good reads. Fun to contrast with modern sci-fi.
The Murderbot Diaries (series), Martha Wells. Fun reads.
The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt. Really good read. Influential to my thinking.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, Naval Ravikant (compiled by: Eric Jorgenson). Very good reads. One that I'll have to keep coming back to.
The Wheel of Time (1-4), Robert Jordan. Fun at first. Then I lost interest. Shelved.
Skin in the Game, Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It's difficult to read. I'll read again when I have more patience... or when I'm smarter. Shelved.
Cal Newport's Blog. Lots of good reads here. Still occasionally check it out.
Deep Work, Cal Newport. Very good read. Should probably read again.
Mistborn (series), Brandon Sanderson. See above Brandon Sanderson review.
Dune, Frank Herbert. 10/10. Really good read.
Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert. Couldn't get past the first 5 chapters. Probably a good read, though. Shelved for now.
2020
Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays translation). Essential read.
The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton. Really fun read. At first, I thought it was published very recently, with a retro aesthetic. To my surprise, it was 1969!
Can't Hurt Me, David Goggins. Essential read. Top of the pile.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. Pretty good read.
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens. Pretty good read.
Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman. Couldn't get past the first few chapters. It was groundbreaking when published but now the ideas are mainstream, so it's saying nothing new. Shelved.
The Art of Asking, Amanda Palmer. Very good read.
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk. Very good read.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. Pretty good read. I wish I could learn things through pillow osmosis.
The Loop, Ben Oliver. Fun read.
Elastic Habits. A really good idea, but it should have been a blog post.
Scott Young's Blog. Has some great posts on careers and learning.
Ultralearning, Scott Young. Great perspectives on learning through ambitious projects.
2019
The Invisible Man, H. G. Wells. Fun read.
Atomic Habits, James Clear. Everyone reads this for a reason.