Currently Reading

• Napoleon’s Buttons Jay Burreson and Penny Le Couteur
• The Penguin History of the World J. M. Roberts
• Emotional Design Donald Norman

Want to Read

• A Decade of Research Giuliana Lavendel
• A Great Leap Forward Alexander J. Field
• A Photographer’s Life Annie Leibovitz
• A Treatise of Human Nature David Hume
• A Vast Machine Paul N. N Edwards
• Age of Ambition Evan Osnos
• Alibaba Duncan Clark
• An Everlasting Meal Tamar Adler
• Arrival of the Fittest Andreas Wagner
• Artful Sentences Virginia Tufte
• Bicycle Design Hans-Erhard Lessing and Tony Hadland
• Book of Why Judea Pearl
• Buckminster Fuller’s Universe L. Steven Sieden
• Business Adventures John Brooks
• Chaos: Making a New Science James Gleick
• Cities for People Jan Gehl
• Cultural Amnesia Clive James
• Curious Minds Danielle Bassett and Perry Zurn
• Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble
• Dancing in the Glory of Monsters Jason K. Stearns
• Dealers of Lightning Michael A. Hiltzik
• Debt David Graeber
• Descartes’ Error Antonio Damasio
• Design for a Brain W. Ross Ashby
• Exercises in Style Raymond Queneau
• Expert Political Judgment Philip E. Tetlock
• Fact, Fiction, and Forecast Nelson Goodman
• Feynman Lectures on Computation Richard Feynman
• For Discrimination Randall Kennedy
• Foucault’s Pendulum Umberto Eco
• Games: Agency as Art C. Thi Nguyen
• Global Catastrophic Risks Nick Bostrom
• Governing the Commons Elinor Ostrom
• Hard Landing Thomas Petzinger Jr.
• How Life Works Phillip Ball
• How the Leopard Changed Its Spots Brian Goodwin
• How to Build A Brain Chris Eliasmith
• Human Transit Jarrett Walker
• I Didn’t Do It for You Michela Wrong
• If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens … WHERE IS EVERYBODY? Stephen Webb
• In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz Michela Wrong
• Incompleteness Rebecca Goldstein
• Introduction to Urban Science Luis M. A. Bettencourt
• Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking Daniel Dennett
• Jony Ive Leander Kahney
• Justice as Fairness John Rawls
• Language and Problems of Knowledge Noam Chomsky
• Les Miserables Victor Hugo
• Life Itself Robert Rosen
• Life, Death, and Other Inconvenient Truth Shimon Edelman
• Longitude Dava Sobel
• Marshall McLuhan Douglas Coupland
• Master of the Senate Robert Caro
• Materials for the Study of Variation William Bateson
• Matterhorn Karl Marlantes
• Medieval Technology and Social Change Lynn Townsend White Jr.
• Memory Machines Belinda Barnet
• Men, Machines, and Modern Times Elting Morison
• Metamagical Themas Douglas R Hofstadter
• Middlemarch George Eliot
• Mind-body Problem Rebecca Goldstein
• Mindstorms Seymour Papert
• Money for Everyone Malcolm Torry
• Moral Mazes Robert Jackall
• Myth of the Machine Lewis Mumford
• Nixonland Rick Perlstein
• Obedience to Authority Stanley Milgram
• On Intelligence Jeff Hawkins & Sandra Blakeslee
• On Not Being Someone Else Andrew H. Miller
• Only Revolutions Mark Z. Danielewski
• Orality and Literacy Walter Ong
• Order without Design Alain Bertaud
• Organizing Genius Warren Bennis
• Origins of Genius Dean Keith Simonton
• Out of Mao’s Shadow Philip P. Pan
• Pacific Simon Winchester
• Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track Richard Feynman
• Plagues and Peoples William H. McNeill
• Plagues upon the Earth Kyle Harper
• Plato at the Googleplex Rebecca Goldstein
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack Charles Munger
• Postcards from Tomorrow Square James Fallows
• Quantum Computing Since Democritus Scott Aaronson
• Reality Is Not What It Seems Carlo Rovelli
• River Town Peter Hessler
• Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems Andreas Wagner
• Science : A History 1534-2001 John Gribbin
• Science and the City Laurie Winkless
• Seeing Like a State James C. Scott
• Sideways Josh O’Kane
• Straw Dogs John Gray
• Stuff Matters Mark Miodownik
• Technics and Civilization Lewis Mumford
• Technology and the Virtues Shannon Vallor
• The Animal Mind Margaret Floy Washburn
• The Arabs Eugene Rogan
• The Ascent of Information Caleb Scharf
• The Big Score Michael S. Malone
• The Burnout Society Byung-Chul Han
• The Children’s Machine Seymour A. Papert
• The Chip T. R. Reid
• The City in History Lewis Mumford
• The Closing Circle Barry Commoner
• The Collapse of Complex Societies Joseph Tainter
• The Color of Law Richard Rothstein
• The Commons in an Age of Uncertainty Franklin Obeng-Odoom
• The Complexity of Cooperation Robert Axelrod
• The Cowshed Ji Xianlin
• The Cult of Smart Fredrik deBoer
• The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962―1976 Frank Dikötter
• The Difference Scott Page
• The Directiveness Of Organic Activities Russell Russell
• The Disappearing Spoon Sam Kean
• The Dream Machine M. Mitchell Wardrop
• The Educated Mind Kieran Egan
• The Elements of Style William Strunk Jr.
• The Elephant in the Brain Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson
• The Emotional Brain Jospeh Ledoux
• The Ethical Algorithm Aaron Roth and Michael Kearns
• The Evolution of Great World Cities Christopher Kennedy
• The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan
• The Genetic Lottery Kathryn Paige Harden
• The High Cost of Free Parking Donald Shoup
• The Humane Interface Jef Raskin
• The Hunters James Salter
• The Idea Factory Jon Gertner
• The Ideas of Biology John Tyler Bonner
• The Internet of Elsewhere Mr. Cyrus Farivar
• The Intimate City Michael Kimmelman
• The Journalist And The Murderer Janet Malcolm
• The Lessons of History Ariel Durant and Will Durant
• The Long Way Bernard Moitessier
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb Richard Rhodes
• The Making of Urban Japan Andre Sorensen
• The Man Behind the Microchip Leslie Berlin
• The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks
• The Network State Balaji Srinivasan
• The Ocean of Life Callum Roberts
• The Old Way Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
• The Ontogeny of Information Susan Oyama
• The Origins of Life John Maynard Smith
• The Planet Remade Oliver Morton
• The Power Broker Robert Caro
• The Precipice Toby Ord
• The Principles of Psychology William James
• The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms Alfred Binet
• The Rise and Fall of American Growth Robert J. Gordon
• The Scramble for Africa Thomas Pakenham
• The Smartest Kids in the World Amanda Ripley
• The Tinkerer’s Accomplice J. Scott Turner
• The Touchstone of Life Werner R. Loweenstein
• The Trouble With Physics Lee Smolin
• The Way of a Pilgrim
• The World Is Flat Thomas Friedman
• Theory of Fun for Game Design Raph Koster
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin
• Toward a Theory of Instruction Jerome Bruner
• Trading Places Clyde Prestowitz
• Tragedy of the Commons Garrett Hardin
• Triumph of the City Edward Glaeser
• Urban Infrastructure: Reflections for 2100 Sybil Derrible
• Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region Harold Gilliam
• Wetware Dennis Bray
• What Technology Wants Kevin Kelly
• Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu, James Robinson
• WikiLeaks David Leigh and Luke Harding
• Wind, Sand And Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Zero to One Peter Thiel

Did Not Finish

I’ve come to realize that the books you choose to read are as important as the books you don’t. If a book isn’t interesting to me, even if highly reviewed, I’m okay with dropping it.

• Bowling Alone Robert D. Putnam
• Gödel, Escher, Bach Douglas Hofstadter
• The End of History and the Last Man Francis Fukuyama
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Thomas Kuhn

Read

2024

• 1Q84 Haruki Murakami
• A Brief History of Intelligence Max Bennett
• A Mathematician’s Apology G. H. Hardy
• A photographer’s life, 1990-2005 Annie Leibovitz
• Cities for People Jan Gehl
• Designing the New American University Michael Crow
• Exhalation Ted Chiang
• Exordia Seth Dickinson
• Extraterrestial Languages Daniel Oberhaus
• How To Fail at Almost Everything And Still Win Big Scott Adams
• Human Transit Jarrett Walker
• Justice Michael Sandel
• Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain
• Models Mark Manson
• Seeing Like A State James Scott
• The Art of Doing Science and Engineering Richard Hamming
• The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Milan Kundera
• The Color of Law Richard Rothstien
• The Elephant in the Brain Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson
• The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook Brandon Sanderson
• The High Cost of Free Parking Donald Shoup
• The Secret of Our Success Joseph Henrich
• The Sunlit Man Brandon Sanderson
• The Tragedy of Great Power Politics John Mearsheimer
• The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson (reread)
• What are Universities For? Stefan Collini
• What Technology Wants Kevin Kelly
• Yuki the Painter Brandon Sanderson

2023

• A City Is Not A Computer Shannon Mattern
• A Crack in Creation Jennifer Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg
• A Prayer for the Crown-Shy Becky Chambers
• A Psalm for the Wild Built Becky Chambers
• Autobiography of Red Anne Carson
• Chip War Chris Miller
• Dune Frank Herbert
• Emergence Steven Johnson
• Fooled By Randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt
• Friendly Ambitious Nerd @visakanv
• Hail Mary Andy Weir
• Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
• Invisible Cities Italo Calvino
• Perhaps the Stars Ada Palmer
• Stella Maris Cormac McCarthy
• Stories of Your Life Ted Chiang
• The Biggest Ideas in the Universe Sean Carroll
• The Design of Everyday Things Dan Norman
• The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee
• The Gene Siddhartha Mukherjee
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb Richard Rhodes
• The Man Who Planted Trees Jean Giono
• The Man Who Solved The Market Gregory Zuckerman
• The Passenger Cormac McCarthy
• The Song of the Cell Siddhartha Mukherjee
• There Is No Antimemetics Division qntm
• Tress of the Emerald Sea Barndon Sanderson
• Walkable City Jeff Speck
• Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned Joel Lehman and Kenneth O. Stanley

2022

• A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, and Sara Ishikawa
• A Room With A View E. M. Forster
• Complexity: A Guided Tour Melanie Mitchell
• Emergent Tokyo Jorge Almazán
• Enlightenment Now Steven Pinker
• From Literature to Biterature Peter Swirski
• Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond
• House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski
• In Praise of Slowness Carl Honore
• Jade City Fonda Lee
• Jade Legacy Fonda Lee
• Jade War Fonda Lee
• McNamara’s Folly Hamilton Gregory
• On Not Knowing Emily Ogden
• On Writing Stephen King
• Pour Your Heart into It Howard Schultz
• Seven Surrenders Ada Palmer
• Shop Class as Soulcraft Matthew Crawford
• Sync Steven Strogatz
• The Alchemy of Air Thomas Hager
• The Beginning of Infinity David Deutsch
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs
• The Evolution of Cooperation Robert Axelrod
• The Geography of Nowhere James Howard Kunstler
• The Playbook Jennifer Jacquet
• The Serengeti Rules Sean B. Carroll
• The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work John M. Gottman and Nan Silver
• The Will To Battle Ada Palmer
• Too Like the Lightning Ada Palmer
• Where Is My Flying Car? J. Storrs Hall
• Why Only Us Robert C. Berwick, Noam Chomsky
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig

2021

• A Promised Land Barack Obama
• Algorithms to Live By Brian Christian
• Amusing Ourselves to Death Neil Postman
• Battleground Jim Butcher
• Because Internet Gretchen McCulloch
• Blood Rites Jim Butcher
• Changes Jim Butcher
• Cold Days Jim Butcher
• Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Dead Beat Jim Butcher
• Death Masks Jim Butcher
• Don Quixote Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
• Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman
• Free Food for Millionaires Min Jin Lee
• Full Moon Jim Butcher
• Ghost Story Jim Butcher
• Grave Peril Jim Butcher
• Meditations Marcus Aurelius
• Men Without Women Haruki Murakami
• Mindware Andy Clark
• Oathbringer Brandon Sanderson
• Other Minds Peter Godfrey-Smith
• Peace Talks Jim Butcher
• Proven Guilty Jim Butcher
• Rhythm of War Brandon Sanderson
• Shadows of Self Brandon Sanderson
• Skin Games Jim Butcher
• Small Favor Jim Butcher
• Storm Front Jim Butcher
• Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman
• Summer Night Jim Butcher
• The Alloy of Law Brandon Sanderson
• The Bands of Mourning Brandon Sanderson
• The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Final Empire Brandon Sanderson
• The Hero of Ages Brandon Sanderson
• The Innovators Walter Isaacson
• The Odyssey Homer
• The Rosie Effect Graeme Simsion
• The Rosie Result Graeme Simsion
• The Three-Body Problem Liu Cixin (Reread)
• The Two Towers J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson
• The Well of Ascension Brandon Sanderson
• This Is Your Brain on Music Daniel Levitin
• Tiny Habits BJ Fogg
• Turn Coat Jim Butcher
• Walden Henry David Thoreau
• White Night Jim Butcher
• Words of Radiance Brandon Sanderson

2020

• 10% Happier Dan Harris
• 1984 George Orwell
• A Deadly Education Naomi Novik
• A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles
• Atomic Habits James Clear
• Brave New World Aldous Huxley
• Catch-22 Joseph Heller
• Cloud Atlas Joseph Heller
• Death’s End Liu Cixin
• Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
• Essentialism Greg McKeown
• Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
• If on a winter’s night a traveler Italo Calvino
• Irresistible Adam Alter
• Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
• Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng
• Lord of the Flies William Golding
• Make Time Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
• Mastery George Leonard
• Mindfulness in Plain English Henepola Gunaratana
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
• Peak K. Anders Ericsson
• Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
• Ready Player One Ernest Cline
• Rest Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
• Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
• Study in Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
• The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler
• The Catcher in The Rye J. D. Salinger
• The Circle Dave Eggers
• The DaVinci Code Tom Egeland
• The Dark Forest Liu Cixin
• The Distraction Addiction Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
• The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue V. E. Schwab
• The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• The Midnight Library Matt Haig
• The Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
• The Three-Body Problem Liu Cixin
• Thinking in Systems: A Primer Donella Meadows
• When No One is Watching Alyssa Cole
• Why We Sleep Matthew Walker
• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë

2019

• Deep Work Cal Newport
• How To Become a High School Superstar Cal Newport
• So Good They Can’t Ignore You Cal Newport
• The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion