I’ve talked to a lot of people over the years who don’t enjoy reading. Some of it is personality, some of it is feeling forced to read for school. My premise is that most people can enjoy reading under the right circumstances.
For me it comes down to doing it through audio. I can’t find a great way to read physical or digital books, but I love audio.
For some it comes down to finding the right genre. I love to switch between fiction and non-fiction regularly. Sometimes I’ll read both concurrently, sometimes I’ll alternate every 3-4 months. Doing that helps keep reading exciting and refreshing. I also have recently started re-reading books.
I wrote a list of my top books years ago, and wanted to share an updated list here. The goal is, if you’re not a reader, one of these might just be the gateway for you to get started.
Each link is an Audible link, unless otherwise noted.
HISTORY
The Guns of August – This is my top history recommendation. It may sound drab and boring as a concept, but something about the way Barbara describes the political drama of the rulers leading up to World War I is so profound and enticing that it feels impossible to put the book down. I’ve read a lot of history books, and enjoyed most; but this is my favorite by far.
How to Hide an Empire – A fantastic history of America and how we have wrestled with protecting our imperial interests as well as wanting to defend and support the innocent. It examines our past and how we’ve both desired and despised being an empire.
America and Iran – Knowing very little about the history of Iran this book was helpful in understanding the friendship and anonmosity between these two countries, going back hundreds of years. It helped reset my thinking about some of the struggles we’re seeing in the Middle East.
How to Fly a Horse – Innovation doesn’t always work the way we think it does. Let’s examine how creativity can happen through the history of innovation.
Leonardo da Vinci – A fantastiic biography of the inventor, looking at a key trait that set him apart: curiosity.
BUSINESS
Juliet’s School of Possibilities – an allegory about finding what we really want in life and not trying to do all the things that won’t matter.
Essentialism – I could read this every year. Instead of doing a million things to no result (I’m guilty of this), narrow down to the things that will really drive us forward.
Effortless – A fantastic followup to Essentialism, examines how we can make work and learning fun.
Turn the Ship Around – Follows the history of the worst submarine in the American Navy and how they were able to become the highest rated submarine in a short period of time. The key was to allow each person to act one level above their ranking.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You – Cal Newport is a brilliant author. I’ve read most of his books. He has an ability to dive deep into a topic, understand it, and describe learnings in a way that I can extract meaning. The major premise of the book is how to do work that is meaningful. Instead of following your passion for a career, he suggests that passion results from craftsmanship. Instead of jumping entire careers, he suggests finding the overlap from one job to another, and bringing insights from the previous forward into the next line of work. It’s a great career book and has insights for life as well.
The Dip – Some things are worth quitting and others are worth sticking at. This book wrestles with how we can tell the difference between the two. It’s short and worth re-reading.
Build – The guy who made the iPod with Steve Jobs talks about what it takes to build a great product. He’s one of the few who has made successful hardware products more than once. It’s riveting!
How to Do Nothing – Maybe we’re doing too much, maybe we should slow down a bit. Maybe? Not sure, but this book got me thinking about that.
The Cold Start Problem – A really good read for any startup founder. If you have two sides of a market, how do you bring them together, which side is harder, and which side do you go for first?
Subtract – Remove things from your life and work to move forward.
The Unicorn Project – Tells a fictional story of a manager in a failing startup, and how she navigates how to turn a company around.
Alchemy – I’ve read this book twice now. How irrational thinking helps us do better work.
Creativity, Inc. – The story of pixar and how they succeeded, and almost failed.
Creative Selection – Ken, one of the first half dozen engineers working on the iPhone, writes about his long history at Apple, and the opportunities he had to build some of the most used software in the world. Ken describes the creative process that his team approached to building software for the iPhone, the Mac, and the iPad. He also describes interactions with Steve Jobs and Scott Forstall. Throughout this narration of his time at Apple, Ken weaves anecdotes on the connection between design and engineering, and gives concrete examples on how to emulate that in our own work. I’ve read this book twice and will probably pick it up a third time.
SELF-HELP
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone – Lori uses her story as the backdrop to explain what great therapy can accomplish, and why it’s important. She shares her own need to see a therapist, and breaks down what’s happening in each session while working through problems in her own life. The key takeaway is the realization that our brains don’t perceive distress as relative. While our analytic mind can say that our problems are smaller than someone else’s, our emotions have no way of recognizing the difference. It’s important to allow those emotions the space they need in order to work through them. This book was an inspiration, and I’ve recommended it many times to friends.
FICTION
The Martian and Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir has an ability to connect with the audience and characters in a way that brings depth and richness to his stories. The Martian is one of those rare books that I’ve read more than once. Instead of a story about a man who is trying to save the world, this book flips the script and has the world trying to save a man. Books and movies will sometimes evoke a feeling of humanity coming together; The Martian accomplishes this beautifully. If you don’t mind a little colorful language – the protagonist is in some dire straits throughout the story so it feels warranted – then I believe you’ll love this story. My favorite parts are the deep dives into the daily life of the main character, and the ingenuity required. It’s a lot of fun. Also, if you already read this book, I highly recommend Project Hail Mary, by the same author. It’s a spiritual successor to the book, and I enjoyed it just as much. Where the first book primarily follows a single character, Project Hail Mary follows a different type of story telling narrative.
World War Z – This book is pure joy for me. Warning, the book is about zombies. But it’s one of my favorite stories from that genre. It does something unique, using journalism for storytelling in a fiction story. Instead of following a single character, the book jumps across time and continents to capture the retellings of people who saw and felt the effects of the world’s change under a viral attack. This book helps to bring the feeling of human connection and humanity, all working together for a greater cause. Although the genre is different, this story captured the same feelings as The Martian. It’s one of the few fiction books I’ve read twice. I’m also linking to the paperback because you can’t get a fully unabridged audio version of this anymore.
Circe – The author is a genius at taking an exciting premise and breathing life into an ancient story. I knew nothing of the tales of Circe, the witch from ancient mythology. This character, a weak god among greater gods, must live as the lowest of all in the great courts of antiquity. Through various events she’s forced on a small island, and must live her days as queen of the island. It’s a premise that should lose my interest, but it doesn’t. Each chapter pushes the story forward and brings color and character to this mythical protagonist. The book was a joy to read, and I’ve recommended it several times to friends.
The Blade Itself – This starts off a 10 book series that I absolutely love. Warning there is violence, language, and other adult content in this series. The reason I love it is because of how it dives into the gray area of people’s lives, how each person is shaped by their environment, and how despite that many strive to be better (and often fail). It also has wizards and medieval warfare; a huge plus for me. I’m currently re-reading the entire series and am on book 7.
11/22/63 – Many people are wary of Stephen King. His penchant for horror is often offputing. This book isn’t horror. It’s a basic what if book. It asks what if you could travel back in time and save JFK from assasination. The catch? The protagonist falls in love with someone and has to decide between love and saving the president. A fantastic (and a bit chaotic) read.
The Final Empire – I can’t say enough good about Brandon Sanderson. His ability to pull me into a simple story, make me fall in love with characters, and eagerly read each book he puts out is pretty amazing. This book follows the story of a protagonist who realizes she has magical powers and must decide whether to step up and do something good with them.
The Way of Kings – If you liked Mistborn this is a fantastic series (and much deeper) from the same author. I don’t recommend reading it though until you’ve read Mistborne, so that you’ll know if you like how the author builds worlds and stories.
Semiosis – What if the world was ending and humans fly to another planet to start over? And what if plants were sentient on that new planet? What a fantastic series (and part 3 comes out this fall!). I’ve read it twice and love the interaction of humans and plants trying to decide if they can exist together. One note: The first book jumps timelines quite a bit, and you’ll keep having to get used to new characters. That settles down half way through the book and it’s worth continuing.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – What if you could live forever, but peopel can’t remember you after you leave their presence? An amazing book that jumps between back and forth in time following the life of a single character as she tries to exist in a world that forgets her.
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There are SOO many more books I could recommend, but if you’re not sure you want to read, I’d highly suggest picking one of these and try it out for a bit. If you get bored jump to another one. Reading is fun if you find the right books.