One-Liners About My Recent Reads.

The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
_{My first non-fantasy read on medieval life in Europe — pairs well with the movie Becket, though I liked the latter much more.}

Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers – Leonard Koren
_{Short book that helped me appreciate some of the Wabi-Sabi subtleties in Huntington Garden.}

Poor Charlie’s Almanack – Charles T. Munger
_{I shied away from reading this at first, thinking it was a cliché. But oh man, Munger was sharp and full of unexpected insights. For a taste, check out Talk Two: A Lesson on Elementary, Worldly Wisdom.}

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World – David Deutsch
_{I first tried reading this book in freshman college unsuccessfully. This was my second attempt, but I still couldn’t bring myself to finish it despite a lot of people liking it.}

A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins – Gareth Harney
_{Much more engaging than I anticipated. Romans carried portable mints into battle to pay their troops with freshly coined propaganda.}

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage – Alfred Lansing
_{A compelling narrative of the trans-Antarctic expedition, highlighting Shackleton’s exceptional judgment of his men’s mood and his dynamic optimization of their roles within his survival strategy.}

The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets – Thomas R. Cech
_{Before AI, determining the 3D shape of RNA was a painstaking challenge. The discovery of ribozymes overturned the belief that only proteins could catalyze reactions. Life may have begun with self-replicating RNA.}

A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? – Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
_{A bit too pessimistic for my taste, focusing too much on today’s tech limitations rather than the wilder possibilities of space settlement with post-AGI, fully gene-edited humans.}

A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains – Max S. Bennett
_{An accessible look at how the brain works like a computer, great for those with little to no background in neuroscience like me, while drawing clear parallels to AI algorithms.}

When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
_{A memoir that made me reflect on my mortality and what gives my life meaning.}

Ayn Rand and the World She Made – Anne Conover Heller
_{I was surprised by how much of her experience as an immigrant resonated with me. It’s also evident how her life shaped her Objectivist philosophy.}

Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
_{Still strikingly relevant today—though a dose of Peter Singer helps keep the balance sharp.}

The Laws of Human Nature – Robert Greene
_{My biggest takeaway is that I need to read about Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition.}

Red Seas Under Red Skies: Gentleman Bastard, Book 2 – Scott Lynch
_{My favorite chapter was “Reminiscence: By Their Own Rope.”}

The Ministry for the Future: A Novel – Kim Stanley Robinson
_{Believable predictions of life in a changing climate, a gripping oppening, and bold ideas for fixing the future.}

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality – Eliezer Yudkowsky
_{Better than the original.}

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human – Siddhartha Mukherjee
_{From gene therapy to regenerative medicine.}

The Gene: An Intimate History – Siddhartha Mukherjee
_{A journey through clever experimental designs that unravel the code of life.}

How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going – Vaclav Smil
_{Steel, cement, plastic, and ammonia production consumes 17% of global energy.}

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World – Jack Weatherford
_{A deeper insight into how the Mongols perceived peasant life and how it shaped their treatment of them.}

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth – Reza Aslan
_{Exploring the political landscape of first-century Judea and offering a characterization of the historical Jesus.}

The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness – Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga
_{Debatable approach to self-liberation and happiness, presented through a Socratic dialogue.}

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives – Steven Levy
_{How Google’s unique culture and innovative thinking have transformed our daily lives.}

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made – Jason Schreier
_{A behind-the-scenes journey into the chaotic world of video game development, revealing the harsh realities of crunch time.}

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science – J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
_{A science-driven approach to home cooking that made me see just how clueless I was in the kitchen.}

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly – Anthony Bourdain
_{Left me regretting I never experienced the chaos of working in a kitchen as a teenager. Btw, 80% of restaurants fail within their first five years of operation.}

Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey
_{The fascinating and unconventional path of a life well-lived.}

Open: An Autobiography – Andre Agassi
_{Professional tennis is a solitary journey, both on and off the court.}

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: A Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Eleventh Edition) – Burton G. Malkiel
_{Saves ordinary investors a great deal of time and money.}

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future – Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
_{Startups should aim to create monopolies to build a lasting future.}

The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources – Javier Blas, Jack Farchy
_{An eye-opening exposé on the powerful traders who control the global flow of commodities.}