Short reactions to books that stuck with me. The full reading log lives on Goodreads.
I also keep visual summaries on 15 Pages, a reading project I am building.
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
The best guide I've read on how to navigate the current landscape of constant distractions that we impose on ourselves. Newport makes the case for limiting your exposure to all kinds of online distractions and instead do the work. You can't afford not to read this one.
From my Goodreads review:
A must-read in this day and age. "I'll live the focused life, because it's the best kind there is."
A Book That Changes Lives
A fantastic book about a young gymnasts spiritual journey and awakening. Read and re-read. Makes you ponder what really matters in life.
From my Goodreads review:
As we move through this fast-paced world, chasing whatever success we hope to achieve this quarter, year, or lifetime, it's such a gift to find a book like this. To make us stop for a moment.
"There are no ordinary moments."
The story of news-anchor Dan Harris and his discovery of meditation as a way to handle his anxiety and increase overall satisfaction in life. Many people start out as sceptics when it comes to the area of meditation or spirituality in general. Therefore Harris' story is incredibly helpful as it shows in real-time how the author is convinced about the utility of the practice.
From my Goodreads review:
Many useful tools for everyday mindfulness can be found here and written in Harris' usual funny, self-deprecating way.
A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Spiritual must-read. Don Miguel Ruiz highlights what behaviors we all should nurture - and which ones to abolish.
From my Goodreads review:
Profound insights, paired with practical, actionable methods.
I recommend the audio version of this book, read by Sivers himself. This is a short listen, not much more than one hour, but packed with so many valuable lessons about building a company with customer satisfaction as the main goal. Even just the insights in the chapter "Why I gave my company to charity" is worth your money for this one.
From my Goodreads review:
A short read with an astonishing amount of value packed into it!
The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
The framework offered by Drucker applies to more people than you might think. Drucker's definition of an executive is basically anyone that makes decisions in an organization. The parts on how to get the right things done also applies largely to anyone working for themselves.
What I like is that the focus is on the strength of individuals, rather than on the weaknesses. There are many concrete recommendations. For example, when promoting employees, Drucker says to ask these questions:
From my Goodreads review:
Actionable advice. No-bullshit approach. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to become more efficient in any field of life.
Agassi was drilled by his ruthless father from a young age to become the best tennis player in world. He succeeded. This is the story of what it cost. Agassi's rebel mentality is an inspirational light in a surprisingly dark story.
From my Goodreads review:
Great anecdotes. Also a, for me, surprising amount of solitude and darkness in Agassi's search for meaning. Well-written all the way through.
It does feel like he feels the need to explain and justify each lost game a bit too much. It's something I can identify with, always having to find a reason when a match doesn't go your way. But sometimes you just lose, right?
Anyways, strong autobiography.
A beautiful, epic, slow-moving tale of the life of a scholar and teacher. Shows just what a life can be - full of disappointments, but also with glimmers of hope and moments of pure joy.
From my Goodreads review:
Some might say it's slow. To those I say: read it again.
"In his extreme youth Stoner had thought of love as an absolute state of being to which, if one were lucky, one might find access; in his maturity he had decided it was the heaven of a false religion, toward which one ought to gaze with an amused disbelief, a gently familiar contempt, and an embarrassed nostalgia. Now in his middle age he began to know that it was neither a state of grace nor an illusion; he saw it as a human act of becoming, a condition that was invented and modified moment by moment and day by day, by the will and the intelligence and the heart."
