"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
Mark Twain
Just 15 pages
Check out my small tool at 15pages.com (work in progress). If you read 15 pages per day, that amounts to astounding amounts of books (and knowledge) over time. I want to encourage people to take the 15 minutes every day (avarage reading speed is 1 minute per page) and see how the knowledge accumulates. My goal is to build this out to be a service that tracks reading and inspires people to read their daily pages.
Goodreads
Goodreads is a fantastic tool to keep track of your reading lists. The reviews can also help get you a first impression of a book you're interested in. Find me on Goodreads.
Book Notes
I will publish some book notes here for anyone interested. These are just my notes and I recommend you read these books in their entirety.
Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements
Peter F. Drucker - The Effective Executive
Some of my favorite books
The links for purchasing the books below lead to Amazon (and
Audible for audio books). Before getting the book off of Amazon,
I'd like to encourage you to look for it closer to home first.
I try to find a secondhand bookstore wherever I go. In Bangkok I
recommend
Dasa Book Cafe. Large selection and very well-organized. If I can't find the
book secondhand I resort to a local bookshop. If I can't get it
there either, I order online. I do also read some books on my
e-reader (I use
Kobo Glo), as it is easy to access titles and I can bring hundreds of
books wherever I go.
Productivity

Deep Work by Cal Newport
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.
It is both inspirational and highly convincing at the same
time. You can't afford not to read this one.
Spirituality

Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
A fantastic book about a young gymnasts spiritual journey and awakening. Read and re-read. It shook me and made me think of what I really value in life. Perhaps it can do the same for you.
More info on Amazon
10% Happier by Dan Harris
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.
More info on AmazonBusiness

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
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.
More info on Amazon
The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker
Don't let the title put you off. 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 on the strength of
individuals, rather than on the weaknesses. There are
concrete recommendations for how to approach certain
things, for example promoting employees, where Drucker
says to ask these four questions to oneself regarding the
employee:
- "What has he [or she] done well?"
- "What, therefore, is he likely to be able to do well?"
- "What does he have to learn or to acquire to be able to get the full benefit from his strength?"
-
"If he had a son or daughter, would I be willing to have
him or her work under this person?"
- "If yes, why?"
- "If no, why?"
Biographies

Open by Andre Agassi
Agassi was drilled by his ruthless father from a young age to become the best tennis player in world. He succeeded, but this is the story of what it cost. Agassi's rebel mentality is both entertaining to read about and inspirational.
More info on AmazonFiction

Stoner by John Williams
A beautiful, epic, slow-moving tale of the life of a scholar and teacher. It gives that kind of swindling, zoomed-out view of what a life can be; full of dissapointments, but also with glimmers of hope and moments of pure joy.
More info on Amazon