My Books of 2018

Before I share my book list for the year, here are a few things I've learned about reading and books this year:

Things I've learned about reading and books

I don't need to finish a book once I've started it. I'm learning to put a book down once I'm not enjoying it and to pick up another book that might interest me. I used to force myself to finish books I wasn't enjoying anymore. It would make me lose the joy of reading, and I would start reading less. Always reading a book that interests me lets me enjoy reading much more. What helped me was something Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, said in an interview with Shane Parrish of Farnam Street:

Well, I discard a lot of books. I like the insight that there’s a set of great books that are really worth reading, and there’s a subset of those books that are really enjoyable to read. Maybe it’s like 10 or 20 percent of them, say. And the subset, the intersection of really worth reading and really enjoyable to read, is actually still more books than you can read in a lifetime. And so I’ve decided, “Well, I’ll read all the books that are really worth reading and really enjoyable to read, and when I run out of those, then I’ll go back to the books that are merely worth reading.” You know very quickly... you can decide if this is an enjoyable book to read or not. Or, “should I discard it?”

Context matters. Besides the quality of the book, a big part of whether I enjoy a book or find a book useful is how well it fits with my situation at that time. For example, I recently graduated from Udacity's Front-End Web Developer Nanodegree and became more interested in engineering. Because of my new interest, I'm really enjoying The Dream Machine, a book about the evolution of modern computers. And back to the previous point, I might not enjoy a book because it isn't useful for me then. But I might like it when I'm in a different situation. (This blog post, Everything I Knew About Reading Was Wrong, has great reading advice from Naval Ravikant, CEO and founder of AngelList.)

Getting free books is likely the best company perk. At Buffer, we get a free Kindle and can request for any books we like (no questions asked). Thanks to this perk, I have read and explored many more books than I would have. I personally would spend on books (I paid $62 for Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition last year) but being able to get books for free removes all friction during the consideration phase and has encouraged me to read many books that I might not have. (If you manage company perks in your company, consider this!)

Alright, here's the list of the books I have read, am reading, started reading and paused, and bought but have not started.

My 2018 Book List

My favorite books are in bold.

Books I've read

• • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
• Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World
• Ready Player One
• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
• Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
• Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar Inc.
• The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works
• Intercom on Marketing: The marketing book for startups
• Harry Potter Series
• Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
• Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (Incerto Book 1)
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World's Two
• It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
• Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
• The Long War (The Long Earth Book 2)
• How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life

Books I'm reading

• The Dream Machine

Books I started reading and paused

• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto Book 3)
• The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Incerto Book 2)
• Sweat Equity: Inside the New Economy of Mind and Body (Bloomberg)
• Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future
• Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
• The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
• Principles: Life and Work

Books I bought but have not started

• Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count
• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters
• The Responsible Company
• 10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating 'Competition-Free Content' That Stands Out and Gets Results
• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition
• Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price

If you have read any of the books above and want to discuss the ideas in them or if you have any book recommendations, comment below or let me know on Twitter!