I haven’t been reading as many books as I’d like to, and I haven’t dedicated adequate time to reflect and react to books and articles I’ve read online, so I’m going to start keeping track of some of those here. Also check out my Goodreads profile.
I love this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, which is even more true in today’s world where we read tons of stuff both online and offline.
“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
You may not remember every detail of every story or article you read, but I like to think of reading as food for your mind and soul. Which means you should develop good reading habits and watch what you read, just like you should watch what you eat. Put enough garbage in, and it’ll start to weight you down. Cheers to clean eating and clean reading!
Some of my favorite books:
- The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
- The Happy Runner by David and Megan Roche (Disclaimer: I’m currently coached by these AMAZING human beings!)
Recent reading posts
-
An Archipelago of Ideas
What if you thought of your writing, coding or building process as discovering first one idea island, then another, then another, until you can see the archipelago of ideas, and only worry later about building bridges to connect them?
Read more -
2020 Reading List
I read 32 books in 2020 (I turned 32 in March) and reaffirmed my love for audiobooks, especially ones narrated by the author.
Read more -
Reflecting on Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
I'm really enjoying Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous", a novel written as a letter to his mother. This passage in particular really struck a chord with me.
Read more -
Thoughts on Jay-Z's Decoded
Jay-Z has always been one of my favorite rappers, so reading his book Decoded was a special treat. It's one part an autobiography, but told through the meaning behind his song lyrics and the lyrics of other artists that influenced him, one part a poetry book showcasing his rap lyrics in a really aesthetically pleasing way, and one part just a master class on rap and its rich history and culture.
Read more -
It's not about optimism or pessimism: Review of Ashlee Vance's Elon Musk Biography
Vance's portrait of Elon Musk has forced me to dramatically consider the lens through which I view new opportunities and has really challenged me to think bigger. Of course, I question whether you can judge a priori that something will be "life-changing"-- as Steve Jobs once said, you can really only connect the dots looking backwards. Nonetheless, it has forced me to question values that I strongly believed in, such as the balance between treating people well and doing whatever is necessary for the cause.
Read more