Books
Like any normal, well-adjusted person, I keep track of which books I read each year. A lot of them are fun, trashy books about aliens or dragons, while others are not very fun, trashy books about aliens or dragons.
Ratings are how I felt about the book at the time, which in some cases has changed a lot.
I didn’t start tracking until about 2011, everything before then is from shaky memory, so there’s a bunch missing that maybe I’ll fill out some day.
2025
- Pages
- 7,817
- Books
- 21
Great overview of China's engineering-driven approach in contrast to the US legalistic approach, and why both countries need to learn from each other. more »
A moderately accessible introduction about the very real risks of superintelligent AI. more »
Final book jumps quite a bit ahead in time, can be skipped
Pragmatic overview of the role
A bit too cutesy for my taste, but came highly recommended so might still read the others in the series.
Hard sci-fi with some interesting ideas for an alien ecosystem. Pairs well with Parasite Rex
I know basically nothing about tennis, but this was a great read. Goes into the details of what it takes to succeed at the top level, and how unglamorous it is unless you’re at the very top. You can read a pretty representative excerpt first to decide if it’s your type of thing.
Disgusting, but fascinating. The variety and innovation across parasite lifecycles is amazing.
Walks through the evolution of soccer tactics in Europe from the 1990s to 2020, with a focus on countries that influenced the game the most: The Netherlands, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and England.
Good overview across the AI stack
Nerdy, detail-oriented look into what it would really take to have humans living in space. Gets a bit bogged down in legal/governance details, but I enjoyed the exploration of biological and logistical issues.
tldr: Break big projects into small manageable tasks, understand the odds, and plan carefully
Enjoyed some of the background and anecdotes, but not quite enough there unless you’re a huge fan
There were a few interesting parts here, but ultimately this book less about AI and more about philosophy/the meaning of life. Not my cup of tea, I preferred Superintelligence.
Lots of good stories about them as young kids in 80s NYC in the nascent Hip-Hop scene. It was so early and everything was up for grabs. Absolutely recommended for fans of the band.
2024
- Pages
- 11,009
- Books
- 23
Series starts strong, though the most recent books were just OK. Waiting on the final five books to be written.
- The Way of Kings (read 2017)
- Words of Radiance (read 2017)
- Oathbringer (read 2017)
- Edgedancer (read 2017)
- Dawnshard (read 2020)
- Rhythm of War (read 2021)
- The Sunlit Man
- Wind and Truth
Stephenson’s books always take a while to get going, and this is just Book 1 so still too early to really judge
This book does a great job of laying out just how much the Sackler family laid the groundwork for the opioid crisis and then managed to evade accountability for it. Depressing, but well-written.
If a book about capitalism within a fantasy world sounds like a good time, then this book is for you.
Basically a 300-page long New Yorker article about the history of the semiconductor industry
I embarked on this (silly) goal to read ten Spanish-language books in 2023, but stupidly picked this 555-page monster with plenty of challenging Castilian vocabulary as my first book. Unsurprisingly, my reading speed in Spanish is far slower than English, and I discovered how much of my love of books is due to reading quickly. I kept on pausing this book to read other quick (English language) reads, so it took me about a year and half to finish this. I enjoyed the book, though my Spanish isn’t quite at the level to fully appreciate the quality of the writing.
Part African travelogue, part baboon behavioral study. The travelogue parts are interesting since traveling in Africa, especially in the 1980s, is always an adventure. But the stories of the baboons, and how similar they are to humans, are the highlight for me.
Interesting premise, but not a fan of the writing style and drags a bit. I enjoyed Hominids more.
Modern retelling of David Copperfield set in Appalachia
This won the Hugo in 2023. It’s … fine. Easy read but not particularly memorable.
First book in the new series by the authors of The Expanse, shows promise.
The two books are interesting takes on foreign intelligence. The third book is skippable.
- Children of Time (read 2018)
- Children of Ruin
- Children of Memory
There are over 15 books in this series, not ready to dedicate that much time here
Historical fiction that tickles my wannabe language nerd heart.
Had to force myself to finish this, I don’t know why this was nominated for a Hugo. There are some interesting ideas, but in the end this is a detective story where the main character is an unlikable Space Karen that uses her money to bully everyone around her.
A bit dated now, but some interesting stories about the French wine industry in the 80s. Drags at times with random stories though.
Heard a lot of hype about Emily Wilson’s modern translation, so decided to give it a shot. I found the preface and initial notes to be fairly interesting, and the translation is definitely more readable than what I remember in high school. However, finishing this ended up being a bit of a slog for me.
2023
- Pages
- 6,141
- Books
- 21
Easy reading, but gets repetitive after a while
Zen advice on the creative process, can dip in and out of the book depending on where you are in a project. I wish he’d used specific examples from his work, but the book is probably already a bit longer than it could be anyway.
Don't mistake this for a book about FTX, the focus here is Sam Bankman-Fried. Worthwhile if you're interested in his story and the genesis of FTX. more »
Another plot-driven sci-fi popcorn read with a familiar story line
Popcorn read that is pretty much what you expect from the title. Enjoyable read, but I’m surprised it was nominated for the Hugo.
Bob’s consciousness is uploaded into a spaceship’s, which heads out to explore the universe. Breezy reading, with style reminiscent of The Martian at times.
- We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (read 2019)
- For We Are Many (read 2019)
- All These Worlds (read 2019)
- Heaven's River
The evolution and biology of a vastly different form of life living on a neutron star. Some interesting ideas, but should have been half the length. Written in the 80s and showing it’s age.
I know a lot of people that love this 10-book series, but I wasn’t a fan of the first, though the second was better
- The Player of Games (read 2023)
- Consider Phlebas
Quick series with some interesting ideas (human hive minds, vampires in space).
Came very highly recommended, many likened it to Ready Player One, which isn’t a great comparison. Though both books lean heavily into nostalgic video games, this book is really about relationships, romantic and platonic. Not a bad read, but didn’t live up to the hype for me.
2022
- Pages
- 16,287
- Books
- 36
I do not get the hype
I haven’t played the games or watched the show, but the books are enjoyable enough if you like the genre.
- The Last Wish (read 2020)
- Sword of Destiny (read 2020)
- Blood of Elves (read 2020)
- The Time of Contempt (read 2020)
- Baptism of Fire (read 2020)
- The Tower of Swallows
- The Lady of the Lake
- Season of Storms
Astounding to read all the gory details about Weinstein’s behaviors and everyone who enabled it. Ronan Farrow is a fantastic writer.
Some interesting ideas, but not my favorite of his
- Jade City (read 2021)
- Jade War (read 2021)
- Jade Legacy
Novel-length hustle porn
I have no idea how this has a 4.2 on Goodreads or how I managed to finish it.
Fun, modern take on the backstory of characters from Greek Mythology
Good intro to the benefits of fasting, in case (like me) you have to convince people you’re not crazy for not eating six times a day
2021
- Pages
- 10,908
- Books
- 25
Space antics with realistic physics. Quality dips midway through, but first few books are great. I haven’t watched the show yet.
- Leviathan Wakes (read 2014)
- The Butcher of Anderson Station (read 2014)
- Caliban's War (read 2014)
- Gods of Risk (read 2014)
- Drive (read 2015)
- Abaddon's Gate (read 2014)
- The Churn: An Expanse Novella (read 2016)
- Cibola Burn (read 2014)
- Nemesis Games (read 2015)
- The Vital Abyss (read 2015)
- Babylon's Ashes (read 2016)
- Strange Dogs (read 2017)
- Persepolis Rising (read 2017)
- Tiamat's Wrath (read 2019)
- Auberon (read 2020)
- Leviathan Falls
Not for everyone, but I enjoyed this more than I expected. Nominally about time travel, but the evolution and permutations of adult friendships resonated with me.
Some interesting ideas, but a bit of a slog
Intense story of Shackelton’s 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica.
After the disappointing Artemis, Andy Weir is back with a read that recaptures the nerdy fun of The Martian
Some good ideas, but could have been condensed into a long article.
2020
- Pages
- 6,866
- Books
- 17
Nowhere near as good as the first.
- The Collapsing Empire (read 2019)
- The Consuming Fire (read 2019)
- The Last Emperox
Makes an important and though-provoking point, but with about twice as many pages as necessary which dilutes the message
2019
- Pages
- 12,353
- Books
- 25
Could have been edited down a bit, but overall was a fun series to read
- The Black Prism (read 2015)
- The Blinding Knife (read 2015)
- The Broken Eye (read 2015)
- The Blood Mirror (read 2016)
- The Burning White
Classic Stephenson: Interesting ideas, but drags at times.
The history of Portugal’s colonization in the Indian Ocean. Does a really good job of showing how out of their element the Portuguese were, how they got incredibly lucky to be able to establish a multi-century foothold in Asia.
A history of Angola’s civil war as seen through the eyes of a Polish journalist.
A detailed history of the settlement and development of south Florida, focusing on the environment impact on the Everglades. Before this book, I didn’t have a great notion of just how young most of Florida is, it was a sparsely populated backwater up until recently (now it’s a highly-populous backwater).
This took a long while to read. Drags a bit in the middle, but finishes strong.
- The Eye of the World (read 2018)
- The Great Hunt (read 2018)
- The Dragon Reborn (read 2018)
- The Shadow Rising (read 2018)
- The Fires of Heaven (read 2018)
- Lord of Chaos (read 2018)
- A Crown of Swords (read 2018)
- The Path of Daggers (read 2018)
- Winter's Heart (read 2018)
- Crossroads of Twilight
- Knife of Dreams
- The Gathering Storm
- Towers of Midnight
- A Memory of Light
2018
- Pages
- 9,773
- Books
- 13
Fascinating look at the story of Theranos, absolutely appalling how far Holmes and co were willing to go.
Haven’t gotten around to book 3 yet
- A Fire Upon The Deep (read 2014)
- A Deepness in the Sky
- The Fifth Season (read 2017)
- The Obelisk Gate (read 2017)
- The Stone Sky
2017
- Pages
- 9,431
- Books
- 17
Loved The Martian, but this felt like it was trying too hard.
I’m a sucker for time travel stories, this one works
A good idea, but this is a New Yorker article worth of content stretched into a book.
2016
- Pages
- 11,902
- Books
- 26
Can be a little tricky to keep the Chinese names straight, but some really interesting ideas. Each book is quite different.
- The Three-Body Problem (read 2014)
- The Dark Forest
- Death's End
I preferred his previous book, Ratio
There is very little new here if you’ve read Guns, Germs, and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee, both of which I recommend over this
There are five more books in the series that I haven’t gotten around to
Plot-driven and entertaining, I enjoyed them at the time. There are additional books out now, but haven’t felt the need to continue.
2015
- Pages
- 10,422
- Books
- 26
Depressing, but Kolbert is a good writer.
A forgettable failed attempt to re-capture the spirit of Ready Player One
Like many of these types of books, a bit padded to get to book length. Kondo comes off as quite a bit kooky, but the general intention and advice is good and can inspire some good habits.
If you like Stephenson’s other books, you’ll probably like this as well.
Like a lot of highly-influential books, ends up feeling dated and overhyped because it’s innovative ideas have been copied and improved upon by others.
2014
- Pages
- 16,306
- Books
- 40
If you’ve watched more than a season of Star Trek (any version), then you’ll probably enjoy this
Fun nerdy read with enough semi-realistic science to make it plausible.
- Wool Omnibus (read 2013)
- Shift
- Dust
Whipped through these two, but the third book is famously taking forever to come out.
2013
- Pages
- 9,228
- Books
- 20
Takes forever to get good, and then it’s great.
Considered an absolute masterpiece, these were crazy dense and I wasn’t in a time of my life where I had the spare brainpower to fully appreciate.
An interesting premise, well executed
I’m the right age, and right amount of nerd, for this to hit the spot.
Enjoyed this take on future tech and its implications on economic systems.
Neat premise, surprisingly still holds up given it’s age
2012
- Pages
- 4,599
- Books
- 9
Silly fun
Some good ideas, but way too long
- The Hunger Games (read 2009)
- Catching Fire (read 2009)
- Mockingjay
2011
- Pages
- 11,120
- Books
- 17
Read right these right before the show came out, still waiting for the next book, though I’ve mostly lost interest after how the show ended.
Light and easy popcorn fantasy
A parallel world where Neanderthals won instead of us.
Great novella, you can find it online to read for free.
2010
- Pages
- 2,149
- Books
- 5
2009
- Pages
- 2,860
- Books
- 7
2008
- Pages
- 11,386
- Books
- 32
Read while traveling in India. Depressing, but well-written.
Honestly, don’t remember much about this book but I know it hasn’t aged well.
Didn’t know anything about baseball before reading this, know a tiny bit after.
Even though it’s a completely different culture, I identified a lot of the depictions of the immigrant experience in the book.
2007
- Pages
- 9,677
- Books
- 24
Portuguese translation
This book is somewhat famous in software circles as a shining example of documenting best practices. It’s definitely interesting to skim through, but unless you’re an urban planner or something it’s not a particularly great read as it’s just a huge list of best practices for physical spaces.
I read the Portuguese (Portugal) translations of these
- Harry Potter e a pedra filosofal (read 2004)
- Harry Potter e a Câmara dos Segredos (read 2004)
- Harry Potter e o prisioneiro de Azkaban (read 2005)
- Harry Potter e o Cálice de Fogo (read 2005)
- Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fénix (read 2006)
- Harry Potter e o Príncipe Misterioso (read 2006)
- Harry Potter e os Talismãs da Morte
Title sounds like a a cheesy romance, but it’s actually a true story about exploration in the Amazon jungle.
2006
- Pages
- 7,508
- Books
- 20
This book really helped my mental health
No idea how anyone ever though this was a true story.
2005
- Pages
- 4,830
- Books
- 11
Not for me
2004
- Pages
- 3,437
- Books
- 12
The movie translated this very well, no particular reason to read it if you’ve seen it
2003
- Pages
- 5,252
- Books
- 15
Reading this early in my career was very helpful, it meant I invested in index funds early and often.
Read the Spanish translation because I was traveling and ran out of books
Not great, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
Portuguese translation
Absolutely loved this when it came out, not sure how it holds up now.
Heart’s in the right place I guess, but the authors got super lucky buying bonds when rates were high in the 80s so good luck replicating that
2002
- Pages
- 6,533
- Books
- 17
Convinced my inner introvert to socialize more
MIT nerds making money at blackjack using math
Fun read, but turns out it’s mostly fake.
This was a long series of posts on kuro5hin, eventually made into a book
Not quite as good as Guns, Germs, and Steel, but was still a great read.
2001
- Pages
- 4,576
- Books
- 11
Read this right before I started working at Microsoft.
Put me on a path to read all sorts of history, evolutionary biology, and linguistics books.
Much more comics-focused than Understanding Comics
Very different vibe than the film
Had a lot of concrete advice to improve writing
If you’re going to only read on Stephenson book, make it this one. Especially relevant now in the age of LLMs.
2000
- Pages
- 4,586
- Books
- 9
The Simpsons’ comic book guy vibe, but for an entire book. Got old quickly.
My first Stephenson novel, and likely his second best after The Diamond Age
Ties math, art, and music together in a really interesting way. By no means an easy read, but absolutely fascinating.
Didn’t speak to me, but perhaps I was too young
I should probably re-read this one.
1999
- Pages
- 847
- Books
- 4
1998
- Pages
- 1,775
- Books
- 6
Quite ahead of it’s time for 1997, tells the story of the emergence of an AI through email exchanges.
I should probably re-read this one.
One of the best design books ever written
1997
- Pages
- 3,129
- Books
- 5
Barely finished this, not sure how I was convinced it was worth reading (it is not).
1996
- Pages
- 4,956
- Books
- 15
The first book is definitely worth reading, the rest are quite different.
- Ender's Game (read 1995)
- Speaker for the Dead
- Xenocide
- Children of the Mind
1995
- Pages
- 4,132
- Books
- 9
Not as good as the first, but if you love dinosaurs…
1994
- Pages
- 2,208
- Books
- 6
1993
- Pages
- 1,215
- Books
- 2
This is one of only two English-language books I had during a year abroad, and the only good one. I read it at least six times.
