Four Stars
These are some of my favorite things
Books
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.
Read while traveling in India. Depressing, but well-written.
Haven’t gotten around to book 3 yet
This took a long while to read. Drags a bit in the middle, but finishes strong.
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.
Reading this early in my career was very helpful, it meant I invested in index funds early and often.
Space antics with realistic physics. Quality dips midway through, but first few books are great. I haven’t watched the show yet.
Enjoyed this take on future tech and its implications on economic systems.
Good overview across the AI stack
Takes forever to get good, and then it’s great.
A history of Angola’s civil war as seen through the eyes of a Polish journalist.
Historical fiction that tickles my wannabe language nerd heart.
Fascinating look at the story of Theranos, absolutely appalling how far Holmes and co were willing to go.
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.
Convinced my inner introvert to socialize more
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 »
MIT nerds making money at blackjack using math
Astounding to read all the gory details about Weinstein’s behaviors and everyone who enabled it. Ronan Farrow is a fantastic writer.
The two books are interesting takes on foreign intelligence. The third book is skippable.
Fun, modern take on the backstory of characters from Greek Mythology
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.
My first Stephenson novel, and likely his second best after The Diamond Age
Can be a little tricky to keep the Chinese names straight, but some really interesting ideas. Each book is quite different.
Series starts strong, though the most recent books were just OK. Waiting on the final five books to be written.
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.
The first book is definitely worth reading, the rest are quite different.
Intense story of Shackelton’s 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica.
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.
A moderately accessible introduction about the very real risks of superintelligent AI. more »
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.
Didn’t know anything about baseball before reading this, know a tiny bit after.
Disgusting, but fascinating. The variety and innovation across parasite lifecycles is amazing.
After the disappointing Artemis, Andy Weir is back with a read that recaptures the nerdy fun of The Martian
If you’ve watched more than a season of Star Trek (any version), then you’ll probably enjoy this
Neat premise, surprisingly still holds up given it’s age
Great novella, you can find it online to read for free.
An interesting premise, well executed
Had a lot of concrete advice to improve writing
Could have been edited down a bit, but overall was a fun series to read
If you’re going to only read on Stephenson book, make it this one. Especially relevant now in the age of LLMs.
Pragmatic overview of the role
I haven’t played the games or watched the show, but the books are enjoyable enough if you like the genre.
Fun nerdy read with enough semi-realistic science to make it plausible.
Whipped through these two, but the third book is famously taking forever to come out.
Even though it’s a completely different culture, I identified a lot of the depictions of the immigrant experience in the book.
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.
I’m a sucker for time travel stories, this one works
Depressing, but Kolbert is a good writer.
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).
Not quite as good as Guns, Germs, and Steel, but was still a great read.
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.
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.