Books I read (or re-read) in 2016

I use books for different reasons. Sometimes, I’m looking for help with a problem. Sometimes, I’m looking for a mentor who can guide me through a part of my life. Sometimes, I want to be amazed. Sometimes, I just want to be entertained. It’s remarkable that I can find all of the above in a few hundred pages of paper that costs less and less on Amazon and if it was up to Jeff Bezos he’d hand deliver it as soon practically feasible after ordering.

Below are a selection of books (50 or so) from all that I read last year. It is quite eclectic but I look up to someone like Sir John Templeton in this regard, he'd go to unusual sources of information to find answers. Hope you’ll find some that might interest you.

Biographies

• Paul Allen - Idea Man: The other perspective on Microsoft. I appreciated reading about his relationship with Bill Gates, going through cancer and exploring different avenues in life after founding Microsoft
• Mark Robichaux - Cable Cowboy: No description necessary
• Peter Barton, Larry Shames - Not Fade Away: I wrote about this book at length before. Highly recommend to read it. It also inspired me to write about my experience with cancer
• Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild: The book upon which the movie was based on
• Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: Chris Hadfield's fantastic life story
• Rich DeVos - Compassionate Capitalism: From the founder on Amway
• Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: Funny autobiography from a great comedian
• Gene Lees - Oscar Peterson: I grew up on Oscar Peterson’s incredible jazz piano music and listen to it to this day (little snippet of his genius here). Gene Lees did an excellent job with this biography book
• Donald Trump - The Art of the Deal: “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration -- and a very effective form of promotion”

Business/Investing

• Tren Griffin - Charlie Munger: From the author of the great 25iq blog
• Max Gunther - Zurich Axioms: Why the Swiss get things right
• Laszlo Bock - Work Rules: Insights into Google i.e. why putting bean bags and ping-pong tables into your office won't make your company like Google
• Valerie Hansen - The Silk Road: Good background reading on the history Silk Road, especially in the context of China's expansion of the One Belt, One Road system
• Richard Roberts - The Lion Wakes: The modern history of HSBC and the development of corporate Asia
• Bennet Goodspeed - The Tao Jones Averages: a Guide to Whole-Brained Investing: Why the right side of the brain is just as important as the left side in investing (i.e. how to overcome the man with a hammer syndrome)
• Matthew McCleary - Shipping Man: A good story about why in public shipping investments the public is the patsy at the imaginary poker table
• Tim Ferriss - 4 Hour Chef
• Tim Ferriss - 4 Hour Work Week
• Mark Tier - Becoming Rich: Cheesy title but a surprisingly good book about the mental habits of successful investors
• Joe Studwell - How Asia Works: Studwell writes very well about the connection of politics and business in Asia. His other book, called the Asian Godfathers is very good too
• Jeffrey Towson - The One Hour China Book: A one hour book on China from the former right hand man of Prince Alwaleed. He is also a big Buffett fan
• Sterling Seagrave - Lords of the Rim: One to complement Studwell’s book
• Michael Eisner - Working Together: “The best way to have a great partner is to deserve one” – Charlie Munger. Awesome book about great partnerships such as Buffett/Munger, Bill and Melinda Gates, Grazer/Howard, Rubell/Schrager and so on
• Peter H. Diamandis – Abundance: Why the world is not such a bad place. From the founder of Singularity University
• Peter Maguire - Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade: A different perspective on Thailand...
• Mohsin Hamid - How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia: It is a fiction but could well be the real life story of anyone growing up in a developing country
• Robert Kiyosaki - Rich Dad Poor Dad: Yes, I know. But still…

Psychology, mindfulness etc

• David Buss - Evolution of Desire: Mix of Sapiens and Emotional Intelligence
• Nir Eyal - Hooked: Book about how to build habits in your life
• Kapleau - Three Pillars of Zen: History and discipline of Zen Buddhism
• Phil Jackson - Eleven Rings: Marvellous book about introducing mindfulness into professional sports (and life in general) from the legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson
• Michael Singer - The Untethered Soul: Amazing book. Highly recommend to read it after Michael Singer's other book called the Surrender Experiment
• Jon Kabat-Zinn - Wherever You Go There You Are: Must read every year
• Karen Salmansohn - Instant Happy: Bad day in the markets? Flip through this book

Personal development, spirituality etc

• Robert Greene - Art of Seduction: Written well-before The Game, in the same well researched manner as the 48 Laws of Power
• Marcus Aurelius – Meditations: No introduction necessary I believe. One I re-read every year
• David Schwartz - Magic of Thinking Big: Cheesy title but this book is up there with Think and Grow Rich
• Paul Arden - It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be: A handbook of how to succeed in life by advertising guru Paul Arden. It's a short book that I try to read every year
• Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way: It’s not why someone put that obstacle in our way but how we overcome it
• Ryan Holiday - Ego is the Enemy: This books takes the theory behind Obstacle is the Way and presents a philosophical application to overcoming our own ego
• Carol Dweck – Mindset: When you fail at something it doesn’t mean that the world has come to an end. How you get back up is the key to life
• Cal Newport - So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Advice from Steve Martin
• Cal Newport - Deep Work: Recommend to read Cal Newport’s books together
• Elisabeth Gilbert - Big Magic: Oh yes. For anyone facing fear in expressing their creative work publicly
• Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: Must read for a left brained person (aham, me)
• Dale Carnegie - How Stop Worrying and Start Living: Dale Carnegie’s less famous but very good book
• Don Miguel Ruiz - The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: Not just mastery of love but life itself
• Kamal Ravikant - Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It: Often from the greatest depths of misery a new way of life emerges. At first you might not know what to make of the title but I highly recommend this very short read. A talk from Kamal on his story here
• Adam Braun - The Promise of a Pencil: I’ve put off reading this book until the end of the year but it is a wonderful story, especially how Adam’s upbringing in the US and the formation of Pencils of Promise was influenced by his family of Holocaust survivors and Hungarian refugees
• Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations with God: This goes deep (not in religious or dogmatic way)
• A Course in Miracles: A daily practice in spirituality
• Marianne Williamson - Law of Divine Compensation: One of the best known spiritual teachers alive today. I saw her giving a talk last autumn and was very impressed then started delving into her books afterwards.
• Oprah Winfrey - What I Know for Sure: Someone gave me this very short book and I’ve been through it a few times already. Wonderful life lessons from Oprah

Nutrition

• Michael Moss - Salt, Sugar, Fat: Why does it feel so good the way those Pringles crunch, and how the food industry tricked our brains into eating it
• Mark Sisson - The Primal Blueprint: Very good book for those exploring making a change in their diet and lifestyle. From the author of Mark's Daily Apple lifestyle blog
• David Asprey - Bulletproof Diet: Inventor of the Bulletproof Coffee. Highly recommend the podcast
• Alejandro Junger - Clean Gut: I've binged through 5-6 books on this topic. One of the most concise books I came across on why the standard high carb diet is unsustainable
• Nina Teicholz - The Big Fat Surprise
• Mark Hyman - Eat Fat, Get Thin
• Mark Hyman - The Blood Sugar Solution

Books currently on my nightstand

• Brian Grazer – A Curious Mind: A story about a collection of curiosity conversations
• Ryan Holiday – Daily Stoic: Daily practice in Stoicism
• Chris Voss – Never Split the Difference: Most amazing negotiation book. Ever
• Phil Knight – Shoe Dog: The amazing story of Nike’s birth
• Robert Cialdini – Pre-suasion: Follow up book to Influence
• Tim Ferriss – Tools of Titans: If you like the podcast, you’ll like the book
• Matthew McCleary - Viking Raid: Follow up story to The Shipping Man
• William Irvine – A Guide to the Good Life: Continued exploration of Stoicism

Books I read (or re-read) in 2015

My goal is to read at least one book a week so around 50 a year. Sometimes it works out to be more, sometimes less but over the years it has proven to be a good bogey. Some people are shocked by the number (personally I don't think it is a big deal) but what I've found is that most books aren't worth reading cover to cover. I view myself as a "gold miner" when it comes to books i.e. seek out the few core principles, lessons or stories that I can apply in my life and ignore the rest. Most books these days will only contain that much anyway thus it is not too difficult to get through large volumes. I read practically everything I can get my hands on with the exception of fiction, unless it has some ties to the real world (such as the Noble House that I mention below).

Below is a list and quick summary on all the books I read last year and also the ones that are on my nightstand currently. If you have any recommendations do let me know via e-mail or Twitter. Thank you!

2015 Booklist

Biographies

• Jerry Weintraub - When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man: The fantastic journey of the legendary producer behind Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Karate Kid and the Ocean's movie series. Unfortunately, he passed away last year but his stories will carry on
• Arnold Schwarzenegger - Total Recall: Think what you might about Arnold you cannot take away the fact that he is one of the hardest working people around. From a small village in Austria he conquered the world of sports, entertainment and politics. What really comes through this book is the concept of "reps and sets" regardless of which aspect of life it is used in
• Ron Chernow - Titan: Life of John D. Rockefeller: Chernow does an excellent and very insightful job in capturing the era of Rockefeller and the changes the US was going through after the Civil War. A timely read given what's happening in the oil business
• Conor O’Clery - The Billionaire Who Wasn't: This is the story of Chuck Feeney, the founder of Duty Free Shoppers and one of the originals behind the "Giving While Living" movement (upon which the Giving Pledge is based on). It is a wonderful story. There is also a great documentary on Mr Feeney
• Conrad Hilton - Be My Guest: An inspiring story about the man behind the Hilton brand. He discovered Helen Keller's work very early on in his life and her message about optimism changed his life. Great little read
• Roland Lazenby - The Life: Michael Jordan: It is probably the best book I've read that captures the complex character of Jordan and his desire to win above all
• Mark Owen - No Hero: A tough read on the life of a Navy SEAL. Lot of great principles, such as "staying in your free foot world"
• Sam Walton - Made in America: A book that I read every year
• Brad Stone - The Everything Store: No description necessary. Goes very well with the book above
• Zack O'Malley Greenburg - Empire State of Mind: Short but well-written biography of Jay Z
• Janet Lowe - Damn Right!: No introduction necessary to Charlie Munger
• Peter Kaufman - Poor Charlie’s Almanack: Must read every year

Business/Investing

• Guy Spier - Education of a Value Investor: In the form of an autobiography Guy details his travels through Wall Street, starting out as a hotshot MBA and going through a few humbling episodes in his life that brought him closer to his centre, both as an investor and a human being. Highly recommended for investors who are just starting out and who have been in this business for a long time. What I liked most about this book is Guy's approach of putting it all on the table and expressing all of the vulnerabilities that we go through as investors. It is very unlikely that you'll ever read a book like this from a fund manager at a large asset manager
• Daniel Amman - King of Oil: The story of Marc Rich and the company that was to become Glencore. Highly controversial figure but a very good perspective on the development of the modern crude oil business
• James Clavell - Noble House: For all the sinophiles out there. This book is part of Clavell's Asian Saga series and tells the story of the Noble House (i.e. Jardine Matheson) as a fiction, though you'll recall plenty of connections to the real world if you read between the lines. In case you don't want to read through 1,400 pages, this story was also made into a TV series with the young Pierce Brosnan as the Tai Pan
• William Thorndike - Outsiders: This book never gets old
• Ed Catmull - Creativity Inc: This is probably the best business book I read in a good while. Through reading this book you'll get a good glimpse into the inner workings of Pixar and their approach to nurturing creativity, talent and movie ideas. Highly recommended
• J Paul Getty - How to Be Rich: A very easy read full of life stories and anecdotes. His mantra for success: "rise early, work late, and strike oil"
• Robert Smith - Riches Among Ruins: The trading of emerging and frontier market debt today is conducted via brokers, however not too long ago everything took place on the ground. Smith, one of the creators of this market, details his travels and investments through Latin America, MidEast, Asia and Eastern Europe. Recommended for people interested in financial history, exotic locations and tales of dealing with questionable characters
• Peter Lynch - One Upon Wall Street: No introduction necessary
• Norman Berryessa - Global Investing: The Templeton Way: A book from the 1980s about about the concepts of global investing that Templeton was a proponent of
• John Train - Money Masters: Investment methods and techniques of the greats. The book includes interviews and profiles of Buffett, Lynch, Fisher, Robertson, Soros et al
• Danny Meyer - Setting the Table: I've re-read this book just as Danny Meyer's Shake Shack empire was going global. He gives a behind the scenes look into his "enlightened hospitality" concept. Great read
• Jack Schwager - Market Wizards and New Market Wizards: I think this requires no description
• Jeroen Bos - Deep Value Investing: A practitioner's guide to deep value investing. Jeroen is a very experienced investor and this book illustrates his investment successes and lessons learnt in an easy to read way. Great to complement Peter Cundill's book
• Claire Barnes - Asia’s Investment Prophets: Claire Barnes (of the Asia Apollo Fund) interviews some of the investing legends in Asia. An out of print, very hard to come by book (it goes $9,000 on Amazon) written in the style of the Market Wizards
• Janet Tavakoli - Dear Mr Buffett: Another take on the global financial crisis from the perspective of the author and Buffett
• Mark Mobius - Passport to Profits: Written during the Asian financial crisis so it gives an interesting perspective to global and EM investing from Mark Mobius
• John Neff - Neff on Investing: Neat little book on Neff's contrarian investment approach in running Vanguard Windsor and Gemini II Funds
• Steve Stoute - Tanning of America: Steve Stoute (also Jay Z's business partner) uses his perspective as an entrepreneur and ad man to describe how hip-hop changed popular culture forever via fashion, entertainment and even consumer behaviour. Great to listen as an audiobook
• Ricardo Semler - Maverick and Seven Day Weekend: The story of Semco and how to put employee satisfaction as the first principle
• Dan Pena - Your first $100m: Dan Pena's methods of reaching financial freedom. It is actually a very no-nonsense book about creating a roll-up
• MJ DeMarco - Millionaire Fastlane: Similar to the above. Worth reading through it
• Mohnish Pabrai - Dhando Investor: Great little investing book from Mohnish
• Ben Horowitz - The Hard Things About Hard Things: Similarly to Creativity Inc, it is one of the best business books I read last year with a lot of practical applications. Oh and how could I forget Horowitz's quoting of hip-hop lyrics throughout this book
• Ronald Chan - Behind the Berkshire Curtain: Helpful book in understanding Berkshire's operating companies and managers
• Blake Mycoskie - Start Something That Matters: The inspiring journey of TOMS
• Peter Bevelin - Few Lessons from Warren Buffett: A shorter version of Larry Cunningham's book in summarising the core principles of Warren Buffett
• Howard Buffett - 40 Chances: I'm hugely interested in agriculture and it was very interesting to get Howard Buffett's perspective on how better farming techniques (albeit starting from a very low base) can have a dramatic impact in developing countries' development. It is certainly a great responsibility to give away $3bn+ in a meaningful way. Very enlightening read

Anything that's not business or investing related

• Robert Greene - Mastery: What I like most about Greene's books (48 Laws of Power, 33 Strategies of War etc) is the amount of research that goes into them. In Mastery he tells the story of Da Vinci, Einstein, Paul Graham amongst others and breaks down the myths of success that public attribute to these geniuses
• John Templeton - The Templeton Plan: Templeton's principles and concepts on living a great life
• Dalai Lama - Art of Happiness: Great book on the wisdom of the Dalai Lama
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow and Finding Flow: Csikszentmihalyi's famous book on how to reach that illusive flow state
• Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence and Focus: The first is a classic that is very helpful in understanding our own psychology, while the second one lays it out clearly why an ADD approach to life gets you nowhere
• Matthew Syed - Bounce: Part "10,000 hour rule" and part Mastery. Very insightful
• Jack Canfield - The Success Principles: Because we all need it
• Giulia Enders - Gut: Not the most pleasant of topics but a fantastic overview of the inner workings of the gut and our digestive system. What we don't eat makes a huge difference to our lives
• Peter Drucker - Managing Oneself: It's a book that I read at the start of every year
• Barry Schwartz - Paradox of Choice: This book is touching on similar topics as Daniel Goleman's Focus. Remember the principles of this book next time you are running an investment screen
• Matt Lieberman - Social: No man is an island
• Michael Singer - Surrender Experiment: Michael Singer's story of what happened to him when he stopped believing that he controls his life entirely. Wonderful to read over and over again
• Jon Kabat-Zinn - Wherever You Go, There You Are: Thought provoking read on mindfulness
• Bronnie Ware - The Five Regrets of the Dying: Confronting death is always painful regardless of what stage of life you are in. I've found this book to be helpful in helping me reverse engineer my life a bit
• Jonathan Haidt - The Happiness Hypothesis: Perhaps one of the best books I read on this topic. Jonathan Haidt compliments ancient teachings with modern scientific research to explain what happiness is
• John Kralik - Simple Act of Gratitude: What happens to your life after you write 365 thank you cards in a year
• Adam Grant - Give and Take: While "takers" win the battle but "givers" win the war
• Neil Strauss - The Truth: From the author of The Game, a very uncomfortable book about relationships
• Yuval Harari - Sapiens: The book that took the world by storm last year
• Ian Fleming - Thrilling Cities: The author takes a journey around the world in 1959 in true James Bond style. Probably the most entertaining travel book I've read so far
• Steven Hawking - A Brief History of Time: Anything from Steven Hawking is just phenomenal and certainly challenges your thinking
• Henry Kissinger - Diplomacy: One of the best books about the history of politics and diplomacy

Books that are currently on my nightstand

• Tren Griffin - Charlie Munger: From the author of the great 25iq blog
• Peter Maguire - Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade: A different perspective on Thailand
• David Buss - Evolution of Desire: Mix of Sapiens and Emotional Intelligence
• David Schwartz - Magic of Thinking Big: This book is up there with Think and Grow Rich
• Peter Barton, Larry Shames - Not Fade Away: I'm about to finish this book, which is the heart wrenching story of Peter Barton (John Malone's right hand man), who passed away way too young. Similar book to Bronnie Ware's (see above). Deserves a longer post
• Mohsin Hamid - How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia: It is a fiction but could well be the real life story of anyone growing up in a developing country
• Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild: The book upon which the movie was based on
• Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: Chris Hadfield's fantastic life story
• Max Gunther - Zurich Axioms: Why the Swiss get things right
• Nir Eyal - Hooked: Book about how to build habits in your life
• Valerie Hansen - The Silk Road: Good background reading on the Silk Road, especially in the context of China's expansion of the One Belt, One Road system 
• Richard Roberts - The Lion Wakes: The modern history of HSBC
• Don Miguel Ruiz - The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: Not just mastery of love but life itself
• Kapleau - Three Pillars of Zen: History and discipline of Zen Buddhism
• Paul Allen - Idea Man: The other perspective on Microsoft
• Laszlo Bock - Work Rules: Insights into Google i.e. why putting bean bags and ping-pong tables into your office won't make your company like Google