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Books

Inspired by many of the other bookshelves that I've seen on other sites (Cory Dransfeldt's, Sean Voisen's, Melanie Richards's, Chazz Basuta's, and Dave Rupert's), here are some of the books that I've read over the years. It is nowhere near a complete list, with the most accurate info being from more recent years.

The bulk of the information came from entries I've made on the Goodreads platform (exported and hacked as I'll describe in a future blog post).

The ratings are my own, and as you can see, I like most of what I've read. And while I know the year when I read some of these books, there's also an Undated section at the end. I'll likely add more to that section as I mine my physical bookshelves for data.

The cover images and the book titles link to their respective Amazon product pages and I do participate in their affiliate program.

2024 / 2023 / 2022 / 2021 / 2020 / 2018 / 2014 / 2011 / 2010 / undated

Currently Reading

Farewell Amethystine

Farewell Amethystine

by Walter Mosley

2024

Let the Great World Spin

Let the Great World Spin

by Colum McCann

★★★★★

North Woods

North Woods

by Daniel Mason

★★★★½

Empire of the Summer Moon

Empire of the Summer Moon

by S.C. Gwynne

★★★★

A Gentleman and a Thief

A Gentleman and a Thief

by Dean Job

★★★½

James

James

by Percival Everett

★★★★★

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain

★★★★★

Hellhound on His Trail

Hellhound on His Trail

by Hampton Sides

★★★★★

The Wide Wide Sea

The Wide Wide Sea

by Hampton Sides

★★★★★

The Dog Stars

The Dog Stars

by Peter Heller

★★★★½

Mussolini's Daughter

Mussolini's Daughter

by Caroline Moorehead

★★★½

The Dreamt Land

The Dreamt Land

by Mark Arax

★★★★★

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

by John Le Carré

★★★★★

2023

Road to Surrender

Road to Surrender

by Evan Thomas

★★★★★

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

by William L. Shirer

★★★★★

Trust

Trust

by Hernan Diaz

★★★★★

The Wager

The Wager

by David Grann

★★★★★

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs

by Kerry Howley

★★★★★

Small Things Like These

Small Things Like These

by Claire Keegan

★★★★★

Horse

Horse

by Geraldine Brooks

★★★★★

American Midnight

American Midnight

by Adam Hochschild

★★★★★

2022

Devil in the Grove

Devil in the Grove

by Gilbert King

★★★★★

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

by George Saunders

★★★★★

Dreamland

Dreamland

by Sam Quinones

★★★★★

Either/Or

Either/Or

by Elif Batuman

★★

The Berlin Exchange

The Berlin Exchange

by Joseph Kanon

★★★½

The Gates of Europe

The Gates of Europe

by Serhii Plokhy & Ralph Lister

★★★

Pachinko

Pachinko

by Min Jin Lee

★★★★★

2021

The Power Broker

The Power Broker

by Robert A. Caro

★★★★★

Working

Working

by Robert A. Caro

★★★★½

The Fifth Risk

The Fifth Risk

by Michael Lewis

★★★★★

One Minute to Midnight

One Minute to Midnight

by Michael Dobbs

★★★★★

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

by Ron Chernow

★★★★★

2020

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

by Richard P. Rumelt

★★★★

Just Mercy

Just Mercy

by Bryan Stevenson

★★★★★

How We Die

How We Die

by Sherwin B. Nuland

★★★★

Being Mortal

Being Mortal

by Atul Gawande

★★★★

Ageless Painless Tennis

Ageless Painless Tennis

by David Starbuck Smith

★★★★

2018

A Higher Loyalty

A Higher Loyalty

by James Comey

★★★★

Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Leadership: In Turbulent Times

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

★★★★★

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air

by Paul Kalanithi & Abraham Verghese

★★★★★

An Unquiet Mind

An Unquiet Mind

by Kay Redfield Jamison

★★★★★

I am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help!

I am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help!

by Xavier Francisco Amador

★★★★

2014

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

by Ben Horowitz

★★★★

Death by Food Pyramid

Death by Food Pyramid

by Denise Minger

★★★★

Why We Get Fat

Why We Get Fat

by Gary Taubes

★★★★

The Circle

The Circle

by Dave Eggers

★★★★★

2011

Delivering Happiness

Delivering Happiness

by Tony Hsieh

★★★★

Thirteen Days

Thirteen Days

by Robert F. Kennedy

★★★★★

Execution

Execution

by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, Charles Burck

★★★★

2010

Street Fighters

Street Fighters

by Kate Kelly

★★★★

All the President’s Men

All the President’s Men

by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward

★★★★★

The Final Days

The Final Days

by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

★★★★★

To End a War

To End a War

by Richard Holbrooke

★★★★★

Obama's Wars

Obama's Wars

by Bob Woodward

★★★★

On the Brink

On the Brink

by Henry M. Paulson Jr.

★★★★

The Big Short

The Big Short

by Michael Lewis

★★★★★

The Dynamite Club

The Dynamite Club

by John M. Merriman

★★★★

I've Got Your Back

I've Got Your Back

by Brad Gilbert

★★★★

Open

Open

by Andre Agassi

★★★

The Big Switch

The Big Switch

by Nicholas Carr

★★★★

Undated

Bird by Bird

Bird by Bird

by Anne Lamott

★★★★★

Purple Cow

Purple Cow

by Seth Godin

★★★★

Plan of Attack

Plan of Attack

by Bob Woodward

★★★★

What the Dormouse Said

What the Dormouse Said

by John Markoff

★★★★

Fermat's Enigma

Fermat's Enigma

by Simon Singh & John Lynch

★★★★★

This Side Of Peace

This Side Of Peace

by Hanan Ashrawi

★★★★

A Champion's Mind

A Champion's Mind

by Pete Sampras & Peter Bodo

★★★★

Winning Ugly

Winning Ugly

by Brad Gilbert

★★★★

Crossing the Chasm

Crossing the Chasm

by Geoffrey A. Moore

★★★★★

The Education of a Tennis Player

The Education of a Tennis Player

by Rod Laver & Bud Collins

★★★★

The Soul of a New Machine

The Soul of a New Machine

by Tracy Kidder

★★★★★

The Prophet

The Prophet

by Khalil Gibran

★★★★★

The Inner Game of Tennis

The Inner Game of Tennis

by W. Timothy Gallwey

★★★★★

Designing with Web Standards

Designing with Web Standards

by Jeffrey Zeldman

★★★★★

The Regis Touch

The Regis Touch

by Regis McKenna

★★★★

The World is Flat

The World is Flat

by Thomas Friedman

★★★★★

Hawaii

Hawaii

by James Michener

★★★★★

The Psychology of Computer Programming

The Psychology of Computer Programming

by Gerald Weinberg

★★★★★

The Mythical Man-Month

The Mythical Man-Month

by Frederick Brooks

★★★★★