Richard Preston · ★★★★☆ · 294 pages · 2007

I loved the first 75 pages and the last 100 pages but the middle was a bit of a bore. The first and last part was written with rich detail about the the redwoods, their biology, as well as what is found at the canopy of these gigantic trees. The last 100 pages cover the scientists who climb these giants to study them, the risks they take to understand the delicate canopy life that exists at the top of these trees.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. · ★★★★★ · 306 pages · 1963

George Orwell · ★★★★☆ · 400 pages · 2003

Aldous Huxley · ★★★★★ · 340 pages · 1932

Musonius Rufus · ★★★★☆ · 112 pages · 80

Musonius Rufus is a Stoic philosopher like Marcus Aurelius. This text assembled by his students since Rufus himself didn’t write is similar to Meditations in that regard.

Chuck Palahniuk · ★★★★☆ · 218 pages · 1996

Fight Club is a book about men. It is a book about men who have absent fathers, going through the motions, never really enjoying what they are doing, defined by their possessions, etc. These seem to be all the ones that are specifically mentioned in the book. Basically a group absent of identity and empty of soul.

Jason Fried · ★★★★☆ · 279 pages · 2010

A list of ideas by the 37signals guys on how to run a company. Some things to think about including: not taking VC money, do the job as long as possible before hiring someone else to do it, hire slow that everyone is willing to share their opinion instead of having awkward unemotional talks. Overall a good read even though every company I have been at doesn't follow a word that it says.

Theodore Roosevelt · ★★★★☆ · 620 pages · 1899

The strenuous life is a collection of speeches and addresses that Roosevelt gave to encourage Americans to achieve Manifest Destiny. The book has both positive and negative qualities. The negative include Theodore's call to take land from the Native Americans and civilize them. But the positives are just as relevant today as they were then. A call to work not only to improve yourself but also to help grow the community, that every person has a role in society to uplift each other, that we can work to improve ourselves with limited welfare.

Mark Rippetoe · ★★★★★ · 362 pages · 2005

This book teaches the correct form for barbell exercises. I keep returning to it time and again to fix my form and learn good technique. It is also very dense covering both the exercises and the biomechanics behind them. The section on doing squats is 80 pages alone. It’s a great reference for learning barbell based weight lifting.

Jocelyn K. Glei · ★★☆☆☆ · 260 pages · 2013

I don't know why I read this book. Seems like there was some advice which seemed reasonable but overall it could be grabbed by reading Thinking Fast and Slow or 4 Hour Work Week.

Robert Louis Stevenson · ★★★☆☆ · 352 pages · 1882

I attempted to read this book when I was ten and got no more than 40 pages in before it became difficult for me to get through because of my difficulty to read the 19th century english. But I finally read it again and it was still a slog to get through. I mean the first 40 pages and the last 40 pages are good but the middle was a bit of a drag. Overall a good story of adventure which can no longer be possible. Not much to say other than it is a classic for a reason and most modern day costumes of pirates take after Long John.

Mark Rippetoe · ★★★★★ · 272 pages · 2006

Well to make it clear I didn't really finish the book because I didn't read the section on Intermediate and Advanced training. I probably would have never even gotten to the section on the Advanced training since it is for competitive lifters.

Ramit Sethi · ★★★★★ · 272 pages · 2009

A book on personal finance which seems to be tailored towards people who don't really want to pay much attention to doing it. But it is a very good book with very practical advice on basic investment strategies, optimizing 401ks and automating your finance as much as possible for the future. Overall a solid first book on personal finance for someone in their 20s and early 30s.

Steven Pressfield · ★★★★★ · 109 pages · 2011

Good motivation for what is preventing you to work on the art that you want to work on.

Timothy Ferriss · ★★★★☆ · 308 pages · 2007

This is a combination of Getting Things Done and 7 Habits with a modern take on work as a non 9-5 worker entails. Ferris's whole deal seems to be not work in one place and travel a lot and do non work things while working minimally. The way he seems to be doing this is to delegate as much as possible to virtual assistants and others. Overall a fun read but I feel like the info on the virtual assistants was sort of intriguing to do the stuff that you are not good at and having someone else do it.

Dave Grossman · ★★★★★ · 416 pages · 1995

Probably one of the best books I've read explaining violence not only in the armed forces but in gangs. Grossman explains that in most wars prior to the Vietnam war most soldiers refused to kill. It was only about 15% of soldiers that killed during battles. What is interesting about this is that most people refuse to kill which should be a big pat on the back for humanity. But during the Vietnam war the training changed from training to conditioning. Soldiers were no longer being trained but being conditioned to kill through a B.F. Skinneresque reverse Clockwork Orange method.

Jocelyn K. Glei · ★★★☆☆ · 253 pages · 2013

The latter two sections were not super helpful but the first section on how to organize the day to be effective was quite useful. Would recommend this to anyone trying to come up with a routine.

Epictetus · ★★★★★ · 44 pages · 125

Arnold Bennett · ★★★★★ · 92 pages · 1908

Paulo Coelho · ★★★★★ · 197 pages · 1988

Book where a boy tries to find out his purpose and ends up in the unknown and gets distracted for his purpose but eventually gets there. More symbolism in there relating to jumping into the void and seeking adventure when things are unknown. A good quick read.