A 2016 Reading List for Humans (are you human? read this to prove it)
Whenever I come across a book list, I can’t help but think “Yeah? You think you’re better than all of us, book boy?!” In 2015, I read short of 30 books, and I became book boy. The amount of doors opened and knowledge I gained is unquantifiable. For every book I finished, three more flew into my reading list. I read timeless novels, business and leadership essentials, philosophy, psychology, biographies, and books by Japanese cleaning consultants. This list will speak to the professional, student, degenerate, or whatever combination of the three you are. A huge portion of my reading came from referrals from close friends and favorite writers, so I want to repay the favor.
Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
This is at the top of the list because philosophy has been put on the back burners these days. I am not sure whether that’s from the steep devaluation and lack of practical application of a philosophy degree, or a diversion of attention to running in the hamster wheel for income. Meditations goes over self-discipline, humility, personal ethics, self-actualization, and strength. If there is one book you take from this list, let it be this one.
Meditations hits you in your soft existential underbelly. It is a collection of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’s writings in his personal journal. Here we have a collection of self-reflections of the then most powerful man in the world. Aurelius is one of the late contributors to stoicism, a philosophy that taught of a balance between cosmic determinism and human freedom and that it is critical to maintain a will that is in accord with nature. There is an underlying pessimism to stoicism, but the reality is that there are bad things that happen in life. Whenever the going gets tough, Stoicism and Meditations are good friends to have.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell — Tucker Max
Reading I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell was like watching a 5’10 white kid windmill dunk a basketball. It gives the writer in me hope. Tucker Max leveraged his crazy experiences and launched an entire genre of writing. In early 2002, he sent out a bare bones copy to every publisher, literary agent, magazine, and newspaper in the country (at least 500 letters) and was rejected by 100% of them. He taught himself HTML and launched his own website to post his stories. The site rose in popularity over the next few years and his book was eventually published, earning a spot on the NY Times Bestseller List immediately due to the cult following he developed online. It sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and was made into a feature film (it sucked, don’t bother).
“I am in my car. With the windows up. The sun is beating down
directly on me. It is at least 125 degrees in my car. I open the door and
try to get out, but instead I fall onto the pavement. The scabs that
cover my legs tear and reopen as I move. My penis falls out of my pink
Gap boxers and lands, along with the rest of me, in a dirty puddle on
the asphalt.” — Tucker Max
Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator — Ryan Holiday
Holiday was the Director of Marketing for American Apparel in his early 20s and has worked on multiple successful campaigns, one of which being promoting the film adaptation of Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.
Before reading this, I had some vague idea of how media worked and my only knowledge of PR was that it was the major in college full of hot girls. The terrifying fundamental truth you realize is that we are a country governed by public opinion, which is governed by the press. You realize how twisted the industry is and why 99% of content out there sucks. You learn that the news we get is just content that has successfully navigated the media’s filters. This book illuminates the complex underworkings that bring value to PR.
“Once anything is printed enough times in the media without challenge, it becomes fact.” — Trust Me I’m Lying
Zero to One — Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel was the CEO of PayPal and was the first outside investor in Facebook with a 10.2% stake in 2004. He is currently president of global macro hedge fund Clarium Capital, and a managing partner in VC firm Founders Fund.
Zero to One is by far the best book on high-tech entrepreneurship I‘ve found. We are going to hit an inflection point of greater technological change and this book, published in 2014, is highly relevant. The entrepreneurial landscape of the past two decades is invigorating and there is no reason you shouldn’t educate yourself.
“An entrepreneur cannot “diversify” herself: you cannot run dozens of companies at the same time and then hope that one of them works out well. Less obvious but just as important, an individual cannot diversify his own life by keeping dozens of equally possible careers in ready reserve. You should relentlessly focus on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future.” — Peter Thiel
We Learn Nothing — Tim Kreider
Being a person in the world automatically qualifies you for a few strange situations that have no immediate remedies or advice. With a high enough degree of specificity, even Google has got nothing for you. The best consolation is that you are not alone. Your weird life might seem unique to you, but the number of people in the category of weird life is broader than that of normal life. In We Learn Nothing, there is some serious thought on this subject between the lines of the self-critical and deprecating humor.
“I don’t know why we take our worst moods so much seriously than our best, crediting depression with more clarity than euphoria. We dismiss peak moments and passionate love affairs as an ephemeral chemical buzz, just endorphins or hormones, but accept those 3 AM bouts of despair as unsentimental insights into the truth about our lives.” — Tim Kreider
Notable Mentions:
Business:
Jab Jab Jab Right Hook — Gary Vaynerchuck
4 Hour Workweek — Tim Ferriss
The Hard Thing About Hard Things — Ben Horowitz
The Intelligent Entrepreneur — Bill Murphy (thanks Jesus Najera)
Good to Great — Jim Collins
The Lean Startup — Eric Reis
48 Laws of Power (thanks Justin Kelsey)
Tipping Point — Gladwell
Primal Leadership — Daniel Goleman (thanks Jesus Najera)
The Innovator’s Dilemma — Clayton Christenson
Non-Fiction:
Red Notice — Bill Browder (thanks Johnny Gabos)
Liftestyle:
Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up — Marie Kondo
The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari (thanks Sammy)
Uncertainty — Jonathan Fields (thanks Jesus Najera)
The Motivation Manifesto — Brendon Burchard (thanks Bendy)
Philosophy:
Happiness Hypothesis — Jonathan Haidt
Art of War — Sun Tzu
Tao Te Ching — Lao Tzu
Autobiographies & Biographies:
Born Standing Up — Steve Martin
Losing my Virginity — Richard Branson (thanks Ashish)
The Everything Store — Brad Stone
Novels:
Cat’s Cradle — Vonnegut
To Have and Have Not — Hemingway
Science:
A Brief History of Everything — Stephen Hawking
Next on the Chopping Block:
Second Chance — Robert Kiyosaki
Start with Why — Simon Sinek
Behind the Cloud — Marc Beinoff
Ham on Rye — Charles Bukowski
Are there any books you think I should add to my 2016 reading list? Let me know!
If you would like my full reading list of the best and most impactful books I’ve read, (past, present, and future) shoot me an email at bookboy@dojodevelopers.com with “Reading List” in the title and your favorite book in the body and I’ll send it over.
About the author: Alex Moskov is a serial entrepreneur and cereal destroyer. He is a self-improvement junkie and a master of self deprecating humor. He is also very humble. More humble than you are. Probably in the Top 5 Humble People Under 30 in the game right now. In his arsenal of skills and interests, he also writes. And it’s not always in third person describing himself. Like this.
