Best Books I’ve Read In 2018

This year in June I quit my job to take a step back and focus on what’s important in my life. I’ve entered a new stage of ‘re-educating’ myself, call it “studying again”. And books have become my primary source of learning in 2018 (while 2017 was my year of podcasts). Books are very cheap, compared to going to university, and you can create your curriculum.

This is the first year I have tracked my reading/listening. Here are some stats: I have finished 33 books, 60% of those were audiobooks, 22% digital books and 18% regular books.

Some things I learned:

• Do not finish a book that you doesn’t bring you value or you don’t enjoy reading. Don’t feel guilty for not finishing. There were dozens of books that I’ve started and dismissed after the first hour of listening/reading.
• It is possible to read several books simultaneously. In fact, it increases motivation choosing the book that suits best for the current moment. I keep a folder in my kindle called “reading now”. I have around 6 books in it there. Usually around 2 novels and 4 non-fiction books. That means whenever I struggle with too much information, I switch to something lighter.
• Use the tool that you enjoy the most (audio, ebook-reader, books, etc.). Start filling up an anti-library at the same time.
• The biggest obstacle for people is to find time for it. I’ve found that to be not true. It boils down to how much effort you put in to make time to read. You can manage to read dozens of books by just reading 10–20 min per day.

Below I’ve compiled my favorite books of the year. They have changed me fundamentally and/or were really entertaining.

Non-Fiction

“The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph” by Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday is on the top of my list this year for reason. He has been my biggest source of inspiration, as I’ve read his personal blog, his platform about Stoicism or one of his books on a daily basis. He has a remarkable track record of successful endeavors and published 8 books, many of them bestsellers. After reading William B. Irvine’s book “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” my further study about modern interpretations of stoicism lead me to Ryan Holiday. “The Obstacle Is The Way” to me is the best and most readable approach to understand the 2000-year-old philosophy. You can see the influence his time working for Robert Greene had on him: An immense amount of research. Many successful examples of persons in history. His book was so effective, it became wildly popular under top athletes of the NFL. It was hard to pick my favorite book for the top list. “Perennial Seller” teaches you how to create work that withstands the test of time. Trust me, I’m Lying is an entertaining ‘how-to-marketing” during his time marketing director at American Apparel. “The Daily Stoic” gives you one year of meditations and exercises inspired by the great Stoic philosophers. It is the first thing I read when I wake up every day. It reminds me what should be important and gives me great motivation for the day. With any of Ryan’s books, you can’t go wrong.

“Awakening Your Inner Genius” by Sean Patrick

This book is storytelling at its finest. Out of all the books, I read this year, I’ve enjoyed this one the most. It follows amazing people who suffered greatly and achieved wonderful things and tells their stories so you can learn from it. Sean Patrick has a remarkable talent to summarize their struggles: How Leonardo Da Vinci dealt with the world around him. How Nicola Tesla invented a great deal and still was very unpopular. The reason for Alexander The Great’s drive to conquer the world. My personal favorite: The incredible story of Miguel de Cervantes before he became a world-renowned writer (Don Quixote). This book is incredibly interesting and motivating. It’s a must have, for every collection.

“The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance” by Josh Waitzkin

If you’re not particularly interested in chess, after reading this, you will be. I read this book (and the one below) when I was searching for performance enhancing methods. At the time I was dealing with scaling a blog from 0 to 11 people and felt like putting more hours of work solves my problems. General advice does not always apply. Josh Waitzkin had incredible success early as a chess player and later in Tai-Chi. This book is half biography half sharing the principles of learning and performance. It is very interesting and insightful to see someone perform world class from an early stage.

“The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life” by Thomas M. Sterner

A lot of self-development books are way too long. They can be boiled down to a few sentences, instead, they stretch out for hours. This book is different. It has a simple message: The skill is practicing the goal, not having the goal. And it goes into detail about why this is important. Why it is important to focus on the essentials of each task. And why you would get more work done when instead of focussing on getting a lot of work done, you focus on doing the tasks as efficiently as possible. It became one of my ‘must have’ books I’ve recommended to many people, who loved it. It’s a short and powerful book. That’s why I read it twice this year.

Fiction / Novels

“The President is Missing” by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

I remember having several discussions about Bill Clinton and people around me who met him. He has a very complex mind and a photographic memory. I remember him saying about the Netflix show “House of Cards” that he thinks it’s very close to how politics actually is, except that you would never be so successful so quickly. I don’t know what made me pick up this book. Maybe the curiosity that a former U.S. president wrote a novel about a modern day president. And I was not disappointed. I think it was the book I read the fastest this year, and even called in sick at work to continue reading it.

“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie

As a general rule of thumb, all Agatha Christie books are great readings. Lots of mystery and suspense. This one particularly kept me reading with excitement. 10 randomly selected people are invited on a lonely island. There is no sign of the host. On the first evening, it is announced that one by one they will all die, as well as how it will happen. The visitors think it is a sick joke. But when the first person tragically perishes the mystery begins. The story is incredibly creative. The reader is constantly in a state of nervousness as he exactly knows what kind of death will follow next. And you’re kept wondering, who is the mastermind behind these deaths. A masterpiece of mystery. A great read for boring days. And any other days.

Biographies

“The Medici : Godfathers of the Renaissance” — Paul Strathern

Most stories you’ll hear about great empires are about the rise and fall. The history of the Medici is that x100. The amount of times they have been attacked, fought, exiled, banished and came back even stronger is inspiring. This book contains insights on the wide range of influence a single family had on the whole world: governance, diplomacy, wars, education, science, banking, poetry, architecture and many more. Without the Medici’s we’d probably be a couple of hundred years behind. From a historical standpoint, I can’t stress this enough: read this book.

“Lives: Marlon Brando” by Patricia Bosworth

We all fantasize about being a little bit rebel. Although we prefer security, we romanticize the idea rebelling against parents, governments, and establishments. Marlon Brando was all rebel and proof that crazy can create genius. Brando’s life is a deeply tragic story.

“Open: An Autobiography” by Andre Agassi

Imagine the most successful athlete in his sport. One of the few players winning the Grand Slam (All 4 Opens), Olympic Medal and many many singles. And then you learn that Andre deeply hated the sport from the very beginning. Wow. This book is very inspiring. It taught me finding the motivation to power through hard times. I learned a great deal about “the loneliest sport in the world”, his words.

Numbers & Lists

Audible:
- “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” — Jordan Peterson
- “The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance” — Josh Waitzkin
- “The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life” — Thomas M. Sterner
- “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” — William B. Irvine
- “Open: An Autobiography” — Andre Agassi
- “Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact” — Phil M. Jones
- “The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living” — Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman
- “And Then There Were None” — Agatha Christie
- “The Greatest Salesman in the World” — Og Mandino
- “Awakening Your Inner Genius” — Sean Patrick
- “The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph” — Ryan Holiday
- “Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue” — Ryan Holiday
- “Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.” — Ron Chernow

Scribd
- “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” — Stephen R. Covey
- “Schachnovelle” — Stefan Zweig
- “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” — Jack Trout
- “Way of the Warrior Kid” — Jocko Willink
- “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win” — Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
- “Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts” — Ryan Holiday

Kindle:
- “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand
- “God Hates Us all” — Hank Moody
- “The President is Missing” — James Patterson, Bill Clinton
- “Growth Hacker Marketing” — Ryan Holiday
- “Finding my Virginity” — Richard Branson
- “The Game” — Neil Strauss

Books:
- “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life” — Mark Manson
- “The Jungle Book” — Rudyard Kipling
- “Secret Societies” — Nick Harding
- “Lives: Marlon Brando” — Patricia Bosworth
- “The Veiled Woman” — Anais Nin
- “Piers of the Homeless Night” — Jack Kerouac
- “The Medici : Godfathers of the Renaissance” — Paul Strathern
- “Animal Farm” — George Orwell