The Books I Read in 2017

25 books in 12 months

In terms of book-reading especially, 2017 was the most joyful and edifying year of my life. By following my gut and my interests, I have absorbed some absolute gems that have deepened and expanded my thinking and writing. These are the 25 books I read this year, in chronological order.

1. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Inspires outside-the-box thinking about your career. Especially interesting to me was the application of the “Pareto” or “80/20” principle to life-optimization. The discussion of personal outsourcing was also exciting. However, for me, the book contained too much concrete instruction: “Take out a piece of paper, and create the following table. Then do this and do that.” Such long passages were too much like a school assignment and I just glossed over them. From books, I prefer broad arguments that cause me to rethink things, and then I would rather be left to apply the ideas to my own specific circumstances myself.
2. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters. This book contained fascinating, big ideas about entrepreneurship, innovation, and human progress. Thiel’s contrarian discussion of “monopoly” is stimulating and insightful, even if terminologically strange.
3. Forward Tilt: An Almanac for Personal Growth by Isaac Morehouse, Hannah Frankman, Lacey Peace, and others. This is a great collection of morsels of wisdom for professional life. Isaac’s approach is refreshing, because, although it favors the standard basic virtues of life, it appeals to self-interest as opposed to selfless duty. It treats life as a fun and challenging game instead of a hand-wringing morality play. And in this game, good character is simply the best policy.
4. Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life by Edward Peter Stringham. This is a modern classic on spontaneous or emergent order. Lots of fascinating history and rigorous theory. Great for imagining a future stateless world. Informed my article “The Sweet Sociability of Self-Interest.”
5. The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday. This was a bit disappointing. The writing was too prosaic, the examples were too conventional (enough with the presidents and generals, already), and the philosophical discussion of Stoicism was not presented very coherently. I like Holiday’s article writing, so I’m still planning on reading his book “Ego Is the Enemy” in the hope that it’s better.
6. The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden. Life-changing and mindset-shifting. Nathaniel Branden was a sage and a brilliant life-guide. A great resource for analyzing the attitudes toward yourself that are holding you back. Inspired several of my articles, including “Trump’s Ego Is Actually Too Small,” “What the Self-Esteem Movement Got Disastrously Wrong,” and “Stop Pushing Your Kids Into ‘Safe Spaces.’”
7. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Another book that had a seismic impact on me. Cannot recommend enough. The recipe for success in life is a service-oriented mindset. Informed part of my article “The Sweet Sociability of Self-Interest.”
8. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life by Peter Gray. One of the most important books a parent could ever read. Incredibly rich with research and crucial insight. Informed “The Sweet Sociability of Self-Interest,” “Parents Can Trust Kids to Teach Themselves,” and “How School Stole Your Flow.”
9. The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever by Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsberg. Excellent. Expanded my understanding of social capital and learning.
10. Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz. Excellent. Packed with valuable advice.
11. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley. A mind-blowing read. A brilliant, exhilerating exploration of human nature and human history. Informed “Trade Is What Makes Us Human.”
12. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. It took a second reading to crack its code and access its wisdom. But I’m so glad I did. Informed “Why Kids Need Heroic Adventures.”
13. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler. Beautiful, brilliant, engrossing, and inspiring. Thanks to Lawrence Reed for recommending it. Informed “How Jack Kirby and Walt Disney Broke Free from the Funny Pages.”
14. Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. Another outstanding biography of a creative genius. Also informed “How Jack Kirby and Walt Disney Broke Free from the Funny Pages.”
15. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal. Some highly valuable and actionable ideas. Informed “Don’t Be a Dopamine Dope-Fiend” and “Motivate Yourself with Neurochemical Hedonism.”
16. The Ego and the Id by Sigmund Freud. Ponderous, but important.
17. Supergods by Grant Morrison. Second read in a few years. Rollicking, deep, and absolutely brilliant. Morrison is the supreme artist and philosopher of super hero comics. Reading a great many of his stories this year, using this treatise/autobiography to decode their deeper meanings, has blown my mind over and over again. Informed “Why Kids Need Heroic Adventures.”
18. Man and His Symbols by Carl Gustav Jung and others. I wish the co-authors wrote as clearly, insighfully, and beautifully as Jung himself. But a good overview of Jungian psychology, which has been fascinating to me. To anyone interested in getting into Jung, I would recommend instead starting with the book I’m currently reading, which is crystal clear and downright poetic: Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious: Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious: 9.1. Informed “Why Kids Need Heroic Adventures.”
19. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Highly important. Flow has become my holy grail. Informed “How School Stole Your Flow.”
20. How Children Learn by John Holt. The best book on education I’ve ever read. This is the book I most wish I could gift to every parent. Informed “Parents Can Trust Kids to Teach Themselves.”
21. How Children Fail by John Holt. Written by Holt earlier in his career when he was still working in a conventional school. An essential read, but, given its subject, much more painful than the other title. Informed “How School Stole Your Flow.”
22. Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise. Although less-sweeping and more nitty-gritty than other titles on this list, this is the book I would most recommend to young people. For anyone seeking to reshape their character and transform their life, this proven approach could be the key. Informed “Move Your World with the Spiritual Leverage of Mini-Habits” and “Clean Your Room, Change the World.”
23. Mastery by Robert Greene. Excellent, especially its discussion of apprenticeship and mentors. Some of its biographical vignettes are absolutely inspiring: especially the ones about Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, and Temple Grandin.
24. Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull. Who knew a book about business management could be so riveting! It helps that it’s about Pixar. But Catmull’s explanation of the group-dynamic magic that made Pixar and remade Disney Animation is deeply wise and inspiring. Moreover, just as unschooling is the freedom philosophy applied to childhood education, Catmull’s proven approach strikes me as the freedom philosophy applied to the workplace. An absolutely thrilling and stimulating read. Much thanks to Richard Lorenc and Sean Malone for recommending.
25. Becoming Steve Jobs by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. Epic and wonderful. The three-act arc of Steve Jobs’s hero’s journey as told in this book is the most moving life story I’ve ever read. Pulls no punches about his deep flaws, but captures the profound personal growth that is missed by other tellings and that makes the triumphs of the last period of his life all the more heroic. I highly recommend this instead of Walter Isaacson’s biography. A great companion read to Creativity Inc, because it covers some of the same episodes and lessons.

A non-book honorable mention goes to The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, which has been as impactful and influential for me this year as the best of the above books. Peterson’s ideas informed “Why Kids Need Heroic Adventures,” “Clean Your Room, Change the World,” “Create Order from Chaos: That’s What Heroes Do,” “Creation, Recreation, or Decay,” and “Portals of Chaos: A New Year’s Reflection.” I am eagerly looking forward to his upcoming book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. I’m even organizing a book club at work for it.

Happy reading and growing in 2018!