Books I Loved
I have a simple rating system for books. A scale of one to five in half point intervals. One is trash. Five is treasure.
I’ve honed my selections enough that I rarely read anything below a three. I often read fives.
How do I consistently pick great books?
It’s a simple practice, and it improves with time. Like a 401k account, the outcomes are more impressive the longer you invest.
These are the rules I follow:
Only read books based on recommendations. This is the most important rule.
Seek recommendations from your favorite writers. Ryan Holiday and Morgan Housel are my two biggest sources.
Corroborate recommendations. I tend to only buy books when multiple people recommend them. For example, if a friend mentions a book and I’ve also heard it recommended on a podcast, I’ll probably buy it.
Explore an author’s work. When I find an author I like, I read more of his or her books.
Have a bias for old books. If a book is old, it’s still in print, and it’s been recommended by someone I trust, chances are it’s really good.
As I mentioned, the longer you spend following these rules, the more often you’ll read great books. Think of it as building your own book algorithm.
The more time you spend on YouTube, the better it gets at recommending videos you’ll enjoy.
The more time you spend on finding great books, the better you get at picking books you’ll love.
Now that I’ve shared my approach, let me share some of the books I loved. I’ll be your first recommendation source. Corroborate and enjoy!
Not Fade Away by Peter Barton (published 2003) - Barton was a media mogul and all around interesting guy. This is the memoir he wrote while dying of cancer (at 51). It’s an excellent story about a life well lived with the unique perspectives of a young man approaching death. I re-read this every couple years—along with When Breath Becomes Air and The Last Lecture—as a reminder to appreciate the little things in life because tomorrow they could be gone.
Machete Season by Jean Hatzfeld (2003) - The story of the Rwandan genocide, as told through interviews with the men who committed it. It’s a powerful, disturbing glimpse into how the power of group mentality can lead average people to do terrible things. Everyone should read this book.
Truman by David McCullough (1992) - An excellent chronicle of Harry Truman’s entire life. Truman was an average man who became the most powerful man in the world but managed to maintain his decency. His story is inspiring and one of the few that provides a blueprint for greatness without the common trade offs often required to attain it.
Two other points on this book: First, I find history is more interesting to learn about when you can view it through the lens of a person who lived it. And second, McCullough is one of the authors whose work I enjoy exploring. I recommended his book on the Wright brothers in my last book rec piece.
Plain Speaking by Merle Miller (1973) - In the early 1960s, Merle Miller spent hundreds of hours interviewing President Truman for a TV series. That series never ran, but Miller turned those interviews into this book. Everyone raves about McCullough's bio of Truman (which is good). But this book is a hidden gem that's easier to read and is unbelievably candid. If you want to learn more about one of America's best presidents, this is the place to start.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2006) - A fun, eye-opening explanation of how the food we eat gets from the ground to our table. Pollan explores industrial, organic, and local farming, as well as foraging. I love Pollan’s storytelling, and as a writer, I admire his use of language. Most importantly, this book caused me to make some behavioral changes around the food I eat.
A fun note on this book: The copy I own was a gift to my mother from her uncle. The front cover has a personal inscription he wrote to her in July of 2008. After he passed away last year, this book became even more special and a perfect example of why a book makes a great gift.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (2007) - Naturally, when I finished The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I sent my great uncle an email asking for more recommendations. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was his next suggestion.
AVM is the story of a family living in Virginia who pledged to only eat local—primarily food they grew or raised—for a full year. The book is mostly written by the mother/wife, but it includes sections written by the dad/husband, and the daughter. It’s a fun read and a great resource for anyone looking to eat more locally and/or raise more of their own food. One fact that stood out to me from the book: Each food item in a typical US meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles!
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (2005) - Aside from Truman, Teddy Roosevelt is one of my favorite presidents to read about. TR was known for taking long, dangerous, arduous journeys after difficult events in his life. This is the story of one such journey—the first descent of a remote river in the Amazon jungle.
One thing that stood out to me from the book: Roosevelt always brought a lethal dose of morphine on his dangerous journeys so that if death became inevitable, he could meet it quickly rather than with long, drawn out agony.
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (1955) - In this book, Lord recounts the final hours of the Titanic in precise detail, as told to him by more than 60 survivors of the disaster. It’s a hidden gem of history packed with lessons on risk, preparation, hubris, and disaster.
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (2023) - This breaks my rule about old books, but I made an exception because I love Isaacson’s work. While perusing my bookshelf the other day, I realized I’ve read over 2,500 pages by Isaacson spanning across five books. And I haven’t even gotten to his works on Kissinger, Da Vinci, or Einstein!
Elon Musk was one of the easiest reading biographies I’ve ever picked up. I got lost in Isaacson’s storytelling and found myself reading huge chunks at a time. I would look up minutes later, shocked to find hours had passed. Musk is one of the most influential humans of our time, and this book helped me understand who he is as a person and what he’s done for humanity. I also enjoyed this interview where Isaacson discussed lessons learned from Musk and his other subjects.
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown (2009) - You might know Brown as the author of the popular book turned movie, The Boys in the Boat. I haven’t read that one, but it’s hard to imagine how it could be better than this.
This is the incredible story of the Donner Party—who emigrated from Illinois to California in 1846—and was trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter. The story is gruesome, but I enjoyed it because it gives a raw depiction of how hard life was in the 1800s. We have it easy by comparison. The book also shared valuable lessons on risk, incentives, and the extremes the human body can endure.
American Kingpin by Nick Bilton (2017) - The Silk Road was Craigslist for guns, drugs, and any other illegal item you might want to buy. Ross Ulbricht was the twenty-something nerd who built it. American Kingpin is the story of Ulbricht, the Silk Road, and the federal agents who worked to topple it.
I read this book in four sittings—each multiple hours. I couldn’t put it down. It felt like I was binging episodes of Breaking Bad. The only difference is this story is true.
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (2018) - Similar to American Kingpin, this was also a riveting story about a real criminal: Elizabeth Holmes. Carreyrou brought down Holmes and her fraudulent company, Theranos, through his reporting in the Wall Street Journal. Then he wrote this book.
If this sounds interesting, check out the podcast episode I made on Bad Blood, along with episodes on a bunch of other famous frauds.
The Terminal List, True Believer, Savage Son, and The Devil’s Hand by Jack Carr - I don’t read a lot of fiction, but I loved these books. Jack Carr is a Navy SEAL turned author, and this series follows James Reece as he kills bad guys, pursues justice, and saves America.
I open one of these books when my mind is tired but I don’t want to watch TV. They’re exciting enough that I feel like I’m watching a thriller on Netflix.
If you enjoyed these recommendations, you might also like my previous recs: Books I’ve Based My Life On and Can You Recommend a Book?
And check out this curation where I compiled book recs from a handful of people whose recommendations I trust.
Finally, you might find this reading process useful. My process has evolved since writing the piece, but it’s still valuable.
Photo by Iñaki del Olmo on Unsplash
