Book Recommendations
How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease
Authors: Michael Greger, M.D., Gene Stone
I’m way too busy (or lazy) to verify the quality of the myriad scientific papers and studies referenced throughout this book. I haven’t counted them either, but there are surely hundreds of them. So, instead I’ll just assume that at least half of what I read in this book can be discarded as flimsy. That still leaves the unignorable other half, which is a lot.
My take-away from the book is that a plant-based diet is shown repeatedly in research to improve the quality of human health. In general, I am convinced of this. At the same time, I recognize that there’s an asterisk on much of this because of the challenges inherent in nutrition research.
Personally, since I am a big fan of fruits and veggies, it’s not too hard to make them the bulk of my diet!
If you’re interested in nutrition, I think this book is worth reading. The author definitely unearths some obscure research about different foods and diseases. If you read it and happen to take the time to fact-check his sources, please let me know!
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
Author: Matthew Walker PhD
We all have a relationship with sleep. We tend to understand that sleep is important, but I think many don’t give it enough credit. This book hit me early with a profound fact: “Without exception, every animal species studied to date sleeps, or engages in something remarkably like it.”
The author of this book, Matthew Walker, is a sleep researcher. He doesn’t think his profession has done a good enough job communicating the science of sleep nor the implications of not sleeping enough. So he wrote this book. I, as a reader, am thoroughly convinced.
Walker references dozens of studies that all highlight aspects of the same core conclusion – sleep is critical to high physical and mental performance, and there’s no way to cheat it. If you are sleep deprived at all (even 60 minutes matters), you aren’t functioning at your best. Moreover, if you’re sleep deprived you are opening the door to all sorts of diseases because your immune system isn’t operating at 100%.
I think this book is applicable to everybody – whether you’re already a good sleeper or not – for the insight that it brings around how to improve sleep quality.
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
Author: Ed Yong
What an eye-opener this book is! Microbes like bacteria and archaea are everywhere. They live on pretty much every species and surface. And, their lives impact ours in myriad complex ways.
Our species has co-evolved with many of the bacteria we live with today. So much so that if we were born in sterile environments, we’d turn out abnormal!
We still know arguably very little about the myriad species of bacteria that live in and among us, but scientists have started realizing their importance and digging in to learn more.
New techniques for DNA sequencing have opened the door to better classification of the microbe species. This book offers a great introduction to the world of microbes. If you’re into health, biology, or science in general – this one is for you.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Author: Hunter S. Thompson
This book is something special! With its subject matter, it’s definitely not for everybody. Those who are very conservative and/or easily offended might want to stay away. Then again, maybe this is exactly what the doctor ordered.
It’s a piece of writing that has been popularized by a movie starring Johnny Dep and Benicio Del Toro. It’s the pioneering work of the genre Gonzo Journalism, “a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative.” (Wikipedia).
The book is entertaining on so many levels. I can’t stop laughing at the made up credential: “I’m a Doctor of Journalism”. Thompson offers readers a thorough lesson on drugs and drug culture. The story line is so “out there” that one can’t help but wonder what real-life drug use fueled this creative masterpiece. But you don’t have to wonder all that much, because it is allegedly mostly based on real life events.
Solaris
Author: Stanislaw Lem
This book is considered one of the classics of science fiction. No doubt about it, it’s a great book.
That being said, I’m starting to believe I’m tainted in the sci-fi novel category. Because of all the mediocre movies made out of great books, I can’t manage to read most older sci-fi books with any of the amazement and wonder that I get from present-day authors like Daniel Suarez.
I’m not even sure I’ve ever seen the movie Solaris, but the plot just felt so familiar to me that as I read on, I kept expecting to recognize what happened next. I never actually did guess what happened next. But I just can’t shake that feeling…
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
I loved Sapiens, so I naturally had to give Yuval’s sequel a shot. He picks up where Sapiens left off – it’s the 21st century, our species is here, and we’ve figured out how to cooperate well enough to build some impressive technology.
So where is the species Homo Sapiens going? Well, Yuval makes his case for a possible future where the species evolves into Homo Deus (pronounced: day-us), a more advanced species that is amortal (no death of natural causes) and extremely intelligent. Basically, where humans are gods (in the Greek mythology sense of the word).
While Homo Deus book didn’t wow like Sapiens did, I still liked it enough to recommend. I think the main difference is that Homo Deus seems significantly more speculative. Maybe this is natural because subject matter is the future, but nevertheless an issue for me.
The Three Body Problem
Author: Cixin Liu, Translated By: Ken Liu
This book is Chinese-language science fiction, translated into English. I’ve heard from a few folks that it’s all the rage among China’s tech community, and I couldn’t resist a chance to read it (hear it read) first-hand.
Judged purely as a science fiction book, it’s good. The story kept my attention and I didn’t want to put it down. There were plenty of interesting twists and turns, and it was full of scientific language and concepts.
That said, I don’t judge this purely as a science fiction book. For me, it was more than that. At the start of the book, I kept thinking “How did this make it past the Chinese censors?”
The book gave me a window into Chinese culture, in some ways directly and in some indirectly. It’s not often I read books written from non-western perspectives, so I really enjoy the opportunity!
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Authors: Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Ola Rosling
A couple years ago I watched some of Hans Rosling’s TED talks and found them captivating. He was a Professor of Public Health, and had an amazing way of bringing statistics about the world to life. He focused on busting commonly-held but outdated myths about the world. He passed away near the completion of this book, and luckily his collaborators (his son & daughter-in-law) were able to press on to its publication.
Factufulness means having a fact-based world view. Because humans take so many mental shortcuts (see: cognitive bias), we often fall into patterns of thinking that are just plain wrong. The authors break down our errors into 10 human instincts, some of which are pseudonyms for commonly-documented heuristics (The Straight Line Instinct, The Generalization Instinct), and others are cousins (i.e. The Blame Instinct, The Urgency Instinct).
The surface message of the book is that globally the world has been improving at a rapid pace. The deeper message is that we should acknowledge evidence of how our world is evolving and update our world view (i.e. practice Factfulness)!
The best way to decide if you should read this book is the 3-minute quiz below:
Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion
Authors: Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman
I was very excited to read the founding story of The Home Depot! Though I have never had an inside look before, I always believed this was a remarkable company. Everywhere I looked while growing up, there was a Home Depot. When I was in the contracting business, our guys in the field would swing by one for supplies seemingly daily. In my adult life, the company’s stores have plainly been a fact of life. In one word: ubiquitous.
As with most memoirs written by successful entrepreneurs, a big chunk of the book is used for self-back-patting and my-side-of-the-story-context. As readers, we must forgive this because the authors have indeed built something great.
I loved learning about the turbulent beginnings of The Home Depot, the deals that fell apart, and the ones that ultimately catapulted the company toward greatness. The story should be an inspiration to any entrepreneur, as well as a keen insight into Home Depot for those who works in retail or the buildings materials industry.
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I must admit I may have gone about this backwards… Before reading the book, I read this excellent critique of it by Alex Lynch. It definitely helped me keep from getting sucked in to the passion with which Taleb writes.
This was the first Taleb book I’ve actually read, but I’m told that his stylistic approach is consistent throughout his writing – specifically, he writes with an impressive level of arrogance! Also a bit annoying: the book is littered with latin phrases that add no discernible value other than to scream “I know latin!”
That aside, I recommend this book for two reason. First, skin in the game is a concept with plenty of merit, and should be a requirement in more cases than we find today. Many people have managed to get vast upside potential while dumping downside risk on an unwitting public (i.e. bank bailouts) because our system is flawed. Second, there are plenty of interesting stories and anecdotes in the book. Many of them around the old-world, including the code of Hamurabi. And, if you take Taleb in context, his writing can be pretty entertaining.