Reading
Reading list
Some of this I put together for Max originally, but I keep adding to it. Obvious disclaimer: Your mileage may vary with book recommendations ⏤ I'm different from you, and my tastes are obviously mine. So read GoodReads reviews etc. if you're not sure.
About California:
Kevin Starr - California: A History // Probably the starting point if you're serious
Irving Stone - Men to Match My Mountains // timeless and fascinating read about the history of Western settlement of California
Daniel James Brown - The Indifferent Stars Above // all you ever wanted to know about the Donner party
John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath // The grand novel of the Great Depression and the migration to California (relevant but depressing)
Marc Reisner - Cadillac Desert // classic on the grand water scam and the foundation of California politics
About startups and business
Peter Thiel - Zero to One // regardless of what you think about Peter Thiel's politics, he is incredibly smart and insightful. Worth a read
Antonio Garcia Martinez - Chaos Monkeys // if the show Silicon Valley had been written by someone who had actually lived in Silicon Valley and founded a company, this is what it would be
Michael Lewis - The Big Short // (or anything else by Michael Lewis - like Flash Boys, or Moneyball, or The Undoing Project)
Lawrence Cunningham and Warren Buffett - The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America // should be mandatory reading for anyone who ever confused speculation and investment, or really for anyone with an interest in corporate finance and management
A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin - Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works // I'm guessing strategy is a bit like expertise - for true experts, what they actually do does not easily translate into a chart, simple process, or recipe. But this book has merit.
About medicine and informatics
Bob Wachter - The Digital Doctor // Why things are what they are in the field of medical informatics
Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto // (or anything else by Atul Gawande - I'm a big fan) Great book about safety or the lack thereof
Philosophical / Psychological
Viktor E. Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning // Until I read this book, I was profoundly skeptical of anyone claiming to know anything about the meaning of life (regardless of whether they approached it from a philosophical, biological, or spiritual angle). Like I said, until I read this book.
Hans Rosling et al. - Factfulness // I saw Hans Rosling speak at the World Health Summit in Berlin, and he was one of the most amazing presenters I ever saw. This book captures his style perfectly.
I suppose I could put anything by Tversky and Kahneman here, as it greatly influenced my thinking.
Miscellaneous "serious" fiction
This is the 5-star serious books list; i.e., books that I didn't just love, but that I also think should qualify for major literary awards (and that usually received them). So while I loved pretty much everything by David Sedaris, Kristin Hannah, Roald Dahl, Lois McMaster Bujold, John Scalzi, Sarah Maas, Neal Stephenson, Astrid Lindgren and numerous others, they're not on this list.Richard Powers - The Overstory // Approachable yet complex, like a great wine. Weaves together seemingly unrelated stories into a coherent and very satisfying whole.
Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove // I went through a Cormack McCarthy phase and read almost everything he wrote. Then I discovered Larry McMurtry. This is not for everyone (it's close to 1,000 pages, a love story, and a Western epic) but the language is beautiful.
Keri Hulme - The Bone People // Booker Prize winner. Not an easy read, but I remember it being amazing.
John Steinbeck // I know this is where I pick my favorite, but the fact is, pretty much anything by Steinbeck has these beautiful sentences and a vividness with which he sketches people and situations that make me want to hand-copy whole passages into my notebook of memorable things I read.
Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss // Booker Prize winner (usually a good filter). Approachable, with vivid imagery.
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children // Another Booker Prize winner. When I finally read it, loved it from first page to last.
Günter Grass - The Tin Drum (transl. by Breon Mitchell) // Nobel Prize winner. I re-read this (in a new translation) recently. The magic realism ("broadened reality") combined with the compelling story make this a great read.