This page is a collection of all the books I've read - and some thoughts about them - starting in 2025.

3/16/2025 - On Tyranny by Timothy D. Snyder

A quick read that I’d recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the rise of modern-day facism. “A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best. A patriot wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves.”

3/11/2025 - Atomic Habits by James Clear

A long overdue read given it's popularity; absolutely fantastic book with loads of useful information. Here's my distillation of Clear's main argument: the hardest part of any challenging activity is just showing up; once you’re at the starting line, the rest is easy. Your goals should reflect this reality and focus on just showing up - for example, instead of saying “I will workout more”, your goal could be, “I will drive to the gym 3 days per week after work.” Additionally, strive to remove as much friction as possible for your desired habits. I can personally testify here, as I’ve noticed I play significantly more guitar when I leave my guitar out, in its stand, already plugged into my amp. The slightest amount of friction, such as needing to open up my case, has massive consequences.

3/6/2025 - Deep Work by Cal Newport

My second time reading this book, first while working full-time. There's certainly some good bits in here about focusing on your highest priorities and disregarding everything else, but much of this book is a miss for me; Newport doesn't seem to have any respect for serendipity (something I value highly), instead advocating for scheduling out every minute of each day in advance. Not quite how I want to live my life, even if it makes me less productive.

3/2/2025 - Just Enough Software Architecture by George Fairbanks

Incredibly formative reading on how to architect a software system in the real world. Fairbanks is not an idealist, and recognizes that you can't optimize every part of a system; instead, he argues that you shouldn't even try to do so, opting instead to mitigate the highest priority risks for a given system. While this may sound obvious, it's a shockingly rare mindest in software, and Fairbanks provides techniques for applying this philosophy in an organization where others don't think this way. Highly recommend to anyone who writes software for a living.

2/17/2025 - An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage

Very informative on the influence of food on human history, from pre-agrarian to modern times. I’m definitely prone to the naturalistic fallacy, so it’s probably good for me to read about how unnatural all modern produce is compared to its pre-domesticated predecessors. The chapters discussing communist China and the Soviet Union’s propaganda on the efficacy of their agricultural policies (while in reality they were experiencing some of the worst famines in history) is a great reminder of why freedom of press is so important. Some great fun facts too, e.g. how nutrient deficiency diseases caused by Maize overconsumption led to Vampire folklore. Fascinating read, definitely will become one of my go-to history book recommendations.

2/3/2025 - Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Interesting book, not quite what I was expecting; much more of an emphasis on the scientific minutia of sleep as opposed to recommendations on how to sleep better. I guess the title should've gave it away, so that one's my fault. Definitely some interesting tid-bits of information in here, and some frightening statistics about sleeping while drowsy (which I already had strong opinions on). Worth a read if you're interesting in - you guessed it - why we sleep, but otherwise probably a bit too dense.

1/20/2025 - The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

A great wrap-up to the Hyperion story, although with a bit of a lull in the middle. I think Simmons may have gone a little far into the whole John Keats obsession, but I'm willing to ignore that given how much I enjoyed this series. A necessary read if you enjoyed Hyperion.

1/3/2025 - Hyperion by Dan Simmons

One of the best fiction books I've read in years - a sort of Sci-Fi Canterbury Tales. I found the perspective changes to be a super refreshing way of reading a novel of this ambition, especially with how the different arcs intertwined with one another and built up a fully fleshed out world. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes Sci-Fi.