Like all of Herman Hesse’s novels, after finishing it I sigh with despair and think to myself: “There is nothing left for me to contribute to literature. My career is done before it had a chance to begin.” Hesse is… Continue Reading →

There is only one quote you need to know from this Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: “The horror! The horror!” That is not to say that there is no value in this book, I actually think the opposite. But that one… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads ・ Amazon) I respect Ray Dalio’s humility and honesty. You get the sense that he is an open, “enlightened” man who has seen the greater pattern in the world and lifted himself a little further away from the bopping… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) My personal prediction Humans are going to go through a rather lengthy and difficult learning experience that will likely last 60-200 years. We won’t change our behaviour in time to reach the 2C warming target. Even when we hit… Continue Reading →

This is the reading list that I followed when studying capitalism. Apart from the books listed here I read countless articles online but didn’t track them. 👌 Essential reads Capitalism: A very short introduction – This is the perfect place to… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads ・ Amazon) So here lies the conundrum. The world isn’t as bad as we think it is. Quality of life is the best it has ever been in right across the globe. That’s not to say things aren’t still… Continue Reading →

Phi: A voyage from the brain to the soulGiulio Tononi (Goodreads ・ Amazon) Ultimately, it’s a good read, despite being a little long and flourished with over-extravagant language. Big Takeaway The big takeaway that I got from reading this is… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads ・ Amazon) Fucking beautiful. Core Ideas Neoliberalism is unsustainable. Capitalism goes through 50 year “Kondratieff” cycles. The current one has stalled. Information-technology has zero-marginal costs. Non-market goods and services are taking over previous market niches. Inequality is rising and… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads ・ Amazon) The Four Demands Full automation – rather than fighting machines, aim for 100% automation of labour. This would mean the ability for wealth to grow without human labour needed. Our basic human needs would be fulfilled by machines.… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) An extremely thorough and diligent study on the effects of monopoly capitalism on human labour. I’m blown away by the depth and rigour that Braverman goes to in this exploration. He is truly a clear writer and sound thinker.… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) Not a recommended read. This lengthy book by Friedman feels more like multiple opinion pieces rather than accurate research. The crux of the book is about letting markets operate with minimum government intervention. He argues that this will reduce… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) I struggled 30% of the way through this before giving up and coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going to get any better. The content is great, it’s just that the author is an economist, not… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) Notes Merchant capitalism – was the beginning of capitalism where merchants created corporations to split the risk of ship voyages to the indies to get spices to be sold in Europe. Wealth was created by exploiting a difference in cost… Continue Reading →

Goodreads | Amazon One of the most influential books that I’ve read. The Art of Learning is a beautifully simple book written with clarity. Not being an author by profession, Josh Waitzkin doesn’t try fluff his writing up. He gets… Continue Reading →

Goodreads | Amazon It took me over four months to read this book. With that being said, it’s still a decent book. Wright sets out to demonstrate that the core tenants of Buddhist Philosophy are a truer perception of reality.… Continue Reading →

Goodreads | Amazon This book is a classic. Jane Jacobs completed a massive feat for humanity; she ruthlessly observed, documented, and critiqued modern urban living from the street up. Despite being a journalist, she has become the most influential figure… Continue Reading →

Goodreads | Amazon Gladwell is the master of well written, average quality books. I don’t say this to be rude, rather sincere. He is an amazing writer, with a real talent for collecting and telling compelling stories related to a… Continue Reading →

Sirens is another beautiful novel by Vonnegut about where with more focus than ever before he pursues the contradictory absurdity of meaningful life. A novel that ironically makes you question whether a higher meaning in life would actually be a… Continue Reading →

This is an extremely beautiful short story by the master Hesse. In his usual magnificent proce, he aims to tell the untellable story. Partly an analogy of wisdom (untellable knowledge), this is a superb book that nods it’s head slightly… Continue Reading →

Oh Vonnegut, how did I not discover you earlier 😍 Slaughterhouse-five is an astounding book about finding meaning in life.  “Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.” Or maybe it’s… Continue Reading →

I appreciate this book for what it is, despite feeling that much more could have been covered with much less pages. Lynch, like other urban planners I recently read, enjoys rambling excessively about everything and describing in detail the obvious.… Continue Reading →

A frustratingly, mediocre book with some really good information in it. Speck, I love your ideas and mission, but please, stick to urban planning. Rather than spending the time reading this, just watch his Ted talk online which covers all… Continue Reading →

This book by Thomas More is famous for coining the term “utopia – an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” Unfortunately, that’s all it should be known for. The negative connotation that the term Utopia has,… Continue Reading →

One of the things that I am most proud of is that for the last three years I have read 40-60 books per year. I’m not a fast reader. I don’t skim read. I’m not reading short-fiction. One of the… Continue Reading →

I admire Huxley for his spirit, character, and intention. He is an author who relentlessly pursued the idea that mankind could structure itself better; that there was, if not an ideal state, a better state. Huxley is extremely well read… Continue Reading →

Goodreads – Amazon If you’re looking for a book to open the door into Buddhist philosophy for you, then The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur is a good place to start. It’s written well, covers the essentials, and isn’t… Continue Reading →

This short read from Plato is an enjoyable dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro on the nature of piety, morality, and virtue. The major idea to come out of this book is known as the Euthyphro Dilemma, which deals with the… Continue Reading →

(Goodreads・Amazon) Hands down this is the most influential book I read in 2017. Koch covers the basics of the latest neuroscience research in a very humble, non-assuming way. He weaves in his own personal story about his search for truth.… Continue Reading →

Despite feeling like I lost my focus in 2017, I actually ended up reading 50 books over the year. I’ll be writing a post about how I manage to read so much despite being a slow reader. Top Philosophy Consciousness… Continue Reading →

At heart I am a radical. Alinksky showed me that. Rules for Radicals is a book on many things; how to motivate people, how to make decisions, but most importantly, it is a call to arms for the radical within us all.… Continue Reading →

Few stories capture so simply the essence of the humble human heart. The Little Prince is a book that we should all read and remember, because it is one that defines what it means to be human. I read (and… Continue Reading →

Ricard is my favourite Buddhist author by far. The voice in his books is one of light-hearted deep compassion. He is someone who I could imagine being an incredible friend and mentor. In his book, Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s… Continue Reading →

Listing out all the books I read this year makes me very proud, however to paraphrase Michelangelo: If you knew how long this took me, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.  I’m actually a slower than average reader (I… Continue Reading →

Predictably Irrational, is a series of experiments and stories that help highlight how irrational we are as human beings. My favourite takeaways were: Never mix social norms with market norms We are crazy for “FREE!” Restating our moral duty actually makes… Continue Reading →

Gladwell writes with humility, heart and soul. He often briefly leaves his point to connect it to the grand scheme of life – as any good writer should, for if we don’t what is the point of writing? People that are… Continue Reading →

Sometime ago I wrote down a note: “I realised today that we’re no longer trying to communicate anything new. As humans, the core ideas of life and living are already explored at depth in books, plays, blogs and speeches. All we are trying… Continue Reading →

This mini-story, part of the grand masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov, is a thought provoking inquisition into God and Religion. What makes Dostoevsky’s writing brilliant is it’s honest and clarity. Although he is a Christian himself, he has no qualms exploring the… Continue Reading →

A book about the impossibility of faith and yet the absolute necessity of it. The pinnacle of Dostoevsky’s writing and a classic that ranks amongst the best. Dostoevsky is a writer who wrote with honesty and clarity about the human experience. He was Christian, but had… Continue Reading →

Cialdini has produced the most comprehensive and quiet honestly useful textbook on the forces of influence. I intentionally do not call it a book because I do not think it one. Although extremely informative, Cialdini’s form of writing is bland, detached and borderline… Continue Reading →

Thiel often talks with such extremes that you can’t be sure if even he believe what he “writes”. Yet every now and then he drops a line so poetically profound that you can’t help but applaud him. Despite coming across quite contradictory,… Continue Reading →

There are many books that look at applying the philosophy of Buddhism to everyday life, but this one by Christina Feldman is my favourite. Feldman does a great job of intertwining the basic Buddhist principles in with a mix of  insightful stories,… Continue Reading →

Orwell captures what other writers can not, or will not. He isn’t afraid of recounting his vulgar times because he knows we are all vulgar; not afraid of sharing his weaknesses because he knows we are all weak. He is the simplest profound… Continue Reading →

The thing I couldn’t help but marvel at when reading 4 hour work week, was his true strength, that which is similar to Robbins; amazing self promotion. In a voice that seems to border on the verge of vanity, yet somehow… Continue Reading →

Milan Kundera writes with a unique prose style that is akin to reading a handful of short stories, all relating to the same characters and topic; the result is a grand symphony that feels light to read, yet captures the details… Continue Reading →

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is one of few classics that sits in a very specific category for me: underwhelmingly profound. While I was first completely disappointed after reading Siddhartha, it is a classic because it captures the essence of Buddha’s teachings like no… Continue Reading →

If there was a smarter man on earth, he didn’t write books. Ruskin was not only a genius, but an extremely articulate one; his writing is some of the best out there, both in content and quality. Ruskin is one… Continue Reading →

In a capitalist society, the value of human life is reduced to its capacity to consume and produce. Gaskell argues that it doesn’t have to be. North and Sound is a socio-economic romance novel from the victorian era. This may… Continue Reading →

What secular people lack without a Bible are moral figures to guide them through life. Jane Eyre is exactly that. Charlotte Bronte is most definitely the strongest technical writer out of the female classic novelists. She masters the English language to the extent… Continue Reading →

Letters from a Stoic, is the kind of book you can flip open to a random page, throw your finger down without aim, and still land upon a maxim that you can live your life by. Like this one: “Am I to… Continue Reading →

Tolstoy perfectly captures the metaphysical anguish of the human condition down to the letter. He writes it in a way that does not dictate or demand, but takes the reader on his journey from disenfranchised youth, through an existential journey to where… Continue Reading →