Books I’ve Read
(work in progress)
Here are the books I’ve read and what what I think about each one:
Being George Washington: Biography - Beck
Didn’t really like Beck’s personality, found a few things interesting about George Washington’s life, but it wasn’t as powerful as I had hoped. Most likely due to my own attitudes while reading the book.
Walden - Thoreau
Book given to me by a guy living out of his van. Great read for anyone who is interested in simplifying their life and enjoying more of the world around them. Below are some quotes that I really liked:
We are all poor with respect to a thousand savage comforts, though surrounded by luxuries.
When the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him. For our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them. I know one or two families…who, for nearly a generation have been wishing to sell their house… and only death will set them free.
Most men appeared never to have considered what a house is, and are actually so needlessly poor all their ives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.
Civil Disobiedience - Thoreau
Good views on slavery and what to do when you disagree with what the government is doing. Very short, but it made a lot of sense. Some of my favorite quotes were:
There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the avoliton of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote.
Multum in Parvo - Much in Little
The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the least amount of virtue. For money comes between a man and his objects ad obtains them for him. The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out the schemes with rich he entertained when he was poor.
I cam not this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad. A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything…
As a Man Thinketh - Allen
Awakened my sense of thought. That we become what we think, and that we experience our own world from within our mind. We are free to mold and shape in into whatever place we desire, we must only think of it that way, and it will become. Careful, this is not to suggest that one must only think inside of their mind “I am happy” or “I am successful” or “I am rich” but must at their core perceive it as their reality in order for it to come to pass. (Although repeating phrases like this is a useful tool in helping develop the perception)
On the Road - Karouac
We are free. Do as you please. Be wild, be young, be reckless, for that give light and glamour and shimmer to the world. One of my favorites and appeals to my Gypsy Soul.
the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding
Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway
Probably my favorite book of fiction. Made me feel nostalgic for telegraphs, month long vacations, and love affairs between friends, royalty, and bull fighters. A timeless classic, in my top 5.
Mosquito Coast - Theroux
Think and Grow Rich - Hill
How to Change the World - Bernstien
Les Miserables - Hugo
Ethan Frome - Wharton
Catcher in the Rye - Salinger
How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It - Rawles
Success Built to Last - Porras
7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Covey
The Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway
The Pearl - Steinbeck
The Complete Harry Potter Series - Rowling
Kept me entertained and hooked the whole time. Didn’t really receive some sort of moral message or overriding principal from these, but they did keep me hooked. I almost considered it a societal responsibility to become aquatinted with these books because of the massive amounts of publicity they received.
The Complete Lord of the Rings Series - Tolkien
I read The Hobbit first, and then the 3 following Lord of the Rings, mainly because my mother liked them so much. Similiar to the Harry Potter seiries I didn’t learn much from these books, rather was entertained by them. These books later influenced my life when I set out on my own epic quest to become a extra in the movie “The Hobbit”. Here’s a video that explains more:
Leadership and Self-Deception - Arbinger Institute
I was made to read this book before going to work at Txtwire. It’s an illustration of the principal “Tread others as people, not as objects, or a way to complete your goals”. When you feel contention look inward and ask yourself if you’re looking at the other person as an object or as a person that has thoughts, opinions, and hopes just like you? Then try to look at it from their point of view. Kinda cliche, but a good book.
Nail it and Scale it - Furr
Sale before you build. That was my main take away. Before you actually do a project, try to sell it. It’ll save you money, time, and well…. will probably save your business.
The Lean Startup - Ries
Get out of the building, Pivot, Pivot, Pick Growth Engine, Pivot, Grow. All about how to learn what your customers want and the different strategies to grow once you’ve found the sweet spot. This book is referenced all the time, so I had to read it, but didn’t love it.
4 Hour Work Week - Ferris
It gives multiple tips on how to outsource your life and work less. The tips and tricks he gives are useful, but not really why I liked the book so much. It opened my eyes to thinking electronically, and how to distance and distribute work. It made me change careers (from film making to advertising) and I often cite it as one of the books (along with “As A Man Thinketh, and The Scriptures”) that changed my life.
Outliers - Gladwell
Tipping Point - Gladwell
Atlas Shrugged - Rand
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Kawasaki
Book of Mormon - Multiple Authors
Bible - New Testament - Multiple Authors
Ender’s Game - Card
Speaker for the Dead - Card
Hitting the Sweet Spot - Cambell
The Alchemist - Coelho
Awakening to our Awful Situation - Monnett
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Carnegie
–On my List–
Earth: A Gift from God
Biography of George Washington
Good to Great
Influencer
Little Dorrit
Walden
Driven: Larry H. Miller
Imagine - Lehrer
The Book of Doing - Arden
Flow - Csikszentmihalyi
Letters to a Young Poet
The Elements of Style