I've often thought that one of the best ways to know a person is to know what they've read. So, in the interests of edification,
here is the "things I've read" list going back to 1997 or 1998.
Title |
Author(s) |
Comments |
How to Win Friends & Influence People |
Dale Carnegie |
There are a few good points in here, but I would like to suggest some alternate titles. "How to Become a Sleazy Manipulator" is one. "How to Be Patronizing and Treat Other People Like Children" is another. How about "The Practical Guide to Being a World-Class Demagogue?" Your mileage may vary. |
The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back |
James Waldroop and Timothy Butler |
Interesting book about 12 common personality traits (fatal flaws, as Shakespeare would say) that cause otherwise highly competent people to be less sucessful. |
The Future of Success |
Robert B. Reich |
Alternately insightful and tepid examination of the larger forces shaping today's society. |
Liar's Poker |
Michael Lewis |
The classic true story of one man's experience on Wall Street in the 80's. By the way, he went to Princeton. |
Discovering Your Career in Business |
Timothy Butler and James Waldroop |
A book about personality, MBA's, and jobs, by the directors of the career development program at Harvard Business School. As such it is one of the more relevant career books I have read. |
Please Understand Me II |
David Keirsey |
Good reference about temperament, character, and intelligence based on the Myers-Briggs personality types. Better as a reference since it is rather long-winded and redundant. |
When Elephants Weep |
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy |
Interesting treatise on the emotional lives of animals. |
Immortality |
Ben Bova |
Well-written exploration of trends in medicine and biology that may extend human lifespans indefinitely. |
The Art of Happiness |
The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler |
Not my usual kind of book. Recommended by someone I met in the Bahamas. Very bland writing. |
On the Road |
Jack Kerouac |
Not as good as The Dharma Bums but still a good travel book. |
Fahrenheit 451 |
Ray Bradbury |
It's not just about burning books, but about where society is headed. Excellent read. |
Harvard Business Review on Change |
Various |
Probably what you'd expect given the title. Some good stuff in here but rather dry. |
Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds |
Gregory S. Paul and Earl D. Cox |
Interesting if somewhat wandering treatise on the future convergence of biology and artificial intelligence. |
Rapid Development |
Steve McConnel |
Very good book on how to build good software quickly. |
The Mythical Man-Month |
Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. |
A classic in the field of software engineering and project management. Much is no longer relevant, but some is intensely so. |
Great Mambo Chicken & the Transhuman Condition |
Ed Regis |
A but uneven, but an interesting walk through future directions in today's technology. |
The Elegant Universe |
Brian Greene |
A very good, fairly deep but no very mathematical treatment of quantum mechanics and the emerging field of superstring theory. |
Visions |
Michio Kaku |
Not as good as Kaku's other book (see below), but still a fairly thorough and interesting look at logical trends in different technologies and their possible implications. |
Data and Databases |
Joe Celko |
Good solid introduction to the fundamentals of databases, but one of the leading experts in the field. |
The Fabric of Reality |
David Deutsch |
Fascinating but sometimes dry look at how disparate fields of science may combine to give us a much better understanding of the universe and how it works. |
The Matter Myth |
Paul Davies and John Gribbin |
A somewhat standard if well-written review of modern theories in physics. |
The Demon-Haunted World |
Carl Sagan |
Very good, if somewhat preaching examination of man's embrace of irrationalism in the past and present. |
Pale Blue Dot |
Carl Sagan |
Well-written exploration of what may lie ahead for the human race as it explores outer space. |
Engines of Creation |
K. Eric Drexler |
The classic manifesto on nanotechnology and its potential by its leading proponent. Gets a little long-winded towards the end. |
Cat's Cradle |
Kurt Vonnegut |
Great book. A story about hubris and how things can go wrong unexpectedly. |
The Age of Spiritual Machines |
Ray Kurzweil |
Great book on the potential of artificial intelligence and the rapid advances in computational technology that will make it a reality. |
The Old Man and the Sea |
Ernest Hemingway |
I think this is the book that won Hemingway the Nobel in literature. It's a good book. |
The New Pioneers |
Thomas Petzinger, Jr. |
A Wall Street Journal columnist collects his thoughts on an emergent business model based on evolutionary theory. Kind of bland but better than average. |
Death March |
Edward Yourdon |
Great book about why software development is difficult, why lots of projects fail, and I suppose why software professionals deserve their lofty compensation. |
Atlas Shrugged |
Ayn Rand |
For quite a while this was my favorite book. Speaks to anyone who has ever fought against mediocrity and apathy. |
Dynamics of Software Development |
Jim McCarthy |
Varied discourse on some of the intricacies of programming, by an old gunslinger in the field. |
Reengineering the Corporation |
Michael Hammer and James Champy |
Better than average business book about process engineering and efficiency. I eat this stuff up. |
Software Project Survival Guide |
Steve McConnel |
Rather long-winded but thorough guide to succeeding in software projects. |
The Ten-Day MBA |
Steven Silbiger |
A lot of good basic information, but maybe not the best writing. Pretty much what I expected. |
Managing for Dummies |
Bob Nelson and Peter Economy |
It's... a dummies book about managing people. Some good tips but also a lot of the same old stuff. |
What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School |
Mark H. McCormack |
Interesting business book with a lot of varied material. Some of it useful, some of it seems like rubbish, but there you go. |
The End of Science |
John Horgan |
Very interesting book postulating that most of the basic knowledge about the universe is already known, which is kind of a pessimistic view when you think about it. |
Debugging the Development Process |
Steve Maguire |
Great book about software development and project management. Lots of relevant and very true examples. |
The E-Myth Manager |
Michael E. Gerber |
I don't remember why I read this. Some motivational garbage from a business consultant. |
The Portable Nietzsche |
translated by Walter Kaufmann |
Either you like the philosphies of Nietzsche or you don't. I do. |
In Search of Schroedinger's Cat |
John Gribbin |
Very good overview of quantum mechanics. |
Theories of Everything |
John D. Barrow |
Kind of a bland catch-all book about competing theories of... yes, everything... in physics. |
Hyperspace |
Michio Kaku |
Optimistic, wonderful, almost breathtaking book about advances in superstring theory and its potential applications by humans. Read it and you will wish you lived a thousand years from now. |
Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers |
S. E. Frost, Jr. |
It's a book... about... basic... teachings... of the great philosophers. Kind of like Encylcopedia Brittanica. |