Most of the books I have read over the years can be found on my Goodreads profile. Goodreads is a place where I find books, list them as “to read” and mark them as “have read” — sometimes I review them. My favorite books are listed below.
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Title: Thinking, fast and slow
Author: Daniel Kahneman
Categories: behavioural economics, Psychology
My description: The book summarizes Nobel prize winning Kahneman’s work. It changed my way of thinking radically.
Audio-book exists: Yes.
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Title: Stumbling on Happiness
Author: Daniel Gilbert
Categories: happiness, psychology
My description: A Harvard professor summarizes his research on what makes us (un)happy. I laughed while reading it. Excerpts from the back cover: “Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? …. Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there.”
Other: Goodreads. His TED-talk gives you ca 20% of the information in the book.
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Title: Outliers – The Story of Success
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Categories:
My description: Gladwell is one of the best writers is the world. In this book he asks “what makes high-achievers different?”
Audio-book exists: Yes
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Title: Waking Up
Author: Sam Harris
Categories: philosophy
My description: The subtitle is A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. I think of this book as a collection of philosophical thoughts. It is well written. My review is found on Goodreads.
Audio-book exists: Yes, read by the author – Harris has a great voice. Listen to chapter 1 on Soundcloud – it’s free and works on your phone too.
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Title: Zero to One – Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Authors: Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
Categories: Entrepreneurship, philosophy
My description: This is not a book only about startups, but a book that has contrarian and unique ideas – worth reading even for those who have no interest in starting a company.
Other: Goodreads.
Audio-book exists: Yes
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Title: Freakonomics
Authors: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Categories: behavioural economics
My description: Subtitle: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. A funny book with many new thoughts, as it describes the world through an economist’s lense.
Other: Wikipedia. Good reads. There is also the Frekonomics podcast, if you like the podcast you will like the book – and vice versa.
Audio-book exists: Yes.
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Title: Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Author: David Allen
Categories: career, productivity
My description: The best system I have found for being accomplished yet relaxed. Allen describes a system you have to live by in order to get to this state. I don’t practice Getting Things Done (GTD) in its full, however, it has changed the way I approach work. The GTD system has made me more productive and less stressed. Unfortunately, the book is not badly written and the barriers to following this system are high. If you are interested, read the wikipedia page.
Audio-book exists: Don’t know.
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Title: The Black Swan (or Fooled by Randomness)
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Categories: statistics, finance
My description: Fooled by Randomness is the first book. The Black Swan is the second book. I prefer the first book, but they contain almost the same ideas. The second book is more successful, probably due to its name. The sub-title of Fooled by Randomness is: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets. Description from Goodreads: “… an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes.”
Other: Wikipedia of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan.
Audio-book exists: Yes
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Title: Liar’s Poker
Author: Michael Lewis
Categories: banking
My description: Lewis, an ex-investment banker, describes how crazy Wall Street was in the 1980s.
Audio-book exists: Yes.
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Title: Flash boys
Author: MIchael Lewis
Categories: banking
My description: stories about high-frequency trading
Other: Wikipedia
Audio-book exists: Yes.
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Title: So Good They Can’t Ignore You
Author: Cal Newport
Categories: career
My description: The best career advice I have heard thus far. Sub-title: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.
Other: Goodreads. CalNewport.com
Audio-book exists: Don’t know.
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Title: När du gör som jag vill – En bok om påverkan
Author: Henrik Fexeus
Categories: psykologi
My description: Från Goodreads: “Genomskåda kriget om våra hjärnor. Från att du slår upp ögonen på morgonen till att du somnar på kvällen så utsätts du för en oändlig ström av försök till övertalning och påverkan.”
Other: Wikipedia. Goodreads.
Audio-book exists: Vet ej.
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Title: On Writing Well – The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
Author: William Zinsser
Categories: writing
My description: I want to be able to write like him – everybody should.
Other: Wikipedia. Goodreads.
Audio-book exists: Don’t know.
