A list of books I have read, am currently reading, or want to read, along with my occasional thoughts.

Currently Reading

Books Read

  • The Troop by Nick Cutter

    • May 2025

  • Holly by Stephen King

    • April 2025

  • Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

    • March 2025

  • Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson

    • February 2025
    • I really enjoyed this book. It very much focused on what the current literature says about the impact of meditaiton on the mind. I appreciated the authors focus on explaining what diffferentiates a good meditation study from one plagued with confounding variables. They also avoided falling into the “hype” behind meditation (such as claiming meditatining 5 minutes a day can solve all of your problems), and were very clear what meditation can and can’t do. Further, they spent a lot of time focusing on quantifying meditation hours of their subjects, to highlight how long it might take to gain “altered traits” from meditation, which I found very insightful. Would highly recommend to anyone interested in the scientific literature on meditation.

  • Wool by Hugh Howey

    • January 2025

  • No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

    • December 2024

  • If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

    • November 2024

  • My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

    • August 2024

  • First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

    • July 2024
    • Thought this book was good for entertainment value. Some of the books I’ve read in the previous months had several layers to unpack, so it was fun to read a book where I didn’t feel the need to dive deeper into what the author meant and could just appreciate the story. Initially I felt the book followed plot the TV show Imposters too closely, however the plot eventually deviates. I did feel pretty attached to the plot once the setting / characters were established. There are twists and turns, but did feel part of the ending came together a bit too perfectly, but didn’t really bother to go back to double check.

  • The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

    • June 2024
    • I was a big fan of the book. The author does a good job of weaving the story telling with historical details, so it feels like a mix of fiction / non fiction. My only complaint is at times the story feels fragmented, which is understandably a result of the accounts of what happened on Wager Island being sparse.

  • The Stranger by Albert Camus

    • June 2024

  • Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

    • June 2024

  • Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

    • May 2024

  • Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

    • April 2024

  • Exhalation by Ted Chiang

    • April 2024

  • The Logic of Sports Betting by Ed Miller, Matthew Davidow

    • March 2024
    • Really enjoyed the book. The authors provide a good overview on how the sports betting industry works (i.e. retail books vs money makers, holds, derivatives, pricing) which I found insightful and challenged my prior understanding. The info in the book is necessary, but not sufficient, for sports betting seriously. Would recommend to anyone interested in sports betting or learning more about the industry.

  • Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke

    • March 2024
    • I was hoping this book would be similar to Stolen Focus, with more of a focus on the science behind addiction and how common day items create “dependence”. The science behind the book was more high level and more simplistic (i.e. negative feedback loops described as gremlins hoping on a scale to balance out dopamine levels). I think the author provided a good overview on how to overcome addiction, however it felt more geared towards traditional addicitions (i.e. gambling, drugs, etc) instead of subtler ones such as smartphone or internet addictions that are more present in our daily lives. I found her idea of “pressing” on the pain side to improve dopamine levels interesting. The last third of the book turned more self helpy with the author’s own beliefs on how to overcome addictions. Overall, was not the biggest fan of the book, but was glad I read it.

  • The Storm of Creativity

    • February 2024
    • Really enjoyed the general concept of the book - outlining the creative process, particularly on its emphasis that the process is not linear, but circular. The chapters are organized in steps of the author’s proposed creative process. I really enjoyed Chapters 2 (Unlearning), 3 (Problem Making), 8 (Connecting), 9 (Pausing), and 10 (Continuing). Had a harder time with Chapters 4-7, potentially because the ideas were more abstract/the examples provided didn’t click with me well given they drew more from art history. These are the chapters that I would probably want to revist in the future. Some newer ideas included how the structure / organization / collect of ideas can change how we interpret them.

  • Chain-Gang All-Stars

    • January 2024

  • At Night All Blood is Black

    • January 2024

  • The Sea of Tranquility

    • September 2023

  • The Stand

    • September 2023

  • Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again

    • August 2023

  • The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

    • April 2023

  • A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas

    • Febraury 2023

To Read List