Books

Books that have helped me open my eyes to the world, see new perspectives, shift mental models, and generally grow. I update this list regularly, so be sure to check back for new book recommendations, quotes, journal prompts, and more.

There is only 1 fiction book I’m recommending at this time: Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, which will be released as a film in 2026 starring Ryan Gosling.

Personal Growth and Development:

  1. Awaken Your Genius, Ozan Varol

  2. Spontaneous Evolution, Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. & Steve Bhaerman

  3. The Impossible First, Colin O’Brady

  4. The Origins of You, Vienna Pharaon

  5. The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin

  6. Anatomy of a Breakthrough, Adam Alter

  7. Think Again, Adam Grant

  8. Mental Immunity, Andy Norman

  9. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, Mark Manson

  10. The Power of Moments, Chip & Dan Heath

  11. Upstream, Dan Heath

  12. Decisive, Chip & Dan Heath

  13. David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell

  14. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

  15. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

  16. The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt

  17. Sex, Drugs, Einstein and Elves, Scott Pickover

Systems Thinking, Complexity & Chaos:

  1. Thinking in Systems, Donella H Meadows

  2. Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

  3. Chaos, James Gleick

  4. The Social Life of Information, John Seely Brown

  5. Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws, Manfred R. Schroeder

  6. How to Create a Mind, Ray Kurzweil

Physics & Cosmology:

  1. A Universe from Nothing, Lawrence Krauss

  2. The Fabric of Reality, David Deutsch

  3. The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch

  4. The 4% Universe, Richard Panek

  5. Wrinkles in Time, George Smoot

  6. What the Bleep Do We Know? William Arntz

  7. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil DeGrasse Tyson

  8. Death by Black Hole, Neil DeGrasse Tyson

  9. The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene

  10. I Am A Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter

Business, Entrepreneurship & AI

  1. The Innovators, Walter Isaacson

  2. The Age of AI, Eric Schmidt & Henry Kissinger

  3. The Universe in a Box, Andrew Pontzen

  4. The 2am Principle, Jon Levy

  5. The Practice, Seth Godin

Morality & Consciousness:

  1. The Moral Landscape, Sam Harris

  2. Making Sense, Sam Harris

  3. The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

  4. Waking Up, Sam Harris

  5. Living in Flow, Sky Nelson-Isaacs

  6. Leap to Wholeness, Sky Nelson-Isaacs

Psychology:

  1. Rationality, Steven Pinker

  2. The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker

  3. How the Mind Works, Steven Pinker

  4. Elastic, Leonard Mlodinow

  5. Emotional, Leonard Mlodinow

  6. Your Brain on Art, Susan Magsamen

Spirituality:

  1. The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

  2. The Untethered Soul, Alan Singer