Hello Everyone!
Over the summer, I began to log the books that I read as a way for me to remember them and to have a guide to revisit if I ever thought about reading a book again. This list was originally meant to be just for me, but with the encouragement of some of my peers, I decided to share it with the public.
The list is organized with the most recent read at the top and the oldest logged read (from May 2024) at the bottom.
Enjoy!
Written by Bill Bryson
Overall Rating: 9/10
This book was recommended to me by my father, and I read it through the course of my road trip to and through many of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada’s national parks (including Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Zion, the list goes on). As you can tell, I was in a nature kinda mood, and this book was a perfect fit for the situation. Bill is a funny writer, and even though the subject of the book is relatively boring (walking on a forever long trail), this novel had me laughing out loud at times with the realism that he incorporated. Bill, like Ryan Holiday, does a good job of balancing, as through my reading I would come away with countless new facts that I learned, not only about the trails' history but about national parks in general. My parents would agree with me on this point because I can’t count the amount of times that I would routinely inform the whole car of something that I had just read (this may have been a bit annoying at some point, Sorry Mom!). Furthermore, after completing this book, I felt like taking on this hike (or something of its kind) myself, a massive switch up to my relatively uneasy camper self (I enjoy a hot shower and a clean bed, and don’t usually love things that crawl and bite). Hopefully I’ll follow through sometime in the future! I would recommend this book to anyone that would be going on vacation some time soon, or whoever needs a fun laid back read.
Written by Ryan Holiday
Overall Rating: 8/10
Usually when I see lists of book recommendations, I get a lot of the same in terms of content and of the same sets of books recommended. However, this book was different, unique, and ended up taking a relatively unique spin on the concept of Ego. Ryan does a good job of balancing, a term that I have come to relate to almost every self improvement/finance book that I read. Balancing as I put it refers to the author's choice of including stories into their writing as well as including new information and things that can be learned upon in the book. Some authors (such as Dale Carnegie) mainly focus on stories (sometimes a lot too much), while others (such as James Clear) overdo it on the information and include too many details. A good balance truly leads me to enjoying the book more. Ego is the Enemy tells tales of people who let their egos run too far, and were met with a much poorer fate than what would have been if they did not. This book talks about how to find purpose, complete what you set out to do, and to not get ahead of yourself. I was relieved to find this book especially after the last one I read which I did not enjoy much at all. Would recommend.
Written by Thomas J. Stanley
Overall Rating: 6/10
This book was recommended to me by one of my neighbors, who is a financial advisor and who I assist in maintaining his insanely large garden space (it’s his entire backyard). To put it politely this book was a drag. It went over very simple concepts over and over and over again to the point where I felt like flinging my headphones (when I was listening to the audio version) into the lawnmower's crushing blades. “I UNDERSTAND THAT I JUST NEED TO SPEND LESS AND MAKE MORE” I would scream in my head as he would repeat essentially the same sentence over and over like a TikTok which was never swiped passed. Maybe I would recommend this book to someone who knows this was their first finance book, or someone who is really struggling with their own money. However, if you check upwards on this book review list, there are many others that I feel would do a much better job.
Podcast Episode with Steven Bartlett
Overall Rating: 8/10
This podcast episode (which I am including here because it was 2 hours long) was absolutely excellent, and is one that I would recommend to anyone trying to get into the self help/finance audiobook scene. In this episode Steven goes over many cool and new tips and tricks as well as a few fun stories to detail his financial successes and failures, and give ideas on how to be successful yourself. My dad recommended this podcast to me (as I read a lot of finance books), and it blew through my expectations. Simple, fun, and very funny.
Trading Psychology Audiobook
Overall Rating: 6/10
Boring. Nothing new, just hit on similar basic points like “Do what you say you are going to do”, “Don’t just say things you are not going to do”. Really not my favorite audiobook I have ever listened to, and was just something that I turned on in the car because it was available.
Written by Holly Jackson
Overall Rating: 7/10
This book was my first take on a murder novel. I know that it might be a bit strange that THIS is my first but I have a good defense…it was free! I just had fun reading this book, it was certainly not of the depth of many of the other novels that I read, but it was pretty exciting and fun at times, and certainly kept me interested for more. I do this thing that I bet most people do when they read a book like this and try to predict who was in fact the killer from the beginning, and at last this time I was at least 50% correct (one of my two guesses was the one). Although I don’t think I'll read the rest of the series, I might pick up on the recently released Netflix show. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a simple fun book, or a teenager who enjoys mysteries that are not too spooky.
Overall rating: 9/10
This book is a bit different from my usual reads, and was a fantasy novel that I took on vacation. The book had a slow start, initially making me uneasy as this was the only book that I decided to bring that week. However, this book did not leave me disappointed. This book was awesome, a great clash between good and bad, where the good and bad flipped over and over again. Always catching me a bit off guard, there were so many interesting plot twists and intricate details that kept me constantly coming back for more. The characters were strategically built, a massive switch from Jurassic Park (the book I had read before this one) which only kept the novel more interesting and made the loss of a character more impactful. I am very impatiently awaiting the next book of this series and cannot wait to read it!
Overall rating: 4/10
Really did not like this book. From Crichton’s lack of character development to the sheer awfulness of the children characters, this book was a mega miss for me. Some people might say, “Henry, you just must dislike dinos,” which to that point I would say you are dead wrong. I love dinosaurs and always have, this being the only thing that kept me moving through this novel of a book. I did enjoy hearing the talk about the Rexes and the Velociraptors as they wreaked havoc on the island, and the basic plotline was very strong. However, the more the book got into the details of things, the more convoluted this text became. I would not recommend this book; skip to the movies as they in my opinion are much better.
Overall rating: 5/10
Straight up this book is not what it is chocked up to be. The book was full of many phrases, many very simple and painfully obvious. It was downright pretty boring at times. Some parts of this book were cool and neat, like some specific war tactics such as “Wait for your opponents to get halfway out of the river before you attack to prevent retreat” and other cool topics. I read this book because of the hype and how often I hear quotes from it, however, I do not think that this book was very interesting or amazing. That’s alright, on to the next.
Overall rating: 7/10
Man’s Search for Meaning is a detailed account from a psychiatrist who had gone through the horrible years of the Second World War’s concentration camps. This account goes through many elements of the psychological mindset that allowed him to get through, along with accounting the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the many other occupants. This area is not often discussed when going over the horrors of these camps but shone an interesting light on this situation. I often read self-help books and finance books in an attempt to better my understanding of the world in areas that I don’t often experience. This book was certainly very different from most of the things that I often read, and I was surprised at how interesting and significant it was. Although it does not directly give information that can be readily used, it still provides valuable insight into a tough time in history.
Overall rating: 7/10
Zero to One is a highly regarded book in the realm of startup culture. This book has many extremely high ratings online, and although I do find that it has many important points, I also feel like it is missing a few important elements of a great/must-read novel. This book started slow, and I felt like dropping it an extra point after it was so tough to stay focused. The novel goes through the beginnings of startups and common mistakes that many make upon launch. Among a fair amount of what I would call gloating (this guy co-founded PayPal and another billion-dollar company), there are certainly some real valuable gems to be found amongst the rough. One of these things was the principle that competition is not good, even though many people say the opposite. Peter Thiel goes through and explains how in many cases, when trying to make a startup significant, you should not be trying to recreate an existing market, but in order to create a monopoly, should attempt to create a new market, one that will not take things out of your competitors. This and many strong points can be found in this book.
This read is certainly a bit different from my usual finance reads and took a new mindset to power through, however, once I got into the book, I did not want it to end. It was exciting, especially into the final pages, and I can see a strong use case for it for someone who was confident in creating their own business, especially in the tech world.
Must read for potential startup founders.
Overall rating: 8/10
Another finance classic, The Richest Man in Babylon entered my “Must Reads” from countless mentions and quotes from other finance novels. In this book, a single story is told of a young man, a tablet scribe, and his adventures to obtain wealth, and the lessons he learned from his attempts. This book is written in a more aged version of English, which in my opinion was a joyful change from the usual current English type. It is quite impressive to me how these simple aged values still hold so true in everyday life. Such things as the famous 10% rule are increasingly used today, and in my personal opinion should be a value that is taught in school (That is how important some of these teachings are). This is a must-read in my opinion, not just because it helps you further understand the future of finance readings, but also because it teaches some pretty straightforward values that can easily be utilized in your own personal finances. The only factors that led this book to not being a 10 were the overall simplicity of the values. I believe that there should have been 1 or 2 different, or more complicated things that someone could do to ultimately increase their personal worth. Instead, this book focuses on the mirror basics.
Strong 8, and still a book that should be added to your reading list.
Overall rating: 8/10
Ahh, How to Win Friends and Influence People. A literary classic, a book which has sold countless copies, and continues to be one of the most famous books to ever be published. I have now read this book twice, and certainly got more information out of it the second time through. This book is much more focused on the storytelling, rather than the direct content format. Nearly every chapter of the book is filled from start to finish with tales of people and their experience with using the principles that Dale holds so dearly. Many of the things that he shares, such as “Think from someone else’s point of view” or “Talk less,” seem to be common sense, however, it was nice to be reaffirmed that these small things can make considerable impacts on daily life. I would certainly recommend this read to anyone trying to get into the world of reading finance books, as it is an easy read, and a fun one at that. I do not believe that it balances the storytelling elements and the content elements as well as a book like Rich Dad Poor Dad, but it is a literary classic and its values still hold true after nearly a century.
Overall rating: 9/10
Rich Dad Poor Dad gets a lot of hype for being one of the greatest finance books ever written. Grudgingly, I have to agree and stand by the hype. Rich Dad Poor Dad perfectly blends storytelling and content in an easy and engaging format. Many times when I read finance books, my mind begins to drift, losing focus and leading me to miss important things. This book, with its quick ideas and engaging stories, certainly kept me on the edge of my seat, excited for the next chapter or subject. I believe that much of what was shared in this book could be utilized in my daily life, and I have already begun to see changes in the outlook that I have in my life. I am glad to have read this book and am looking forward to how this will impact my future success.
Overall rating: 6/10
Atomic Habits is a book with the goal to provide a framework for a new way to improve your life. It is structured around making small changes every day, attempting to prove that this method will increase your productivity, and essentially every other factor in your life better than making larger changes or setting targets. Ahh setting targets, the one thing above all else that James Clear despises and makes very clear in this novel. Instead, James suggests that one not set these as they limit what one can do. This point was very interesting to me as I listened my way through the audiobook. Recently, I have gotten into listening to sales and marketing books, attempting to better myself in these areas of my life which I have such little experience with. Many of the books/podcasts that I read/listen to repeat that these are some of the most essential skills in life. One of such podcasts, The Cardone Zone, had a specific episode named “How to get great at sales”. Interestingly, the one thing that this podcast promoted above all else was the necessity of setting targets