Books

2026 - This Year

1. Outlive, P. Attia, 5, Expert advice on how to stay healthy into middle and old age. Technical but approachable for most, comprehensive (lengthy but appropriately so,) and engaging. Much needed reading for our age - groundbreaking in a way. First half is contextual and helps reframe a half century or more of misinformation (science, after all, progresses). Covers health span (as opposed to lifespan), prevention vs. treatment (and the concept of Medicine 3.0), main mortalities and risks associated with aging, and the challenge of aging beyond our evolutional preset. Second half is more specific advice on training/exercise, diet and nutrition, and sleep.

2. How to Retire: 20 Lessons For a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement, C. Benz, 4, 

3. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, E. Hemingway, 3, Short story

4. Excellent Advice for Living, K. Kelly, 4, 

5. You are Destined to be Together Forever, D. Koontz, 2, Odd Thomas short story

6. A Canticle for Leibowitz, W. Miller, 3, Too much basis in Christianity for my taste. Drags often.

7. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, D. Pink, 3, Manga-style graphic novel that teaches six essential lessons for a satisfying career, challenging conventional wisdom with advice.

8. Breakfast of Champions, K. Vonnegut, 3, 

9. Hocus Pocus, K. Vonnegut, 2, 

10. The Land That Time Forgot, Burroughs, E.R., 3, Entertaining classic novella of an inventive premise/concept: an isolated biosphere acting as a compressed evolutionary microcosm where eons are physically mapped across environmental strata. The prose carries a quaint, period charm. The first half is a maritime cat-and-mouse game of deception and tactical recapture, while the second pivots into a primeval survival log.

11. The 4-hour Body, Ferriss, T., 2, There is a lot of information and even with the guidance to "not read the book from start to finish / think of this book as a buffet", selected section(s) can contain a few applicable and useful ideas and much more not so useful. Main criticisms: sample size = 1 and biologic responses are highly individualistic. Essentially the results of experimentation by an individual that is likely good only for that individual. Said another way, it's derived from numerous personal experiments and yields "here's what I do..." prescriptions. If assuming you can apply to yourself, I found it lacking reliable scientific backing at many points. Other aspects: Sometimes rapid fire quick "recipes", self-satisfying approach, and often casual tone. Some links/resources are dated/obsolete.

12. The Art of Spending Money, Housel, M., 3, Many concepts and thoughts, however, not as tightly organized as prior books and seems padded with restatements. Concepts include: rich vs wealthy, external vs internal focus, money as a tool not an obsession, as an art not a science, expectations gap, drive for dopamine, experiences mold behavior, wants (endless) vs. needs (limited), the things in place of respect and admiration, resume vs. eulogy virtues, sense of future debt and minimizing future regret, the moving target of status, independence spectrum, attention as the inverse of importance, and being kind.

13. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, Pink, D., 3

14. Remarkably Bright Creatures, Van Pelt, S., 3, Reads as it is: a debut freshman novel. Suffers from pacing, flow issues all too often, off-putting major character, some editing misses, a few highly unlikely situations. The octopus deserves more air time. The suspense comes and goes. Lovely settings and some warm-hearted characters exploring aging with community and loss. 2.5 stars (my expectations were high which is my own fault).

15. Pun-abridged dictionary, Keane, B, 3, Fun.

16. Why Do People Climb Mountains?, Jirak, I., 3

17. Machu Picchu: City In The Clouds, Somervill, B., 3, Simple, brief overview with photos

18. The Hunting of the Snark, Caroll, L., 2, More nonsensical rhyme from Carroll

19. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fleming, I., 3, 4.5 stars. An amazingly fine work by an author who focused most of his career on James Bond. This fun, fantastical novella is densely packed with non-stop action and adventure, making it entertaining for readers of all ages. Fleming’s exceptionally efficient writing paints vivid imagery across every scene with a minimum of prose. The episodic plot moves with excellent mechanical momentum, avoiding the pacing bloat often found in longer fiction. At just 30K words, it's a on optimized, low-risk time investment that delivers a remarkably clean and imaginative narrative arc.

20. Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl, V., 3, 3.5 stars. Novella length. While universally revered as a profound, life-changing work with over 16 million copies sold, my personal experience did not match those celebrated heights. Content-wise, the first half describes life inside Auschwitz, which was a "death camp" (though he reportedly spent three years in four different concentration camps, and there seems to be controversy on just how much of the time was at Auschwitz and of course reliability of extreme conditions survivor memory). Regardless, it is a survivor account with much detail and reflection upon the physical and mental conditions and effects. However, having personally toured both Auschwitz and Dachau, the visual and emotional impact of those in-person visits far overarched the descriptions here. Still, the psychological analysis of the post-release experience offered genuinely fresh, compelling insight. The second half outlines Frankl’s thesis on Logotherapy - the belief that human resilience is anchored in a search for meaning. While the concepts of personal responsibility, future goals, and living intentionally felt largely obvious, heavily echoed in contemporary literature involving the concept of purposeful living and happiness. Ultimately, it feels like an important account of a rare, long-term camps survivor, but prior travel and extensive reading on these subjects blunted its overall impact for me.

21. The Alchemist, Coelho, P., 2, Likely classified as a "spiritual fable", it relies heavily on fate and omens, which may feel trite to skeptic readers. Its theistic framework, blending Christian and other concepts, misses the mark for atheists. The story's pivot to fantastical anthropomorphism in the second half, combined with a circular plot that feels like a treasure hunt leading back to the start, makes it a disappointing metaphysical journey. Essentially the "Hero's Journey" archetype (naive character leaves their sheltered, provincial life, takes a journey (sometimes joins a caravan), and travels the world seeking truth, has philosophical experiences and results in a spiritual awakening. As one the best-selling single-volume books of all time with 80+ translations, I expected more and suspect I may be missing something essential.

22. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness, Jorgenson, E., 2, DNF (read 40%). While containing a few valuable core concepts, this haphazardly compiled mishmash of decades of experience ultimately proves difficult to navigate. The scale swings wildly from low-level advice to massive, multi-billion-dollar thinking, focusing largely on building immense wealth. Unfortunately, extracting practical, lower-level business and personal alignment requires wading through heavy puffery, self-aggrandizement, and distinct virtue signaling. The tone is frequently glib, failing to cover real-world exceptions or offer practical, hands-on strategies. Derived from a disjointed collection of loose sources, the structure feels entirely disorganized and poorly ordered. It functions more as an unoptimized conglomeration of high-level philosophical turns rather than a clean, functional tool for straightforward career execution.

23. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Zevin, G., 3, An enjoyable backdrop of early game design and production that hits strong notes of personal nostalgia, perfectly capturing the creative euphoria of software development. It will heavily delight anyone ingrained in that realm. Covers a thirty-year timeline with a narrative that feels bloated. This is primarily a story about relationships, and over that timeframe it's a lot of ups and downs, so you must be interested in that long ride. There's very little compelling plot points with most happening in the last 25%. While the software arc is crisp, the core plot relies heavily on interpersonal melodrama, miscommunication tropes that feels like a soap opera. Easy to read and track, enjoyable at times, but not my preferred technology fiction style, especially at this length (134,000 words).

24. The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Feynman, R., 2, Based on a 1963 three-part lecture series delivered around age 45, Feynman expounds on the structural conflicts between science and religion, politicians, and pseudoscience. While certain periods offer cohesive, compelling thoughts to wrap your head around, other sections meander into a loose, stream-of-consciousness style likely born straight from his spoken notes. The published version would have heavily benefit from an editorial pass or two. Furthermore, his overall attitude feels uncharacteristically "off" throughout these presentations, lacking his usual crisp delivery. It's an intriguing but unoptimized look into his broader cultural philosophy at the time.

25. The House with a Clock in its Walls, Bellairs, J., 2, Main character foolishness in second half is off-putting. Main concern (clock in the walls) is developed, then falls to the background until the very end. Loses cohesion at other times as well. It's a fun magic-based story with some spookiness, likely more appealing to young adults. Pales in the shadow of the Harry Potter world.

26. Source Code: My Beginnings, Gates, B., 4, 4.5 stars. A strong illumination of how Gates’s mind evolved from childhood into early adulthood. This highly detailed recollection, almost certainly facilitated by a massive research team, offers a fascinating glimpse into his life and brain development. The narrative uncovers intimate personal details, family origins, and the critical opportunities that constructed this black swan. Tech enthusiasts will find personal joy in the meticulous telling of the origins of university timeshares, mainframes, and personal computing, alongside the key historical players. It brilliantly charts the era leading through Microsoft’s formation and early success in the BASIC software market, serving as the first of three planned memoirs. While the final 25% occasionally slips into excessive, over-granular details, the book is an exceptional study of systemic genius.