My Favorite Books

I read between 20 and 30 books each year. The ones on this list I have enjoyed enough to recommend or gift to others. In a couple rare instances they had the ability to immediately change the way I live.

To avoid collecting piles of stuff, I prefer to read most books on my Kindle. For each book below I have provided the link to find the book on Amazon. Of course, nearly all of these books can be read for free (check out your local library and the Libby app) or nearly free by finding them used (eBay and Half Priced Books are great for this).

So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

  • The Blue Zones - by Dan Buettner

    Health, wellness

    This is one of the few books that immediately had me changing behavior as I read it. The author studies communities around the world who have the largest concentration of people living to 100 years old and beyond. My biggest takeaway from this book is that we seek too much comfort in our lives and it’s killing us. We buy things and design our lives to be convenient and easy. We drive our cars everywhere and park as close as possible to the entrance. We buy food processors to chop up our pre-packaged food rather than pick up a knife ourselves.

    The people who live the longest don’t do these things. They take their time with daily tasks. They walk or bike to get groceries and run errands. They spend time doing manual labor themselves (no self-propelled lawnmowers here!). And most of all they spend lots of time around food. They usually grow it, prepare it fresh, and then spend hours enjoying it in the company of family and friends.

  • The Simple Path to Wealth - by JL Collins

    Personal finance, financial independence

    This was the first real book I read on the topic of Financial Independence/Early Retirement (aka FIRE). This is a quick read that covers the basics of getting your financial life in order. Before reading this book, I was spending way too much money each week at Starbucks. I deserved it, right? I make a decent living and I love coffee - so why not enjoy life? Well, this book helped me realize that, although I love coffee, spending tons of money in an expensive cafe wasn’t really aligned with my ultimate life goals (traveling, spending time with family and friends).

    Bottom line - Avoid debt. Spend only on things that bring you happiness. Invest everything that’s left.

  • Nudge - by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein

    Psychology, economics

    Why do we do the things that we do? To what extent are we making conscious decisions and what is being influenced (or outright dictated) by our environments? Spoiler - we aren’t as in control as we think. Author Richard Thaler is the father of behavioral economics, the intersection of economics and psychology. This book is a fascinating look how we are shaped by the world we are in. Thaler also espouses a libertarian paternalism that should be acceptable to all regardless of your political preferences.

  • Rework - by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

    Business

    I’m a huge fan of business books and this one stood out to me because it turns lots of conventional wisdom on its head. It’s also a super fun read with short, punchy chapters that make it easy to pick up for a quick dose of hustle inspiration.

  • Tools of Titans - by Tim Ferriss

    Business, self improvement, lifestyle design

    This tome of a book sits on one of my work desks for quick reference. It is a collection of interviews distilled from hundreds of conversations from the Tim Ferriss Show podcast. You can read this book front to back, or just open up to a random page and take in a few pages of genius from some elite performer. Because I tend to pick it up at random, this is the one book on this list that I have not read in its entirety. Still highly recommended!

  • The Long Tail - by Chris Anderson

    Business, economics

    This is a fascinating read about the impact of technology on all aspects of distribution (books, music, movies, etc.). In essence, the costs to publish are getting cheaper and cheaper - so anyone can do it. As a result you can find a song, book, or movie to fit the most obscure tastes. For consumers this means an endless supply of new and unique material. For creators it means an opportunity for your work to find the niche audience it was made for. Economically this is a win for the aggregators (iTunes, YouTube, Netflix) and not so much for the creators. The book was published back in 2008 and over 10 years later it still holds up.

  • Finding Ultra - by Rich Roll

    Health, endurance, motivation

    As an endurance sport junkie, I have several books in this category. What strikes me about this book is Rich’s journey from alcoholic couch potato to being named one of the fittest men on the planet. He has since gone on to create an incredible podcast that covers a wide range of wellness and lifestyle design topics.

    Random sidenote: I have read this book 3 times and also bought the German translation to see if I can get through that. So far it’s proven to be too advanced for my level.

  • Dino Lernt Deutsch - by André Klein

    Language learning, German

    For anyone interested in learning German, I highly recommend these short stories. They are great for beginners. Each chapter is short enough to read in 5-10 minutes depending on your level. They feature a word bank with translations at the end of each chapter as well as questions for comprehension.