You’re a smart person, so you already know that most business and self-help books are BS.

However, many of my key insights in life have come when I’ve been reading something unrelated. Often it’s an idea I picked up from a serious book, but that only came back to hit me while I was reading a lightweight one. Maybe the secret is that mix of curiosity and mild skepticism (sign of an engaged, scientific brain) that automatically kicks in for certain kinds of books but not for a recognized classic like The 7 Habits.

Anyway, as one of my mentors says, “You’ve gotta kiss a lot of frogs.” So here it is, the list of frogs I’m planning to kiss in hopes of getting some pieces of wisdom and be a better person.

Leadership / Personal Development:

  • Extreme Ownership - by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin ü
  • Born Standing Up - by Steve Martin ü
  • Man’s Search for Meaning - by Victor Frankl
  • Mastery - by George Leonard ü
  • Turn The Ship Around - by David Marquetü
  • Influence - by Robert Cialdini
  • So Good They Can’t Ignore You - by Steve Martin ü
  • Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior - by Ori and Rom Brafman
  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things - by Ben Horowitz ü
  • High Output Management - by Andy Grove

Technical Books:

  • Domain Driven Design
  • Enterprise Integration Patterns
  • Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja

Notes:

  1. This list will grow with time, check back occasionally
  2. I keep a list of my books on Goodreads - connect with me!