To me there's nothing quite so good as curling up on a sofa with a good book in hand. And there are have been a handful of books that have changed my life. Books that I've read, over and over and over again. Books that have stayed with me; that I keep close to me; that continue to influence my thinking, my maker life and my ways of relaxation. This wide range of interests I have that you read about on my home page does not come by osmosis - it comes from lectures, videos, YTs but most of all - a lot of reading. Here are some synopses of books (and blogs/websites) that have had a huge influence on my life.
Non-fiction
Programming
SICP (this link is to a free pdf version courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. I first read this book in 1997 and it changed my life. Not only did it rhyme with me so well because it’s based on the LISP programming language which I loved even before seeing it in the book but also because it discusses comuter technology in such a comprehensive and in-depth manner. Anyone reading this book will be changed by it. And it’s at the preceding link as a free pdf. What are you waiting for … grab it and start reading. If you’re going to focus on and read only ONE Python programming book Fluent Python (the Lizard Book) by Luciano Ramalho must be the one that you grab and work through at your computer. At the end of this journey you will be a Pythonista the likes of which are not often seen. And if you want to really, REALLY embed into your consciousness material that will alter your grey cells forever then work through Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie’s (the inventors of C) The C Programming Language. Couple this with Charles Severance’s walkthrough and you’ll thank me for this double recommendation. After keying in and compiling all the examples in this book AND maybe worked through it guided by Severance head over to Harvard’s CS50 and work through that. Feel your progress; feel how you pull away from the lay people that abound on our planet and of course talk to me about this achievement! Electronics The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hall – There was a much simpler book that got me through figuring out how simple circuits worked. But this is the bible, the lingua franca of the electronics world. Couple this book with the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications and you have everything you could possibly need to develop a very deep understanding of electronics as it is used today. On a side note: Open Circuits is a book that could awaken an interest in you that you never knew was there.
Business / Finance
The E-Myth – If you run a small business or are thinking of leaving your job to start a small business especially one based on what you currently are doing then you MUST stop all thoughts in their tracks and read this book. It will give you a framework on which to hang all your ideas and will steer you away from pitfalls you might not even realize are waiting to ‘get you’ even as you read this.
Now this recommendation will have you thinking – “Why would the big man, the crypto guru recommend such a simple book or couple of books when his head must be full of so many complicated theories on finance and the sort of knowledge that one needs to get to where one is truly financially free. Well folks – it all has to start somewhere and there is a lot to be said about these two simple books – the ideas are timeless and if you truly internalize them your life, I kid you not, will be changed forever. You don’t have to invest much money or time to read them so get to it: (1) Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2) The Cash Flow Quadrant. And once you’ve read those two learn why Bitcoin is here to stay and will take over the world. Read The Bitcoin Standard and get ready for the storm that is already raging all around us. You still have a chance to get into this – not the $1 average bitcoin price I cornered all those years back but if, as many of us believe, bitcoin will become the reserve currency of the world then even if you buy it at a few thousand dollars a coin today when it heads north of $1,000,000 a coin you will have 10X or even 100X your money. That sort of growth – bonanza growth – only comes a few times in ones life. PLUS – it’s just plain amazing what bitcoin stands for, the ideas, the tech, the people surrounding it – it’s one of the greatest, finest, best, most exciting stories of our time.
Flying
Stick and Rudder – this has been one of the most influential books in my life. Not only did it teach me a ton about flying but also about life in general. I’ve found several times now in this life that life is not what we make it out to be and a teacher can be a truly magical guru and leader if that teacher has the knack for it. Most teachers simply parrot out what they read in books but occasionally one comes across that someone special that truly knows how to impart knowledge. THIS is what I constantly strive to do and reading through my students’ testimonials – I seem to be hitting that nail on the head.
Music
I say again: Every once in a while a book comes along that changes ones life, ones perception of life, the way one looks at the world. Stick and Rudder (above) was one such book for me. Ward Cannel and Fred Marx’s book – How to play the piano despite years of lessons – is another. The title is deceptive; the contents life changing. This book taught me that life is not what it appears to be. Through this book and my piano I learned that what, at first blush, appears to be a complicated subject that one has to spend years learning is in fact much simpler than we’re conditioned to believe. I’ll stop there and let you get the book (even if you have never played the piano and don’t want to start now). Read it and like me be changed — forever!
BLOGS
Elizier Yudkowsky's Less Wrong - started me thinking about how we think and some of his work pointed me to the fact that we have some ideas completely wrongly formed in our minds. Like mammograms - think that they're good to do to catch breast cancers early? You might want to clarify that thinking.
Fiction
ZAMM - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A book on philosophy but written in such a way that you might not think you're reading a philosophy text and will absorb that topic almost effortlessly. Millions of readers have though so, so much so that it is used a university text in numerous schools.
Dune - Frank Herbert's work is the best science fiction I’ve ever read. I read it when I was 17 years old and I’ve since read it over and over again almost yearly. The second book - Dune Messiah - is the hardest to get through but wade through it and as you progress to 3, 4, 5 and 6, especially 6 - Chapterhouse Dune you’ll understand why I say this is the greatest sci-fi saga ever written. A Wizard of Earthsea - The Lord of the Rings -
The Amtrak Wars -
Clan of the Cave Bear -
The Snow Leopard -