reading.md

title	layout	lang	ref	books
My Bookshelf	reading	en		title cover author read pages my-notes NO.6#1 /assets/books/no6.webp あさのあつこ now 60 title cover author read pages my-notes No Bullsh*t Strategy /assets/books/no-bullshit-strategy.webp Alex M H Smith now 154 title cover author read pages my-notes The Likeability Factor /assets/books/the-likeability-factor.webp Tim Sanders now 224 title cover author read pages my-notes Το Χρυσο Εισιτηριο (the Golden Ticket) /assets/books/the-golden-ticket.webp Ρενέ Στυλιαρά now 336 title cover author read pages my-notes Über Tyrannei (On Tyranny) /assets/books/ueber-tyrannei.webp Timothy Snyder now 128 title cover author read pages my-notes Alles richtig gemacht /assets/books/alles-richtig-gemacht.webp Gregor Sander now 240 title cover author read pages my-notes Show Your Work! /assets/books/show-your-work.webp Austin Kleon 2026 100 Quick, enjoyable read. Full of both practical tips and strong motivation (mostly in the form of highly relevant quotes). I didn’t expect to think so deeply about my life and future when reading this. Recommended. A lot of people “build in public” these days, but many more are afraid to share, or rarely do. But really, showing your work online **will** change your life. (Give it a few years.) title cover author read pages my-notes Getting Real /assets/books/getting-real.png Basecamp 2025 196 It’s easy to doubt yourself when your intuition is to go counter to what most companies seem to be doing. So these pointers, coming from the makers of such a successful software company, are quite reassuring. Some advice that must have been radical at the time this book was written is thankfully common practice now. But so much still isn’t! Old misguided ideas stick around despite all the evidence that it’s not working. [Read Getting Real online ↗](https://basecamp.com/gettingreal) title cover author read pages my-notes Inspired /assets/books/inspired.webp Marty Cagan 2025 368 It’s a high level overview of the mindset and techniques that help you **discover** and build successful technology products. While reading, I was creating and updating a mental checklist—like, “OK, I’m already doing this… But not that; at least not to that degree.” It gave me reassurance (you’ve got the right mindset) and tough love advice on how to do better. The author repeats himself a lot, which I found good for a book that’s supposed to induce mindset change. But it doesn’t go in depth on anything; it points you to other books for that. title cover author read pages my-notes Smart Brevity /assets/books/smart-brevity.webp Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz 2025 190 I was already trying to practice what the authors call “smart brevity” in my writing, but it’s hard to break my bad habits. I was hoping for something to help me finally get rid of them—and I think this was it. It was also super interesting learning the history of Axios, a publication I’d come across a bunch of times. I appreciated the “Why it matters” section up top, without consciously thinking about it. title cover author read pages my-notes The End of Burnout /assets/books/the-end-of-burn-out.webp Jonathan Malesic 2025 288 *“I have a few caveats concerning what this book is not about. First, it is not a self‑help book for individuals, but rather for an entire culture.”* Reading the book felt like a respectful conversation with a person who’s different from me in every way, but whose life experiences, research and insights have a lot of relevancy to my own life. It’s put a lot of ideas in my head, in a realistically optimistic way. And I appreciated the 40+ pages of references with links for proof and further reading! title cover author read pages my-notes Ruined by Design /assets/books/ruined-by-design.webp Mike Monteiro 2025 221 “Labor without counsel is not design.” “For too long, we’ve treated the job as if we were servants. We did what we’re told. We followed orders. We didn’t ask questions. We may have rolled our eyes once in a while when something didn’t seem right, but we did it anyway. We behaved as if we had no say and no agency in how the job was done. We lost control of our labor, our hands, and finally we lost our minds.” ♥️ title cover author read pages my-notes What I Mean When I Say I’m Autistic /assets/books/what-i-mean-when-i-say-im-autistic.webp Annie Kotowicz 2025 120 I hadn’t thought of “autistic behavior” as its own language, AKA just a different way of communicating. Like with any language, both sides can make the effort to bridge the gap. Reading this person’s account was interesting, but I think they may overestimate how different autism makes them. Just one example: she writes “I wish an autism bracelet would say to paramedics, ‘I don’t know what’s happening, and I find that terrifying. Please tell me where we’re going, and exactly what to expect.’” But most people, neurotypical or not, would feel the same! title cover author read pages my-notes Design Is a Job: The Necessary Second Edition /assets/books/design-is-a-job.webp Mike Monteiro 2025 150 Almost as funny as ‘You’re My Favorite Client’ by the same author. I’d recommend reading this both for the practical tips and for a boost in your determination to do good—both good work and good in the world. It isn’t strictly about the business of design (the first edition was more focused on that), but rather a human-to-human exchange of knowledge and convictions. I personally appreciate that and admire people who take a stand, though it was unexpected. title cover author read pages my-notes You’re My Favorite Client /assets/books/you're-my-favorite-client.webp Mike Monteiro 2025 127 *“When we build websites or apps, we often wait until the last minute to bring in designers to ‘apply’ design, or look and feel. This is akin to baking a cake and then hiring a baker to make it taste good.”* I laughed SO hard on every other page! 😂 But I also had a lot of aha-moments and “oh, that’s why that happened back then and this is how I could have done better”. title cover author read pages my-notes Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships /assets/books/unwritten-rules.webp Temple Grandin & Sean Barron 2025 425 I was looking for a social cheat sheet, and while this was written for neurotypical adults who work with autistic children, it was still helpful. Reading things I was technically already aware of, but explained by people who think like me, was far more impactful. Some of it was informative and some useful, but a lot felt like giving up your values just to conform; and I refuse to do that. title cover author read pages my-notes Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel /assets/books/animal-farm-graphic-novel.webp George Orwell, adapted by Odyr 2025 176 Been meaning to read Animal Farm for years, never got around to it. Stumbled upon this beautiful adaptation in a bookstore and read it all on the spot. It made me sad. Now I wanna read the actual book more than before. Wonder if it has more details. How do you go from egalitarian to totalitarian? It felt kinda… fake in the graphic novel. Like it could not possibly happen for real. But it does! title cover author read pages my-notes $100M Offers /assets/books/100m-offers.webp Alex Hormozi 2025 258 Loved some parts (e.g. “When you raise your price, you increase the value the consumer receives without changing anything else about your product”), hated some others (e.g. “if you wouldn’t club a baby seal to stay on as a customer, you don’t have to pay a penny”—yes, I assume it’s a joke, but it still makes me sick). Overall, I’m glad I read this and was exposed to a new perspective—that’s the point of reading books! While I agree with the author on many philosophical points, I’m not convinced that fully embracing the capitalist system we live in is the best way forward as a society. title cover author read pages my-notes Pricing Design /assets/books/pricing-design.webp Dan Mall 2025 58 I love this way of thinking about pricing projects: ‘how do we make it so that it’s both a steal for you and lucrative for me? In other words, how do we both win?’ Just pondering this question can help us figure out what we really need from a project and how to get it. A short read anyone would benefit from. [Read it online here](https://pricingdesignbook.com/#introduction). title cover author read pages my-notes The Design of Everyday Things /assets/books/the-design-of-everyday-things.png Don Norman now 368 title read cover author pages my-notes Psychopolitics 2025 /assets/books/psychopolitics.webp Byung-Chul Han 96 *“Under neoliberalism, the technology of power takes on a subtle form. It does not lay hold of individuals directly. Instead, it ensures that individuals act on themselves so that power relations are interiorized—and then interpreted as freedom.”* Not the kind of book I would normally read if it hadn't been personally recommended. None of the ideas strikes me as completely new, but they are well-developed and thought-provoking. That said, I found the language unnecessarily difficult and had to look up a lot of words. The author also assumes that you're familiar with the writings of various philosophers that I hadn't even heard of; but that makes it a nice introduction for further reading. title read cover author pages my-notes Bullshit Jobs now /assets/books/bullshit-jobs.webp David Graeber 368 title read cover author pages my-notes Siliconned 2024 /assets/books/siliconned.webp Emmanuel Maggiori 230 A timeline and critical historical overview of the current state of startup culture. I often found myself chuckling and thinking “I can't believe nobody else is pointing out how absurd this is!” Not only did I learn a lot more about how the economy works, I was also highly entertained. title read cover author pages my-notes You Can Negotiate Anything 2024 /assets/books/you-can-negotiate-anything.webp Herb Cohen 256 I can see there’s value in the insights within, but many of the anecdotes are a bit hard to believe. Overall the book was highly entertaining! Whether it’ll prove to be helpful remains to be seen, but I’d definitely like my attitude to be more like the author’s. title read cover author pages my-notes Business Thinking For Designers 2024 /assets/books/business-thinking-for-designers.webp Ryan Rumsey 156 In our current system, great design isn’t created for its own sake but to achieve business goals—whether or not that’s what personally drives me. After reading this book and relating its insights to my own struggles, I feel better equipped to partner with business owners in building designs that not only work great for the people who use them, but also for the business. I’ll admit, I feel a bit pretentious writing this, but at the end of the day: no business = no way to earn a living as a designer. title read cover author pages my-notes How to design better UI Components 2024 /assets/books/how-to-design-better-ui-components.webp Adrian Kuleszo 197 Honestly, I was hoping I’d get some tips to take my designs to the next level, but the book only contained information and advice that I already knew. I feel that it was falsely advertised as suitable for more advanced designers in addition to beginners, and it’s my fault for not seeing through that. I’d say the book is mostly a marketing tool for the author’s more expensive book. title read cover author pages my-notes Academic Dissertation now /assets/books/dissertation-mock-cover.webp my friend 160 It’s so long that it counts as a book, OK?? title read cover author pages my-notes Atomic Design 2023 /assets/books/atomic-design.jpg Brad Frost 198 Amazing, wonderful, concise, and entertaining! Although I've been familiar with the overall concept for years, taking the time to read this short book from start to finish has been enlightening and empowering. It helps that I began applying the insights at work while still reading it. The best way to keep newly acquired knowledge is to use it right away. title read cover author pages my-notes 1984 2023 /assets/books/1984.jpg George Orwell 368 *“Power is not a means, it is an end.”* Extremely well written and gripping. But it also made me sick and, at times, prevented me from falling asleep. *“To die hating them, that was freedom.”* title read cover author pages my-notes 12 Rules for Life 2023 /uploads/12-rules-for-life.jpg Jordan B. Peterson 320 I wasn’t aware of the controversy surrounding Jordan Peterson when I started reading this book, but still noticed how he seemed to present some of his personal opinions as scientific fact (e.g. supposedly innate psychological difference between men and women), even though in most other cases he uses references to base his arguments on. Despite its flaws, this is a good book, because it makes you think about various topics which we don’t usually discuss. title cover author read pages my-notes Learn To Code Now /assets/books/learn-to-code-now-superhi.jpg Rik Lomas 2023 446 I actually started this way back in 2021… Then I chickened out once I reached the chapter on JavaScript. (I needn’t be afraid.) Fast forward to January 2023, when I needed to learn some JavaScript *fast*, and I finished it in two days. This book definitely **supercharged my confidence in coding** and it was genuinely fun to read! That said, it’s full of typos and even has some omissions. I’d expect someone would have corrected those, since it’s a paid guide. title read cover author pages my-notes The Magic Fish 2022 /uploads/book-the-magic-fish.jpg Trung Le Nguyen 256 Incredible graphic novel. I love fairy tales; I wasn't expecting these ones would be so gripping. The illustration is breathtaking and the storytelling keeps you at the edge of your seat. I felt happiness, sadness and anger, all in a short span of time. title read cover author pages my-notes Shoe Dog 2023 /assets/books/shoe-dog.jpg Phil Knight 400 Incredibly well-written and captivating from the very first page. If you’d told me 3 months ago that an auto-biography would be among my favorite books ever, I would have laughed, but here we are. I highlighted over 20.000 words and feel a renewed drive to live and try things. title read cover author pages my-notes Whistling Vivaldi now /uploads/whistling-vivaldi-book.png Claude M. Steele 256 title read cover author pages my-notes Gender Queer 2022 /uploads/gender-queer-book.jpg Maia Kobabe 239 Gender Queer is **the** most banned book in the US, and I was curious to see why. Well, I'm just embarrassed to be human. (Let's stop pretending children don't have genitals, shall we?) Anyhow, this work is informative and helpful, full of relatable private moments we don’t often get a glimpse of in others. title cover author read pages my-notes Two Boys Kissing /assets/books/two-boys-kissing.jpg David Levithan 2022 239 Surprisingly relatable at times. Once I neared the ending, I stayed up late to finish it. It made my heart beat faster, gave me reason to feel grateful and provided food for thought in the form of ample quotable passages. *“They hold hands, feel like they are witnessing something monumental, something that could change things. It won’t, but that feeling, that spirit will live on in everyone here, everyone who sees. The spirit will change things.”* title cover author read pages my-notes It's Not How Good You Are… /assets/books/its-not-how-good-you-are.jpg Paul Arden 2022 128 This book's typesetting was gorgeous! Large, legible print on appealing pages. I assumed it was a self-help book when I saw the title. It turns out it’s a business book—and a good one at that. Super quick read (few pages, big letters). I know I’ll need to come back to it often to instill the teachings into my head. title read cover author pages my-notes How to Find the Right Words 2022 /uploads/book-how-to-find-the-right-words.jpg The School of Life 76 *“We want to let others know how we feel. And we want to be kind. Only too often, the two missions seem entirely opposed.”* One could call this book a short introduction to practical psychology. It's the opposite of theoretical by providing exemplary confessions and breaking them down phrase by phrase, explaining along the way what makes them ideal. I strongly disagree with some of the authors’ advice, but considering views you don't agree with helps you see situations from others’ points of view. title cover author read pages my-notes When Breath Becomes Air /assets/books/when-breath-becomes-air.jpg Paul Kalanithi 2022 208 “[E]ven if I’m dying, until I actually die, I am still living.” “As a doctor, I had had some sense of what patients with life-changing illnesses faced—and it was exactly these moments I had wanted to explore with them. Shouldn’t terminal illness, then, be the perfect gift to that young man who had wanted to understand death?” “Even if you are perfect, the world isn’t. The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands or judgment will slip, and yet still struggle to win.” title cover author read pages my-notes The Mindbody Prescription /assets/books/mindbody-prescription.jpg John E. Sarno M.D. 2022 240 This was a slow read with multiple breaks. The content was insightful but I don't currently suffer from any pain. Nevertheless, I think reading this is good prevention. Everyone should read this book or a summary of it to be aware of all the serious trouble that the mind can birth in the body. As the author supports, there really is no separation between the mind and body. The title sounds misleadingly gimmicky, but the book is not. title read cover author pages my-notes The Tiny MBA 2022 /uploads/book-tiny-mba.png Alex Hillman 128 More of a collection of cards than a book. I feel like I'll be going back to it frequently, as the author advises. On my first read-through, I didn't have a breakthrough, but I do feel like some seeds were planted. The pages within are prompts for the reader to reflect on. title read cover author pages my-notes The Song of Achilles 2022 /uploads/book-the-song-of-achilles.jpg Madeline Miller 416 *“I wish he had let you all die.”* There are many aspects of this book that I didn’t like, including the tone of voice, the frequent use of cheesy metaphors, and the lack of realism in the descriptions of ancient Greece. But in the end, I cried a little and that has to count for something. (Reading The Song of Achilles taught me way more about the Iliad than secondary school in Greece.) title cover author read pages my-notes The Demon-Haunted World /assets/books/the-demon-haunted-world.jpg Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan now 457 title read cover author pages my-notes What They Forgot to Teach You at School 2022 /uploads/book-what-they-forgot-to-teach-you-in-school.jpg The School of Life 144 *“To the surprise of any visiting alien, humans blithely educate themselves as if the chief requirement of adulthood were the possession of a set of technical skills, with no acknowledgement of the fact that what mostly runs us into the sands is … our inability to master what we could call the emotional dimensions of our lives.”* An honest, condensed book. I think everyone should read it as early in their life as possible. I'm happy that a lot of the advice doesn't seem to apply to me, but gives me more tools to understand others. title cover author read pages my-notes Calm /assets/books/calm-the-school-of-life.jpg The School of Life 2022 136 “A calm life isn’t one that’s always perfectly serene. It is one where we are committed to calming down more readily, and where we strive for more realistic expectations; where we can understand better why certain problems are occurring, and we can be more adept at finding a consoling perspective.” “You will die and it will be as if you had never been. It could sound demeaning. But these are generous sentiments, for we otherwise so easily exaggerate our own importance and suffer accordingly.” title read cover author pages my-notes Relationships 2021 /uploads/book-school-of-life-relationships.jpg The School of Life 118 This might be the most well-written book I've ever read. It's not unnecessarily wordy, but rather goes straight to the point while still providing examples vivid enough to drive the point home. I feel I now have the vocabulary to talk about concepts that I couldn't before — at least not well enough. It's been interesting reading about a different perspective and discovering that some of my beliefs and values might not be mine at all, but are heavily influenced by the dominant culture of our time. title read cover author pages my-notes Shape Up 2021 /uploads/book-shape-up.jpg Ryan Singer (Basecamp) 172 Enlightening, even though I was already familiar with the concepts. The book presents a set of mental tools and explains their benefits. Armed with those, I feel much more confident in defining and bringing projects to life. This approach makes a lot of sense in theory—I aim to try it for myself in the near future. title cover author pages read my-notes Call Me by Your Name /assets/books/call-me-by-your-name.jpg André Aciman 256 2021 Despite being a quick read, this book is full of insights on human psychology and advice that one would have to spend years collecting. My feelings are a bit mixed but overall I think I’ve gained something valuable. 💙

I started tracking my books here in 2021 in a way that makes sense to me.