Reading list
I recommend reading from a young age. I spent most of my early life not knowing the benefits of reading and how it can alter the direction of your life. Read what you love until you love to read. Non-fiction more than fiction. Target your reading and take time deciding what to read next. The ideal is to focus on the latest ideas and to read books that are timeless. i.e. those that conform well to the Lindy Effect. Everything else in between deserves less attention.
The books are sorted in the order I completed them. I’ve added a few thoughts from each book, as I remember it. I read relatively slowly and have multiple books open at the same time.
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
This book is fascinating. Written in a time when there was a blossoming interest in Mars (1898). Astronomers at the time claimed to have observed “canals” on the surface of Mars, further prompting speculation that Mars was inhabited by a “civilization of mad men”. Carl Sagan’s Cosmos spends a bit of time on this subject (See episode 05 – Blues for a red planet). The book is set in London. It’s amazing to get a perspective into a different time of which us “modern humans” may look to as being primitive. But these humans were just like us. As of writing this, I live in London, making the story more interesting imagining the areas that the protagonist is moving through. The author does well with his descriptions of the Martians, remaining vague about the technology and leaving it to the reader to imagine. I disagree with some of the ideas of the Martians and their ultimate downfall. Travelling millions of miles in a spacecraft and crash landing! Stupid Aliens. But that’s the benefit of hindsight. Humans had not achieved flight by the time this book was written. My man HG dreamt this up over 100 years ago. (Book completed in 2025) (Learn more)
I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman
A fiction novel about a group of women stuck in a cage. One being a young girl who has been there her entire life. They eventually escape but appear to be on a different planet. Leaves more questions than answers. But keeps you on edge throughout. This baffled my science brain for most of the book and ultimately I disliked the ending. I rendered it too fictitious to want to spend time trying to figure it out. The protagonist grew old really quickly. I don’t like it when movies and novels do this. Makes life seem short. Yes, I’m looking at you Interstellar! (Book completed 2024) (Learn more)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin
Written by Benjamin Franklin himself. There are big gaps in time period due to the American war of Independence. Always great to read books from a bygone era. Recognizing that humans across the ages are still the same. Wearing different clothes, having different technologies and culture. This is yet another example of an exceptional human who grew up consuming any book he could find. I admire the discipline he stowed upon himself from an early age and his attempts at avoiding alcohol or sticking to a vegetable diet. “Principles for regulating my future conduct” is another interesting idea he created and developed methods for holding himself accountable. His “JUNTO” idea is something I wish to recreate. Benjamin also makes a good point about taking advantage of using the innovations of others instead of trying to learn and create everything from scratch. “Standing on the shoulders of giants” as Isaac Newton put it. Without the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, America would have been a different place. I do wonder how many of the founding-father-principles can be attributed to Benjamin. Check out this documentary about Benjamin – Benjamin Franklin: Founding Father of a Nation Documentary, The People Profiles. (Book completed – 2024) (Learn more)
1984 - George Orwell
I read this book whilst watching a documentary on the life of George Orwell (George Orwell: A Warning to Mankind Documentary, The People Profiles). Talk about skin in the game with socialism. George was an advocate of socialism. Even joining the Spanish Civil War to fight for the left leaning side. The book appears to warn the reader against the pitfalls of socialism and totalitarianism. However, it is still disputed amongst historians whether George turned against socialism after witnessing its effects at the end of WWII. I am of the view that George was in the camp of “true socialism has never been tried”. I would argue that true socialism has been tried and has failed at every attempt. It was not socialism that ended the poverty or poor working conditions of the Industrial Revolution but rather a compromise between capitalism and socialism. If you believe in socialism, by all means, test it out. Build a business based on its principles, but good luck to you… I believe the book does show what happens if true socialism is tried. A large government, who has total control, is necessary to make everyone equal. Somebody has to be in power and therefore all it takes is one corruptible leader to end the entire endeavor in totalitarianism. The book has a couple of twists and keeps the reader hoping for a positive outcome which never comes. The end being inevitable. Everyone should read this book. (Book completed – 2024) (Learn more)
The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide - James Fadiman
I have read only part of this book. I am interested in the research behind using psilocybin assisted therapy to eradicate anxiety and depression. I recommend watching the Fantastic Fungi documentary that originally aired on Netflix. The research is showing great results. Societies should begin the process of legalizing psychedelics for therapy. These drugs should no longer be banned. Interesting how many past and present famous people have used psychedelics. We need to build generations of inspired humans, and this is a way to do it. (Partially read – 2024) (Learn more)
Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager - Kory Kogon, Suzette Blakemore, James Wood
Some useful tips on ensuring accountability in your teams. I agree on the idea of “agile” project management which I liken to lean startups and rapid iteration. At some point I’d like to read the Project Management Institute’s PMBOK book and compare it to this one. Project management can be done by anyone who has agency. So “official” vs “unofficial” doesn’t matter. (Book completed – 2024) (Learn more)
Starry Messenger - Neil de Grasse Tyson
Neil gives some interesting perspectives in this book. Here are a few: humans are a spectrum in terms of looks and love; eye witness testimony is the lowest form of evidence in a science lab, yet it’s the most common in a court of law; objective truths are true even if you don’t believe in them; for almost 100 years, the most racist political party was the democrats; be weary of confirmation bias; knowing the baseline risk for a particular disease is paramount; humans like to categorize everything. (Book completed – 2023) (Learn more)
5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman
For those wondering, my love language is quality time. Not quite sure what do with compliments or words of affirmation (Book completed – 2023). (Learn more)
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
I’ve heard people say this book is appropriate for business in the modern era. As per the title, the book focuses on tactics in war. Written approximately 5th century BCE. The book provides insights on the topic of people management. The most memorable one being that you should first gain rapport with people before trying to “discipline”. If you discipline before people get to know or respect you, they won’t take you seriously. Conversely, not having any discipline at all should be avoided. The main takeaway from this book is war is won through deception. I recommend watching Sun Tzu – The Art of War Documentary, by the People Profiles. (Book completed – 2023) (Learn more)
The Old Man and the Sea - Earnest Hemingway
A story of perseverance against all odds. Beautiful descriptive writing. (Book completed – 2023) (Learn more)
Six Easy Pieces - Richard P Feynman
Nice introduction into physics. Far better to start here than to go straight into university textbooks. Ideally we want to develop a curiosity for discovery and learning before trying to study a subject. I like Richard’s analogies for trying to represent the scale of the large and the very small. (Book completed – 2022) (Learn more)
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Watched the movie prior to reading the book. Only read this book because of Elon Musk. He hasn’t mentioned it yet, but wondering if he thinks of X.AI’s Grok LLM as the computer mentioned in the book which is built by the pan galactic race of hyper-intelligent beings. In an attempt to answer the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything… 42. (Book completed – 2022) (Learn more)
The Lessons of History - Will and Ariel Durant
Recommend this to everyone. Some memorable take aways: socialism has failed every time it has been tried; free market capitalism is the only true way to uplift an entire society; human progress demands the freest possible pursuit of knowledge; religion helps retain order; current world order is a balance between freedom and equality. Complete freedom results in slavery, and outright equality results in dictatorships. (Book completed – 2022) (Learn more)
Hydroponics - A Practical Guide for the Soilless Grower - J. Benton Jones Jr.
Read this book as I was investigating an idea of starting a vertical farming business that focused on growing vegetables in your own home. It is a textbook so a challenging read. Really interesting on how you can grow plants in various inert mediums. However, the experience taught me how challenging it actually is to try to get the average person to grow produce at home (and indoors). Having tried to build a simple automated indoor setup myself. There’s too many variables to consider to expect the average person to engage in indoor farming. And automating everything becomes far too expensive. Should be viewed rather as a hobby. I guess until home robotics arrives. (Book completed – 2021) (Learn more)
Starting Your Own Business in South Africa - Barrie Teblanch, Pamela Moeng, Guy Macleod
As the title suggests. It’s good to read books like this only to align yourself with any laws/regulations that you may need to adhere to when starting a company. This book is now irrelevant to me as I do not wish to open a business in South Africa. But I did at the time of reading it. (Book completed – 2020)
Making Money Through Buy-to-Let in South Africa - Francois Janse van Rensburg
As the title of the book suggests. I had a goal of buying a property to rent out. Didn’t work out as I decided to leave South Africa for the UK after Covid. Also realized I am far more interested in owning businesses than owning property. Although I will return to the idea of property ownership one day. (Book completed – 2019) (Learn more)
How to Build a Billion Dollar App - George Berkowski
More focused on the business part of starting and growing a tech company rather than the actual software development. Focuses on the various challenges you will face at the various growth stages. Many nice tips and tricks. Not so sure how timeless the advice will be from this book given where we are with AI. I only partially completed the book as it felt futile reading beyond a certain point, given I was not at that stage with my own App idea. (Partially completed – 2019) (Learn more)
The Founder's Dilemmas - Noam T. Wasserman
Have come back to this book multiple times. Given the data collected to create this book it’s definitely one to read for those that want to be a founder. Although I haven’t read a similar book so I can’t comment on the quality of advice given. (Partially completed – 2019) (Learn more)
Who Moved My Cheese? - Dr Spencer Johnson
An allegorical story of mice in a maze searching for cheese. I once worked for a company who had >80% revenue from a single client. That client disappeared over night making the company scramble to decide what to do next, similar to how the mice in the maze had their cheese removed. Beware of complacency and getting too comfortable. (Book completed – 2018) (Learn more)
Losing my Virginity - Richard Branson
What a life this man has lived. Truly inspirational. I really like his “screw it, let’s do it” mindset. Try ideas fast. If they don’t stick, move on quickly. Which is very freeing. He also recommends that the leader of a business should look at the books, at least quarterly, to spot anything that doesn’t make sense for the business. This is an individual that truly does want the best for humanity. (Book completed – 2018) (Learn more)
Investing for Dummies - Eric Tyson
Took awhile to get through this book. Touches on shares, bonds, ETFs, minerals etc. Touches on other asset classes such as owning a business and buying a home or buy-to-let. Mainly for the salaried worker with a strong emphasis on investing through a 401k. Main takeaway is diversification, and investing in the S&P 500 through an ETF. (Book completed – 2017) (Learn more)
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil de Grasse Tyson
“Seeking a conduit to the cosmos”. I admire Neil for his ability to explain complex topics. Easy to understand introduction to Astrophysics and the Cosmos. (Book completed – 2017) (Learn more)
Elon Musk - Ashlee Vance
I believe that Elon Musk is one of the greatest humans to have lived. The scale of what he has achieved for humanity is unmatched. My view is that he is doing this for us. For humanity. Love him or hate him, he’s an exceptional human being. I love his first principles approach. Have always thought that I share similar qualities to him, but have not started to become the kind of person that can operate at his level. I don’t intend on becoming Elon Musk. I intend on being Nicholas Tickle. (Book completed – 2017) (Learn more)
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
This book was a turning point in my life. Which is somewhat ironic cause I don’t recommend it. I guess it was the right time and place. After having achieved the goal I set for myself of becoming a Civil Engineer, I realized very quickly that you don’t gain wealth from renting out your time to a large corporate. I’m talking about real “freedom of time and place” wealth. So someone recommended this book and for the first time I was exposed to the possibility of a different life. Robert seemingly made his wealth by selling advice about wealth creation. I encourage the reader to be skeptical about this conflict. There is an effort to upsell at the end of the book which didn’t add much credibility. (Book completed – 2017) (Learn more)
Animal Farm - George Orwell
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Although George wrote this book as an allegory for the Russian Revolution, when studying history you notice a similar process throughout human history. The revolution leaves the lower class the same or worse off than they were previously. Interesting how after some time the animals can no longer remember if life was better or worse when comparing the old to the new. When thinking of this book, I am reminded of Pink Floyd – Animals album. (Book completed – 2011) (Learn more)
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Many people follow these principles without knowing it. They are typical traits of people who excel at relationship building and leading. Many principles to talk about. Remembering someone’s name and previous topics you conversed on is the principle I remember most. (Book completed – 2011) (Learn more)
Othello - William Shakespeare
“Look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee”. (Book completed – 2011) (Learn more)
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Another great book by Dan. Puzzles, clues, and history regarding the Illuminati. Shows the role that religion played in slowing scientific progress in Europe. “We’re on the path to illumination”. In Italy, Galileo’s belief in the Copernican theory resulted in an inquisition by the church which forced him to recant. In the Netherlands, Christiaan Huygens was celebrated for having the same belief. The enlightenment happened in the Netherlands. Not in Italy. (Book completed – 2010) (Learn more)
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
More puzzles and clues. This time the story takes us to Washington DC and introduces us to the Free Masons. Not too many memorable ideas from this one. Perhaps what I remember most is the disappointing ending. The “ancient mysteries” landed up being a bible. (Book completed – 2010) (Learn more)
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. Shakespeare just loves the use of prophetic irony. (Book completed 2010) (Learn more)
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
I love Dan Brown’s use of puzzles and clues that takes the reader on a journey. I have visited a few of the places in the book. I find the topic of Jesus interesting. Most of the written history we have of his life was written many years after he was alive. The church could’ve done a better job at integrating Marry Madeleine into their version of history. (Book completed – 2009) (Learn more)
Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
“Beware the ides of March! “. Just seem to remember all the popular quotes from Shakespeare’s plays. (Book completed – 2009) (Learn more)