10 books I loved this year, in no particular order:
Gary Vaynerchuk, #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness
This book not only offers tactical and strategic advice on business. Something that’s rare to find in many books in this area.
Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
One of the rare books that I’ve given away as a gift. It’s short and practical. At the same time it gives you a lot to think about. Every time I read this book I take away something.
Tim Ferriss, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
I’m still digging through this book. It’s packed full at takeaways for anyone pursuing personal improvement. A distilled version of Tim’s amazing podcast with some extras thrown in for good measure.
Derek Yu, Spelunky
A book on a solo game developers journey creating the amazing rouge-like game Spelunky. Gives great insight into the struggles and victories of game development.
Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
I thought I was working at my full potential until I read this book. I still have to put into practice some of the ideas but it gives great insights into a legit work process.
Kevin Kelly, The Inevitable
This book had my flipping out about the future. If you want to have some ideas of what the future could hold this is a must read. Interesting prediction on what technology could look like. With a great track recorded of being right, we’ll just have to wait and see if Kevin Kelly’s done it again.
Antonio Garcia Martinez, Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley
Gives a lot of insight into the internal workings of Silicon Valley. At the same time covers an interesting personal narrative. All while weaving in some business insights. I read this book while visiting the San Francisco area again for a wedding. It was interesting hearing the author talk about places that I’ve walked by everyday.
Scott Adams, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
A book by the creator of Dilbert. The health section is a little weak but everything else in this book was pretty good.
Ryan Holiday, Ego Is the Enemy
Ryan digs through history finding characters that have one and lost due to ego related issues. It’s in a style like “48 laws of power”, which is one of my favorite books. Highly recommended.
I was on the fence about mediation before reading this book. This pushed me over the edge. It follows one man’s personal journey to become just a little bit happier in life. Dan sales meditation without all the fluffy spiritual mother earth craziness. This was also another book that I gave as a gift this year.
If you’re looking for something to read in 2017 think about selecting one of these.I would recommend any of the books on this list. There where a lot of other books that where close but just didn’t make the cut.
I’m always looking for good reads. If you have any suggestions please let me know.
What was a good book you read this year?