Here’s a list of books I read and recommend and a list of books I’m currently reading. This document is mainly for my bookkeeping, but it might be helpful if you’re looking for some recommendations or taking a glance over where I get my inspiration from.

I do not try to read as many books as fast as I can; in fact, I’m a relatively slow reader.

I try to balance technical books (think textbooks and highly technical stuff) and non-technical books (mainly non-fiction).

Currently reading

1. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Finished

The ★s next to the title are my personal ratings to these books. They don’t necessarily and accurately speak for the overall quality of the work; it just means how much it impacted and influenced me.

Computer Science, Software Engineering

• (★★★★★) Designing Data-Intensive Applications

• (★★★★★) Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations

• (★★★★★) Code Complete

• (★★★★★) The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

• (★★★★★) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code

• (★★★★★) The Rust Programming Language

• (★★★★☆) Concurrency in Go: Tools and Techniques for Developers

• (★★★★☆) Kafka: The Definitive Guide: Real-Time Data and Stream Processing at Scale

• (★★★★☆) The Art of UNIX Programming

• (★★★★☆) A Philosophy of Software Design

• (★★★★☆) Distributed Systems For Fun and Profit

• (★★★☆☆) Domain-Driven Design Quickly

• (★★★☆☆) Go Design Patterns

• (★★★☆☆) 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts

• (★★★☆☆) Designing Event-Driven Systems

• (★★★☆☆) Developer Hegemony: The Future of Labor

Non-fiction

Learning and performance

• (★★★★★) The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence

• (★★★★★) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

• (★★★★★) So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

• (★★★★★) How to Take Smart Notes

• (★★★★★) Thinking, Fast and Slow

• (★★★★★) Mastery

• (★★★★★) A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

• (★★★★☆) Outliers: The Story of Success

• (★★★★☆) The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

• (★★★★☆) The Talent Code

• (★★★★☆) The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Life advice, practical philosophy

• (★★★★★) Man’s Search for Meaning

• (★★★★☆) 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

• (★★★★☆) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

• (★★★★☆) Principles: Life and Work

• (★★★☆☆) The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

• (★★★☆☆) Everything Is Fucked: A Book About Hope

• (★★★☆☆) Show your work

Psychology, behavioural science

• (★★★★★) How to Win Friends and Influence People

• (★★★☆☆) What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People

Economics, investing

• (★★★★☆) Think and Grow Rich: The Original 1937 Unedited Edition

General science

• (★★★★☆) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

• (★★★★☆) Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine

• (★★★☆☆) The Sciences of the Artificial