The Last Book on the Left: Stories of Murder and Mayhem from History’s Most Notorious Serial Killers- Marcus Parks
Rating: 5/10
Year of Publication: 2020
Summary: The Last Book on the Left is a comical review of some of the most well known serial killers, from Ted Bundy to BTK. It was written by the three creators from the hit podacst “The Last Podcast on the Left”. Each chapter is dedicated to an individual serial killer (9 in total) and details their childhood, escalation of crimes, peak, and capture.
Review: Although I really enjoy “The Last Podcast on the Left”, this book fell a bit short of expectations. It is obviously well researched and there were a few pieces of information that were new to me. However , almost none of the comedy worked in text and the book was nowhere near as entertaining as the podcast. I would only recommend this book to someone who was just beginning to delve into serial killers, but even then I’d probably recommend the podcast over the book.
Alexander Hamilton-Ron Chernow
Rating: 6.5/10
Year of Publication: 2016
Summary: An 832 page biography on the life of the founding father, Alexander Hamilton. From being an illegitimate orphan from West Indies, to becoming one of the most influential people in the founding of America. Hamilton was an autodidact who found his way into law, economics, and a great military career.
Review: Chernow does an incredible job detailing the life of Hamilton. This book is extremely detailed and really gives a clear image on what the founding father must’ve been like. The reason I am giving “Alexander Hamilton” a 6.5 is because it was quite repetitive at points and didn’t leave much of a lasting impact on me. However, if you are interested in early America, I highly recommend this book.
Lying-Sam Harris
Rating: 7/10
Year of Publication: 2011
Summary: Lying is a long essay/ short book (105 pages) by neuroscience expert and podcaster Sam Harris. Harris details the benefits of telling the truth and the insidiousness of all types of lying, whether it be a white lie or a much larger and malevolent lie. The book is an argument that society and our lives would be radically improved if we always told the truth instead of lying.
Review: This book is a quick and easy read but it is also quite profound. Most people know that it is not good to lie, but this book does a great job showing why it’s a bad idea to lie. Harris does a good job pointing out moral grey areas while also sticking to his thesis that telling the truth is both morally superior to lying and more advantageous to everyone.
One Takeaway: Although telling the truth may be painful in the short-term, it is the best way forward. For example, if someone asks if they look fat (and they do), and you tell them that they do (kindly of course) it may hurt their feelings in the short term. It may cause a fight. But you are supplying them with truthful knowledge that they may need to know. You saying yes may be the catalyst for them to start working out and getting healthy, therefore living longer.
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance-Joshua Waitzkin
Rating: 7/10
Year of Publication: 2007
Summary: Waitzkin tells his story of making it to the top of both the chess world and the world of martial arts. Through telling his story, josh shares the principals of learning that led to his success.
Review: Waitzkin is a very interesting guy, and his ability to become world-class in multiple fields just adds to that fact. I got this book expecting some pragmatically useful ideas or routines, but found almost none. The Art of Learning was mostly a biography and the principals shared are all pretty basic ideas.
One Takeaway: The one interesting idea in this book was to create a trigger for peak performance. This involves finding a calming activity and using a song as a catalyst. This is something I would like to try out for a month.
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland-Christopher Browning
Rating: 7.5/10
Year of Publication: 1992
Summary: Ordinary Men is the story of German Police Battalion 101 and how they went from normal policemen to killing thousands of Jews. It is the investigation into how “ordinary men” could contribute to the most atrocious event in human history.
Review: If asked to imagine oneself in the Holocaust, I think most people would imagine themselves as the victim and not the perpetrator. Most people would think “there is no way I could be a Nazi or do what they did”. This book does an excellent job at showing that the people who committed these evil acts were people just like you and me. This book is an excellent look into the psychology of evil and a plunge into the darkest part of humanity. If someone wanted to gain a better understanding of both humanity and evil I would recommend three books. Ordinary Men, Man’s Search For Meaning (the most important book ever written in my opinion), and The Gulag Archipelago (in this list).
One Takeaway: We all could’ve been the victim but we also could’ve been the perpetrator.
On the Shortness of Life-Seneca
Rating: 8/10
Year of Publication: 49 AD
Summary: On The Shortness of Life is an essay by the Stoic philosopher Seneca, about the limited time we have to live and how most people waste it. The essay argues the value of time, and details all the ways in which it is wasted.
Review: An excellent Stoic writing by the controversial Seneca. This essay is a great reminder of ones mortality and the importance of spending your time doing worthwhile things. It is a quick and profound read.
One Takeaway: “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.” -Seneca
Antifragile-Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Rating: 9/10
Year of Publication: 2012
Summary: Antifragile is a book by Nassim Taleb, who argues that the best way to operate in an uncertain world is to become “antifragile”. Antifragile is beyond being resilient or robust, it is benefiting from uncertainty and chaos. Taleb lays out many examples of antifragility, from hormesis in biology to the Hydra in mythology. Taleb also shows how being antifragile makes you immune to prediction errors and “Black Swan” events.
Review: This book is an excellent guide to living in an uncertain world. A ton of information is packed into many entertaining stories. Taleb does a great job going back and forth between entertainment and somewhat complex ideas. The book was enjoyable from beginning to end.
One Takeaway: The ideas of hormesis and Taleb’s “barbell strategy” are two ideas well worth looking into and applicable to many different fields.
Hormesis-” a theoretical phenomenon of dose-response relationships in which something (as a heavy metal or ionizing radiation) that produces harmful biological effects at moderate to high doses may produce beneficial effects at low doses”. Think fasting or low doses of snake venom to build tolerance.
Barbell strategy- “A Barbell strategy consists of making sure that 90% of your capital is safe, and use the remaining 10%, or on risky investments. Applied to business strategy, this means having a binary approach. On the one hand, extremely conservative. On the other, extremely aggressive, thus creating a potent mix.”
Meditations-Marcus Aurelius
Rating: 10/10
Year of Publication: 180 AD
Summary: Meditations is a series of private notes and ideas on Stoicism by the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The book is written to be a guide for Marcus himself on how to live properly.
Review: I believe Meditations to be one of the top 5 most important books ever written. Every page contains wisdom beyond belief that will leave you in awe. It is an instruction manual about both how to live and how to die virtuously. Meditations is a reminder of whats important in life and an insightful look on the human condition. A timeless book that should be read by everyone.
One Takeaway: The book is too profound to just have one takeaway, but I my favorite quote from Meditations is “If you set yourself to your present task along the path of true reason, with all determination, vigour, and good will: if you admit no distraction, but keep your own divinity pure and standing strong, as if you had to surrender it right now; if you grapple this to you, expecting nothing, shirking nothing, but self-content with each present action taken in accordance with nature and a heroic truthfulness in all that you say and mean – then you will lead a good life. And nobody is able to stop you”.
The Gulag Archipelago-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Rating: 10/10
Year of Publication: 1973
Summary: The Gulag Archipelago is a collection of testimony’s from both Solzhenitsyn and other survivors of the Soviet gulag camps. Solzhenitsyn describes the experience of the Soviet labor camps in painful details, from interrogation to his freedom 11 years later. The entire work is a masterpiece that shines a light on the darkness that was the Soviet Union.
Review: Called “the most important book of the 20th Century” for a reason, The Gulag Archipelago is one of the best books I have ever read. It shows the duality of the human being, both the ability to cause immense suffering and the power of the human spirit. I think at its core, the theme of this book can be summarized by something Solzhenitsyn says in it. “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart…even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts , there remains…an uprooted small corner of evil”.
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers-Tim Ferris
Rating: 10/10
Year of Publication: 2016
Summary: Tools of Titans is a distillation of over 200 podcasts that Tim Ferris has done with some of the most successful people. The book is 600 pages and is broken down into 3 different sections (health, wealth, wisdom). Each section contains dozens of guests who share their habits, routines and ideas.
Review: Tools of Titans is by far the most pragmatically useful book I have ever read. I have always liked Tim Ferris and was expecting a decent book, but I was blown away by how useful this book really is. It is basically 600 pages of interesting people with interesting ideas and a ton of different things to try to use to improve your life. I cant say enough good things about this book.
One Takeaway: This book has dozens of takeaways, please read it.
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