📚The Book List

1. The Art of Impossible

I found this book through an episode of Modern Wisdom with Steven Kotler, who is the author, where he talks about peak performance, how to build motivation, triggers you can use to get into a flow state. I remember liking the episode then the book popped up across social media, so i pulled the trigger on it

2. A Gentleman in Moscow

Slight confession. I've actually read this already. But it was just so good. Amor Towles is such a good author. I've read this and rules of civility and another one of his books is on this list. But why I'm reading this again is that I remember there being alot of meaningful and resonating quotes but I just never wrote them down anywhere.

3. Breath

I've seen this all over, but specifically seen it loads from Better With Books. Breathing is a weird interest to me. Apparently, we all actually overbreathe and instead the ideal breath should be a 5.5 second inhale and a 5.5 second exhale, not 100% on the trueness of this, but i'm excited to find out in this book.

4. Crime and Punishment

Recommended and talked about by Jordan Peterson. After reading a Gentleman in Moscow, last year I started getting more interested in russia and started reading russian literature, i started with Yevgeny Onegin, which was okay, and decided I wanted to give this one a go.

5. Deep Work

I'm not sure where I first seen this, but it seems to be referenced by almost all productivity YouTubers and in any podcast talking about peak or optimal performance. From what i understand it talks about flow states and focus. If you haven't guessed already i want to be as productive as possible this year.

6. Denial of Death

The fact we are all going to die at some point has started to become something that i'm thinking about more and more often. This book apparently talks about the psychological and philosophical of how people, and cultures, react to the concept of death. This comes from Jordan Peterson and Mark Manson.

7. Essentialism

Chris Williamson has talked about this book a lot. I remember trying to read it but stopped for some trivial reason and never picked it back up again. It talks about focus and a disciplined pursuit of less, both of which I could benefit from.

8. Gulag Archipelago

Another Jordan Peterson recommendation. In the book, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the author, talks about the imprisonment, brutalization and often murder of tens of millions of innocent Soviet citizens by their own government - The soviet union. Although it can be seen as a depressing and sad book, I think it's an important one for me to read. To see the hardships that other humans have went through, is inspiring to me. It makes my re-evaluate how I use my time when i think about how there are people, still today, who would have done anything to be able to be able to be in the position that i'm in - able to walk, talk and choose what i want to do with my life.

9. Games People Play

Found via, Bjorn's book lab. The idea that everyone is playing a game is interesting to me. I remember watching this How I Met Your Mother clip and seeing friends do the same thing and thinking about how there's these little games that people play to try with each other across all areas of life.

I thought i was exempt from this, for the same reason anyone thinks that something applies to everyone but themselves, but now not so much. I got this book to try and figure out what the game i'm playing is and also to figure out if "not playing" is even an option.

10. The Lincoln Highway

I got this book purely because Amor Towles wrote it. I remember seeing it announced and was already going to explain to my flatmates, who i hadn't even met yet, why i wouldn't be leaving my room for a few days. Amor Towles writing is so good and un-put-downable that I read Rules of Civility in one sitting (it's 324 pages) and then a Gentleman is Moscow in less than a week (462 pages)

11. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover

I cant remember where i seen this, but it's a book about Jungian psychology, maturity, the difference between man and boy psychology through the lens of 4 basic masculine archetypes (King, Warrior, Magician and Lover). I got this book because i'm interested in mature vs immature and what makes a good man, good.

12. Man's Search for Meaning

Another one i've read before, but again didn't take any notes and have forgotten everything about it. in the book, Viktor E.Frankel talks about his and clients experiences in a nazi concentration camp and the main idea of the book is that in life we cannot avoid suffering but instead we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and then we can move forward with a renewed purpose.

Recommended by basically everyone I heard talk about finding meaning and purpose in life

13. Make it Stick!

This book talks about remembering. More specifically, active recall and spaced repetion both of which are evidence based tools we can use to be able to revise and learn more effectively. Very apt for me as i'm a university student and trying to teach my self french this year. Found it through Ali Abdaal.

14. Master and Margarita

I think this just popped up on the Amazon 99p kindle deals page, then about a month after I heard Jordan Peterson reccomend it and talk about it. I do want to try and read more russian literature this year. Apparently t's really good, so i'll let you know.

15. Spark!

Found this from Thomas Frank. The book talks about the effects exercise has on the brain and relationship between exercise and learning. I got it because I generally train first thing on a morning and so i'm interested what is that doing to me mentally.

16. On Becoming a Person

This was recommended to me by my flatmate's mum and Jordan Peterson. The book is about psychotherapy, but from a therapist's point of view. It's interesting to me because i don't think i've read much around this topic, and it's apparently highly recommended to people wanting to become clincial psychologists, which is a potential career choice for me.

17. Steal Like an Artist - Trilogy

18. Other Minds

I found this when i was wandering around in waterstones looking for a book for a friend. It's a book about octopuses and evolution. I remember watching a video about octopus intelligence and being so invested in it. They are incredibly intelligent, but the intelligence they display is nothing like what we do. I'm sure that about two thirds of their neurons are in their arms meaning that their arms can essentially think for themselves, but also work as part of a team when needed.

This book is purely out of interest and curiosity, i just love octopuses and evolution.

19. Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Another one from Bjorn's Book Lab and Jordan Peterson. I decided i wanted to read more philosophy and heard Nietzsche being quoted a lot and seen this on Bjorn's page, so i just decided to get it. Going off of reviews, most people "weren't ready" to read it, so i'm interested to what that's about. I'm not sure if this was the best choice to start with because everyone i've spoke to about it has said that it was a hard read.

The bit on the back is:

It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. With blazing intensity and poetic brilliance, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free.

20. Six Easy Pieces

This is another one out of curiosity and interest. It's actually about physics. The book is by Richard Feynmann, who in himself is a fascinating man. This good is supposed to be a good introduction to Physics. The six topics he covers are atoms, basic physics, energy, gravitation, quantum mechanics, and then the relationship of physics to other topics.

I'm interested in this because I just like to understand things. I'm just really curious about the world and Physics is a key part of it.

21. Why We Sleep

I found this after listening to the author, Matt Walker, on the Joe Rogan Experience. I've read the first chapter already and it's really interesting. One page 3 he briefly mentions about the negative impacts that a lack of sleep or disruption of sleep has on appetite, Alzheimer's disease and even major psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety.

The reason i picked this book up and decided to start reading it was because I want to know why do we sleep. Is it not strange to anyone else that we literally lie in a near coma state for about 6-8 hours and it somehow makes us feel better? It's interesting to me that sleep effects just about all areas of our lives, but we all seem to neglect it. It also lines up with a different resolution that i have which is to prioritise sleep more often.

22. 12 Rules for Life

Shockingly this isn't recommended by Jordan Peterson, instead it's wrote by him. I'm a massive fan of Dr. Peterson's work, some of his lectures and advice have been life changing for me. I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to get around to read his books.

I'm not entirely sure on how to explain this one without having read it. I'd say go to the reviews, but all I found was people not really talking about the book, more about whatever they like or dislike about Dr. Peterson himself. I'll report back or do a separate post about this book once i've read it.

23. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

I discovered this while watching Lex Fridman's day in the life video. He mentions that he listened to it while running for similar reasons why i'm choosing to read the Gulag Archipelago. After having a look at it online, i decided to get it. I think i'll read this one more casually and relaxed than the other ones on this list, because it’s absolutely massive.

24. 12 More Rules for Life

This is the follow up to 12 Rules for Life. I’ve already read two chapters of this, chapters II and VII, because the rules they talk about were really interesting to me and made me want to put more effort into my life. There rules were:

• II - Imagine who you could be and aim singlemindedly at that.
• VII - Work As Hard As You Possibly Can on at Least One Thing and See What Happens

Another one that i’ll be better off explaining after I’ve read it.

You’ve made it all the way to the end!

Have you read any of these books or want to? Let’s talk about it.. DM on Instagram at @aaron.kendal.