List of Reading Material

Awesome list of content that I have read/will read

Posted by Krystian Wojcicki on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 Tags:   14 minute read

Soft Paywall == can be circumvented using multiple browsers/private sessions

November

October

August

  • The 48 Laws of Power. Each of the 48 chapters are split into alternating sections; one depicting interesting and delightful historical anecdotes in an understandable and clear prose, the other an insufferable, contradictory, repetitive and useless “interpretation” of events stricken by survivorship bias. The margins of the book are filled with cute short stories, folktales and fables which are very entertaining to read. My suggestion would be to read the story portions of the novel and skip everything else. The “advice” given in this novel can be summarized by: be lucky, handsome and charismatic.
    • The advice sections of this book remind me of an article written by Jakob Greenfeld which I would highly recommend everyone go read.
    • The authors, of The 48 Laws of Power, should have taken a note from Black Swan and Outliers before attempting to “understand” and categorize how “successful” people have acquired their power.
  • Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

July

June

  • Outliers: The Story of Success
  • Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
  • Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time. Super interesting book. Many of the complaints given to this book are due to the fact that the authors discuss closed source in house solutions which cannot be easily replicated or used by non Googlers. While these are valid complaints, I found it liberating, I could dream or think of the ideal workflows and processes that would enable maximum productivity. The lessons explained in this book are very very transferable, the book has completely revolutionized how I view and approaching test software. For those trying to get a sneak peek at what Google is like, or what well developed Software Engineering practices look like, then I will highly recommend this book.

May

  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Sapiens is incredibly well written and entertaining. It covers the entire history of humankind but, as one can expect for a book of around 450 pages, presented at a very high level. Some sections are covered exhaustively while others are glossed over, which helps keep the book interesting and fast paced. For history buffs Sapiens may lack the intricate details they are searching for, however for individuals okay with receiving a meta history lesson this book will be a hit.
  • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.

April 2022

  • Thinking, Fast and Slow. In a well written and interesting fashion the author describes the two systems that dictate how we think as well as the types of biases or lapses of judgement created by these two systems. A multitude of studies are given and explained to show how we humans, when trusting our intuition (System 1), will come up with incorrect decisions that we wholeheartedly believe are true. However, this book is on the longer side, and on occasion can be tedious or repetitive when read in longer sittings. Another downside is readers know the examples given in the book are meant to exploit are System 1 therefore will actively engage our System 2 when reading the provided question prompts ruining some of the whimsical power of the examples provided. Overall, I would highly recommend reading this book, but keep your System 2 disengaged during the prompts and interlace your reading sessions with another novel.
  • The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing

March 2022

  • Winning. Not one of my favorite books, it seems more catered to those attempting to get into middle management or those with MBA’s. While parts of the book are catered to a more general audience such as getting promoted, finding the right job and dealing with bad bosses, the rest of the novel is oriented around managerial tasks. Unfortunately, for those interested in entrepreneurship, many of the lessons provided in this book seem more oriented to managers within larger firms, and less for those managers in new growing business.
  • Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. I quite enjoyed this book. In this piece the authors expressed a framework they call Principled Negotiation that is meant to replace the typical negotiation style of Positional Bargaining (i.e. how most car, house purchases are performed). The authors are very realistic about their approach and do not attempt to portrait it as an end all to all your negotiation issues. Unlike many other self-help books I found this one was quite good about not repeating itself, instead each chapter was an entirely new section. The novel is segregated into two main sections, one where the framework is described and then another where common questions are answered. The former moves at a brisk pace and is chalk full of valuable advice that one can immediately start using in their daily lives. The FAQ provided in the latter half is an excellent addition, removing many initial confusions and concerns. Definitely a valuable read.
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values. The enjoyment Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance brings to its readers is definitely hit or miss, personally I found it more of a miss. It reminded me of my highschool English classes where we were asked to read between the lines of what Shakespeare or Homer had written. The copy of the book I purchased had a prelude in which it gave away a plot twist which greatly reduced the enjoyment I received from the novel. The actual writing and face value of the writing I enjoyed greatly, but I definitely was not able to appreciate the deeper message behind this novel. This is not a novel you can rush through when reading, you need to read and reread every sentence and be in the correct state of mind.

December 2021

November 2021

October 2021

Past

Startups

Systems

Programming

Interviews

  • Cracking the Coding Interview Just a great resource with tons of questions that frankly are quite common atleast in the interviews I have been in.

Productivity

Blogs

  • High Scalability Great blog related to all things done at scale, its “Stuff The Internet Says On Scalability For XXX” series is top notch

General Programmer information

Misc

To Read

New