This list started in 2015 as a way of keeping track of what I had read. Starting in March 2019, I changed the test for inclusion from an entire book, i.e. something bound in print form as one volume, to an entire work (something longer than a normal essay or short story), which is less strict and more indicative of what’s actually bouncing around in my head.
For example, Prometheus Bound is a complete work, thus included when I read it. However, I read it from a volume entitled Aeschylus I, which also included some other tragedies I did not read at the time, meaning by the original test, it would belong on this list. However, Prometheus Bound is a great work, sparks a lot of thinking, and should be on included on any list of my intellectual inputs.
2020
- Oedipus the King by Sophocles
- Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss
- The Brothers Karamazov by Frederick Doystoyevsky
- Antigone by Sophocles
- Oedipus the King by Sophocles
- Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
- How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens
- Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
- How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
- The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
- Death’s End by Cixin Liu
2019
- The Discovery of France by Graham Robb
- The Iliad by Homer
- Work on Purpose by Lara Galinsky, with Kelly Nuxoll
- Middlemarch by George Elliot
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Manual for Discussion Leaders by Mortimer J. Adler
- Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus
- Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
- What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
- Agamemnon by Aeschylus
- The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus
- The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships by Neil Strauss
- The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
- Hippolytus by Euripides
- Medea by Euripides
- The Children of Heracles by Euripides
- Alcestis by Euripides
- A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
- An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis
- Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
- Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service by Corera
- Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
- A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab
- A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab
- Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham
- Anthem by Ayn Rand
- Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay
- Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance by Christopher McDougall
- Girl in the Woods: A Memoir by Aspen Matis
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
2018
- Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
- Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
- 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson
- Mastery by Robert Green
- Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday
- The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
- On Love by Alain de Botton
- Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life by William Deresiewicz
- The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
- A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway
- Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
2017
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- The Independent Consulting Manual
- The Positioning Manual for Technical Firms by Phillip Morgan
- The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
- Models: Attract Women Through Honesty by Mark Manson
- Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
- Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram
- Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
- Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
- Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
- A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
- Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson
- The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss
Along with these book-length essay collections:
- The Art of Refactored Perception on Ribbonfarm
- Towards an Appreciative View of Technology on Ribbonfarm
- Getting Ahead, Getting Along, Getting Away on Ribbonfarm
- The Mysteries of Money on Ribbonfarm
- The Gervais Principle on Ribbonfarm
- Breaking Smart, Season 1
2016
- The Martian by Andy Weir (read this twice)
- The Paleo Manifesto by John Duran
- Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
- Mate by Tucker Max & Geoffrey Miller
- The Flinch by Julien Smith
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré
- The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
- Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
- Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
- The Bed of Procustes by Nassim Taleb
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J. K. Rowling
- Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
- A Village Life by Louise Glück
- Antifragile by Nassim Taleb (read it again)
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- The End of Jobs by Taylor Pearson
- Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
- Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
2015
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
- A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
- A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
- A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
- A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
- How to be Remarkable by Colin Wright
- Iceland India Interstate by Colin Wright
- How to Travel Full-Time by Colin Wright
- Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
- Real Powers: Part One by Colin Wright
- Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller
- Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan
- It Will Be Exhilarating by Studio Neat
- Particles by Shawn Mihalik
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Better than College by Blake Boles
- Professional Web Design by Smashing Magazine
- Getting Real by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hanson, Matthew Linderman
- Gold by Isaac Asimov
- What is Code? by Paul Ford
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau
- Life on Foot: A Walk Across America by Nate Damm
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
- Worm by Wildbow
- Execute by Drew Wilson & Josh Long
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
- The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
- Breaking the Time Barrier by Mike McDerment & Donald Cowper
- The Death Cure by James Dashner
- Born to Run by Chris McDougall
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
- Choose Yourself by James Altucher
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
- Fermat’s Enigma by Simon Singh
- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
- Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Maria Rilke
- The Sculptor by Scott McCloud
- The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- 1984 by George Orwell
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau