Third 10 Books I Read in 2022

  Reading Period: May 13 - June 20

1. One of Us is Lying, by Karen McManus

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58679358-one-of-us-is-lying

    In an effort to expand my reading horizons, I decided to read this high school murder mystery book. Honestly, it wasn't half bad. It was a bit more young-adult than I expected, but it was very engaging. I kind of wished it had ended differently, and the story could have used a few more twists and turns. Still, this book make me realize I don't need to ever watch TV again, as even the trashy high school TV dramas can be replaced by more interesting and thorough books of a similar genre. 

2. Verity, by Colleen Hoover

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59344312-verity

       This book was soooooo messed up. I'm astonished that Colleen is traditionally a romance writer, given that she probably scarred me for life with some of the scenes in this novel. Given the disturbing subject matter and aggressive sex scenes, I would never recommend this book to anyone. Still, I have to say that Colleen did a phenomenal job in accomplishing whatever the heck this book was meant to accomplish. Bravo Colleen, bravo. There were plenty of flaws with this book, but I tried not to take it too seriously and treat it as I would any horror movie. Far from the type of book I enjoy, but any book that I read in a single day deserves some respect.

3. Beach Read, by Emily Henry

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387-beach-read

    My first ever romance novel. There were some obvious flaws that I'm guessing are very common to the genre. Emily seems to "tell instead of show" character attributes and character development, and she gives the same descriptions for the main characters at a frustrating frequency (Gus's crooked smile is mentioned every two pages). These would have made me angrier if the rest of the book wasn't so shockingly good. It was heartfelt, funny, and overall just a cute story. I read this in a couple of days and I'd recommend as a solid vacation read.

4. It Ends with Us, by Colleen Hoover

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27362503-it-ends-with-us

    Absolutely unsure how I feel about this book. On one hand, I hated the beginning and almost did not finish, due to how much I despised the characters and the writing. I also had plenty of gripes with the ending. On the other hand, this book was totally heartbreaking and could very well be a masterpiece. My current take is that Colleen isn't a fantastic writer, and she's pretty bad at writing characters. I actually think that overall she's just kind of a bad writer. All of her characters are completely flat and unlikeable. However, she's a pretty fantastic storyteller. This is probably the saddest book I've ever read, and it was also one of the most gripping. That is a hard combination to pull off, especially given the disturbing realism of the subject matter (domestic abuse). I think this will be my last book of hers, as I really didn't like her romance writing (read like bad fanfiction), but I'm glad I took the plunge.

5. People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54985743-people-we-meet-on-vacation

    Honestly, this was just another enjoyable, easy read. Probably not as good as Beach Read since it lacked any real emotional weight, but the characters were extremely likeable and very charismatic. Emily has a great sense of humor and writes banter very well. This might be my last romance for a while; I think the detour was informative.

6. Lightning, by Dean Koontz

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32424.Lightning

    I wouldn't be surprised if Dean wrote this in a single weekend. Really not that great of a book with pretty much every aspect (plot, characters, writing quality) all lacking. Also as a huge fan of time travel, the way it was designed in this book was extremely stupid.

7. Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29380.Animal_Liberation

    This is one of those books I wish I never read. Not because it is not good, but because now I have to contemplate every decision I've made and potentially completely change my lifestyle. This book (audiobook version) is about animal rights, and it is essentially a defense of the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle on purely the basis of preventing animal suffering. There are three main reasons to go vegetarian: personal health, environmental concerns, and animal suffering. The first two have never swayed me at all. Cutting out potential food options places constraints on your personal nutrition optimization, so while it may force you to eat more vegetables, it cannot by nature be healthier than a balanced diet where you can pick and choose from more available options. The environment is in a tough spot, but refusing to eat meat is pretty much an empty gesture for climate concerns. There is already a ton of attention on climate, and it's pretty silly to think that your personal decisions (not showering to save water) has any effect whatsoever. Now we get into animal suffering. I used to brush this off, and I definitely have lived with some strong cognitive dissonance. I love to eat meat. Eating meat is truly one of my favorite things to do. Eating meat is seriously one of the best parts of being alive. But it may be like really, really unethical in a lot of circumstances. Shit.

    Singer makes quite a lot of bad arguments in this book. For some reason, he treats all suffering across species as entirely equal. For example, he claims that deer are likely more sensitive to pain than a human infant is, so all else equal we should save a deer from getting hit by a car over a human infant. I feel like this is the trolley problem but for really, really weird utilitarian philosophers. Peter also doesn't treat sentience as a scale at all, but rather has this strange argument he calls "the least common denominator." His theory is that since there are some humans who are dumber than chimpanzees, we should treat these groups as morally equivalent (otherwise, we would have to concede that eating and experimenting on mentally retarded people is no worse than eating and experimenting on chimpanzees). This is a laddered argument, so since some pigs are smarter than some chimpanzees, and since some rats are smarter than some pigs, well, you see where that goes. The problem is, this is a stupid philosophical argument to base your ideas on. What if we kill all the stupid people? Does that then give us license to treat a lower animal horribly since there is no least common denominator tying the groups together? In addition, does this line end anywhere? Peter actually does draw the line, he draws it at plants. The line isn't at shellfish, since we can't really be 100% sure that oysters don't feel pain (but we can for plants?). Also, I have some friends dumber than your average oyster, so I guess eating an oyster is pretty much as equally bad as eating one of my friends.

    The problem with this step down function and the idea that (pain in mouse) = (pain in human) is that it makes it pretty unclear how to do anything in life. In regards to ending animal testing for HIV cures, Peter suggests that people in the gay community are "begging" to be test subjects for new medications, as if that somehow invalidates the dangers of skipping animal trials. He claims over and over again that we can't really infer anything from animal trials, since animals are different than humans (someone tell the scientists!). He seems to suggest that we either stop all forms of animal experimentation or skip directly to human trials, and that animal research really hasn't led to any scientific breakthroughs. I feel like his take on this entire subject is just really uneducated. In regards to eating animals for food, Peter solely focuses on pain, which is not really a utilitarian position (pain + pleasure = utility). So if a cow lives a rockin' twenty years and then dies by the guillotine, Peter is still pretty against the whole thing. Rapid fire bad arguments and responses real quick: "meat isn't essential, therefore it is ignorant to eat it" - showers aren't essential, "Ghandi was a vegetarian and he lived until 80" - a grandma smoked and lived to 100, "small, rural fishing villages aren't making as much money due to Big Fishing" -so, stop eating fish entirely?, "not eating meat but still eating dairy products is just as bad" - probably not.

    Now lets talk about the good arguments. "Unnecessary animal suffering is bad" - true, "we don't need to eat meat, and could have a healthy life and environment without the meat industry" - true, "a lot of times, factory farming is completely terrible and we will probably look back on the industry in 200 years as one of the biggest injustices of our time" - dang, probably true. Honestly, the most important part of this book was the thorough walkthrough of factory farms and the detailed descriptions of exactly how different animals suffer throughout the industry. If you believe that animals can suffer and that suffering is bad, it is really hard to finish this book with out some sort of worldview change. I am less convinced that I will be totally cool with eating pigs, cows, and even chickens that live their lives in pretty clear misery. In fact, I'm pretty sure that we need to draw the line somewhere further than where it is at currently. Now, it's just a matter of where.

    

8. Edgedancer, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34703445-edgedancer

    Pretty straightforward and short audiobook that I finished in a day. Given how much I hated the character of Lift in Words of Radiance, I'm impressed that Brandon transformed the character into someone actually tolerable. I'm glad for the additional context, and it is abundantly clear that this guy is one of the best storytellers of our time. Pretty glad I got this out of the way as I've been dreading reading this book for quite a while.

9. Normal People, by Sally Rooney

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41057294-normal-people

    I really don't know what I was supposed to learn from this book. Boring plot, dreadful writing, and terrible ending. One of the most frustrating tropes in storytelling is the "miscommunication" trope, where all of the story's problems can be solved by two characters communicating in a way that isn't completely idiotic. Needless pain and suffering is caused by the main characters refusing to have even one sentence of legible communication. The only positive of this book was the unique writing style. Pretty much everything else deserves criticism.

10. Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34002132-oathbringer

    Brandon Sanderson does not miss. I cannot for the life of me understand how he writes these books. He is undoubtedly a genius, and his storytelling ability is unparalleled. I think the other Stormlight Archive books edge this one out slightly, but honestly it is tough to compare. The character development of Shallan wasn't my favorite, and it is clear that Kaladin's story has for the most part been told. Still, Dalinar's character arc in this book was likely the most compelling of the series. Frankly, it was beautiful. The worst part about reading these masterpieces is that it makes it so much harder to feel confident writing anything. It's almost like watching an insane guitar performance and then recording yourself struggling through Hotel California. At some point it's not inspirational, it's defeating. Masterclass work.

Second 10 Books I Read in 2022

 Reading Period: February 28 - May 13

1. The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4671.The_Great_Gatsby

    After a few crushing months at work, I decided that I needed to finally get back to reading. I figured I'd start with a quick audiobook in order to start the reading binge. The Great Gatsby was pretty good. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, and I'm glad it was so short. Scott is a great writer, his prose actually quite beautiful. I found myself disliking all the characters and the story was very cookie cutter, but it's hard to judge a 100 year old novel based on the story enhancements we've made over time. Worth the read.

2. San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities, by Michael Shellenberger

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56645981-san-fransicko

    To be honest, I read this story entirely out of a strong desire for confirmation bias. Michael did not disappoint. He states that while poverty and high rent costs contribute to homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction are the central causes of our current homeless crisis. Housing first and harm reduction initiatives a lot of times do more harm than good, and liberal political leaders do a great disservice to the entire population (including the homeless) by playing dumb on these issues. This book was extremely informative. Every argument was backed up with facts and figures, and it is clear Michael did a ton of research. It is worth reading mostly to disengage all the false narratives that are floating around in one's head. For example, nonviolent drug offenders make up 4% of the population in American prisons. Most people, including me, would have guessed way higher. 

    I've never been in favor of the legalization of fentanyl, meth, or heroin, but a lot of my liberal friends disagree. I've heard them say things like "well if it was legal and regulated, less people would die from it." This seems like such a irrational take that I am usually awestruck and unable to respond in a non-condescending way. Michael makes an argument that I love. He says the following:

"If it is really true that the problem is contaminants, that opioids are not being made and distributed under tight regulation by legal manufacturers, then no one would ever have died from OxyContin. It is weird to me to hear people who think of themselves as leftists slinging a line that the most shameless corporate attorney for Purdue Pharma would be embarrassed to raise in court."

     This book is by no means perfect. There's some filler, and some of it is pretty strange. I'm not sure why he kept bringing up Victor Frankl and Michel Foucault, it didn't fit at all. There's also a paragraph that is just straight up repeated. I've never seen that before in a book, especially one that isn't otherwise sloppy. Regardless, I'm glad I read this book. It was interesting to get a take on the homelessness crisis that cuts against the traditional narrative.

3. Chaos Monkeys, by Antonio Garcia Martinez

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28259132-chaos-monkeys

    The author is really annoying, but some of the storylines in this book are interesting. It gets pretty into the technical details about Facebook's advertising department, and the reader will likely learn a bit  about online ads in general. Still, this is a pretty longwinded book about Antonio and his personal takes on life. I'm glad I listed to the audiobook, as I don't think I could have gotten through the print. 

    Antonio is a barely successful start up founder who became a project manager at Facebook. His start up only worked out because he lied to investors and then sold before his team had to produce anything really useful. His work at Facebook was essentially him fighting tooth an nail for a product that Facebook didn't end up using. Then he gets fired, and the book ends. He seems like a horrible person to work with and an even worse person to hang out with. I'm not entirely sure why other people I know liked this book so much, I really don't think it's worth the read. One funny part is Antonio says something to the effect of "what you call music, I call noise. My ideal Saturday is drinking *(insert fancy wine) and reading *(insert French author)." The ego on this guy is unreal, especially for someone without any of the success most people who write books about startups have.

4. The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity, by Toby Ord

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50485582-the-precipice

 "To the hundred billion people before us, who fashioned our civilization. To the seven billion now alive, whose actions may determine its fate. To the trillions to come, whose existence lies in the balance."

    I was destined to read this book. There really is not a single other book on the planet that was more meant for me, more tailored to my exact interests, hopes, and fears. Toby outlines the major existential risks facing humanity (nuclear war, weaponized viruses, unaligned artificial intelligence, etc.) and provides a wealth of information regarding each one. He then discusses what we can do to mitigate these risks and why we have a moral obligation to do so. This book is so big-picture and important that it may very well be unethical to read this book and not change your life substantially. It may be immoral not to hand this book out on street corners, while shouting the gospel of Ord at uncomfortable onlookers. Regardless, it will take a lot for me to not quit my job and begin following the Word.

5. Doing Good Better, by William MacAskill

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23398748-doing-good-better

    Effective Altruism is an extremely attractive philosophy. Taking a rigorous and scientific approach to making the world a better place is very novel idea. There are some requirements, many of which are uncomfortable and fairly subjective. First, you must be a complete utilitarian. You must believe that every life is equivalent, and that we have a moral obligation to help out others that are less fortunate. This logic extends, so you must agree that donating $1,000 to fight poverty in the United States is much "worse" than donating $1,000 to fight poverty in Kenya, because that money will go much further to helping people overall if it is deployed in Kenya. Second, you must be able to make value judgements, and you must believe that you have the moral authority to claim that some causes are better than others. Curing blindness in an infant is better than curing Alzheimer's in an adult. There a plenty of criticisms of utilitarianism, all of which are well documented by philosophers over the generations. Regardless, Effective Altruism seems like a very beneficial way to structure your charitable giving, if not your entire life. 

    Effective Altruism is extremely intuitive, and it allows you to cut through the over-choice paralysis surrounding giving. Most importantly, it shames you for not doing more. This shame no doubt makes the reader uncomfortable, and motivated reasoning strikes hard. I found myself making excuses when listening to the audiobook, all the while noticing I completely agreed with William's points. This book made me realize how selfish I have been my entire life, and I feel motivated to be better. I donated to charity for the first time in years immediately after finishing. This book certainly has the potential to be one of the most impactful books I've read.

6. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, by Eric Jorgenson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54898389-the-almanack-of-naval-ravikant

    Pretty decent book detailing the thoughts and ideas of AngelList founder Naval Ravikant. Eric covers Naval's thoughts about wealth creation and happiness. Overall, a lot of the ideas in the books are pretty useful and interesting. However, there is quite a bit of repetition and redundancy, as most of the book's information comes from various Naval tweets that have overlapping ideas. Also, there's really no focus on helping others or being a good friend/father/citizen, it's really a focus on personal happiness and becoming rich. I listened to this entire audiobook during a 20 mile run, so to be honest I was a bit delirious and might have missed some stuff. The central ideas (develop specialized knowledge, use leverage instead of just working more hours, rigorously defend your time) are not new to me, but if they were I'd probably rank this book higher.

7. The Scout Mindset, by Julia Galef

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42041926-the-scout-mindset

    A solid audiobook detailing the scout mindset, an approach to thinking that focuses on rationality and humility in decision making. A lot of the ideas are borrowed from other sources (Thinking Fast and Slow, Superforecasting, etc), but I still enjoyed this book and it was a quick read. It is very clear that I generally don't operate under this approach, and reading this book is a bit of a wake up call.

8. 80,000 Hours, by Benjamin Todd

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33229792-80-000-hours

    Continuing on my Effective Altruism binge, I decided to read the companion book to "Doing Good  Better." Essentially, this is by the other cofounder of the website 80,000 hours, a website focused on doing good and helping humanity with your career. This book isn't that good, it's more akin to a collection of website articles and uncertain musings about career paths than a useful, coherent take on career advice. I was pretty disappointed with the writing quality and didn't really gain much upon reading. I think "Doing Good Better" is leagues better, with "The Precipice" being in a class of its own. Still, this is an interesting community that I will likely continue to explore over the coming months.

9. Human Compatible, by Stuart Russell

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44767248-human-compatible

    A very interesting audiobook for sure, but if you agree with all of the conclusions already (AI superintelligence is likely to occur, it's very hard to align the interests of an AI with humans, and we're probably screwed) then it's not a must-read. Stuart is one of the most distinguished experts in the field, and his non-technical breakdown of the AI problem is interesting. However, there is a section of the book where Stuart lists quotes from people in the AI community and then proceeds to "take them down" with facts and logic. This felt a bit childish and most of the opposing quotes were obvious strawmen. Still, most of the book was informative. Unfortunately, I am terrified of AI and this book did nothing but fan the flames. Ignorance really is bliss. Still, we can't solve the most important problem in the history of humanity by burying our heads in the sand!

10. Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood

    Such a solid book. Probably at the top of my recommendations list simply because anyone, regardless of background, will find the story of Elizabeth Holmes absolutely fascinating. This book was extremely well researched and impossible to put down. A delightful display of good journalism and high stakes.

First 10 Books I Read in 2022

Reading Period: January 1 - February 28

1. The Black Swan, by Nicholas Nassim Taleb

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242472.The_Black_Swan

    This book took me quite a long time to finish. I read it in spurts, usually running out of motivation every fifty pages or so. I hate single-idea books that are four hundred pages, I think it is a crime against the reading community to write such a book. Nicholas has committed this crime, creating an absolute slog of a book filled with incoherent thoughts and random attacks on imaginary critics. A clever reader can grasp the surprisingly novel and truly insightful ideas underlying the book, but it is quite the chore to do so. Here is the summary, you need nothing else: everything has fatty tails, there are no linear relationships in life, prediction is extremely hard if not impossible. I really, really wish Nicholas was a better writer, as his other books look interesting.

2. Deep Work, by Cal Newport

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work

     In order to succeed in your career, you need to focus intensely for long periods of time without distraction. That is a summary of this book, and really the only take away. I think that this lesson is actually very important, and Cal guides the reader with many steps they can take to fulfill this goal of working deeply. Sort of like So Good They Can't Ignore you, the main point of the book is extremely useful, even if the actual execution is a bit lackluster. Still, worth the read. 

3. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4900.Heart_of_Darkness

    "The Horror! The Horror!"

    I really enjoyed the last twenty pages of this book. The rest was garbage.

4. End the Fed, by Ron Paul

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6388946-end-the-fed

"The Federal Reserve should be abolished because it is immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty. Its destructive nature makes it a tool of tyrannical government. Nothing good can come from the Federal Reserve. It is the biggest taxer of them all. Diluting the value of the dollar by increasing its supply is a vicious, sinister tax on the poor and middle class"

    Ron is quite the firecracker. He comes off as a bit unhinged in this book, especially with statements like the one above, but I learned quite a bit about what the Fed does and how it is potentially harmful. Ron has "old man yells at cloud" energy for sure, as he advocates for the gold standard and declares that fiat currency is unconstitutional. Some of his arguments are not good. He argues that wars require inflation (true), and that we would have less war if we were on the gold standard (also true). He misses the obvious fact that other countries would not follow suit. He also spends a surprising amount of time explaining why his ideas wouldn't work in practice. Regardless, The Fed is an extremely powerful institution that is not very transparent. Inflation is a massive tax on the poor and a major contributor to wealth inequality. These are both important takeaways.

5. Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40672036-digital-minimalism

    A bit too similar to Deep Work, a lot of the ideas and even some of the text is an exact copy and paste. However, like all of Cal's books, the underlying message is very useful. In this book, Cal argues for unplugging from technology. Delete social media, stop using email, and be extremely intentional about what technologies you use and for how long. This is all obvious advice, but the reminder is important and Cal provides specific steps for how to declutter your digital world. Well worth the read.

6. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35066358-the-first-fifteen-lives-of-harry-august

    Thinking about this book makes me angry. Such a half-baked, uninspired, frustrating novel. All the characters speak in empty platitudes, and it is jarring how unrealistic the conversations are. Also, Claire managed to leave the reader completely unsatisfied, not a single interesting plot point was explained or resolved. This is actually so impressive, that I wonder if that was the actual goal. Why is Harry in a time loop? How are small changes in one period not drastically changing the future? What the hell is a quantum mirror? It is obvious that Claire does not know the answer to any of these questions.

7. Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50202953-piranesi

    Unique. That is the word that best describes this reading experience. Given how unconventional this story is, I am still not quite sure what to think about it. This was my first audiobook of the year, and I don't think I would have managed to get through the print version. The beginning is really slow, in fact, the pacing for the entire book is really slow. I think this book is for a very particular type of reader, and I don't think it fits me entirely well. But I think a more whimsical and unquestioning reader could truly appreciate this book for what it is.

8. The Trouble with Being Born, by Emil Corian

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117564.The_Trouble_with_Being_Born

    This is not a traditional book, but rather a collection of observations and musings made by Emil. He is a pessimistic, anti-natalist nihilist who is completely and absolutely hilarious. I have highlighted more in this book than every other book I've read, combined! I wonder how much his outlook would change if he just managed a decent night's sleep. His takedown of Nietzsche is one of the funniest, most accurate roasts I have ever heard:

"He observed men only from a distance. Had he come closer, he could have neither conceived nor promulgated the superman, that preposterous, laughable, even grotesque chimera, a crotchet which could occur only to a mind without time to age, to know the serene disgust of detachment."

    Almost every aphorism is hilarious and depressing. Here are some of my favorites:

"He who hates himself is not humble"

"It's not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late"

"I pride myself on my capacity to perceive the transitory character of everything. An odd gift which has spoiled all my joys"

"If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would vanish on the spot"

9. The Buy Side, by Turney Duff

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15998338-the-buy-side

    Remarkable book. The first 75% chronicles the exuberant tales of the author, a young wall street trader. It is glamorous, full of drugs, women, money, and more drugs. Turney makes millions of dollars a year, throws legendary parties, and trades stocks. Quite the fun read for a finance bro, but if this was the entire story it would be worthy of the shredder. I'm always amazed at how much money one can make providing absolutely no value to society. Turney works at Raj Rajaratnam's notorious Galleon Group as an execution trader. Millions of dollars a year for simply executing orders? Ridiculous, all of it. The relationships and exploits in some sense make me sick to my stomach. Especially a throwaway line about Turney's horrific manipulation of women (that will be lost on the target audience). Thankfully, this book turns out to be not a glamorous autobiography, but a cautionary tale. The last 25% of the book chronicles Turney's fall from grace.

    Turney cannot overcome his addiction to cocaine. He ruins his relationship with his wife and daughter, has mental breakdowns, and completely falls apart. He becomes a shell of a man, leaving his child alone at home in order to snort cocaine in a hotel for six hours. He goes through financial ruin and loses the respect of everyone who ever knew him. He loses his job. He goes to rehab. He relapses. He cannot remain stable, he cannot take it all back. The story ends with Turney turning down a job offer. That's it, that's the only bright side. He realizes money will not solve his problems. Yet, his problems remain unsolved. He and his wife are separated, his relationship with his daughter is in tatters, he is still in a financial hole. Then the book ends. 

    This is a realistic story, an unexpected realism, refreshing. This story is about addiction and the unfortunate fact that it usually lasts for life. A good read for someone working in finance. Not the book I expected, but in a good way.

10. Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1845.Into_the_Wild

    I love the controversy within and surrounding this book. There are two opinions that you can come away with after reading this story. The first is that Christopher McCandless is a introspective genius; a wise and charismatic embodiment of youthful adventure. The second opinion is that Chris is a tremendously arrogant loon who deserves plenty of scorn. Jon is of the first opinion, but he does a decent job at remaining objective throughout. Most readers are of the second opinion. I agree with them. Chris ghosts his entire family, throwing them into years of anxiety and anguish. He supposedly loves his sister, yet he vanishes without a trace, unwilling to even give her the comfort of knowing that he is safe. Given the amount of pain and suffering Chris caused those around him, it is hard to become emotionally attached to the book. I really just spent the whole time feeling bad for his parents.

    Still, it is funny to watch Jon portray this idealized character. A tremendous piano player (later said to be not very musically talented), a great programmer (apparently the first program he wrote as an intern was so useful that his company still can't figure out how it works), and an avid reader of Tolstoy (reading popular Russian literature = smart). This book reads with some heavy "and then everyone clapped" energy. Regardless, it is a pretty easy story and it's always fun to pick up the sticks and start beating the drum of controversy. Would be a fun book club book just for the discussions alone.

Last 2 Books I Read In 2021

 Reading Period: December 17 - December 31

1. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13623848-the-song-of-achilles

    Imagine the Illiad, but you replace the story with poorly written gay fanfiction. I am only slightly joking, the extremely high praise for this book is undeserved. I understand that I have a bias against gay romance stories. Generally, the popular ones are Oscar-bait. Underdeveloped, boring romances where if you switched one of the characters with a female, the flaws materialize immediately in front of your eyes. Patroclus imagined as a woman is a boring, useless, pestering nitwit whose only purpose is to worship the sexy, godly, flawless Achilles. That is it. No need to read the book.

    The intelligence of the average character is staggeringly low. Patroclus gets all the way to Troy before he realizes, in complete shock and bewilderment, that he will have to fight in the war. Don't worry, he doesn't do anything except admire the softness of Achilles's feet as he ruthlessly slays Trojans. His character is truly ridiculous. An offensive caricature of a doormat. Such a boring book, quite a shock Madeline was able to improve so much by the time she wrote Circe.

2. Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17332218-words-of-radiance

    As the highest rated book on Goodreads, this book had quite the expectations to live up to. Guess what? My expectations were shattered, this book is truly amazing. Definitely my favorite fantasy novel of all time, it's crazy that The Way of Kings could be surpassed so easily. Brandon builds off of his previous worldbuilding and characterization in order to make a truly thrilling story. There are some moments in this book that are truly iconic, some of the best plot points and character moments I have ever read. There is a two page sequence of events at the end of this 1,100 page book that I re-read multiple times, out of pure shock, and pure glee. This book is truly unlike any other I have read. I am going to take a break from The Stormlight Archive for now, but I will definitely be back. This book concludes as my 52nd book for 2021, and I couldn't have chosen a better book to end the year on.

Fifth 10 Books I Read in 2021

 Reading Period: August 3 - December 17

1. Stoner, by John Williams

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166997.Stoner

    After crushing my reading goal of 40 books in 2021, I couldn't help myself and continued on. Since I'm spending most of my waking hours working or studying, audiobooks are proving to be a godsend, a chance to listen to books while I work out, drive, and shower. I decided to continue with the fiction route for audiobooks, to listen to things I might not have the patience to read word for word. Surprisingly, this book, Stoner, is one of the best books I have ever read. 

    The book follows the life and death of William Stoner, a college literature professor. It sounds boring, but trust me, it is. Stoner leads a plain, uninteresting life. He doesn't fight for much. He has basic conversations with basic people. Of all the books I have read, the main storyline of this book is by far the most boring. Why then, was the actual reading captivating? I think it is because John nails the human experience to an unparalleled extent. The menial tasks, the indifference of nearly everyone towards nearly everything. I honestly hated pretty much every single character, I hated their pettiness, their boringness, and most of all, their indifference. But they didn't care what I thought of them, they cared very little about anything. John paints such a realistic portrait of life, and then life ends, leaving the reader to wonder about the meaning of any of  it. Tedious, depressing, and well worth the read.

2. Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4921.Three_Men_in_a_Boat

    Likely my last book for 2021. My audiobook craze lasted for about a month, but I am likely back to reading print versions of everything going forward. This is quite the turn of events, given how much I raved about audiobooks my past two reviews. It is too hard to pay attention to the storyline, and this book was so hilarious that it would have been nice to re-read or highlight sections. So after four audiobooks (my only audiobooks ever), I have canceled my Audible subscription.

    This book, really, is hilarious. I would say probably the funniest book I have ever read. Jerome, George, and Harris are unforgettable characters. It is strange to me that many comedy movies do not hold up after 30 years, but this book is still funny 150 years later. Many of Jerome's relatable insights stand true to this day, and the overall wit and silliness deserves high praise.

3. The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7235533-the-way-of-kings

    The Way of Kings is my favorite fantasy novel of all time. There are very few books that I obsess over and scramble to finish, reading 200 pages a day for multiple days. This is one of those books. One of those books where I realize my eyes are getting dry, because I haven't blinked in quite a while due to how focused I am. Brandon has a specific way of writing stories, popularly called a "Sanderstorm." He has a collection of characters with independent storylines, and each chapter switches off between the list of characters. Around the last quarter of the book, these storylines converge. Every loose end that can be tied up is wrapped in a bow. Every storyline is closed in an immensely satisfying way, but in a way that is unpredictable and novel. Some of the characters interact, and they interact in a very sensible and coherent fashion. This is Epic Fantasy, and indeed this story is epic.

    Brandon is likely the best world-builder around, and the world he has constructed in this first book of The Stormlight Archive is masterful. As with any story by him, the magic system and the storyline take the front seat. His weaknesses as a writer are very clear and predictable. His prose is nothing special, which is fine, but there are times when his characters speak in a way that is very, I don't know of a better way to say this, but very corny. This can ruin the immersion a bit. You have to expect that these are stories of good versus evil, and good will win. Try not to think too much when reading. Sit back, enjoy the ride, and you will love this book.

4. All Systems Red, by Martha Wells

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32758901-all-systems-red

    This was a solid novella. The story and the main character were surprisingly intriguing for such a short book. Murderbot, the main character, is a half-human half-robot with social anxiety. This makes for some hilarious moments, as they begrudgingly are forced to interact with humans throughout. I think the storyline was a very predictable, but it's hard to complain about a novella that is meant to be short and fun.

5. Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, by Bob Rotella

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/935617.Golf_is_Not_a_Game_of_Perfect

    Golf is not a passion of mine. However, I was told this was the absolute best book on golf around and that the lessons taught could be applied elsewhere in life as well. The differentiating factor for high level performers is all mental, and thus you as a golfer your mental strategy matters just as much as your talent and skill. This book discusses the ideal mental game. Treating every shot as independent, being conservative, playing with confidence, etc., are all aspects discussed at length. Really, the overall message of this book is simple: the perfect is the enemy of the good. Being decisive is more important than being correct, and you have to realize you will make mistakes and avoid dwelling on them. Overall, probably not worth the read unless you are passionate about improving your golf game. Still, a very well put together book.

6. The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91950.The_Myth_of_Sisyphus

    "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest— whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories—comes afterwards."

    This might be my favorite opening to a book. Albert tackles the most important question: is life worth living? As a human, you can either commit suicide or be condemned to die at a later, unknown date. This book reflects on this topic, drawing from a range of authors to explain and defend Absurdism. Absurdism is Albert's philosophy, as he endorses living in spite of the absurd contradiction between the human desire to find the meaning of life and the apparent absence of any meaning in life. The simplest example is that of Sisyphus, who was condemned to push a rock up a hill for eternity. Once the rock reaches the top of the hill, it rolls back down, and Sisyphus must walk back down the hill and push the rock up again. This eternal repetition seems meaningless, but Albert asks us to imagine Sisyphus as happy, walking down the hill with a grin.

    The overall summary of this book is very intriguing, but I was very confused at the execution. It could be that I do not understand the references of that time, but the most frequent example of the "absurd man" is notorious womanizer Don Juan. It could be that I am missing something, but the examples and defense of Absurdism do not make any sense. Living in spite of the universe does not give someone's life meaning, and I can't seem to find Albert's argument against the idea that "everything is permissible."

7. The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H.P. Lovecraft

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13175692-the-shadow-over-innsmouth

    A surprisingly good horror story. I've never read a Lovecraft novel before, and I can understand what all the rage is about. This was a quick tale of a traveler who visits a creepy, mysterious fishing town in order to chronicle its architecture. As you can imagine, things go sideways and he is forced to spend the night. Overall, a nice quick read that made me add a few more Lovecraft books to my reading list.

8. Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91476.Grave_Peril

    Probably my last Dresden Files book. I decided to read the first three books in the series, and they have all been disappointing. This book was leagues better than its predecessor, Fool Moon, but it was still clunky and the writing in some parts was, well, just bad. Like Brandon Sanderson says, you want your characters to be smart. You want them to be able to solve problems as you would, as it is frustrating to read dumb characters make dumb decision. The main character's girlfriend, a reporter, sneaks into the vampire headquarters in order to get the "inside scoop," accompanied by a bag full of garlic. I wonder how long it takes to write a book this elementary. The overall plot lacks anything of substance or intrigue. Well, at least I can say that I tried.

9. Recursion, by Blake Crouch

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42046112-recursion

    Exhilarating book. Without getting into the details, this is an awesome mind-bending sci-fi book that doesn't pull any punches. My only complaint is that it is pretty similar in style to Dark Matter and Replay, two other books that I read this year. Regardless, Blake takes the reader on a thrilling, mysterious ride through time, memory, and death. I really enjoy these action packed books that have a philosophical twist. I think this novel contains everything I want in a book, and I'm likely going to add a few more like this to my list.

10. We are Legion (We are Bob), by Dennis Taylor

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32109569-we-are-legion-we-are-bob

    Coming in at book #50 of the year, We are Legion was a fun Sci-Fi book about a man named Bob who gets turned into an artificial intelligence. He then gets implanted into a space ship and is tasked with colonizing other planets and saving what is left of humanity. This was an fun, young-adult level audiobook, and a damn good one. I was expecting a bit more of a hard science fiction book, but now that I know Dennis's writing style I think I'd enjoy the next books in the series more.

Fourth 10 Books I Read in 2021

 Reading Period: June 23 - August 3

1. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24724602-flash-boys

    Surprisingly, this was my first Michael Lewis book. I would say that I enjoyed it and learned a lot, but I was a bit disappointed with the execution. The book starts out really strong, with a short detour into the story of a man's ambitious project to lay a straight line of fiber optic cable from Chicago to New Jersey. The financial markets are all about speed, and shaving off a few milliseconds of travel time between two exchanges is worth billions. This fiber optic story is portrayed well in the movie The Hummingbird Project. However, Lewis then moves on to the meat of the book, a story of some RBC trades who learn that the stock market is unfair, due to front-running and other manipulative practices by High Frequency Traders, and set off to create their own stock exchange. 

    I learned a lot, but it seems that Michael's viewpoint through the book is far from unbiased. Even the story of Sergey Aleynikov, the Goldman Sachs programmer jailed for stealing code, is a bit frustrating to read. On one hand, it seems ridiculous that he was given such a lengthy prison sentence. On the other, Michael defends him to no end, and willfully speeds over less flattering aspects of the story. Sergey sent proprietary code by mail while he was in prison? Also, Michael criticizes Goldman from taking code from open source and then not contributing back to it. Isn't this true of every company? Why would you contribute specialized code in such a competitive industry directly to your competitors? Overall, I was expecting a bit more of an unbiased viewpoint. Still, this was a very interesting book to read, and parts of it certainly made my blood boil. Worth the read, I'm adding a few more of Michael's books to my reading list.

2. Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7865083-liar-s-poker

    I loved this book. Endlessly quotable, memorable characters, and ridiculous sums of money. Probably the perfect guilty pleasure of anyone involved in the world of finance. It struck me that the plans of undergraduates have not changed since 1982: 

"Use your economics degree to get an analyst job on Wall Street; use your analyst job to get into the Harvard or Stanford Business School; and worry about the rest of your life later."

    Other memorable quotes:

"Knowing about markets is knowing about other people's weaknesses"

"Fear and, to a lesser extend, greed are what make money move"

3. The Big Short, by Michael Lewis

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26889576-the-big-short

    This was a perfect follow up to Liar's Poker. The Big Short follows a handful of people that made crazy amounts of money betting against the subprime mortgage market that ultimately collapsed in 2008. Most people have probably seen the movie, but I actually liked the book a bit better. It was less whiny, more detailed, and easier to understand. It is astounding and depressing how unprepared and oblivious financial institutions were to some pretty glaring risks. On the bright side, this book shows that you can lose your company 9 billion dollars and still walk away a millionaire. Welcome to Wall Street. 

    The characters are great, the story is infuriating, and the lessons are obvious. Classic Michael Lewis. Also, right at home is the clear bias of the story. I understand downplaying the role individual home owners played in the financial crisis. However, it seems Michael missed any mention of the government and Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie having even a sliver of blame? Nevertheless, an interesting story and an easy read.

4. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-mary

    10/10. Such a solid, fun read. I crushed this book, reading cover to cover within a day. From the writer of The Martian, comes a story about a man with amnesia who wakes up alone on a spaceship. Yeah some parts are corny, but this will probably be my #1 book recommendation going forward. It's just so fun and accessible. 

5. Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103758.Zen_in_the_Art_of_Archery

    I really don't "get" Zen Buddhism.

6. Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter

    The first mind-bending book I've read in quite a while. I am confident this is kicking off a trend, and I already have some more slated to read next. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book is one part Enemy (one of my favorite movies) and one part Meanwhile (a choose your own adventure comic I had in middle school). The initial half of the book was predictable, but the second half really let loose with the twists and turns. Also, the underlying commentary on the decisions we make and the lives we lead was perfect and really made the narrative seem deeper than it would have otherwise.

"We're all just wandering through the tundra of our existence, assigning value to worthlessness, when all that we love and hate, all we believe in and fight for and kill for and die for is as meaningless as images projected onto Plexiglas."

7. Replay, by Ken Grimwood

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/341735.Replay

    I delivered on my promise, to read more fascinating, mind bending books. This story follows Jeff Winston, who is stuck in a time loop between ages 18 to 43. I loved this book. I don't know what it is about this sort of narrative that speaks to me so much. I think reading about a man who constantly repeats life forces you to confront the horrific fact that you have only one life, you have no idea why you are here, and you can't re-do any of it. This was a beautiful, engrossing novel that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

"We're here, and we don't know why. We can philosophize all we want, pursue the key to that secret along a thousand different paths, and we'll never be any closer to unlocking it."

"For all that they had struggled, all they'd once achieved, the end result was null. Even the happiness they had managed to find together had been frustratingly brief; a few years stolen here and there, transient moments of love and contentment like vanishing specks of foam in a sea of lonely, needless separation."

8. Practical Vim, Edit Text at the Speed of Thought, by Drew Neil

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13607232-practical-vim

Yes, I read books about text editors in my free time. I would be embarrassed, but I’m too busy flying through code at the speed of sound to have time to care. Over the course of three weeks, I read this book, set Vim as my default text editor, and set up Vim plugins for all of my IDEs. I would guess this style of editing has increased my speed and productivity by about 15%. However, it has increased my sense of superiority by at least 50%. This was a fun detour, :q!

9. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/170448.Animal_Farm

    My first audiobook, ever? I've always looked down my nose at people who claim to have "read" books when they mean "vaguely listened to while distracted and doing something else." Maybe it is the elitist in me, who scoffs at those without the patience to sit in a chair and read hundreds of pages of software engineering books in a week. I was wrong. This was an enjoyable experience that I can see continuing for the rest of my life. In the shower, on my way to work, working out, and more, I can be reading books! It's funny, reading is one of my favorite things to do, and now I can do it 24/7. Animal Farm was a great satire, and something I would not have been interested in reading on paper. I've started a collection on Audible, and I am planning on "reading" many more classics like this in the future.

10. Circe, by Madeline Miller

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/176372.Madeline_Miller

    Beautiful book, really. This book chronicles the story of Circe, a Greek goddess, nymph, and witch. Great story, compelling characters, and just a joy to listen to. This was another audiobook, but I'm sort of wishing I read it in print so that I could keep a list of quotes. Some have stuck with me, such as: "a golden cage is still a cage." This is an empowering, female-driven tale. I can't think of any way the book could have been improved. For the story told, and the perspective given, this was pretty much a  perfect book.

Third 10 Books I Read in 2021

 Reading Period: May 18 - June 23

1. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22328.Neuromancer

    The original cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer is a 1984 novel well ahead of it's time. William coins terms like "cyberspace" and "the matrix" in this book, and pits artificial intelligences against humanity. The read was interesting, as it is clearly the initial domino leading to thousands of mimics in literature, television, and video games. Unfortunately, it is too outdated to be worth the read. No fault to William, but as time has passed, the universes we can explore with current science fiction are much more compelling.

2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing

    The best writing guide on the market, written by an obviously qualified master of the craft. The book starts out of an autobiography, transitions to writing tips, and finishes with Stephen's commentary on the writing process as a whole. Definitely worth the read, even if you are never planning on writing a novel.

3. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256008.Lonesome_Dove

    I read this 900 page monster is less than a week, it was that brilliant. Granted I was on vacation and not doing much else, but still, a wonderful book. The characters are engaging, the storytelling is masterful, and before you know it you've spent your non-reading time daydreaming about driving cattle from Texas to Montana. 

    This epic adventure carries the personalities of a dozen characters, but the two central cowboys are  Capitan Call and Gus McCrae. After beating a man to the brink of death, the Capitan merely states to the crowd of onlookers "I hate a man that talks rude. I won't tolerate it." Gus has too many great quotes to count, but one that stuck with me was "the earth is mostly just a boneyard. But pretty in the sunlight." This is a hilarious, beautiful, heartbreaking book that I would put at the top of my recommendation list.

4. Night, by Elie Wiesel

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1617.Night

    This short book chronicles Elie Wiesel's time spent in the Auschwitz concentration camp. This book is horrifying, a first hand account at the worst humanity has to offer. Babies are burned alive, a son kills his father for a crust of bread, and Elie's entire family is killed. An important read, but also a brutal and worrying one.

5. The Death of Ivan Ilych, by Leo Tolstoy

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18386.The_Death_of_Ivan_Ilych

    I read this novella in order to determine if War and Peace would be worth the effort. Leo is no doubt a brilliant writer, and this was a great story about suffering and death. There are some slivers of optimism that can be taken away from this book, and my dislike of these parts made me realize I am becoming way to cynical and pessimistic. Still, this is an authentic, frightening, and meaningful take on death.

6. Python for Data Analysis, by Wes McKinney

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14744694-python-for-data-analysis

    This is an extensive guide to pandas (a Python package for data analysis) written by the creator Wes McKinney. This book isn't well structured and a bit all over the place, and even after reading the whole thing I don't think I learned anything new. If you are completely new to Python or data analysis, I'd recommend sticking with the online documentation or learning through projects. There was one quick chapter on applications for finance that was worth the read, Wes could have written a useful book about that.

7. Web Scraping with Python, by Ryan Mitchell

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25752783-web-scraping-with-python

    Easily the best Python book I've ever read. Extremely well written, concise, and entertaining. Running the pre-defined scripts feels like magic. Ryan wasn't joking when she said web scraping takes very little effort and looks extremely impressive. I particularly enjoyed the tangential items Ryan includes throughout the guide: image recognition, natural language processing, and the legality/ethics of web scraping. Even if you have no programming experience, I would still highly recommend this book. The abilities of a proficient web scraper are just too cool to pass up.

8. The Course of Love, by Alain de Botton

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27845690-the-course-of-love

    This is a book with a crazy amount of insight, most of it extremely useful and interesting. However, as I moved along the chapters, I started realize that the book is right on the edge of greatness, but it just doesn't cut it. I'm not completely certain why this is the case. Alain does have a tendency to talk a lot but say very little, and criticisms of  pompousness or overgeneralization are probably valid. I think what didn't sit well with me was the  discussion of infidelity and secret keeping. Alain seems to have some very strange beliefs on this topic. Honesty is less important in Alain's world (he should read "Lying"), and unfortunately it creates some sense of justified moral ambiguity for certain plot points. Without spoiling the plot, I will say Alain is stretching to rationalize selfish behavior and most competent readers will find the attempt laughable.

    I've highlighted more of this book than any other book I've read. Paraphrasing, Alain believes love is a skill rather than an enthusiasm. People know far too much about how love starts, and recklessly little about how it might continue. There are no soul mates, no perfect marriages. There can only ever be a "good enough" marriage, and everyone has major flaws. Recognizing that you have major flaws and are very hard to live with is needed for your marriage to work. Having similar tastes to a partner is not important, what is important is finding someone who can negotiate differences in taste with intelligence and good grace. I would be interested in reflecting on these ideas in 30 years, and seeing how much my view on the book as a whole has changed.

9. Be Prepared, a Practical Handbook for New Dads, by Gary Greenberg

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/597544.Be_Prepared

   My reason for reading this book is on part due to a quote from the previous book A Course of Love, where Alain de Botton is describing the ignorance of the main character asking his girlfriend to marry:

 "He has never read any books on the institution; he has in the last decade never spent more than ten minutes with a child; he has never cynically interrogated a married couple let alone spoken in depth with a divorced one and would be at a loss to explain why the majority of marriages fail, save from the general idiocy or lack of imagination of their participants.

    Upon reading this, I thought oh, he's also describing me. I've read a previous book on marriage, but the part about never spending more than ten minutes with a child rings true. How am I convinced that I want to have children if I am entirely clueless about the subject? Reading this book was an attempt to expand my knowledge of the subject, and at least get a feel for what fatherhood is like. Gary explains in great detail the requirements of raising a child through their first year of life. This was a funny, easy to read, and enlightening book. Gary makes the tough, gross, thankless job of early fatherhood into a fun and understandable project. Also, this book is a great gift idea I will be getting my friends once they start having kids.

10. The Pragmatic Programmer, by Andy Hunt

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4099.The_Pragmatic_Programmer

    This was a fairly easy read that I learned a lot from. The approaches taught in this book mirror the approaches I have found extremely valuable on my own. Kaizen is the first important principle of programming: continuous improvement every day. My best projects have been slowly chipped away at over time, and these daily optimizations have created some really cool functionality. The second important principle is orthogonality. This principle focuses on independent functions, DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and an overall focus on flexibility. It is interesting that a lot of common knowledge,  such as premature optimization is the root of all evil, are things I had to learn the hard way on my own. Reading a book like this will help you avoid these common traps, and learn how to code the right way the first time. Overall, I would say this was worth the read. It is a bit dated (1999), but I think the concepts still translate well today.