John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit

Author: James Traub

Published: 2016

Read: 2019

Thoughts: I’ve had the chance to read a lot of biographies over the last few years of founding fathers, but none have I found so much perspective on myself as I did with John Quincy Adams. There are many things that he was (or wasn’t) that don’t apply to me; genius, terrible dad, etc. But his attitudes about life felt very close to home.

Poor Charlie's Almanack

Author: Peter Kaufman (Editor)

Published: 2005

Read: 2020

Thoughts: Living life intentionally is not an easy or common thing. I used to believe I was fairly thoughtful about the way I live my life, but Charlie Munger is an aggregator of some of the finest ideas other people have come up with. This is a distillation of that goodness.

Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet

Author: Ian F. McNeely and Lisa Wolverton

Published: 2008

Read: 2021

Thoughts: I came away captivated by The Republic of Letters. “The Republic of Letters can be defined as an international community of learning stitched together by handwritten letters in the mail.” What does that look like in a world powered by the internet and the creator economy? Are DMs the new letters? Are the ideas shared by intellectuals as much about culture as they are technology?

See also 📜The Republic of Letters 2.0

The Good Earth

Author: Pearl S. Buck

Published: 1931

Read: 2013

Thoughts: I think I read this book for the first time in my sophomore year of high school. But I read it again in front of a fire in New Zealand in 2013 and was struck. As much as I love characters who I empathize with, I am often more impacted by characters who I hate. And Wang Lung is a character I increasingly hate.

Leap of Faith

Author: Bob Bennett

Published: 2009

Read: 2012, 2024

Thoughts: Too often, people don’t think enough about why they believe what they believe. I’ve always loved this Charlie Munger quote: “I feel that I'm not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition.” This book is one of the best resources I’ve used to understand the opposition to one of my core beliefs.

Anna Karenina

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Published: 1878

Read: 2011

Thoughts: After being exposed to Russian novels in high school, I took a Russian novels class in college and I was assigned to read Anna Karenina. In particular, I remember sitting on the couch of the common room of my dorm reading “The Mowing Scene” and having a legitimate spiritual experience.