Kenji's Reads

	A	B	C	H	I	K
1	TITLE	AUTHOR	GENRE	KENJI RATING	DATE FINISHED	NOTES

2	Think like a rocket scientist 🚀	Ozan Varol	Sciences	87	4/23/2021	This book actually reminded me of Adam Grant's "Think Again" although it came out before that book. As such, I gave it a similar score. Varol pulls from his experience as a NASA engineer to discuss how we as humans can reevaluate the way we think, approach challenges, and make decisions. I have many sticky notes throughout the book that I have to go back through. Overall, really liked this and it's good for anyone that wants to and is open to changing the way they think. This book and Grant's book remind me of this topic of intellectual humility even though I don't think either explicitly use that phrase, although both do urge you to ask yourself "What am I missing here?" rather than being convicted in your answer. It's something I'm striving for not only in my self (to being more intellectually humble and curious) but in others too
3	Transcendent Kingdom	Yaa Gyasi	Fiction	84	4/20/2021	I enjoyed this second novel by Gyasi but not nearly as much as Homegoing ; there was something beautiful in the way that she wrapped all of the narratives in that book. This one feels like in some ways it hit closer to home for her, although it's not clear where fiction and her actual life story start and end. It's a moving novel, following the main character's relationships with her mother, brother, father as well as God and religion.
4	I Came As a Shadow	John Thompson Jr.	Memoir	83	4/7/2021	Being a Big East fan growing up, I've always had respect for John Thompson and what he did at Georgetown. I don't know if anything in this book was revelationary, but I did enjoy it. John talks about where he got his outspokenness from and what comes across is the care he had for all the players who came through his program. It's a good read for all basketball fans.
5	Almost Black	Vijay Chokalingam	Social commentary	81	3/9/2021	This book I wanted to severely dislike and although author himself is dislikeable, it is a good read to at least spur different thoughts and a conversation on affirmative action. I did find his book more readable than his sister's (Mindy Kaling). Vijay discusses his time as a university of Chicago student who lied about his race to try to help him get into med school. One has to wonder after all he went through and then to drop out of school, did he take someone else's spot? Vijay comes across as someone who regardless of affirmative action or not is just a very mediocre individual. The parts of the story that were good were that he recognized that when people did see him as a black man that he faced more racism than he previously did. What seemed to go beyond his mental capacity though is what if he actually lived his life and his family's life through that lens since he was born?
6	Think Again	Adam Grant	Social Sciences	87	3/1/2021	This is a book I forgot to review until a month later* . Overall, really liked this book by Grant. Whereas I struggled to finish his past books like Give and Take, this one, I think had enough diversity in its material to keep me engaged. The book's focus is on how to not only change the way you think and approach things but how to work with others to reframe and change their minds. The overall premise of the book is pushing ourselves and others to think about things differently. I really liked this one.
7	Just as I am	Cicely Tyson	Memoir	90	2/19/2021	I first remember seeing Cicely Tyson as a young boy when I watched The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and I think I had read the book before that. Her performance in that and that movie and book always stuck with me. An actress who has never been in the mainstream of Hollywood, this memoir goes into her full life story, all she has done, and all the lives she has touched. As I read this, I could hear her voice reading this aloud. Ms. Tyson, who passed away recently, leaves a legacy of grace, power in one's morals, and an aim to do amazing things and touch lives. She is, as the title says, herself through and through but also her memoir tells a story of a generational woman who cares and loves those around her and beyond. An amazing, inspirational read..
8	Being Mortal	Atul Gawande	Non-Fiction / Medicine / Life	85	2/8/2021	Dr Gawandes book on life, death, and what those last few months, days and hours are like is a good one. He explores the current role of medicine in end of life / elderly care versus what it should be. Gawande provides arguments more so for not extending life just to extend life but rather to understand the goals and wishes of an elderly person and cater to that. He talks about Doctor types which I found interesting: Paternal (old school doctor, follow as I say), Informative (here's all the info I have and the decisions you can make), and finally one that I don't remember the name of but care where the doctor takes some time to talk and listen to understand what that person wants out of life and only then makes a recommendation of best potential path to get there. Being mortal is about that life is about living not just having a long life but doing it in a way that allows people to express and be themselves as much as possible
9	How to decide	Annie Duke	Decision science	80	1/2/2021	There were some good frameworks for decision making in this book I liked but overall was a bit disappointed although I do like Duke and her work in general. She mentioned that this started as a workbook for her last book, Thinking in bets, and it felt that way...a bit too disjointed.
10	Escaping the build trap	Melissa Perri	Product Management	88	12/31/2020	This was a really great read, concise and to the point about becoming a better product thinker and getting your org to do so as well. So much of what Melissa writes is important to designers as well and what she highlights about being a product-led company should give you an idea of places to work and not to work. Or at least give you an idea of things to fix in your own organisation. Highly recommend for any Product Designer and PM.
11	How I Invest My Money	Josh Brown	Personal finance	73	12/18/2020	I was disappointed by this book, which was a collection of essays from financial advisors about how they approach their own financial health. Read basically like a bunch of blog posts.
12	Bruce Lee: A life	Matthew Polly	Biography	85	12/6/2020	A solid, well researched biography on Bruce Lee who I didn't know much about before reading this
13	Awareness	Anthony de Mello	Philosophy/Spirituality	89	10/31/2020	You'll have to be in a certain, open mindset to read this one. De Mellos book came to me via recommendations by Naval Ravikant. His book focuses on the premise of "waking up" to life, to understanding what your attachments might be, and hmm it's actually even hard to write them in a review here. A big takeaway of the book for me is his guidance to look inside to oneself rather than looking externally for happiness or for blame! A good read. A gem with so many insights to munch, this is a book to re read in order to fully grasp all that he is talking about.
14	Maybe You Should Talk to Someone	Lori Gottlieb	Memoir/Mental Health	90	10/20/2020	A very good book that I had seen recommended a few different places. Gottlieb talks about not only her own journey into therapy but also shares through the stories of six different patients, her experience as the therapist counseling them. It's an emotional book not in the sad sense but in a human sense as you experience a variety of emotions with the characters involved. Gottlieb is a strong writer so the book reads very quickly even though it is nearly 400 pages. Worth a read for anyone considering therapy, thinking of mental health, or even just curious about the human condition.
15	Designing Interface Animation	Val Head	Design	86	10/18/2020	A good intro for someone like me into the world of UI animation. Of course, teaching animation through a static medium like a book is hard but Head makes it a bit easier by providing links to a variety of examples throughout. I still have to go back through and collate all of my stickies but enjoyed her book as a primer for me getting started in this design space.
16	Black Box Thinking	Matthew Syed	Science	84	10/6/2020	Peppered with interesting stories and references to research, Syed's main point is that we, in our personal lives and organizations, not shy away from failure. Instead, failure + mistakes + getting feedback on this mistakes is the only way to truly grow and understand that you are improving. He argues for the wider use of randomly controlled trials beyond the world of science. And also that everyone should adopt the scientist mindset more: be willing to experiment, challenge your own ideas, test through A/B tests, and learn from past failed experiments. A pretty good read although it starts to repeat itself around the 70% mark.
17	The almanack of Naval Ravikant	Eric Jorgensen	Philosophy	91	9/30/2020	I've known about Naval (founder of Angellist, Epions and successful angel investor) before but never understood why he seemed to have such a following on Twitter. this book compiles much of his life principles, philosophies, and ideas into an easy to read format. A book that I want to go back and re read again, I read this in only a few days time. Good for people looking for life advice or even just different ways of thinking.
18	The psychology of money	Morgan Housel	Personal Finance	84	9/12/2020	A short, fairly light read that I read over the span of five days. Housel takes a look at investing, saving, and money from a human not quantitative standpoint. What I took away from the book was looking at money and money decisions not as being as rational as possible but rather as reasonable as possible.
19	I am not your negro	James Baldwin	Sociology	84	8/28/2020	A quick read of an amalgamation of texts, essays and notes from James Baldwin. Best quote from it: "You never had to look at me. I had to look at you. I know more about you than you know about me. Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
20	User Friendly	Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant	Design	84	8/13/2020	A solid design book on user friendly or human centered design that weaves in a variety of stories and history, mainly from beyond the digital realm. I enjoyed the stories but wondered why there was a lack of images and visuals as that would help with the reading experience. As they explained stories, I found myself picking up my phone to Google an image of what they were describing. The afterword by Fabricant in some ways was better than the rest of the book as well.
21	Barking Up the Wrong Tree	Eric Barker	Psychology / Science Review	82	7/23/2020	This one was a bit hard to rate. Barker basically takes all the research he can find on "success" in life (that can be defined financially, happiness wise, relationship wise etc) and wrap it into one book. It makes for some interesting topics and a lot of highlights but hard to actually read and come away with action items. The book feels a bit like jumping all over the place
22	Tuff Juice	Caron Butler	Autobiography	80	7/5/2020	An Autobiography by Caron Butler. Maybe it just didn't speak to me much but I felt like after the stories from his childhood the book seemed to fall off a bit.
23	The Biggest Bluff	Maria Konnikova	Memoir/Poker	86	6/29/2020	A fun read by Konnikova exploring the 3 years she took to go from PhD psychologist and writer to a full fledged poker player, working under the tutelage of Erik Seidel. The book focuses much on the importance of decision making in poker and how that translates to real life.
24	On the Come Up	Angie Thomas	Fiction	85	6/21/2020	Solid, quick read not not quite as good as her first book.
25	The Poet X	Elizabeth Acevedo	Fiction/Poetry	89	6/11/2020	This book was DOPE. It's a book that I kept seeing around whenever I went to book stores and the like and finally got around to reading it. Part memoir, part poetry, part fiction, it's hard to put it into a genre. The book feels like it is loosely based on the author's life, chronicling a strict Dominican upbringing in NYC. It's a very good read, a different type of coming of age story that isn't told enough. I'm looking forward to diving into more of Liz Acevedo's work.
26	The Hate U Give	Angie Thomas	Fiction	93	6/1/2020	Wow, this book came at such a crazy time, I began reading it just as everything with the George Floyd case was happening. Fiction was literally reflecting reality. I almost even changed the genre of this from Fiction to non-fiction? A very well written book and one that sucked me in. It hit me in many personal ways and it's one of the better books I've read this year. I recommend to folks once they have healed a bit from everything going on this world. This one hits very close to home and real life. Thomas is a great writer and it's amazing that this is her first novel. I appreciated all the references to Tupac throughout and at the end she even provides a map of her fictional world which points to the level of detail that she thought about with this book.
27	How design makes the world	Scott Berkun	Design	85	5/25/2020	A solid read, similar in some ways to The design of everyday things, Berkun guides us on a short journey of some of the ways that design impacts the world. Works as a good primer as to what is design in general, I feel like I wish I read this just as I was getting into design. Still found it to be a good, concise read. The questions he asks for any project 1) What is the problem we are trying to solve/what are we trying to improve? 2) Who are we trying to improve it for? 3) how do we ensure we are successful 4) Who might be hurt by our work, now or in the?
28	Manhood	Terry Crews	Memoir	86	5/22/2020	Who doesn't like Terry Crews? This was a nice read by the actor/former NFL player on his life, learnings, and experiences all the from growing up in Flint, Michigan to how he faced marital troubles. The title of the book is a bit deceiving as one may think he has explicit tips about what being a man means but no he titled it this because of (I think) his realization over time of what being a man means and redefining that from more traditional views to a more progressive and relationship, emotion-focused view. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to folks who like memoirs and don't want to read anything too heavy.
29	Doing Good better	William Macaskill	Social sciences	81	5/6/2020	A short read, the author takes a look at the most effective ways to lead a more altruistic life whether that be through donating, volunteering, or working in a particular career. He takes a very economist approach at looking at this, seeing where the best expected value of efforts may be. The book fails to bring in the aspect of real human emotions. meaning, yes it often makes sense to as he puts it "Earn to give" aka work in a well paying job and then give to the most effective organisations but many people may not find that fulfilling at all.
30	Hit Makers	Derek Thompson	Social sciences	83	5/4/2020	An entertaining read on what makes something catch on as a hit in either the world of music, entertainment, technology, film, etc. Thompson is a pretty good writer and the book was a fairly quick read, however I'm not sure my life is any the better after reading it? It did introduce me to several new characters'lives to go explore, most notably the industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Well written book and entertaining but nothing mind-blowing.
31	How we fight for our lives	Saeed Jones	Memoir	89	4/20/2020	I was a bit surprised that I liked this memoir so much. Jones writes extremely well--as you read his memoir it feels like you are in each scene that he is describing. Some of the things he writes about are.. raw to say the least so this book may not be for the faint of heart (or people who may be yes offended by explicitly described gay scenes). He is an extremely talented writer and after this I'm looking forward to jumping into some of his poetry.
32	Ride of a Lifetime	Bob Iger	Memoir	84	4/13/2020	Iger talks about his journey and rise within Disney, where he now leads as a CEO. It was entertaining enough and fun to see a bit behind the curtain but not nearly as good as Shoe Dog.
33	Keep Going	Austin Kleon	Creativity	87	4/12/2020	It's a very short read but a good one on staying consistent, motivated, on the right path, and towards a vision of living a life of making things. this is one of those books that's good to read some of the highlights from, from time to time or as an end table book. I like the way Kleon writes.
34	The Hot Hand	Ben Cohen	Social Psychology	82	4/5/2020	Cohen explores the notion of the hot hand fallacy, previously found in work by the famous economist Amos Tversky and team. The book takes a look at two newer pieces of research on hot hands that show that having a hot hand in basketball may actually be a real thing. But overall this book goes beyond basketball and looks at the hot hand as hot streaks in any field. It's a fun read and Cohen is a good writer (he works for WSJ) but overall the book just jumps around way to much and tries to apply the hot hand idea to everything. In that way, it feels like a Malcolm Gladwell book where he takes one idea and tries to force it into a variety of situations. A quick, fun read for folks into social Psychology and economics but unfortunately this one falls short..
35	Mindful Design	Scott Riley	UX Design	86	3/25/2020	Riley has written a really extensive and intense book (the book is thick and tops out at about 330 pages) looking, at an often more abstract level, of design. I'll do a more intricate deep dive into the book later on a blog post, but what sticks out to me most is his emphasis on empowering people who use your products, taking from things like video game design which, often, rather than forcing people down a strictly linear path allow for openess and exploration. The main premise of the book as well is really looking at how our brain and it's intracies, strengths, and deficiencies should be considered when we design. This is definitley more of an intermediate-level UX design book which I appreciate.
36	The simple guide to Wealth	JL Collins	Personal Finance	86	2/12/2020	A nice, straight to the point personal finance book that I read in just a few days. Collins has a big following and I like that he keeps his strategy simple - minimize or eliminate all debt, invest in VSATX, and save/invest 50%. Good, basic pf read.
37	How will you measure your life?	Clayton Christensen	Life	87	2/10/2020	I was inspired to read this after a recommendation from Scott Galloway as well as Christensen's recent passing. In this short book, Christensen and his co-authors, show how you can apply business theories and frameworks to live a better, more fulfilled, purposeful, deliberate, and hopefully meaningful life. I quite liked the book and am excited to try a few of the things Christensen recommended. On a side note, Christensen refers to his faith often throughout the book, finally saying that he is a Mormon. I find it interesting that, from my experience, in this sphere of the business world, it seems like you see a good amount of Mormon professors.
38	How Charts Lie	Alberto Cairo	Design	86	1/27/2020	A quick read, by Cairo a professor of visual communication at the University of Miami about charts, the limitations of charts, and examples of ways that charts are used to tell wrong stories. Really liked this one
39	This is not a T-Shirt	Bobby Hundreds	Memoir	82	1/25/2020	A fun read, maybe mostly because I used to like The Hundreds brand a fair amount back in the day. Bobby is a pretty good writer but I don't know if I'd recommend this to anyone who hasn't been into the street wear scene at some point in their life.
40	Made to Stick	Chip & Dan Heath	Psychology	82	1/22/2020	This was recommended several times as a must UX book by the guy who runs the agency, AJ & Smart. I actually generally like the work of the Heath brothers (Switch, Decisive) but this one I didn't find quite as good. They lay out their framework (SUCCES) for how to make your ideas/messages stick. For me, I could see using this most when trying to do a presentation (or for teaching) so from a UX standpoint maybe for when you must convince stakeholders. The framework breaks down as such. Make your message Simple, distill down to the core of what is most important and drill on that. Unexpected - bring elements of surprise or uncommon sense into it to make it more memorable. Credible - use outside credibility, intricate details, and or stats that people can grasp (the sound of BBs representing gunshots) to make your message more credible. Concrete - Experts tend to be held by the Curse of Knowledge and think abstractly. Instead of Boeing wanting "to create a next generation airplane" it should be more concrete so people can identify and clearly understand it "to make an airplane that takes off vertically, holds 300 passageners, and uses solar energy". Emotional - Mother Theresa. In order to get people to care, don't say that you are helping children in Africa but instead "your donation of $37 will help feed Rovia for one month and get her a backpack and notebooks for school". Finally, Stories help people to remember (more than stats), pull away a moral, and want to act. They also tend to bring emotion in there.
41	Never Split the Difference	Chris Voss	Business	84	1/16/2020	Voss takes a somewhat different approach to negotiating than previous books as he really emphasizes listening and having deep empathy for the other side. He has several tactics - labeling, mirroring, calibrated questions - that seem good. The toughest thing with this book is that to really get good at what he talks about you can't read it but have to practice it over and over. Notes for it are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gc9BEntJWOnO-kz-iFDnqScc9ejGkGjsMaiXYe3Lomc/edit?usp=sharing
42	The Second Mountain	David Brooks	Philosophy	87	1/15/2020	Brooks who may be somewhat of a controversial character, writes a great book on how he views one should live a more meaningful life. The first mountain is living a life geared towards one's own goals, needs, wants, and dreams etc. The second mountain is moving beyond this to think more relationally, building a community, really moving beyond oneself to think less individualistically and more relationally. I really enjoyed this book especially for 2020 as I'm trying to think about moving beyond the self to seeing how I can better serve others (friends, family, spouse, and beyond).
43	Permanent Record	Edward Snowden	Memoir	84	1/13/2020	An interesting read, maybe not that Snowden is all that interesting himself, but moreso that it opened my eyes to thoughts regarding how governments and companies may surveil us and use our data. Snowden of course is on the far end of this but even giving a bit more thought to how you as a citizen are being tracked online, surveiled in terms of what you look at, watch, browse, what you buy, it's all important and the amount of information about you being kept is only going to increase. An interesting read because it helped me further think of these things.
44	Design for How People Think	John Whalen	UX Design	86	1/9/2020	In Design for How People Think, Whalen introduces his 6 mind Framework for allowing designers to better understand how people think and engage with their products. I found it useful as a different way to approach how we build products, engage in user interviews, and analyze usability test findings.
45	Faith	Jimmy Carter	Spiritually	89	12/11/2019	A short read into President Jimmy Carter's take on faith and it's importance on his life and life in general. Although he comes at it from largely a Christian angle, one can take this from a secular angle as well. I quite enjoyed the book as it was different than most things that I read. Would recommend to those interested in furthering their spirituality and aiming to improve themselves as an overall human.
46	The formula: the universal laws of success	Albert Lazlo Barbasi	Social sciences	84	11/30/2019	A quick read on what Barbasi, a physicist by trade, describes as the five laws of success. I enjoyed the book because it was a mixture of behavioral science, actual research, and anecdotes and parables to convey what he believes the 5 laws of success to be. Some of the laws particularly stuck out to me. Second law: Performance is bounded but success is unbounded. This means that in any field, a human can only do so much. A runner won't be about to run faster than say 3:15 marathon. But got for those who do, the amount of success to attain is pretty much boundless. 3rd law = Previous success x fitness = future success. The more successful you already are + how talented you are will result in even more success. Think of the actor who starts to get roles and is talented, that helps to predict future success. 5th law = With persistence, success can come at any time.
47	Stillness is the Key	Ryan Holiday	Philosophy	86	11/24/2019	A solid, Ryan Holiday-esque book incorporating a variety of Eastern and Western philosophy into short chapters for better living. this was a very quick read but overall, I recommend it.
48	Washington Black	Esi Edugyan	Fiction	90	11/15/2019	I rarely read fiction but found this on a best book list. It didn't disappoint as I ripped through it in one weeks time. A story set in the times of slavery but that takes a backseat to the story of a young, talented boy growing up and figuring out who he is as he is stripped of all he once knew. Highly recommend.
49	Winners Take All	Anand G.	Social Criticism	87	10/29/2019	I feel conflicted about this one. Anand gives a good crticiscm of the "win-win" business world, ideas of philanthropy and social entrepreneurship, and argues instead for a more effective government system to tackle inequality. At the same time, Anand as he admits, is very much a part of this MarketWorld that he criticises. How does he justify being both a part of this space and criticizing it? Is it because he feels that he criticizing it then that may be the only way.. to change it. Interesting read overall and a good read to get your brain thinking. It had me wondering about best ways to actually make a real change in this world as I always saw the those through the avenue of business.
50	Talking with Strangers	Malcolm Gladwell	Pop Psychology	79	9/23/2019	Entertaining since Gladwell is a good writer but I feel like the stories and stats behind his message: understanding strangers is hard, we often default to truth, were a bit all over the place. The chapter I liked best was about coupling, where fascinatingly he looked at out how in England having gas home ovens provided a convenient suicide tool. I wish this was the theme of the book instead, looking from a behavioral science bite view at how small things make a big impact.
51	Algebra of happiness	Scott Galloway	Life	83	8/29/2019	I zoomed through this book mostly because I just like Galloway having listened to his podcasts and talks on YouTube. He's a smart guy (NYU Stern professor and successful entrepreneur) with some personality quirks. This book is really just musings from his own life and the takeaways from his advice I see are : have kids and shower them with love, build close relationships for a fulfilling and long life, and work hard in your twenties and thirties.
52	Range	David Epstein	Social sciences	84	8/10/2019	I enjoyed this book by Epstein. It flips the conventional thought of specialization in it's head instead advocating for always specializing later in life and then even when doing so to seek out information and inspiration from other fields. He writes well so it makes his books easier to read
53	Information Dashboard Design	Stephen Few	UX design	87	7/18/2019	A must read for anyone designing graphs, Dashboards, or any info communicating out information using numbers.
54	Bitcoin Billionaires	Ben Mezrich	Historical Fiction	84	6/20/2019	Giving Mezrich's books a rating is always difficult because although they are entertaining, they aren't great literature. That being said, this book follows the same format as all his other come this time focused on how the Winklevoss Twins big in the crypto world. Worth a read for those who are into tech or like Mezrich's other work.
55	The User's Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love	Donna Lichaw	UX design	87	6/5/2019	I actually really enjoyed this book. I'm still trying to tease it the exercises I'll do with it but Lichaw basically advocates for using the story arc in how were build products. Similar to how a movie is told, how do we guide our users through the and story arc so that they can experience a "boom" moment? With some practice, this is a good framework to think about all steps in the product development process: from how users hear about you, to onboarding, to the overall flow that to you want users to experience.
56	Simple and Usable	Giles Colborne	UX Design	83	6/2/2019	A quick and easy read on discussing strategies to make your designs and products overall, more simple and thus more usable. Colborne gives a four strategies for improving simplicity: Remove, Organize, Hide, Displace. It's a fairly practical read and a nice reminder of how trying to jam more features into a product ultimately almost always leads to users leaving.
57	The Phenomenon	Rick Ankiel	Autobiography	82	5/27/2019	A quick read from Ankiel on his battle with "the yips". I was interested in Ankiel because I remembered his famous meltdown and then subsequent comeback. what I did like about the book was something his sports psychologist constantly reminded him off whenever facing adversity: "So what are you going to do about it?"
58	Coach Wooden and Me	Kareem Abdul Jabaar	Autobiography	90	5/16/2019	Kareem tells the story of his nearly 50 year relationship/friendship with legendary coach and mentor, John Wooden. Very enthralling read, the fact that Kareem can write so much about his former Coach, tells you about the character of John Wooden. It helps too that Kareem is a strong writer. Excellent read
59	Tiger Woods	Armen Keteyian	Biography	81	5/11/2019	This is a beast of a book, clocking in around 500 pages. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this book. The authors clearly conducted a thorough amount of research on Woods, but weren't about to involve him or his family in this. The book sometimes came across as overly negative/biased against Tiger at times, especially when discussing his relationship with the press (who the authors are apart of). Overall, a decent attempt but not all that impressed.
60	Things That Make White People Uncomfortable	Michael Bennett	Autobiography	87	4/30/2019	A quick read from Michael Bennett (the DE most known for playing for the Seahawks and brother of Marcellus Bennett). Had no idea his political stances and activism efforts Bennett seems like a real good, highly educated and progressive guy. Good read
61	The War on Normal People	Andrew Yang	Political Science	82	4/23/2019	I'm a supporter of Yang and felt like this book would have been more interesting had I not heard him discuss almost all of it now during his run for president. I like that he is thinking of solutions, even if some of them are pretty out of left field. Recommended for those who haven't heard of Yang or his ideas just yet.
62	Own the Moment	Carl Lentz	Self Help	83	3/31/2019	Lentz, the pastor of Hillsong church in NYC, talks about kindness, helping, and giving to others in this self help/memoir book. Overall, solid messages from the pastor and good reading for Christians and non Christians alike. Something about Carl comes across as not all that likeable but good message is solid nonetheless. Recommended for when you want to read a nice self help book.
63	The Master Plan	Chris Wilson	Autobiography	96	3/10/2019	This is the best book I think I've read in the last year. Wilson tells his story of getting a life sentience as a teenager to taking control of his life and trying to become the best version of himself through what he calls his "Master Plan". A both inspiring and tear-jerking book, Wilson makes you want to push past any seemingly small obstacles in your life and push towards greatness. Highly highly recommend, ten times over.
64	Rising out of hatred	Eli Saslow	Biography	88	3/5/2019	I had been waiting to read this and ended up devouring this book in just 3 days. It's an in depth look at the transformation of Derek Black, who was once a prominent white nationalist. The story was well written and captivating and I left oddly not disliking but not liking Derek. You get the feeling that he should still be doing more for all the damage that he caused. That it is fairly easy for him to just shrink back into anonymity despite all the harm and hatred he once spewed. Regardless, what a great read.
65	The art of choosing	Sheena Iyengar	Psychology	80	2/21/2019	I struggled with how to rate this one. Iyengar is the professor behind the famous "jam study" on choice and I thought the book would be more behavioral economics focused. I left with a hodgepodge of stories and she only briefly touched on this one study. However, I'm not sure what I had really expected going in. On one hand, the stories on choice were interesting but on the other, I guess I thought there would be more talk about work being done in labs and the country on choice.
66	Dueling with Kings	Daniel Barabarisi	Investigative Journalism	86	2/2/2019	Enthralling look into the world of Daily Fantasy Sports. It's a light, fun read that Barabarisi tells well. Entertaining book to devour in a few days.
67	Designing UX: Forms	Jessica Enders	UX Design	82	1/23/2019	Enders gives a pretty in-depth look at how to best go about designing forms, in her opinion. I do think alot of the ideas/principles she lists are up for debate and these things are always updating as people get used to different norms for forms. A good starter read through for anyone designing forms.
68	Open	Andre Agassi	Autobiography	87	1/1/2019	A lengthy, but interesting look into Agassi's life from his childhood to his last match after 20 years as a pro. The book reads well and his story is fascinating and makes you think about whether raising kids and pushing kids into things, like tennis, has an overall positive or negative effect. Would recommend for anyone interested in sports in general and that likes autobiographies.
69	Molly's Game	Molly Bloom	Memoir	72	12/23/2018	Somewhat entertaining, I guess? I didn't know her story but basically she tells how she became someone who ran underground poker games in LA and NYC. Not great writing and not even that interesting if a story.
70	This is Your Brain On Sports	Sam Sommers & L. Jon Wertheim	Social psychology	85	12/16/2018	An interesting and entertaining look at the intersection of social psychology and sports, specifically viewing sports through the social psychology phenomena that affect our normal, everyday lives.
71	Situations Matter	Sam Sommers	Social psychology	83	12/9/2018	I can't say that this book was mind blowing or provided me with a ton of new knowledge because I was quite familiar with a lot of the concepts, but I still enjoyed this book from my former professor. In a nutshell, he discusses that our actions and even thoughts aren't things that are stable but rather molded by the situations we are in. Pretty much classic social psychology discussion.
72	When	Daniel Pink	Social Psychology	84	11/26/2018	Pink's book is an interesting look at timing and time and everything related to it. The book cuts a wide cloth over this space looking at when people are most productive in a day to how midpoints can have a positive/negative effect, to looking at how endings impact the way we perceive things. It's kind of your standard social psych book in that he takes a lot of academic research and puts them into themes/buckets for lay people to use and understand. I would recommend to all people interested in understanding how time affects themselves and others.
73	Bad Blood	Jon Carreyou	Investigative Journalism	86	11/24/2018	A gripping read that I finished in just two days about Theranos. Fun and in-depth journalism for sure.
74	An Invisible Thread	Laura Schroff	Auto/biography	82	11/16/2018	Schroff tells the story of how she befriended and came into the life of a young homeless boy in NYC and their lives together for 20+ years. Her story was nice but I think as a reader I wanted to hear directly from Maurice (the boy) and more about him than about Schroffs life. It has an overall good message but I wish he co-wrote or switched chapters back and forth with her.
75	Dear America	Jose Antonio Vargas	Autobiography	83	11/9/2018	A very quick read that looks into illegal immigration through the story of Vargas, an undocumented Pulitzer prize winning Filipino journalist. What I liked about it was his story contradicts to the common story being constantly told in the media if illegal Mexican workers. it sheds light on a different type of experience.
76	The Smarter Screen	Shlomo Benartzi	Behavioral Science	89	11/2/2018	This is a great example of how to take research and try to apply it to real life practices. This book, I think, is a must for all designers. Great read on how we can translate the findings of behavioral science to digital interfaces.
77	Don't Make Me Think	Steve Krug	UX Design	82	10/22/2018	It's a good, short read but I'm not sure it's worth all the hype that it gets.
78	The Spider Network	David Enrich	Investigative Journalism	85	10/21/2018	A very interesting, in-depth look at a financial scandal surrounding the Libor, a financial measure used in the 2000s. Written well and very gripping to read for being one of the "must-read" UX books. I felt like I learned more in Laura Klein's book to be honest
79	Daily Stoic	Ryan Holiday	Philosophy / Spiritual	87	10/20/2018	I took the time to read this, one page at a time, and really liked the daily lessons. I'm looking now for another daily type of reading book. This one was really good.
80	Respect	J. Prince	Autobiography	81	10/4/2018	Hmm J.Prince, smart business man but reading this book, I got the feeling he wasn't telling his whole story and he came across as someone not all that likeable. Only for people who are really into hip hop.
81	The Person You Mean To Be	Dolly Chugh	Social Psychology	86	9/30/2018	I enjoyed this book by Professor Chugh as she writer about how to become a better person as it relates to all things diversity and inclusion related. Particularly, I think it was helpful that for much of the book she is not preachy, instead bringing up her own moments when she made mistakes and emphasizing how she is always striving to constantly learn and be open to growing. A good read for this field.
82	Build Better Products	Laura Klein	Product Development	85	9/30/2018	A great book to have in the arsenal for any PM and UX designer. Very fun to read and Laura provides at least 5 exercises that are really useful when thinking about researching, prioritizing, designing, testing, and yes building products. This is a good book to sticky note sections with exercises to do.
83	Decisive	Chip and Dan Heath	Psychology	84	9/21/2018	The Heath Brothers Introduce A four step process for making almost any kind of decision called WRAP. Widen your options, Reality test your assumptions, Attain distance before deciding, Prepare To Be Wrong. Easy To Read Book With case studies in how to use this process. I also like the introduction of the 10-10-10 rule for making tough decisions. think about your decisions in time frames. how will I feel 10 minutes from now? 10 months from now? 10 years from now?
84	Rebel Talent	Francesca Gino	Psychology	83	8/19/2018	A fairly quick and easy read from Gino, Business Professor at HBS. The book looks at how being a bit of a rebel, going against the grain, working with others who may be different from you, being open and curious, not always following the rules, doing for the sake of learning without another motivation, can lead to personal and team success and positive results.
85	Life Is Not An Accident	Jay Williams	Autobiography	88	8/9/2018	A wonderful autobiography by Jay Williams chronicling his journey leading up to and after his motorcycle accident. Through his story Williams teaches about the value of resiliency, forgiveness (to yourself and others), strength through tough times, vulnerability, and the power of transformation. A great read.
86	Homegoing	Yaa Gyasi	Fiction	91	7/25/2018	A wonderfully written book by Gyasi. She weaves in a myriad of characters across time periods in a way I haven't seen before. A truly great read, this one I couldn't put down.
87	Intuitive Design	Everett McKay	Design	82	7/21/2018	McKay explores his definition of what intuitive design is and provides a prescription for how to design intuitively. Nothing mindblowing but a good addition to the design book collection.
88	Black Edge	Sheelah Kolhatkar	Non-fiction	87	7/13/2018	An in depth look into the world of hedge funds and insider trading through the lens of an investigation into SAC capital. Very entertaining read and great example of investigative journalism.
89	Bullies	Alex Abramovich	Sociology	83	7/4/2018	A look at Oakland Through the eyes of the East Bay Rats Motorcycle Club. Entertaining and an easy read, yet nothing amazing.
90	The Fire This Time	Jesmyn Ward	Cultural Commentary	85	6/27/2018	Edited By Ward, this is a compilation of essays by a diverse set of writers discussing their takes on what it means to be Black in 21st century America. The book acts as a follow up to James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" and and examines both how much but how little has changed since that book was written. The standout essay to me was Black and Blue by Garnette Cadogan, a must read.
91	Factfulness	Hans Rosling	Sociology	86	6/20/2018	There Is a reason that Bill Gates said this was a must read for all college graduates in 2018. The World is changing around us, largely for the better, and no longer is there a binary developing vs non-developed countries. Understand that what the news presents and what you learned in school 20 years ago, no longer is the truth.
92	Misbehaving	Richard Thaler	Behavioral Economics	84	6/20/2018	Thaler takes the reader through his journey into helping to create the world of behavioral economics. His Book is filled with fun and interesting anecdotes about the differences between Humans and Econs based on his and others experiments.
93	Superforecasting	Phillip Tetlock	Psychology/Behavioral Economics	86	5/25/2018	Tetlock is most famous for being the scientist who said found that people who pick stocks, on average, are as good as a DST dart throwing chimpanzee. Despite this, much of his research does focus on people aka super forecasters who are better than average at predicting the likelihood of uncertain future events. The book dives in to learn more about these people, what makes them special, and how they differ from the talking heads on TV. Informative And entertaining read
94	Thinking, Fast And Slow	Daniel Kahneman	Behavioral Economics	89	5/4/2018	Sure, its a bit dense but this is THE book for behavioral economics. A look into their work on why people do things the way they do and on one of their most impactful findings: prospect theory. Very Much Recommended For anyone interested in BE.
95	Naked Economics	Charles Wheelan	Economics	85	3/26/2018	Wheelan takes a seemingly boring topic (Economics) and breaks it down in more a of layman's perspective. Fun and fairly light read on an otherwise dense subject matter.
96	Thinking in Bets	Annie Duke	Behavioral Economics	83	3/23/2018	Duke is really smart and breaks down how to improve decision making through poker examples but mostly through applying theories and findings in behavioral economics to every day life.
97	The Fire Next Time	James Baldwin	Cultural Commentary	87	1/18/2018	Such a short, yet powerful read. I actually feel like I need to read this again. Baldwin writes about the racial landscape in the 1960s yet some or even much of what he writes feels like it can still very much apply to today. Hard to wrap up in words but this book has some power within in it.
98	What Doesn't Kill Us	Scott Carney	Human Evolution/Pseudo Science	81	12/18/2017	Scott Carney writes about his experience trying to debunk the Wim Hof breathing and cold training method and instead finds himself to become a fairly avid follower. An interesting look into different forms of training for health, spiritual, and medical reasons but the book went on a bit too long
99	American Kingpin	Nick Bilton	Biography	84	11/23/2017	A bit on the overdramatic side but nonetheless entertaining, Bilton tells the story of the rise and fall of the Silk Road and Ross Ulbritch. Good for a fast entertaining read but nothing extraordinary.
100	My Voice	Angie Martinez	Autobiography	82	11/12/2017	This was a quick and fun read especially for those who know Angie Martinez and her place in the hip hop radio game. What I took away from the book is actually all of the close relationships that Angie has built over the years, she has a tight knit crew that supports her (and who she supports) through everything.