My 2023 Book Reports

Here is a list of books I read and listened to over 2023 along with a quick review. I also included books I reread, listed at the bottom, because they have excellent knowledge I still want to continually absorb. Let me know if you like this list, and I will continue.

Finding Ultra: Rich Roll's story of sobriety, diet, and becoming an ultra-marathoner.?

The Goal: I highly recommend this become a yearly reread if you affect any process or tech in your organization; the Theory of Constraints is essential at all times and more critical when the business you work for is suffering because it can't operationally scale.?

Becoming Supernatural: Explores the mind-body connection and the potential for personal transformation and guides you through healing meditations.?

Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps, Building and Scaling High-Performance Technology Organizations: A deep dive into the practices that lead to high-performing technology organizations and how to monitor them. I will have to reread it; it's dense in nature and a little dry.?

How to Become CEO: A fun, concise, and practical guide filled with straightforward strategies for climbing the corporate ladder.?

Homo Deus: I loved Yuval Noah Harari's last book. This is a look at the future of humanity, exploring the potential challenges and opportunities of technological advancements.?

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard: If you ever hear the analogy of the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path on getting people to change, it comes from this book. Great book for all leaders to read.?

To Sell is Human: Daniel Pink wrote Drive, which I enjoyed, and this book is also great. It dives into how we always sell ourselves, whether in our jobs or relationships and how to do it better.?

How to Fight a Hydra: A symbolic guide to facing fears and tackling challenges in life and work. It read like a reskinned version of the War of Art.?

Outlive: Must read if you want to work on your health span. Peter Attia spent years diving into medical studies and how to live longer and be healthy during that time.?

Gates of Fire, an Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: A historical fiction that brings to life the legendary stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae.?

How to Write Funny Book 1: A fun book, but if you can tell, I didn't learn anything from it. Yet.?

The Power of One More: I didn't finish the book, but the gist was to do one more rep on anything you do. The same concept as 1% more a day compounds to greater things.?

Noise by Daniel Kahneman: Highly recommended. If you read Think Fast and Slow, you'll love this book. It has great insight into how we judge things as humans and how AI vs traditional regression is only sometimes the best.?

The Book of Five Rings: This is a reread, but it has been over 20 years. I love reading old Military doctrine and seeing that we have not changed much. The concepts can still be applied.?

Me, Inc.: Written by Gene Simmons, half auto-biography and half how to build your brand.?

Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger: This is an excellent book on success and happiness. And how to give back.?

The Creative Act: Written by Rick Rubin, I still need to finish this book. It is good, and my delays come from processing each chapter internally. There are great lessons in there.?

Shoe Dog: I love this book. Phil Knight's journey from graduating college to finally getting to Nike. It is not your typical unicorn story; something about his journey resonated with me more than other books of success.?

The Code Book: I will finish this by the end of the year, but it's just a fun history of cryptology.?

Books I Reread this Year

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: I reread this book and consumed a lot of external content from Chris Voss. Being able to communicate in high-stress situations along with negotiations is a crucial skill to have in all relationships.?

Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins: I love this book. I always restart the book when he's in Seal school. "Who's going to carry the boats?"?

Ready Fire Aim by Michael Masterson: I 100% recommend this book to every person in all aspects of a business. Even if you work for an Org, own your own business, or are thinking of starting one. It's a practical guide on where to start and then where to focus as the business grows. I gift this book a lot.?

The Phoenix Project: A fictional novel of authentic high-stress situations every IT and technology team has dealt with. If you have not dealt with these pressure situations in your career, you will eventually, so read the book.?

The War of Art: One of my favorite books. I talk about this book the most; it is a straightforward read. Read a page a day or the whole thing in an afternoon. Really makes you think about creating things and what holds you back, just like this book list.?

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