The Antilibrary
Welcome to my digital collection of books: read, being-read, and to-be-read!
What is an antilibrary? Instead of a celebration of everything you know, an antilibrary is an ode to everything you want to explore.
I got the idea from Jacky Zhao.
Biographical/Memoir
- Elon Musk - Walter Isaacson
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Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain
- A raw account of Anthony Bourdain's journey as a chef, featuring everything from the hilarious to the repulsive (mostly repulsive). Although much has supposedly changed since this book was published, this story highlights many inconvenient truths about working in the restaurant industry.
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Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
- Interesting account of Elizabeth Holmes and the rise + fall of Theranos. Straightforward storytelling. The story itself is highly intriguing-I'm still amazed how she managed to defraud professors, serial investors, politicians, and even regulators. The company's constant litigation threats show how money really is power.
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American Kingpin - Nick Bilton
- Story of the rise + fall of the Silk Road. Compelling storytelling, going deep into the backstories of its founder (Ross Ulbricht), friends and family, co-conspirators, everyday people, and FBI/DEA investigators. Also a very strong example of how money and power easily corrupts even seemingly innocent people.
- The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
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Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
- The first ~50% was focused on his experiences in concentration camps. The rest was spent on explaining logotherapy—a psychological school of thought focused on finding meaning. I was expecting the two subjects to be blended into a normal memoir, so this wasn't what I expected. Worthwhile read!
- Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
- I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
- Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
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When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
- A short but very meaningful read. "As a resident, my highest ideal was not saving lives—everyone dies eventually—but guiding a patient or family to an understanding of death or illness."
Science, Math, and Philosophy
- Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - Douglas R. Hofstadter
- Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
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The Stranger - Albert Camus
- I find the idea of absurdism very interesting, and this book gets a lot of praise. But personally I just couldn't appreciate this novel that much.
- A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
- A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
- How to Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan
- General Relativity - Leonard Susskind
- How to Avoid a Climate Disaster - Bill Gates
- Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - Matthew Walker
- Walden - Henry David Thoreau
- The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh
- How to Love - Thich Nhat Hanh
- 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari
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Permanent Record - Edward Snowden
- I recommend this to basically everybody. Highlights the massive danger companies and governments create by disrespecting people's privacy. Reminded me to pursue a responsible career in tech.
Self-Help
Finance/Career
- The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham
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The Richest Man in Babylon - George Clason
- Often described as timeless advice, this book gives financial principles to live by (guard your hard-earned money, put money to work for you). Most of the advice seems applicable today, but some feels a bit archaic.
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I Will Teach You to Be Rich - Ramit Sethi
- Much better than the clickbait-title makes it out to be. Much more modern and timely advice: Get the big things right and don't stress so much about the small ones. I enjoy his focus on the idea of a "rich life"—one where you can "spend lavishly on things you really enjoy, but cut back mercilessly on other things." If I had to recommend one book on personal finance, it'd be this one.
Other
- The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
- Like a Virgin - Richard Branson
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Atomic Habits - James Clear
- Updated opinion: The techniques are useful, but this book could've been a blog post. Like many self-help books, the bulk of the text contains fluffy anecdotes and (occasionally) bad science.
- Previous opinion: Overall good book. Forcing yourself to build/break habits is like swimming upstream. This book focuses on techniques that are more pleasant and effective. I still successfully use some of the principles from this book (tracked cycling progress encouraged me to go out more, keeping a water bottle with me made drinking more water effortless).
- Spark Joy - Marie Kondo
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo
- This book was more of a guide to tidying—folding clothes, packing bags, etc. Both books were a good reminder to be intentional about the things I do/keep.
Cookbooks
- Flour Water Salt Yeast - Ken Forkish
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The Wok - J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
- Amazing cookbook that answers the why of cooking more so than the how. I've used his principles to make excellent stir-fried noodles and tofu, among other things. Significantly boosted my cooking confidence.
- The Food Lab - J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Samin Nosrat
- On Food and Cooking - Harold McGee
Fiction
- The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkein
- Foundation - Isaac Asimov
- I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
- Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
- Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
- Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
- The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas - Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
- 1984 - George Orwell
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (DNF)
- The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
- Finished it a long time ago, DNFed while re-reading recently.
- The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
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The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu
- Ok. The plot is quite interesting (especially towards the end), and I love heavy doses of science in my sci-fi. But the science sometimes felt absurd here, and the pacing/development of the story also didn't feel right.
- Exhalation – Ted Chiang
- Don Quixote - Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
- Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang
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A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
- Beautifully written story with complex characters. Also one of my favorite books of all time.
- The Martian - Andy Weir
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Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
- One of the best books I've read - just as good as—if not better than—The Martian. Amazing characters and scientific detail, just like his first novel.
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Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
- I enjoyed how artfully Murakami sets mundane scenes, but some poorly developed characters really broke the book for me.
- Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse