Books I Read In 2024 & My Top 3 Recommendation
This is now the 9th year I’m writing this blog post, hopefully you will find a couple of books from this list that you like and that you get to read over the holidays or next year.
Many of you know that I mostly listen to books on Audible while I commute. I’ve read over 165 books since first writing these blog posts so the commute has certainly been helping. It was a blessing to read from different authors and about different topics. Check out the end of the post for my top 3.
First, a shameless self-plug here. I spent 5 years collecting the largest dataset on startups and found what are the elements that actually help a startup company become successful and the other factors that are just a stereotype. I also interviewed founders of companies like Zoom, GitHub, Nest, Instacart, and many more and authored a book on the topic which became a bestseller. If you haven’t read or listened to it, I’d promise it would make for a good read over the holidays. Check Super Founders out here.
Now without further ado, here’s the list.
1) Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold is an interesting character, movie-star, bodybuilder, and California’s governor, all the same person. This is an auto-biography and distillation of some lessonns from him. I didn’t find this book particularly insightful.
2) The Fund by Rob Copeland
This is an story about Bridgewater Associates and it’s founder Ray Dalio, written moreso as an expose and not in a positive tone. I have read Ray Dalio’s prior books, so reading this book puts it in perspective. However, this book didn’t add much to my knowledge, it seemed mostly like someone trying to score against Dalio.
3) Same as Ever by Morgan Housel
I had read Morgan Housel’s prior books and loved them, and this book was also fantastic. The premise of the book is to talk about the concepts and issues that have remained true over time. By understanding what’s constant and what changes from decade to decade, this book’s insights helps you better understand what happens around you. Recommended.
4) Read, Write, Own by Chris Dixon
Chris Dixon has been one of the advocates of investing in blockchain and crypto technologies. In this book, Chris provide great high level education and arguments for why crypto and blockchain have a potential to be more than an speculative financial asset. Specially towards the end of the book, the Own part is the most distinctive and rememberable for me.
5) Rental Property Investment by Brandon Turner
Brandon Turner is one of those people who does a great job democratizing knowledge and has created a great community for real estate investors. This is a go-to book if you’re looking into property investing.
6) Law School for Everyone: Contract Law by Edward Cheng
I have read many books from the Great Courses series on Audible and they have all been great, same for this book. This is a great overview of legal concepts you will see around corporate law, dealing with private companies, contracts, etc. Recommended.
7) Hit Makers by Derek Thompson
This is a book around what makes some stuff standout and popular. For example what makes a certain music album or tv series or speech to remain famous over the years. I did not like it that much, seemed mostly pseudo-science stuff.
8) The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman
This year has all been about Artificial Intelligence, so the list had to include something about AI ;) This book by Mustafa Suleyman, one of the pioneers in the field, is an overview on a high level of the unfathomable impact that AI will have on all aspects of our lives. It was very good.
9) Pattern Breakers by Mike Maples
Great set of stories around pattern breaking successful startups of our generation and insights on what factors led to them breaking out by seasoned seed investor Mike Maples.
10) Money Trap by Alok Sama
Alok Sama was former President & CFO of Softbank Group. This is a humble and unfiltered story of how Alok got to meet and work with Masayoshi Son. Fascinating insights of the life at the clouds.
11) Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
This is a good book on improving communications skills, how to match your audience’s tone and mood and make sure your point comes across, and how to use it to influence others.
12) How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
This is a kind of an old-school back, probably old. A little cheesy when you see books with these kind of titles. I would say perhaps around 40% of the tips are useful, 20% of which are novel. The rest are cliche or not really applicable in day and age.
13) How to Live an Extraordinary Life by Anthony Pompliano
This book by Anthony Popmpliano (Pomp) is a series of letters to his kids. Simple lessons and learnings. There isn’t any one insight that’s exceptional or novel, but it’s a phenomenal collection of quick, actionable, life lessons. Highly recommended, also makes for a good Christmas gift.
14) Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson
Andrew Wilkinson is a bootstrapped entrepreneur and investor. This is a quick read, but also a detailed story of his company and investments since early days. I always find it a pleasant experience reading about any entrepreneur’s journey.
15) Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz
Surprisingly quick read, pleasant story, about the founding story and early days of Starbucks. Loved this story and the narration. Did you know Pete’s Coffee is actually Starbucks and Starbucks is actually a different company? Read this book to learn the amazing history.
16) Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish
I have on occasion listed to Shane Parrish’s podcast Farnam Street, which is high quality and high signal. This book by Shane, a former intelligence officer, talks about our decision making biases and where we go wrong, how to clear our brain and set guardrails so we can think clearly and make great decisions. I would say 50% good ideas and novel, 50% very repeated idealogies you have heard from many other books.
Top Three Books Recommended For You
Here are my top 3 recommendations for you from the books I read this year:
- How to Live an Extraordinary Life by Anthony Pompliano
- Same As Ever by Morgan Housel
- Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz
If you’re looking for more recommendations, you can find the list of books I read in the last six years and my favorites among them here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.
And if you’ve not read my own book Super Founders, check it out here.
Happy Holidays!
