Books Recommended by Gabriel Coarnă

I don’t read “business books”. I may read books which were classified as “Business”, “Leadership”, etc; but, if I do, I do so in spite of the category they’ve been deemed to belong to, not because of it.

I generally split books into three main categories. Here are the titles –sorry, but I simply can’t pick just one– that currently hold the top spots in each:

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Biography/Memoir: Andre Agassi’s and J. R. Moehringer’s “Open“; Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love“; and Salman Rushdie’s “Joseph Anton“.

The moment I fell in love with reading –and, to an extent, with writing too– came 5-or-so years later. I don’t remember why exactly, but I started reading Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“. And I couldn’t stop reading it: I read all the books in the series in two months or so; and then I read everything else Douglas Adams had written.

Schwarzenegger's autobiography is, first and foremost, a really really great rags-to-riches story. But it's true. And it's surprising: he didn't make his first million dollars by acting. And it's inspiring: he goes a little into how one should think, when pursuing a particular goal. And, lastly, it's very well written. It'll completely redefine your idea of the man. And it may give you a glimpse into how you might better sculpt your idea of you.

When it comes to books, one of the great injustices of our time is that --or, rather, how-- Walter Isaacson wrote Steve Jobs's official biography. I was almost angry when I finished the book. It was well-researched, yes; but Isaacson only used that research to "prove" well-known cliches that he already believed about Jobs. On top of that, the book's tone was stark and cold and distant; and, most of all, it was almost mean. Overall, I kept feeling like I was reading about the myth of "Steve Jobs, the warlock" -- Isaacson uses the term "reality distortion field", in a serious way, an upwards of 20 times throughout the story. Because of this, I've basically implored people to read Brent Schlender's and Rick Tetzeli's "Becoming Steve Jobs". And I'm doing so, again, here. "Becoming Steve Jobs" isn't perfect; but it is so much better than Isaacson's book that I can't even find an analogy that would capture the difference. If you read that book and you don't read this one, you're doing yourself a great disservice.

I've just started Eddie Izzard's "Believe Me". This is one of those books I'm reading just-because, so I'm not *expecting* to gain anything from it. I only expect things from books I read because I'm studying/researching a particular subject. The reason why I'm reading this book is because I'm very, very fond of Eddie Izzard the comic and Eddie Izzard the actor. Hopefully, this book is a glimpse into Eddie Izzard the human.

I don’t read “business books”. I may read books which were classified as “Business”, “Leadership”, etc; but, if I do, I do so in spite of the category they’ve been deemed to belong to, not because of it.

I generally split books into three main categories. Here are the titles –sorry, but I simply can’t pick just one– that currently hold the top spots in each:

Fiction: Liu Cixin’s “The Three Body Problem” (trilogy); Neal Stephenson’s “Reamde“; and Audrey Niffenegger’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife“.