Books

A few books I keep coming back to, with short notes on what I took from each one.

The Pianist

Władysław Szpilman

A memoir of surviving in Warsaw during the Holocaust. Szpilman writes plainly about what happened to him and the city around him.

Rudolf Vrba

Vrba escaped Auschwitz in 1944 and helped document what was happening inside the camp.

Nando Parrado

Parrado’s account of the 1972 plane crash in the Andes and how the survivors got out.

Paul Brickhill

The story of the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III, told by one of the men involved.

Joshua Fields Millburn

A memoir about rethinking work, possessions, and what actually matters after a run of personal loss.

Rob Walling

Practical advice on building and running a small software product business.

Morgan Housel

Short essays on how people think about money, risk, and saving.

Viktor E. Frankl

Frankl’s account of surviving the camps and his argument that meaning, not comfort, is what keeps people going.

Eric Jorgenson

A collection of Naval Ravikant’s ideas on building wealth, making decisions, and thinking clearly over the long term.