3 books I loved in 2018
Micropreneurship, new mental frameworks and a thriller
I admit it, until 2015, I hated reading…
Then, I found a hack to get myself to read more and it worked. 5 books in 2016, 10 books in 2017 and a whooping 14 books in 2018.
Today I picked 3 books which really impacted me in 2018 and which probably should be on your shelf as well, if they are not already.
1. Start Small Stay Small (2010) — Rob Walling
A Developer’s Guide to Launching a Startup
Micropreneurs and bootstrappers are entrepreneurs who want to start businesses without external investment. This is much harder and not as glamorous as being VC funded, but it is a lot more rewarding when done right.
Unlike most self-help books, Walling does not repeat himself in each chapter. The book instead is packed with high quality, actionable information. I later found Julian’s guide which complements this book, but which is also free, more recent, and has even more information per square centimeter. The two have been a real inspiration for me while building Officeroo and saved me dozens of hours which I would have otherwise spent on ineffective marketing.
I recommend this book to you if you are starting an online business and need actual actionable advice, not the usual “it depends” nonsense.
2. A curious mind (2016) — Brian Grazer
The Secret to a Bigger Life
This book was recommended to me by Brian Grazer himself during his podcast interview with Tim Ferriss. If you are on a rush, I recommend just the first 2–3 chapters, which completely reshaped the way I look at relationships and small-talk.
The book explores the usage of curiosity in every day conversations, helping both with ice-breakers for complete strangers and with intimate discussions with significant others. The book is spiced up with a series of stories coming from Brian’s “Curiosity Conversations”, a concept which I would like to add to my life as well.
I recommend this book to you if you either have a hard time making small talk conversation at parties, or if you can’t find anything interesting to talk about with the loved one after a long day at work.
3. Bad Blood (2018) — John Carreyrou
Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
This book was recommended to me many times this year. It even made it to Bill Gates’ top 5 of 2018. There’s allegedly even a movie coming out based on the book and starring Jennifer Lawrence. All the good stuff to hype it up.
Being a narrative non-fiction, it is a really enjoyable read. It explores what goes wrong when you “Fake it ‘till you make it”, and follows the rise and fall of Theranos, a Silicon Valley biotech company.
I recommend this book to you if you want to have an enjoyable read before the movie comes out and if you want to read more about the culture in Silicon Valley.
Bonus section — My Absolute Favorite Book in 2018
Thank you for being a reader of my blog. I left the best for the last because… it’s a free book. I wanted to leave you with something actionable, something that you can start reading right now and finish in the next hour.
Yes, it’s a really short e-book, but one that made me see freelancing, entrepreneurship and even employment through a new set of lenses. Because of this, Breaking the Time Barrier is my favorite book I read in 2018.
The main thesis of the book is: as a freelancer, you should charge your clients proportional to the value you create, disregarding the time investment from your side (do not charge per hour). Although short, the book goes to great lengths to argument common objections to the thesis and really ends up telling a story.
I know you have 60 spare minutes tonight, so give it a read and let me know what you think. Click here to check it out.
Stats and Bias Correction
Bias is a disproportionate weight in favor or against one book compared with another, in a way that may be unfair. It is particularly common for small sample sizes, such as a pool of only 14 books to pick from.
Looking through the list of books I read this year, I noticed a pattern. For me, 2018 was a year of entrepreneurship and relationships, something which I also noticed in my book selection. 2018 was the year I and Peter started building our small business Officeroo. It was also the first full year living together with my girlfriend, trying to avoid the common mistakes couples do at this stage of the relationship.
I like data, so here is a split of the books I read this year. How does yours look like?
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