I'm generating a list of books I wish I read earlier, books that surprised me, and books I'd like to read soon.
Granted, my idea of "fun reading" is perhaps unusual. Anything in the neighborhood of tech, leadership, productivity, ways of working, psychology and sociology... this is what lines my bookshelf and fills my audio book app.
Unfortunately, the recommendations I'm receiving come in faster than I can read them. Does that happen to you? By the time I've finished one, I've added several more to the "to be read" list.
Worse, I'm not great about retaining what I'm reading. The ideas are sinking in, but ask me to explain the main takeaways, and I'll falter.
Book reviews
Recently, I heard a podcast interviewee who had inadvertently started a popular book review website.
He started writing down notes and reflections from the books he was reading. He made himself a website, just for his own records. Pretty soon, he'd built up quite a collection of book reviews, and other people were starting to enjoy them.
That sounds like fun.
Here are some books I wish I'd read sooner, books that surprised me, and a few I'm planning to read soon. Links in parentheses are affiliate links, but these are all books I've read and enjoyed.
Four books I wish I'd read sooner
The Pragmatic Programmer
by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt (bookshop)
I'd probably have been a better developer if I'd read this sooner. The authors do touch upon some of the "people" aspects of coding, this is a more technical book. If you'd like wisdom about estimating, debugging, resource management, inheritance ("don't"), concurrency, algorithm speed... this is the book.
The Staff Engineer's Path
by Tanya Reilly (bookshop)
This book and Will Larson's Staff Engineering are the books to read if you're considering a path after "senior developer" that isn't management. Whether that's Tech Lead, Principal Developer, Architect, or other titles, these are the guides for you. I found Larson's book somewhat more focused on "getting there" and Reilly's book somewhat more focused on "what to do once there," but I liked both.
Sooner Safer Happier
by Jonathan Smart, with Zsolt Berend, Myles Ogilvie, and Simon Rohrer (bookshop)
What I was trying to say for the past 2-3 years about better ways of working. "Better value sooner safer happier" are the outcomes to strive for. Based on real world experiences (at real financial companies, even), this might be matched only by Accelerate (bookshop) as a guide to working better.
As a side note, Jon Smart also gave the closing talk for Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit this year. You too can be a Certified Really AI Practitioner, just check the recording here:
Thinking in Systems
by Donella Meadows (bookshop)
As someone who loves seeing how things are interconnected, systems thinking comes naturally to me... to a point. With this book, I'm learning systems thinking in a more structured way. I haven't finished this one yet, and it's already giving me the language and concepts to be a better systems thinker.
Three books that surprised me
The Unaccountability Machine
by Dan Davies (bookshop)
Speaking of systems... here's a look at how big systems go wrong in ways that allow people to evade accountability. Hat tip to my friend David (hi!) for recommending this. (Yes, sadly, this explained a lot, as you predicted.)
Quit
by Annie Duke (bookshop)
This went into way more depth than I was expecting. Duke covers various myths and logical errors that convince us to stick with something when we really shouldn't. It's more than just "sunk cost fallacy."
Influence
by Robert B. Cialdini (bookshop)
Cialdini's research here is impressive. He has personally found his way into the worlds of various people who are trying to influence others, and studied their methods from the outside. The good news: he not only talks about how people can use influence for self-serving ends, he also describes ways to catch on to what's happening and extract yourself from the traps.
What's on the shelf
Aside from Gene Kim and Steve Yegge's Vibe Coding (bookshop - it finally came out this week), I'm also looking at:
- The Manager's Path, by Camille Fournier (bookshop) - One of the inspirations for Tanya Reilly's book, above.
- Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge, by John Willis (bookshop) - Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit (ETLS) reminded me that I should learn more about Deming.
- The Skill Code, by Matt Beane (bookshop) - I saw him at ETLS, and I bought this before he was even half done speaking. This looks right up my alley.
And if that weren't enough...
Mik Kersten (preorder), Nicole Forsgren and Abi Noda, André Martin, Jonathan Smart, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones all appear to be (or are rumored to be) in the process of writing or publishing new books.
Drop me a note
I would love to hear from you. Hit reply and let me know what's on your mind. Any books you think I should read?
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