index

Books that stick with me

My only measure for a book is “does it stick with me?”. Does some part of the book randomly pop up in my head as I go about my day? They happen to also be the books that I like to re-read. The following are books that have stuck with me for some reason or another (which are sometimes very random).

  • 1984 by George Orwell
    • Winston getting stronger and healthier, and then is broken completely.
  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
    • The flavors of honey.
  • Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel by Banesh Hoffmann with Helen Dukas
    • Albert zoning out (or as the kid’s say, locking in)
  • Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
    • The concept of sleeves. And the name Takeshi Kovacs is hard to forget.
  • Amp It Up by Frank Slootman
    • The only thing worse than zero customers is a few customers.
  • Assorted Short Stories by Alastair Reynolds
    • Zima Blue. Galactic North. Weather. Diamond Dogs.
  • Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
    • Hank Rearden holding on.
  • Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
    • Every time I see the word “homeopathic”.
  • Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
    • A different but equally gripping type of addiction.
  • Blindsight by Peter Watts
    • Most people say the alien sticks with them, but for me it’s the vampires.
  • Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
    • Enoch Root’s memo on his trip through the jungle is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.
  • Draft No. 4 by John McPhee
    • The importance (and craft) of choosing the right word. Like listening to an Inuit describe snow.
  • Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
    • The algorithm and the absolute rejection of stasis.
  • Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson
    • The birthing of an artificial reality. Painfully detailed only like Neal can.
  • House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
    • So much. The Shatterlings witnessing the rise and fall of civilizations through time dilation, and the machine people, perhaps a bit too anthropomorphized but still unforgettable.
  • Hyperion by Dan Simmons
    • The Shrike of course
  • Now It Can Be Told by General Leslie R. Groves
    • Simply what was accomplished. The speed and logistical complexity.
  • Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
    • The Neighbourhoods. Cats.
  • Ra by qntm
    • Magic as low-level code against the universe’s operating system.
  • Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
    • So much. I’ve read this book many times. Contact lens AR, ubiquitous networking/IoT, massive affiliate research networks, sming, gesture-based inputs.
  • Reamde by Neal Stephenson
    • Sokolov. Badass.
  • Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds
    • The conjoiners. Skade’s crest.
  • Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
    • Nostalgia for Infinity. Hyperdiamond and ice shields.
  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
    • The first sentence. The space elevator sling.
  • Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
    • The overwhelmingly aliveness of India and optimism of the people who live there.
  • Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
    • Phil’s first list of maxims
  • Shogun by James Clavell
    • Blackthorne’s transformation. Honor and Seppuku.
  • Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos
    • Building incredible things on time and under budget.
  • Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
    • The hypotheticals and time dilation
  • Swimming Across by Andrew S. Grove
    • Arriving in New York with little money and no English, studying chemistry at City College.
  • Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
    • T.R. Schmidt’s agency – taking geoengineering into his own hands just yeeting sulfur into the atmosphere.
  • The Accidental Superpower by Peter Zeihan
    • The importance of geography
  • The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
    • Simply the line that gives the book its name: “The elderly can’t die young. They can only die old. They are bone clocks.”
  • The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen
    • Overthrowing governments for bananas.
  • The Last Lion, Volume 2 by William Manchester
    • Churchill’s morning routine
  • The Overstory by Richard Powers
    • A microcosm, or entire universe for some creatures, within the top branch of one big redwood.
  • The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
    • Geel Piet
  • The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
    • Choice and voting in The Glitter Band.
  • The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh
    • Answering the phone.
  • The Secret Life of Oaks by Peter Wohlleben
    • Oaks as keystone organisms.
  • The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
    • People acting alive but underneath being empty.
  • The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
    • The Wright Brothers as proto-tech-founders. Their work ethic and obsession.
  • There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
    • Blind spots. The lizard predator.
  • Zero to One by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
    • Monopoly.