Reading
2026
How to Win an Information War — Peter Pomerantsev
How propaganda actually works in the modern media environment, told through Cold War history and contemporary examples. Timely reading on how narratives are weaponised — and how to push back.
2025
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity — Peter Attia
A thorough breakdown of preventive medicine and the science behind the diseases most likely to kill us — metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegeneration. Dense but rewarding; the metabolic health framework alone changed how I read a blood panel.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running — Haruki Murakami
Murakami's memoir on running as a discipline and a metaphor for the writing life. Quiet, honest, and unexpectedly moving — a book about endurance as much as anything else.
Let My People Go Surfing — Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia's founder on building a company that refused to compromise its values for growth. Part memoir, part manifesto — a useful reminder that how you build matters as much as what you build.
Never Split the Difference — Chris Voss
FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss's counterintuitive negotiation playbook. Tactical mirroring, labelling emotions, calibrated questions — practical tools that hold up well outside the boardroom.
The Inner Game of Tennis — Timothy Gallwey
The Self 1/Self 2 framework for performance: quiet the inner critic and let the body do what it knows. The central idea — non-judgmental observation over conscious instruction — applies to anything you're trying to learn or improve.
How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
The classic on human relations. Still holds up. The principles for making people feel genuinely heard and valued are as relevant as ever — worth revisiting even if you've read it before.
The Man Who Solved the Market — Gregory Zuckerman
The story of Jim Simons and the Medallion Fund — how a team of mathematicians and scientists cracked the stock market using pattern recognition and quantitative models. Reads like a thriller; fascinating as a study in unconventional thinking.
Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am — Robert Gandt
A history of Pan American World Airways — one of the great corporate stories of the 20th century. The airline that shaped global aviation and then collapsed under the weight of its own ambition.
Narrative Economics — Robert J. Shiller
Shiller's argument that viral stories drive economic behaviour more than rational models admit — narratives spread like epidemics, shape expectations, and create self-fulfilling prophecies. A genuinely different lens on markets and human behaviour.
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting — Emily Oster
Cuts through the noise of new-parent advice with actual research. Most of what you're told to stress about doesn't hold up to scrutiny. A relief to read as a first-time parent — both the data and the reminder that individual variation matters enormously.
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer — Tracy Hogg
A practical, calming guide to reading your baby's temperament and establishing rhythms. Good companion to Cribsheet — less data, more intuition and pattern recognition for the early months.
The Mercy of Gods — James S.A. Corey
First book in The Captive's War series, from the writers behind The Expanse. Fast-paced and engrossing — a good entry point if you want smart sci-fi without having to commit to nine books first.