What I'm Reading
The best of what I've read so far this year
Many of you have asked what I’ve been reading. With summer in full swing and being half way through the year, I figured this would be a great time to share the best things I’ve read so far this year.
I’m always reading something. If you have anything that you’d recommend to read, please share it in the comments section below. I’d love to see your suggestions of any books or articles, so I can add them to my list and the readers of Spilled Coffee can check them out as well. I hope you find this list to be helpful.
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order By. Ray Dalio
In Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, Ray Dalio describes what he has learned over his half a century of studying global markets for managing his hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. Bridgewater is one of the largest hedge funds in the world.
This was one of the best economic centered books I have ever read. It came out late last year with a lot of glowing reviews after his previous hit book Principles.
If you want to learn what has driven political, economic and global markets over history this book does an excellent job detailing it. Much of what he has said and illustrated in this book is going on today. He describes the cycles throughout history and what have been the causes and effects. The research, time, charts and detail is unmatched of any book I’ve ever read. Ray and his team have done a perfect job of creating provocative and thought-provoking information.
It’s a must read book to help understand the current environment we’re in and trying to understand where everything goes from here. It felt to me like an economics 101 taught by the legendary Ray Dalio.
A video was recently created for this book. It’s already surpassed over 16 million views on YouTube. If you don’t feel you can read this entire book, as it’s quite long and detailed, this 45 minute video does a great job summarizing the book.
Find the Good By. Heather Lende
Find the Good has been one of the more impactful books that I’ve read. The author is a small town obituary writer in Alaska. She writes about the lives people lived. The special talent the author has is the ability to combine both humor and empathy to then teach something to make you think. She explains what she has learned about the meaning of life and how it boils down to really three words, Find the Good.
After I recommended this book to a friend of mine, he told me that he has gifted this book to almost 2,000 people. That is the kind of impact this book will leave on you.
Indistractable By. Nir Eyal
A while back when I recommended Essentialism to Liz Young, Head of Investment Strategy at Sofi. She told me that she had just picked up Indistractable on the recommendation of a couple people she knew and that it sounded similar. When I saw that Greg McKeown the author or Essentialism had his book blurb on the front cover, I had to get it.
This book ended up being very similar in crafting and delivering the message as Essentialism. The author Nir Eyal goes into many examples on how to become focused and not to be distracted from your goal. It provides real world examples, tips and tools to zero in on what you want to achieve. The ideas are easy to implement and many of the things communicated in this book are often overlooked. I picked up some excellent tips that I’ve already implemented.
29 Lesson From Owning a Bookstore By. Ryan Holiday
New York Times best selling author Ryan Holiday, who’s best known for his books, wrote a great blog post back in March. In it, he details 29 lessons he has learned from starting a local bookstore in rural Texas.
He details the struggles of opening a bookstore during a pandemic and the challenges that come with running a new small business. But it’s not just business that he learned lessons about. It’s the lesson both he and his wife learned about books and life.
The lessons apply to anyone and everyone in this post. Ryan is a great author and his style of writing really keeps you engaged. I have this blog post bookmarked as I often refer back to it. That’s how much value this post has provided me.
1,000 True Fans By. Kevin Kelly
Of all the blog posts, essays and newsletters I have read this is the one I have read the most. Like Ryan Holiday’s post above, this is also bookmarked. It was actually written by Kevin Kelly back in 2008.
1,000 True Fans is the idea that you don’t need millions of fans, clients, customers to be successful or have a successful brand or business. It’s cultivating your brand to your core fans or clients.
He describes the math behind getting to 1,000 true fans. What it does for you and your livlihood. If you’re trying to reach fans, clients or anyone via your business or something you create, this is a must read essay. Anyone who is making something or trying to make things happen should read this and the concept is going to help you.
Something to Ponder
“Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride.”
– Anthony Bourdain
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