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I’m using AI to read books by: Summarizing. This tells me what the books is about, the key points it makes and the main takeaways. It also helps me decide if I want to dig deeper. Fact-checking. I can find mistakes, alternate perspectives, and biases. That’s a huge win! Re-authoring. I can write it in the style of Malcolm Gladwell, Randall Munroe, Richard Feynman, or anyone else I like. Makes dense prose much more enjoyable. So far, I’ve applied this at different levels - and I’m sure there are more possibilities: ...

I read 51 books in 2025 (about the same as in 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.) With a difference: I used AI to read 44 of them in the last week of the year. Mind blowing The Ants by Bert Hölldobler. Finally, after 20 years of wanting to read it. It lives up to the hype. Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5) by Brandon Sanderson. The only fiction I’ve taken notes for. (About 500 points.) Life changing (or at least, perspective changing) ...

I have this nagging feeling (maybe you do too?) that it’s cheating and I’m not really learning if it’s so easy. The same voice makes me feel guilty when using coding agents to code or ChatGPT in meetings. I’m telling that voice to relax. I upload books to Claude and ask it to “Comprehensively and engagingly summarize and fact-check, writing in Malcolm Gladwell’s style, the book …”. I can read it in an hour instead of twelve. Four bullet points instead of forty. With (this surprised me) roughly the same number of insights I actually do something with. ...

I published an eBook on Amazon. It takes an hour if you have the content ready. STEP 1 (10 min): Set up a Kindle Direct Publishing account with your address, bank details, and tax info. STEP 2 (15 min): Export my London 2000 blog archive and convert to Markdown. STEP 3 (10 min): Reformat the Markdown by writing a script in Cursor. Here’s the prompt: Write a Python script that reads *.md including the YAML frontmatter, adds the YAML title as H1, date (yyyy-mm-dd) like Sun, 01 Jan 2000 in a new para after the frontmatter and before the content. ...

I read 51 new books in 2024 (about the same as in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.) But slightly differently. I only read Manga this year. Fullmetal Alchemist (Vol 12 - 27). What started off as a childishly illustrated children’s book evolved into a complex, gripping plot. Attack on Titan (Vol 1 - 34). I read it while I watched the TV Series (reading first, then watching). It started explosively and the pace never let up. I had to take breaks just to breathe and calm my nerves. The sheer imagination and subtlety is brilliant. It’s hard to decide which is better—the manga (book) or the anime (TV). The TV series translates the book faithfully in plot and in spirit. It helped that I read each chapter first, allowing me to imagine it, and then watch it, which told me what all I missed in the book. I absolutely would not have understood the manga without watching the anime. ...

I read 52 books in 2023 (about the same as in 2022, 2021 and 2020.) Here’s what I read (best books first). Fiction The Kingkiller Chronicle. I picked it up before a flight to London in 2014. Read it through the flight. Read it late into the night at our AirBnB. Skipped my workshop prep. Read it during the workshop breaks. Read it on the flight back. And I re-read it every year or two. The language is beautiful and the story gripping. I feel miserable this series isn’t complete. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Stormlight Archive. Another series I re-read regularly. Brandon Sanderson takes the scale of the story up a notch in every book. Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Andy Weir’s books. Since my daughter re-reads The Martian (laughing loudly), I picked up Project Hail Mary. It’s a brilliant depiction of alien physiology and communication, with a weird kind of humour I love. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Egg by Andy Weir ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Martian by Andy Weir ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Red Rising Saga. A pleasant discovery of a new series. Somewhat like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Red Rising by Pierce Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Golden Son by Pierce Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Morning Star by Pierce Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Blake Crouch’s books. The two I read were both time-travel related and I love that genre. These do a great job of exploring some of the deeper implications of time-travel. Recursion by Blake Crouch ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dark Matter by Blake Crouch ⭐⭐⭐ Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ⭐⭐⭐. It’s as good as the movie with slightly different scenes. The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson. Another series I re-read. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Firefight by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐ Calamity by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐ The Year of Sanderson. Brandon Sanderson’s kickstarter raised $41m for 4 books this year (mostly Cosmere). The stories themselves were OK but the hints they drop about the Cosmere are invaluable. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐ The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. After Death Note, it felt like a let-down when it started. A mundane story. Then it grew funny. Showed shades of a much deeper story. I’m mid-way through the series and I’m hooked. Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 2 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 3 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 4 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 6 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 7 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 8 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 9 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 10 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 11 by Hiromu Arakawa ⭐⭐⭐ Mono no Aware e altre storie by Ken Liu ⭐⭐⭐. A nice short story Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer ⭐⭐⭐. A well-writter fast-paced average story. Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐. Average story but with lots of “secrets” about the Cosmere. Asterix and the Griffin by Jean-Yves Ferri ⭐⭐. Some good jokes but not as good as the original series. Non-fiction ...

I add book recommendations to my GoodReads – To-read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read. In 2023, I’m reshaping my environment. Picking books I usually won’t pick. (Read The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted if you want to be similarly inspired.) So here are 4 approaches I’m adding to my process. Algorithmic. Sort Kaggle books based on popularity, rating, and age. Pick the top 10 (or 50) Serendipitous. Go to bookstores and libraries. Pick the most popular books Award-winning. Pick from the Pulitzer, Booker, Nobel, Hugo, and other award winners Challenges. Pick from Popsugar, Book Riot, Goodreads, The 52 Book Club, and other challenges FYI, here are algorithmic results (for books with 100+ ratings and a 4+ average on Goodreads): ...

I read 52 books in 2022 (about the same as in 2021 and 2020.) Here’s what I read (best books first). Mind-blowing Man’s Search for Meaning. Viktor Frankl. It’s 75 years old and timeless. Who we are is independent of what’s around us. This book shows us why. This story is a great example. My best book of 2022. The Paper Menagerie. Ken Liu. I cried all the way from the beach to home. The skies joined me. It’s short. Touching. It healed a wound I can’t speak about. The most touching book of 2022. The Data Detective. Tim Harford. 10 powerful, down-to-earth rules for how to make sense of data, and avoid being fooled. I plan to incorporate every one of these into my talks. The most useful guide to working with data in 2022. The Extended Mind. Annie Murphy Paul. Explains how we think not just inside our brains, but in our bodies, in our physical environment, and in the people around us. The most effective guide to transforming my thinking in 2022. Life-changing ...

I read 52 #books in 2021. The best #nonfiction was The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Succinct & deep. I can spend a decade practicing every sentence. The best #fiction was Brandon Sanderson’s Rhythm of War. A brilliantly rich magic system, and what a plot, what an ending! My one-line #reviews of the books are below. http://www.s-anand.net/blog/books-in-2021/ LinkedIn

On my Goodreads 2021 reading challenge, I read 52/50 books in 2021. I managed 47/50 in 2020 (see 2020 reviews) and 26/24 in 2019. Here’s what I read (best books first). Mind-blowing The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. It’s the best non-fiction I’ve read in 5 years. It focuses Wealth and Happiness. It’s short. I finished it in a day. But it’s deep. I can spend a decade practicing just a single sentence. It’s available at navalmanack.com as a free e-book and audio book. Rhythm of War. The 4th book of the Stormlight Archives is an action-packed fantasy. A great gift for teenagers. In an extra-ordinary magic system, Brandon Sanderson builds up to the greatest climax I’ve read. What an ending! Death Note #1-#12. Light Yagami gets hold of a “death note”. If he writes a name on it, they die. “L” is out to catch him. In a cat-and-mouse psychological thriller, Light and L work next to each other, share their plans, and still try to outwit the other. It’s like chess. The pieces are visible. But it’s the strategy that counts. A brilliant comic series. Life-changing ...

My Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge target is 50 books. I’m at 45/50, with little hope of getting to 50. (I managed 25/24 in 2019.) The 10 non-fiction books I read (most useful first) are below. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis. The principle of Build - Measure - Learn is useful everywhere in life too, not just in startups. Never Split The Difference by Chriss Voss. Shares principle-driven strategies to convince people. The 4 Disciplines of Execution by McChesney, Covey & Huling. Teaches how to build execution rigor in an organization. A bit long at the end, but the first section is excellent. Sprint by Jake Knapp. A detailed step-by-step guide to running product development sprints that you can follow blindly. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. Dilbert’s author shares his strategies for life. Very readable, intelligent, and slightly provocative, but always interesting. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Written as a story (like The Goal). Talks about the 5 problems in teams and how to overcome them. The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. Explains the elements of strong cultures - belongingness, shared vulnerability, and shared purpose. Data-Driven Storytelling by Nathalie Henry Riche et al. Shares the latest points of view on telling data stories. My team and I read these chapters as a group. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. Inspiring when I read it, but I don’t remember what it said. Deep Work by Cal Newport. Shares tactics to focus. Practical and useful. I also started, by haven’t finished these four: ...

Dear Tesco, I do like you. Really. Your products are invariably cheaper than I can find at most other places. I am a methodical, crazy gadget freak, and I find your gadget pricing impressive. I don’t always find what I want, but you often have the items I finally pick as the best value for money, and at very low prices. But. Your books are expensive. Of Amazon’s bestsellers, just 2 out of the 100 books are cheaper on your site. And this is apart from the fact that I’d get free delivery from Amazon on 37 of those books (over £5), while you’d give me free delivery on 5 (over £15). ...

I’ve been thumbing through books on visual design for a while, and recently, picked up a copy of The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. If there’s one book that I’d suggest to a newbie on visual design, it’s this one. It’s rare among design books in that it offers 4 design principles that are easy to remember, easy to spot when violated, and easy to fix. Over 90% of the slides that I have reviewed violate at least one of these principles (often all), so I guess there’s a 90% chance this book will improve your design. ...

I have the habit of reading books on the screen. It’s something that started from the early 90s, when I got a copy of The MIT Guide to Lockpicking. Since I didn’t have access to a printer, I’d spent hours poring over the document on the screen. And then I discovered Project Gutenburg… I’ve heard many people ask if I have a problem with this. Personally, no. I’ve been staring at screens from the age of 12, and I’m quite used to it. My job requires me to stare at a screen for most of the day anyway. (I’m not saying there’s no a strain on the eye. My eyes are red at the end of the day. I don’t know if they would be less red if I’d been staring at paper instead of a screen. But my glasses have remained roughly the same power over ~15 years, so it’s probably not ruining my eyesight much.) For those who are like me who reads all the time and spends a lot of more time facing their laptops, you might want to check this sd card, a very good quality card that can be handy in the future. ...

Shared books at esnips.com. You can download the entire book. Authors include Jeffrey Archer, Fredrick Forsyth, Arthur Hailey, Erich Segal, Michael Crichton, J K Rowling, Terry Pratchett, etc. Comments blogreader 18 May 2006 4:39 pm: Anand, are these downloads copyright comliant? any idea? Sai 18 May 2006 7:01 pm: Real nice, thanks for sharing. Dhar 19 May 2006 5:53 am: Blogreader, you can bet your last dime that these books are NOT copyright compliant. Cheers, D. Anonymous 19 May 2006 1:38 pm: Then do u still think we shud support these? S Anand 19 May 2006 5:35 pm: Doesn’t look like anyone’s earning any money out of it – so it may not be a matter of support. I guess at best we can choose not to download these. Sai 19 May 2006 11:09 pm: Oops :). did not realize that angle. Had felt happy for having found a cool medium. Anonymous 20 May 2006 6:25 am: Yes Anand. Makes sense. It wud be so unfair on our part to enjoy some nice works without having to pay for it.

These are quotes from books. How many titles can you guess? (Case insensitive. Ignore punctuation. So “Hitchhiker’s” is “Hitchhikers” without the apostrophe. Don’t forget the leading “A” and “The”. Harry Potter books begin with “Harry Potter and the…”.) Anything over 10 / 25 is impressive. Comments Dhar 21 Apr 2006 4:28 pm: Anand Man… LOTR is one book in three parts and not a trilogy. So LOTR is the correct answer to a couple of questions instead of ROTK etc. Dhar 21 Apr 2006 4:35 pm: Hmmm, a particular quote occurs in more than one Ludlum novels. In fact, I suspect that particular one is there in all the three. Dhar 21 Apr 2006 4:40 pm: Finally got 17 / 25. But I suspect that is because we have been reading similar stuff lately. S Anand 21 Apr 2006 5:05 pm: Agreed: LOTR is a single book. Loved it so much I had to put in a quote from each part! Chitra 22 Apr 2006 3:14 am: Nice one :)! JLT 22 Apr 2006 8:03 pm: And just like that, bumped into your blog . walked through 10/25 mark without realising. u could raise the bar. suhas 23 Apr 2006 9:46 pm: hey, how do i find out the answers to the ones i have not been able to figure out? S Anand 24 Apr 2006 6:45 am: You can e-mail me. root dot node at gmail dot com. S Anand 10 May 2006 5:29 pm: Test comment. Mayur 6 Jun 2006 7:20 pm: Hey nice quiz this, i usually dont quiz but i guess i found someting im decent at 12/25 Natasha 19 Nov 2006 6:36 am: yay i got 12/25 by myself and with help got 14!!! i congradulate you on a great quiz! Hemant 7 Feb 2007 10:24 pm: Actually, LOTR is not 1 book. JRR Tokein actually wrote it as three different books. We now read it as one. I read this in the first few pages of the first book. simplecoffee 21 Apr 2006 12:00 pm: Um, well, ‘Cain is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain’ is only used in The Bourne Identity. Supremacy has ‘Cain is for Carlos and Delta is for Cain’, while Ultimatum hasn’t got it.