What I’m reading…

I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing.

Neil Gaiman (Source)

My focus on reading is to make better choices. I’m looking at what smart people are reading and taking direction from them. Instead of being distracted by new books I’m focusing on important books that I’ve overlooked and books I’ve bought but never read.

I’m also reviewing my reading at the start of every month and trying my best to stick to my plan of what I want/need to read.

2019 was the first year that I created a ‘re-reading list’ – a list of books that have had such a great impact on me that I’ll be revisiting. I’ve included my re-reading list for 2020.

Archive: 2019 |

What you’ll find here is books I’ve read or that I’m currently reading. I’m not going to recommend a book to you that I haven’t read. Oh, and you can join me on Goodreads ( where you can find out what I’m currently reading and read my book reviews).

Currently reading…

You should be extending your stay among writers whose genius is unquestionable.

Seneca – Letter II

Updated 4th November 2020

  1. Einstein’s dreams by Alan Lightman [/r]
  2. Dare to lead by Brené Brown [/r]
  3. Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schein

Started reading but not finished…

  1. The inner citadel by Pierre Hadot
  2. Same side selling by Ian Altman
  3. A man in full by Tom Wolfe
  4. The wind up bird chronicle by Haruki Murakami
  5. Shape Up by Ryan Singer
  6. The ultimate sales machine by Chet Holmes
  7. Developing organisational consultancy by Andrea Dawson-Shepherd
  8. The advice trap by Michael Bungay Stanier
  9. Me and white supremacy by Layla F. Saad
  10. The school of life (introduction by by Alain de Botton)
  11. Churchill: Walking with destiny by Andrew Roberts
  12. How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
  13. ABM is B2B by Sangram Vajre
  14. Churchill: The power of words by Winston S. Churchill
  15. The penguin book of twentieth-century speeches by Brian MacArthur
  16. Enchiridion by Epictetus
  17. Astrophysics for people in a hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
  18. All the pretty horses by Cormac McCarthy
  19. The laws of simplicity by John Maeda [/r]
  20. Million dollar consulting by Alan Weiss
  21. SPIN selling by Neil Rackham
  22. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
  23. Einstein by Walter Isaacson
  24. Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman
  25. Perennial seller by Ryan Holiday
  26. The 48 laws of power by Robert Greene
  27. Complications by Atul Gawande
  28. Radical Candor (revised edition 2019) by Kim Scott
  29. The power of now by Ekhart Tolle
  30. Tides of war by Steven Pressfield

What’s next?

  1. Everything happens for a reason and other lies I’ve loved by Kate Bowler
  2. Life after death by Deepak Chopra
  3. How to win an argument by Cicero
  4. Factfulness by Hans Rosling
  5. Mastery by Robert Greene
  6. Messengers by Stephen Martin and Joseph Marks
  7. Psycho-cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz
  8. Confessions of a sociopath by M.E. Thomas
  9. In cold blood by Truman Capote

2020 re-reads [/r]

…if at any moment you find yourself wanting a change from a particular author, go back to the ones you have read before.

Seneca – Letter II
  • The war of art by Steven Pressfield
  • Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman [/r]
  • The four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
  • Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
  • The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday [/r]
  • Stillness is the key by Ryan Holiday [/r]
  • Man’s search for meaning by Viktor E. Frankl [/r]
  • Ten arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now by Jaron Lanier

Daily reading and journals…

  • The daily Stoic (Passages) by Ryan Holiday
  • The daily Stoic journal (Prompts) By Ryan Holiday
  • The five minute journal
  • Live like a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  • Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
  • A calendar of wisdom by Leo Tolstoy
  • Discourses and selected writings by Epictetus

My favourite books…

Updated 29th December 2019

  1. When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi
  2. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
  3. Man’s search for meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
  4. How to be a friend by Cicero
  5. How to grow old by Cicero
  6. The four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
  7. War of art by Steven Pressfield
  8. Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
  9. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  10. How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
  11. Ego is the enemy by Ryan Holiday
  12. The obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday

Read in 2020…

  1. Daring greatly by Brené Brown
  2. How to think about God by Cicero
  3. Man’s search for meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
  4. Rising strong by Brené Brown
  5. The coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier [/r]
  6. Stillness is the key by Ryan Holiday [/r]
  7. The obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday [/r]
  8. The choice by Edith Eger
  9. Sales management simplified by Mike Weinberg
  10. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
  11. How to be a leader by Plutarch
  12. Lessons in stoicism by John Sellars
  13. Reasons to stay alive by Matt Haig [/r]
  14. Notes on a nervous planet by Matt Haig [/r]
  15. Waiting for sunrise by William Boyd
  16. Atomic Habits by James Clear [/r]
  17. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  18. The Accidental Universe by Alan Lightman
  19. The Second Mountain by David Brooks
  20. The Road to Character by David Brooks
  21. The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge [/r]
  22. The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
  23. Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath
  24. Secrets of closing the sale by Zig Ziglar
  25. Norwegian wood by Haruki Murakami
  26. The midnight library by Matt Haig
  27. The challenger sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
  28. The coddling of the American mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
  29. The bullet journal method by Ryder Carroll [/r]
  30. The art of exceptional living by Jim Rohn [/r]
  31. When awareness becomes natural by Sayadaw U. Tejaniya
  32. Six thinking hats by Edward de Bono
  33. Big fish by Daniel Wallace
  34. A guide to the good life by William B. Irvine
  35. Lives of the stoics by Ryan Holiday
  36. The leadership gap by Lolly Daskal
  37. No more champagne by David Lough
  38. How to be a friend by Marcus Tullius Cicero [/r]
  39. A life on our planet by David Attenborough
  40. The family board meeting by Jim Sheils [/r]
  41. The gift by Edith Eger
  42. No rules rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
  43. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
  44. Is this anything by Jerry Seinfeld
  45. Yes to life by Viktor E. Frankl
  46. The fearless organisation by Amy C. Edmondson
  47. Lowborn by Kerry Hudson
  48. In praise of wasting time by Alan Lightman [/r]
  49. Humankind by Rutger Bregman