Difficult to say what my favorite books of all-time would be. But these 5 are some of my recent favorites that I keep on-hand and buy for friends. I own all of them in printed and Kindle form.
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Daniel J. Boorstin – The Image
Recommended to me in 2007 by Zeke Piestrup. I stole his copy, he stole it back years later. I’ve read Parts 1 and 2 many times, and I can’t get enough of them. I wish I could memorize the whole thing. This is my “if you only buy one book…” Helps you realize how delusional everyone is around you, especially if you live in Los Angeles. Fuck all these posers.
Buy It
Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves To Death
Not sure how I found this one, but I came across it not long after The Image by Boorstin. I consider it the sequel. Not sure I ever convinced Zeke Piestrup to read it, though.
Buy It
Rolf Dobelli – The Art of Thinking Clearly
This book is controversial because Nassim Nicholas Taleb (author of Black Swan) accused Rolf Dobelli of plagiarism. I don’t know how true that is, but the info in the book is solid. Always handy to keep around. Logical fallacies, cognitive biases. All that good stuff that helps you realize how flawed your thinking is — and always will be.
Buy It
Josh Kaufman – Personal MBA
A book on how to get your shit together. Simple as that. I think I heard about this one through Derek Sivers. I read it many times while on hiatus from music.
Buy It
Cal Newport – Deep Work
This book pounds with both fists on the piano… on the theme of how distracted we are, and that we need to get back to doing “Deep Work.” And here I am posting it on a blog. I’m sorry I am part of the problem. I admit it.
Buy It