I like reading. Sometimes, people ask me what I read.
(I also signed up for an Amazon Affiliates account to afford my books.)
If you’re looking for Improv reads, you want Three books you should read to get better at Improv.
What I’m Currently Reading
Last updated 2022-02-02.
- The Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
- Emotional First Aid by Guy Winch
- The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
- The Siege Trilogy by K. J. Parker (re-read)
- Sixteen Ways To Defend A Walled City
- How To Rule An Empire And Get Away With It
- A Practical Guide to Conquering the World
- How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Self-Help At-Will
- The Daily Laws of Power by Robert Greene
- Improv Without Rules by Adam Meggido
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
- Quiet: the Power of Introverts by Susan Cain
- Rising Strong by Brene Brown
Perennial Recommendations in Three Paragraph Summaries
Books I loved that I’m going to try to sell you on, in three-paragraph summaries:
Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit, by Steven Pressfield
Nobody cares unless you make it a story, argues Pressfield. Hook them with a premise, enthrall them with a plot – and that is how you can get them to read anything.
The same formula applies whether it’s a speech, a presentation, a nonfiction self-help bestseller, an ad or even a joke. Following the shape of stories makes people want to read your shit.
Pressfield has been a successful ad man, novelist, screenwriter, nonfiction author and more. He’s written blogs, biographies, histories and screenplays. He’s even written a porno before. And he failed twice before finally cracking it as a published author. This man knows a thing or two about writing.
How to Stop Worrying and Live Your Life
The best self-help book bar none. Dale Carnegie is more famous for How to Win Friends and Influence People, but this is the better book.
We all deal with worry, stress, and anxiety – moreso today. Carnegie writes like your wise friend who’s great at motivating people. Plus, he wrote every modern bestseller before it started. I’ll prove it.
- Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker? Page 340: “The first rule is: Rest often. Rest before you get tired.”
- Marie Kondo? Page 365: “Good Working Habit No. 1: Clear Your Desk of All Papers Except Those Relating to the Immediate Problem at Hand.”
- All that Ryan Holiday stuff about Stoicism? Page 177: Eight Words that Can Transform Your Life (“Our Life is what our thoughts make it” – straight from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius)