Monthly Reading List - August 2023

In August, I read a bit of everything. 1 biography, 1 fiction, 1 philosophy, and the other 3 were self-help/business books.

Here’s a look at all the books, and we’ll get into each below

The Book of Tea - Okakura Kazuko

This book is a great example of why I always read any book that seems remotely interesting. Titles and reviews are rarely helpful. So many valuable lessons lie behind misleading titles and covers.

This book was written in 1906 by a Japanese tea master who sought to preserve Japan’s traditions at a time when the West was casting its shadow over the world. More than that though, it is about minimalism and thrift.

It is as much a book about Zen as it is about tea. The biggest lesson I learned from this book is that you can bring awareness, spirituality, and attention to detail to anything that you do — whether that is building a startup, parenting, or preparing tea.

Atomic Habits - James Clear

This book is a practical treatise on why habits matter and exactly how to develop good habits and stop bad ones. It teaches you how to think about developing systems vs. being goal-oriented.

Using the protocols and identity shift advice in the book, I’ve been able to stop biting my nails for almost a month now. For anyone who knows me, this is a bad habit I have never broken for more than a week since childhood.

Habit formation and creation is not about willpower, it’s about systems. For those who don’t want to read the book but are still interested, sign up for James’ free email Habits course on his website Jamesclear.com

A Life of Philip K. Dick - Anthony Peake

Chances are, you’ve watched something influenced by Philip K. Dick’s writing. Here are a few of the movies and shows that are based on his stories:

• Blade Runner

• The Minority Report

• The Man in the High Castle

• Total Recall

• The Adjustment Bureau

Arguably the greatest science fiction writer ever, I wanted to understand how one man was able to come up with so many stories. When I read about his life and beliefs, it really is no wonder. He had experiences and a paranoia so vivid paired with the work ethic and intelligence to match.

For example, for much of his life, he was convinced that a secret society was out to get him and that he also could foretell the future. Nonetheless, it was a great story about someone who genuinely loved to tell stories. It underscores the reason so many people want to master an art in the first place: to finally gain complete control of something.

Breath - James Nestor

The title is simple, but wow is this book dense. It’s about how we don’t breath as well as our ancestors and how that is causing so many of the health problems that plague society today.

To oversimplify, James outlines the importance of:

• Nasal breathing > mouth breathing

• Chewing hard, dense foods > chewy, soft foods

• Optimal breath = 5.5 sec in, 5.5 sec out

• Breathe in less air, more slowly.

Like Atomic Habits, this book has a ton of free tutorial videos for different breathing methods here.

Storyworthy - Mathew Dicks

I learned a ton that will help me become a better storyteller.

The most important things I picked up was a daily practice called “Stories for Life”, where you write down a short story that happened each day. The goal is to build up a database full of stories that you can someday look through and tell, and see if you can even find a thread that runs through some of them.

I journal every day, so this is an easy 30-second practice I added to that.

Also, it changed my perspective on what makes a good story. Matthew Dicks argues that wild, unique stories are harder to tell well because most people can’t relate to them. When you tell a story, you always want to have it be centered on your humanity, which is something everyone can relate to.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Surprisingly, I never had to read this for school. I had always heard about it and how it’s banned in many places, but I never knew anything about the book.

So as I read it, I kept waiting for the obscene language or wild scenes to pop up.

But they never came.

Instead, the story revolves around Holden, a screw-up who has a cynical view of the world. But he’s a coward, so he goes around doing one thing and saying another. It was an entertaining read and there were some interesting ideas in it, but I can’t imagine what all the controversy was for.

P.S. I want to start adding cool stories I came across or posted during the week. Here is a hilarious video and cool thread about Martin Scorsese:

If you end up checking out any of these books, let me know, and let’s talk about them! If not, hopefully, the bit of info about each helped entertain or inform you in some way. Anyways, have a great week, and thanks again for subscribing!