Many of you know that Tim’s We Learn Nothing, his dazzling collection of humor and insight, is one of the few books in the Tim Ferriss Book Club. To get a taste, you can listen to one of my favorite chapters, “Lazy: A Manifesto,” in this short 20-minute episode of the podcast. I’ve been eager to revisit Tim’s work, and I’m now digging into his latest collection of essays. Tim’s fans include people like filmmaker Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow), who gave him the blurb of all blurbs: “Tim Kreider’s writing is heartbreaking, brutal and hilarious—usually at the same time. He can do in a few pages what I need several hours of screen time and tens of millions to accomplish. And he does it better. Come to think of it, I’d rather not do a blurb. I am beginning to feel bad about myself.”

From the description: “For twenty years Dan O’Brien struggled to make ends meet on his cattle ranch in South Dakota. But when a neighbor invited him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, O’Brien was inspired to convert his own ranch, the Broken Heart, to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, ‘short-necked, golden balls of wool,’ O’Brien embarked on a journey that returned buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half. Buffalo for the Broken Heart is at once a tender account of the buffaloes’ first seasons on the ranch and an engaging lesson in wildlife ecology. Whether he’s describing the grazing pattern of the buffalo, the thrill of watching a falcon home in on its prey, or the comical spectacle of a buffalo bull wallowing in the mud, O’Brien combines a novelist’s eye for detail with a naturalist’s understanding to create an enriching, entertaining narrative.”

Mentioned and highly praised multiple times by Tim Ferriss.

A fantastic book on leadership, strategy, and life.

There is another book that is just basically a description of a super mind called Mind of Mnemonist by A.J. Luria. It talks about synesthesia and all of this crazy, Rainman-like abilities and beyond. I thought it was very inspiring, but it also highlighted that, when you have those types of gifts, it’s often a very mixed bag. You have a lot of issues.

That is actually another one of the half dozen books that’s up on my shelf . . . it’s one of my favorite books of all time . . . he worked at Los Alamos and also helped identify the o-ring that caused the Challenger disaster . . . he also wanted to learn how to pick up women, so he would go into bars. He just didn’t give a shit what other people thought, too which was amazingly refreshing. He decided he wanted to learn how to safe-crack, to open safes. And so he would prank people in Los Alamos where they were building the atomic bomb, so he would take out confidential papers and like put them on the desk of somebody he wanted to freak out. . . . It’s a must-read. And also the fact that when he was on his last legs towards the end of his life he was still doing things that he – that challenged his belief systems or his skill set. So he learned how to paint very late in his life. As a scientist who was a super diehard engineer who really felt like the romanticizing of say people who would argue that the scientist takes the magic out of something like a flower because they deconstruct it in scientific terms. His argument was that it’s entirely the opposite. We can appreciate so much more that you can’t see, but felt compelled to trade best practices with a friend of his who was a well-known painter and become a white belt again and suck at painting. via #75: Tools and Tricks from the #30 Employee at Facebook Surely You Must be Joking, Mr. Feynman is one of my favorite books. And even for nontechnical people, I think he’s someone worth exploring. If you’re not the reading type, you could just search for a video. I think it was done on Nova ages ago called The Joy of Finding Things Out. It gives you such a taste of Feynman and the way he not only questioned the so-called obvious or best practices, but also explored being a polymath. Even though he was a world class physicist, he was also an amateur safe cracker, pickup artist and musician; really fascinating guy. . . . . Everybody at the very least should try to find some footage of Feynman being interviewed, like The Joy of Finding Things Out. That will be the gateway drug to get you to read Surely You Must be Joking, Mr. Feynman.

Warren Buffett: "This book is something of a publishing miracle—never advertised, yet year after year selling many thousands of copies from its Internet site." Shane Parrish: "Because I have an MBA a lot of people inevitably ask me if they should pursue one. Tim Ferriss: "If it’s knowledge and not credentials you’re after, save your money and read [this book]." Daniel Ek: "I've been enjoying Charlie Munger's speeches online for years; this is the ultimate collection of the best of them" Marc Andreessen: "Tremendous" Naval Ravikant recommended Poor Charlie's Almanack on Twitter. Patrick Collison included this book on his list of recommended books. Tim Ferriss mentioned reading Poor Charlie's Almanack on Twitter.

Open, the autobiography is one of the best I've ever read.

There are some incredible personalities in this book with extremely diverse styles of investing. It is a fantastic read.

It's a very exciting book.

[John McPhee] can turn any subject — truly, any subject — into a page turner.

This is by John Wood, founder of Room to Read.  So John Wood used to be a higher up exec at Microsoft reporting to Ballmer, and just got sick of adding more cents to the bottom line of an enormous company.  Ended up starting Room to Read and now he is on track to be Andrew Carnegie 2.0. Andrew Carnegie, his legacy was 2500 or so public libraries in the US. John is trying to do that with Room to Read every year in developping countries.  I, along with my readers through some campaigns like LitLiberation have about 6 schools being built right now. 2 of them we went to visit in Vietnam. If you ever wonder what you can do to really change the world outside perhaps your business, or using your business, maybe a change in direction to give a test by dipping your toes into the world of philanthropy or causes, this is a book you need to read.

It is a hilarious book, a useful book, full of lessons.

No matter your circumstances, storytelling and creativity are two "meta-skills" that can take your business and life to the next level. Ed is a master.

Ben is one of the historical figures that I’ve been most obsessed with and I’ve recommended 'Benjamin Franklin: An American Life' to thousands and thousands of people.

I'll answer a question that a lot of people ask me and that is, what are you reading? Well, what I'm reading right now is two books — comprise of two books. The first is, William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade. Goldman is the screenwriter behind such movies as The Princess Bride – one of my favorites of all time – and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The second book is John Muir, Wilderness Essays. So, very different, both very, very good and highly recommended. The Adventures in the Screen Trade is a little outdated with some of the contents because it's related to film and it was written in the '80s, but there are a lot of timeless principles and Goldman is just hilarious.

A fascinating look at what makes a leader, and what makes a leader effective in the most extreme circumstances.

A Walk in the Woods is a great way to invigorate the passion for hiking