Here’s a comprehensive list of books that I personally really enjoyed reading, and that I think might be of interest to other people. Mostly it’s non-fiction, because that’s 99% of what I read. It’s also around a 1/100th of my bookshelves combined, since I won’t bother listing books that are just alright, these are books that I found thoroughly exceptional in some aspect. The books are in no particular order.
Also, all links are Amazon affiliate links, from which I receive a small cut of the sales they generate, full disclosure and all that.
Non-Fiction
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
This is the definitive guide to alternative medicine and why it’s complete rubbish, written in an entertaining way by an actual doctor of medicine. It’s worth the read just for entertainment value alone.
Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
This one is quite a bit more technical compared to Bad Science but definitely worth the read if you’re interested in medical trials and the pharmaceutical industry. It’s also worth it as a primer on how to do scientific studies in a correct manner.
Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters
A very entertaining book about almost every single nuclear disaster that has ever happened, why it happened, and what went wrong. It requires somewhat of an interest in nuclear safety, but is written in a clear and concise way, and actually leaves you with the feeling that nuclear energy is a lot safer than you might have thought.
The Upstarts by Brad Stone
The comprehensive guide to why Airbnb and Uber are suddenly worth billions without you noticing.
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
A very entertaining look into the ’08 stock market collapse seen through the eyes of the few people that actually figured out what was going on before the collapse.
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics
Written by Richard Thaler, in his ever entertaining and modest fashion, a book on behavioural economics and how they differ from classical economics. Also a very entertaining book.
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
A wonderful book by Eric Schlosser about all that was flat out wrong about the nuclear weapons program during the Cold War.
Fiction
Halting State Series
Halting State
The first book in the Halting State series, written by Charles Stross, about a near future in Scotland. One of my all time favourite sci-fi books.
Rule 34
The even better continuation of the Halting State series, written again by the aforementioned Charles Stross.
Grumpy Techie 