I am often asked for book recommendations and typically find myself scrambling my brain for suggestions. The problem with this is recency bias – the books that I have most recently read are the ones that come to mind most easily. The purpose of this list (which is a living list) is to provide a list of books that have really shaped my thinking one way or another so that when asked for recommendations, I can just point towards this list and therefore avoid any recency bias.
I keep a list of all the books I own and, for the ones that I have read, I have given them a rating from 1 to 5 with 1 being “Not worth any time” to 5 being “All-timer, has really shaped my thinking/beliefs.” The list given below is a subset of all the books that were rated ‘5.’
A sci-fi series of four books (at least so far) that tells the stories of lives at the periphery. The characters aren’t embroiled in the middle of “everything that’s going on” and are just trying to get through their days. The complexity of the relationships really makes this series work. My favourite is the third book, “Record of a Spaceborn Few.”
The most mind-blowing resolution to a murder mystery I have ever read. In truth, if anyone were to ask me what murder mystery they should start off with if they were new to the genre, it would be this one (over any Sherlock Holmes story).
My graduate school roommate, Suthen, introduced this series to me. It is a Sci-Fi series that describes the sociology/economics/anthropology (read: social studies) of what would happen if / when humanity colonises the solar system. A really provocative take on human nature.
I got my first Sherlock Holmes book when I was 9. I’ve wanted to be a Detective ever since. Alas, this was not meant to be. But the books and the character have really shaped me.
My favourite book of all time. It isn’t a story about some murderous clown, but it really is a story about friendship, childhood and what it means to grow up.
The creepiest Stephen King book I have ever read.
An incredibly long book (1000+ pages) which, on the surface, seems like a quintessential good versus evil type apocalyptic battle, but is actually fantastic social commentary on what happens to society as the number of people in it grow.
The best love story I have come across. While, like It, the story is ostensibly about something else (in this case, the prevention of the assassination of JFK), it is, at its core, a romance story.
Beautifully written book of short stories describing different notions of time. It’s a real treat for the imagination.
The best thing about fiction is it really allows us to explore the world of imagination like no other. Grounded in (pretty) hard science, this series explores what would happen if Earth was to be invaded by a more advanced species – covers fundamental physics, economics, sociology, politics, and philosophy. Some of the concepts are truly mind-blowing. The second book in the series is my favourite.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin unpacking this, but I’ll just say that the various philosophies that manifest themselves via the different characters are immensely thought-provoking.
Batman has a ton of great stories (Dark Knight Returns, Batman Begins, among others) but Killing Joke is the only one that, I think, has a really interesting take on ‘just one bad day.’
A tremendous book that essentially asks the question, “What happens if another species on Earth gains the kind of consciousness-ish that humans do? What happens to the clash of civilisations then?” A form of hard sci-fi, but from the perspective of evolutionary biology, as opposed to physics.
I’m not kidding – finishing these two volumes drove me into an existential crisis for a week. It really brings to fore the question, “So what will you have accomplished in your life?” The companion reader, also by Don Rosa, that collects supplementary stories is also great.
An alien visits Earth and wants to meet a paleontologist to understand the history of life on Earth. Kind of a spectacular premise to begin with. Culminates in a really meaningful discussion of intelligent design and the existence of a Creator.
I read this in secondary school after the Fellowship of the Ring came out in movies. Some of the most beautiful writing I have encountered and some of the most meaningful characters. While Gandalf is my clear favourite, Samwise (“BAMF”) Gamgee is a very close second.
This book gave me an existential crisis that lasted weeks. It’s a book that tells of the evolution of a relationship between two people who make video games together and is a great commentary of what the most important relationships in life might look like, however unconventional.
A brilliant book that is both fiction and non-fiction simultaneously! The book consists of 10 shorts stories that illustrate the potential uses (and abuses) of realistic AI technology. Each story is then followed by descriptions of that AI technology and where it’s development is at today. Kai-Fu Lee brings the technical understanding of AI while Chen Qiufan brings the sci-fi. Brilliant combination.
Another book that does a great job in demonstrating how interconnected the world is. It’s a bit like Newton’s Action-Reaction kind of thing, but on a global scale. Examples include the links between policies in the Ming Dynasty and the American Revolution, the Great Wall of China and the fall of the Roman Empire, climate change in Scandinavia and the humbling of the Song empire, Turkification of the Islamic world, the Crusades and the Afghan expansion into Northern India. A real tour-de-force.
If I were to reset my life, or at least my field of study, I would go into Astronomy. And the main reason for that is more romantic than it is rational – I simply look at a night sky with thousands of stars and I can’t help feeling awe, wonder and small. And I also can’t help but think about things like, “What’s out there?”, “How far does the universe go?” and things like that. Bogard’s book is a terrific read on the importance of preserving the dark, and the things that come along with it. For the more rational (or at least less romantic), the practical and consequential issues of light pollution are also described well.
A very readable book on the history of dinosaurs with a special chapter, naturally, on the Tyrannosaurus Rex. While this book is fun even for the most mild dinosaur enthusiast, where I think it really comes to fore is just the appreciation of how long dinosaurs ruled the earth and, in comparison, how much further the human species has to go just to achieve what the dinosaurs achieved in terms of sustained existence.
A thoroughly informative book on how economic development in developed countries has historically been driven, in large part, by government, thereby debunking the common perception that growth and development should only be private sector driven. In Economics, I’ve read the most on Industrial Policy, and I think this book is a must-read as is Dani Rodrik’s paper on “Industrial Policy for the 21st Century.”
I love books that very persuasively show the interconnectedness of everything - in this case, it’s Earth’s geological evolution. I don’t think we can say Geography is Destiny, but as per Kathryn Paige Harden’s book above, it doesn’t mean that we can downplay its role, even after millions of years. The story of the “Black Belt” region in the southeastern United States and voting patterns just blew me away.
The political economy of why some countries achieve sustained economic growth and development, and why others don’t. It’s a wonderful treatment of the role of political bargains and their impacts on the direction(s) of a given country. Required reading for all public policy enthusiasts.
When I entered College, I wanted to be an Investment Banker. I know, I know. But then I took a course in my sophomore year called, “Why are some countries rich, and some countries poor?” I was assigned to do a book report on this particular book and reading it has, I can’t overstate this enough, changed my career trajectory towards development policy. This was the book that set me on the path that I am today.
I’m a big believer that luck (which I would probably formally define as ‘deviations from an expected outcome’) is probably 95% responsible (number is approximate) for most things in life. This is particularly true about the lottery of birth. Who you are born to and where you are born really impacts your outcome. Of course, there are those who beat the odds, but those are the exceptions, rather than the norms. This book is a good introductory read on the outsized role of luck.
Abraham Lincoln has always been a fascination of mine, from way back when I first learned about the Gettysburg Address. And in this book, Eric Foner - one of the world’s pre-eminent historians on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War - really showed the complexity of Lincoln, as his views on slavery evolved throughout his life and even Presidency. The image I get of Lincoln coming out of this book is not one of an infallible, completely purehearted person, but really, an individual trying to do the best he can to fight for what he believes is right, understanding that the fight is worth fighting even if you may not see it resolved in your lifetime, and allowing his stances and positions to evolve as he goes along.
If Foner’s book helped me better understand Lincoln the individual, Goodwin’s Team of Rivals really helped me see Lincoln the master politician and statesman. His ability to be magnanimous to political rivals, to generate compromise with different factions, to pull together multiple strong personalities comes on full display in this book. A must-read for anyone hoping to be an enterprise leader (or equivalent); a fantastic portrait of all-time all-universe leadership in a time of chaos and crisis.
This book has made me think very differently about what drives the political beliefs and worldviews of different individuals. The moral intuition argument that Haidt lines up is super persuasive (I have written about this in The Edge) and what I like most about it is how he links it to human evolution, particularly group selection (though there is still lots of debate on whether natural selection can take place at the group level). There is, I think, no better (introductory) book to read on how and why people have different moral beliefs.
The best Michael Jordan book I have read (and I have read a fair few). Halberstam is a master writer, using all facets of his journalistic ability to give a real (though sometimes a bit too kind) portrait of Michael Jordan. What really comes across is Jordan’s inhumanly intense competitiveness spirit.
In Statistics, one of my favourite concepts is the Law of Large Numbers. David Hand introduced, to me at least, the concept of the Law of Very Large Numbers. A different take on statistics, especially statistics with very large samples. The lessons from this book should also give us pause when evaluating insights / analyses drawn from big-data-type work.
Harari does a good job here in bucketing our collective history into the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the unification of humankind, and the Scientific Revolution. It has made me appreciate evolutionary biology and evolutionary anthropology much more and given me a new cornerstone on evaluating what is possible and what is not – “Biology enables, culture forbids.” Also fairly sobering to read how destructive we are as a species, especially to large mammals.
The author is at pains throughout the book to make the point that the book isn’t about eugenics and that DNA, particularly in societal matters, is not deterministic. However, and I agree with this, it would be intellectually dishonest and negligent, even, to ignore the role that our genes might play in shaping who we are and our societal outcomes. I really believe that the lottery of birth is so arbitrary, and some form of ‘luck’ equalisation is required. This book points out exactly how arbitrary and how consequential that lottery is.
Culture, whether in terms of Economics, Evolution, Anthropology, and so on, is my favourite academic topic. One of my chief questions was, “How do cultures evolve over human history, and why are some cultures more resilient than others?” This book by Joseph Henrich was exactly what I was looking for and is probably my favourite non-fiction book. It describes the cultural-gene co-evolution pulling together insights from evolutionary biology, anthropology and much more. If there was a book that best described the type of fields where I would want to explore the most and the questions I would ask, this would be that book.
Sherlock Holmes, based on the stories, was a perfect reasoning machine masquerading as a human being. I wanted to be like that. Daniel Kahneman showed me it was not possible. For the first time in my life, I really questioned the possibility that I was nowhere near as rational/logical as I thought, and that I was actually pretty irrational. Thanks Daniel Kahneman for that (can be read both sarcastically and sincerely).
A global history of species’ extinctions from the first organisms till today. A sobering read and one that shows just how much we are losing, and will stand to lose, with unyielding climate change. Goes deep into ecology and preservation, which are fields that I don’t commonly come across. On a side note, the description of how the cause of the Fifth Extinction (the one that killed the dinosaurs) was discovered is truly gripping.
A truly wonderful summary of the literature surrounding the fundamental/ultimate drivers of economic development. If I were to teach a course on economic development (and I hope to do so one day), this will be my starting point. The authors really do a good job taking the reader through (in an accessible way) the various debates in academia in a balanced manner on issues such as institutions, demographics, culture (my favourite!), among others. A real must read.
Part biography, part introduction to the history of the development of computer vision AI and its applicability to various themes today (socio-economic research, healthcare services, etc.). Wonderfully written with a really important story about the deeply person ‘human’-ness (as opposed to a more vague generality) at the center of AI. Brings to mind, hutang emas boleh dibayar, hutang budi dibawa mati.
Phenomenal book on spiritual materiality (materiality here is taken in the Physics sense, i.e. everything is made out of matter) and how even seemingly non-material experiences (transcendent experiences) can come from material origins (emergent properties). Really reflects how I see things like “awe” and “transcendence” and “being part of something larger that oneself.” Exceptional writing as well.
I once had a discussion with a good friend of mine, Yeh Chuin, on the nature of intelligent design. Lightman’s book describes what I think about how nature, the universe, humanity, etc. came to be better than I could ever articulate and ends with some very profound questions on the nature of science and the nature of religion and the role for both (which I entirely agree with).
This book was un-put-down-able. A cogent argument on how (toxic) masculinity has really set us back in all kinds of innovations (the story of the electric car was the most eye-opening to me). It should really be no surprise when 50% of the population has been systematically excluded or neglected for so long, but it’s crazy to think of where we could have been and how much more quickly.
Another book that gave me an existential crisis. Essentially a story of the relationship between humans and the stars - culturally, spiritually and scientifically. Also made me realise that maybe there really isn’t that much of a difference between astrologers and economists!
This book is a bit more technical in its narrative but it does provide a hugely useful framework in analysing so-called ‘miracle’ events. I like that it draws on statistical distributions (Gaussian versus Cauchy), network theory (I learned a lot from here), and chaos theory in pulling together its thesis. Also helps when thinking about specific issues – are we in a Gaussian world or a Cauchy one?
The first part of the title caught my eye (and my obsession with dinosaurs). The second part of the title made me give it a ‘5’. How did dark matter (matter that can’t be traced, at least thus far, directly by any senses and sensors we have) cause the extinction of the dinosaurs? What I really like about it is how it shows that things that happen at a universal scale (or at least at a galactic scale) can have an important impact to life on earth. I’m always looking for ideas which draw links across very different fields and show how our planet – and therefore the life on it – have developed and evolved over millions (billions?) of years.
I just learned so much from this book. Covering dogs, wheat, cattle, maize, potatoes, chickens, rice, horses, apples and humans, the author delves not just into the biological / genetic histories of these species, but also – more fascinatingly for me at least – their cultural histories and how they have influenced human history and continue to influence human lives today. An exceptional read.
Sapolsky makes a neuroscience-based argument on why free will is technically not needed in explaining our actions and decisions, and is also technically non-existent. Turtles, all the way down, as he writes it. It’s really well-argued, and I learned a lot about neuroscience from the book and while I don’t necessarily agree with his conclusions (note: I’m not philosophically married to the idea of free will and am certainly open to the idea that maybe everything can be deterministic, but I don’t think he did enough to overcome arguments on free will arising from the concept of ‘emergence’), I think they’re definitely worth grappling with.
The book asks really important questions on the nature of nomadism and sedentarism and how much we may have lost amidst the gains of long-term settlements. I was especially persuaded by arguments on the need for humans to constantly be “wandering” (plugged as it may be in our evolutionary psyche) and how much of history is written by the “settled” as opposed to the nomadic. Read it as more of an ode to wandering and it’ll really make you think.
A terrific introduction to crucial figureheads in more recent Chinese history, starting with the lead up to the Opium War and ending with China in the 2000s. Really gives good context on how China managed to develop, not just economically, but also culturally. In fact, I think this book is super useful in thinking about the nature of cultural change and what it can mean for economic development. I would be super fascinated to see an update to the book, covering Xi Jinping’s leadership era (the book was published in 2014).
Perhaps the book with the most mind-blowing facts I’ve ever read - (for instance, the same genes, known as Hox, were active in the development both of fish fins and of human fingers). But I think, more than anything, it was such an eye-opening perspective on how nature “innovates” via evolution, and how it can be applied to innovation today.
The best introductory read for anyone looking to learn about how data and statistics can be wilfully manipulated or accidentally misinterpreted to craft narratives and news. Very readable with great examples from sports, finance, politics, and more and is, in general, a very good place to start learning how to be a more educated consumer of statistics and data. Should be mandatory reading in all schools.
A really well-argued (though at times a little too neat in categorisation) thesis on how countries may democratise through strength, as opposed to ceding democracy because of weakness. It makes a really strong case on the role of development in democratisation, buying space, so that incumbents can remain in charge, in spite of giving up power (or otherwise missing the boat to do so).
If I were to teach any course on Economics – Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Public Economics, Industrial Organisation, whatever – this book would be required reading. More so, I would make it required reading for policymakers around the world. Provides a comprehensive and coherent take on the role of Industrial Policy in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and how the execution of Industrial Policy can both create economic successes (Japan, Korea, Taiwan) and also create limits to those successes (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines).