Diary of a Life Long Learner
It all began with an experiment between two artists in information design. They barely knew each other but decided to send a postcard every week for a year to measure a single aspect of their lives—moments of gratitude, visited places, encounters with an animal. 52 weeks, 52 opportunities to notice. The book reproduces the complete set of postcards, front and back, with succinct comments. It's an…
I think it's the kind of book that is best appreciated if you have no expectations of it. The book is really excellent but you will probably not find what you expect. If you are looking for specific rules to follow for writing better sentences, you'll be disappointed. The book is about developing the intuition to know what makes a good sentence. There are barely any examples, except the four…
Discover how a chain of binaries works together to start your server and run your code.
There are many areas in which being an adult makes us less competent. Mindfulness, play, and of course, creativity. It may seem stupid to read a book about creativity when we all experienced what it meant to be creative when we were children. Trust me, we need this book to remind ourselves what art is really about. This book is terrific. Making a great book is not easy. Austin Kleon gets it done…
There are books that I continue to see quoted regularly. Good to Great is among them. This book was published in 2001 after five years of study trying to find great companies that outperform their direct competitors. They selected 11 large American companies, assembled thousands of pages of interviews and reflected on what separates good companies from great ones. Good to Great is the conclusion…
Hiring the right developer is not about solving the immediate problem that motivates the decision, but finding someone to solve future problems.
Reading more books doesn't just give you more answers but develops the intuition needed to face problems you still ignore.
The person you become is shaped less by major changes in your life than by how you use the countless in-between moments that fill your days.
Daring to act differently is not easy, but it's the only way to a fulfilling life.
Learning becomes less natural when working in hostile environments, but learning must never stop. There are always opportunities to learn. This article will give you my tips.
Few developers read programming books. Why read pages when writing code is more fun? If there is one book that can make you change your mind, this is it. The first edition is the best-selling book at O'Reilly. You just have to read the first few pages to understand why. I loved reading this first edition when it was published. I loved reading this second edition as much. There are a lot of overlap…
AI redefines what it means to be a developer, for better and for worse.
Adam Fisher is kind of a genius. He lets Silicon Valley speak for itself by writing a book of quotes that read like actual conversations. I've never read a book like this before. It's the kind of book you couldn't put down. History is made of incredible stories. The one behind Silicon Valley is one of the craziest. Valley of Genius is a time machine that drops you into the garages and chaotic…
Every tech problem is a people problem -- and every people problem is a hiring problem. I have always been convinced that hiring is the most important decision a company makes (and the most important skill for a software developer as recommended by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg in How Google Works ). Published in 2008, Who: The A Method for Hiring is maybe the first book to make such a…
Writing code must not be creative.
It's uncommon for a book to use a Disneyland-style map as its summary. The Imagination Emporium is a truly creative book about creativity. The Imagination Emporium introduces a well-organized approach to foster creativity at work. The first chapter presents the authors' River of Thinking and Four Brain States . The goal is to step out of this river and open the door to our unconscious mind. The…
There are countless books that teach developers how to improve systems—design patterns, architecture, performance, scalability—but far fewer teach them how to improve products. From my experience, many developers think product decisions belong to someone else. But the code we write—APIs, libraries, internal tools—is also a product. It has users. And those users would benefit enormously if we adopt…
Tips and strategies for reading less without missing out on valuable content.
Experience is not about the number of years you’ve worked or the technologies you’ve used. It’s about the judgment you’ve developed over time. Here are 12 ways to redefine your experience and grow it faster.
Mel Robbins has a gift for capturing simple ideas that make a huge difference when applied consistently. Following The 5 Second Rule and The High 5 Habit , she now introduces The Let Them Theory . While I found The 5 Second Rule interesting but repetitive, The Let Them Theory uses the same formula but with much better results. Because the Let Them Theory is so widely applicable and as every…
Reflections on how good books become great books.
I really loved The Psychology of Money and The Art of Spending Money . Honestly, I wish I had received these books with my very first paycheck (but they didn't existed at that time). They would make great gifts for anyone just starting their working life. The first book is packed with practical advice on how to build wealth. But the second one—focused on how to actually use money—is even more…
Psychology is not a definitive science. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung are giants. Alfred Adler, a student of Freud, is the "anti-Freud." Freud says your past defines you; Adler says your goals define you. The Courage to Be Disliked is a distillation of Adler’s ideas to experience a meaningful life (who doesn't?). Welcoming ideas is not comfortable, so imagine ideas that completely contradict our life…
Some subjects cannot be understood through logic alone. Writing, creativity, and art fall into this category. This explains why most books on the topic focus on practical steps. It is easier to offer concrete advice -- but those books often miss the other side of the creative coin Art cannot be explained without discussing the mystical. Just as Steven Pressfield discusses the "Muse" in his…
Areté captures a massive collection of ideas from popular nonfiction books in a single volume. You will learn (or rediscover) life-changing techniques and insights to become the hero of your life. But does it work? Despite its 1,000 pages, Areté isn't really a book -- it is a collection of notes. Each note is only 1 or 2 pages long. You get the source, a few quotes, a short summary, and that's it!…
Cal Newport’s books are always inspiring, but for practical reasons, they are rarely exceptional. Adopting a new approach to productivity is difficult in a dysfunctional workplace unable to recognize the importance of working differently. Writing a book in a cabin is different from building software in a team. Different jobs require different strategies. No single book can challenge the status quo…
Simple techniques can produce huge results. But more often than not, simple techniques are easy to explain but hard to put into practice efficiently. A checklist is definitely one of these techniques. The book follows the reflection of a surgeon on using checklists like aviation pilots use them. The book follows how the idea grew inside the author's mind, which means the pace of the book is…
Reinventing Organizations is one of the most cited management books. The original version is 300-page long, not so long for an eye-opening book, but probably too long as few people read, especially management books. This new illustrated edition introduces the same ideas and is half the size (including the numerous well-designed illustrations) so that you can read it almost in one sitting. The…
Group culture is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together (African Proverb). Companies know the impact of having a strong culture but we just don't know how it works. Culture is kind of mysterious. The common solution for companies is to document values that describe who they want to be and rarely who they really are.…
The book follows the author in the most surprising talent hotbeds like a tennis court in Moscow, a soccer field in São Paolo, a vocal studio in Dallas, or a baseball-mad island in the Caribbean. We learn about the "secrets" behind the top performers like the best soccer players, bank robbers, violinists, or fighter pilots. We meet scientists, coaches, and teachers that are explaining their…
The last decades of busyness work cannot be considered quality work. The greatest minds in history understood the need for time off. Using history as the best evidence, you will learn from Aristotle, Beethoven, and also from famous innovators, Nobel Prize winners, prolific artists and so much more. You will understand why time off will help you live a happier, fulfilled life, and at the same time,…
If you loved Tools of Titans , you will love even more Tribe of Mentors . For this new book, Tim emailed his mentors the same well-thought questions and half of them take hours or days to write sophisticated answers (about success, happiness, focus, meditation, Stoicm, sports, etc.). You will find once again more than 100 chapters from a diverse panel of contributors (still mostly American).…
Jim Kwik suffered from a head injury when he was a small kid that impaired his focus, concentration, and ability to learn. The “boy with the broken brain” has now become one of the main experts on learning and one of the best examples of human potential, coaching along the way so many celebrities over three decades (just have a look at the long list of praises at the beginning of the book). What I…
Tim Ferris delivered once again a book like no other one. He spend a month reviewing the notes taken during the interviews of his podcasts (and a few more months editing them). The result is a collection of "tools," including routines, books, common self-talk, supplements, favorite questions, and much more. The book organization is minimal (to say the least). Three parts (Healthy, Wealthy, and…
Make Time is like a cookbook. "You wouldn't try all the recipes at once," say the authors, "and you don't need to do all the tactics at once, either." It's a book to find what best works for YOU based on a list of more than 80 tactics to choose from. The authors spent years at Google as product designers, helping to build services like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Hangouts (= helping to steal our…
Software has rarely demonstrated the same gain of performance as hardware. Understanding the performance of complex software is difficult. "Without a good picture of reality, programmers are reduced to guessing and trying things to reduce long delays and improve performance," declares the author. "This book is about not guessing, but knowing." The author has worked with giants such as Frances…
When you study a subject for a decade, when you reject job offers to spend a full year focusing on it--experimenting with crazy ideas like alternating between 20 and 80 hours of work per week or watching 70h of TED talks in a single week--you for sure end up with new insights and valuable lessons to share. This is this book. The books comprise 25 chapters explaining the 25 most effective (and…
This book is one of the most interesting books about learning. You will discover the path to mastery from the trenches. The book is mostly written as a memoir, relating the journey of the author to conquer chess and martial art tournaments. Having a basic understanding of these disciplines is preferable to appreciate the content and the subtle lessons. I loved the first part (about chess). I…
Based on the author's experience, "it takes around twenty hours of practice to break through the frustration barrier: to go from knowing absolutely nothing about what you're trying to do to performing noticeably well." The First 20 Hours explains how to efficiently overcome this barrier. You will not master any skills in 20 hours but you'll have a better chance of success if you start with twenty…
It's hard to describe this book. It isn't just a cookbook, nor just a book about learning. One thing is sure, it's HUGE. Mostly because it's perfectly disorganized. Because there are so many entertaining sections. Because there are so many personal anecdotes. Because there are so many pictures. Or just because it's so much fun to read (even if I'm glad not all books are like this 😅). If you are…
My year dedicated to rethinking my habits for the next decade.
My project to use LEGO tiles to track my habits.
"Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture?" If there are things you want to do but don't, chances are you are in the main audience of this book like everybody else... The War of Art is one of the best nonfiction books. It's a classic. It's different, life-changing, original, insightful, and for sure, special. There are more…
If you want to earn more money or want to be happier, starting with this book is a good idea. As outlined by the author, "Two topics impact everyone, whether you are interested in them or not: health and money." This book will benefit everyone (as confirmed by its huge success). The Psychology of Money challenges brilliantly the preconceived idea that finance is a science, like physics, with rules…
I feel perplexed about this book. I love reading and getting my kid to develop the same passion is something I care about (a lot!). I profoundly think reading makes us better, and helps us experience a richer life by understanding people that don't look like or think like us. Reading for Our Lives provides many actionable ideas to assist our children toward literacy, for sure. But Nature makes…
This book is such a great idea. An eight-year adventure to collect more than a hundred love letters destined for the young readers of today and tomorrow and written by renowned thinkers (Richard Branson), adventurers (Jane Goodall), writers (Chris Ware, Jacqueline Woodson), artists (Yo-Yo Ma), entrepreneurs (Ev Williams), and so many others (Steven Pinker, Shonda Rhimes, ...). Each letter is…
"There is never enough time to do everything you have to do." Eat that Frog will help you ensure that you are cspending your time on the right thing so that what you end up not doing finally make a huge difference. The book is organized into 21 independent chapters describing 21 independent techniques, methods, or strategies applied by the author with great success. Not all are relevant depending…
"It seems the more we have access to information, the less we seem to know," says Oliver Jeffers, one of my favorite children's book authors. Understanding Understanding is a more personal book than the author's previous titles on the subject. It's his last book, the last conversation with us on his favorite subject, the special moment between ignorance and comprehension, on which everything…
Finite games are familiar. Some player wins. Some don't. Infinite games are different. Nobody wins but everyone loses when they stop playing. Life is the perfect example. You can't be the best at living and you will lose in the end. Business is another example, a great game largely played with finite rules... I love (not just like 😉) this book. Learning about finite and infinite games is…
Network Warrior is a book that I've seen acclaimed many times despite its huge size. Even with more than 700 pages, it isn't an advanced book on networking. It contains more than 40 chapters focusing on a single topic. The author always helps you get started, shows how it works and provides one or several real-world examples. Other books are cited to dive deeper into many topics. It's easy to…