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Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

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Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#21

Post by tw1010 »

dash2 wrote: post #19

I would not recommend this as a book list. There is just one book here written before about the year 2000. If you are not reading a regular amount of classics, you are doomed to be historically parochial. Some people will love these books. If you are not already in that category, I would urge you not to go there. Pop social science and business self-help books are like chocolate - healthy in small doses, as part of a…

Dude, there's so much you can learn from books before 2000. If for no other reason than that it's an amazing way to get out of your filter bubble.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#22

Post by andrew_wc_brown »

sivers wrote: post #2

Surprised to find this here. For what it's worth, for anyone interested, a few things: #1 : That list is sorted with my top recommendations up top. You can also click to re-sort it by newest or by name, but by default, I highly recommend the ones at the top of the list. #2 : These aren't summaries of the book! These are just the little points that I personally found surprising or inspiring. If a book wasn't surprisin…

My Sivers, I've been reading about you for years. I love your story about how you scaled CD Baby with People instead of Algorithms. I think its of greater advice now in a startup world where every thought of every startup is that everything has to operate with a robot brain.

I lost my value in most books in 2010, We have lots of reads in common 2010 and my feeling about books is that lots fall under motivational porn and they provide instant gratification then things you can apply.

Seeing your list now I want to read Arnold Schwarzenegger book Total Recall and tempted to read Zero to One.

I would love to aspire to your level of success you had with CD Baby.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#24

Post by simonebrunozzi »

sivers wrote: post #2

Surprised to find this here. For what it's worth, for anyone interested, a few things: #1 : That list is sorted with my top recommendations up top. You can also click to re-sort it by newest or by name, but by default, I highly recommend the ones at the top of the list. #2 : These aren't summaries of the book! These are just the little points that I personally found surprising or inspiring. If a book wasn't surprisin…

Derek, as you probably already know, most of your writing is of great inspiration for many people, including me. I have tried to create a list of "books I've read" like you, and I failed (many excuses not to do it, apparently). I think it's a great exercise per se, besides whether people would find it interesting or not.

I promise I will give it another try :)

p.s. I highly recommend 1491 and 1493, two of my all-time favorite books.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#25

Post by simonebrunozzi »

andrew_wc_brown wrote: post #22
sivers wrote: post #2

Surprised to find this here. For what it's worth, for anyone interested, a few things: #1 : That list is sorted with my top recommendations up top. You can also click to re-sort it by newest or by name, but by default, I highly recommend the ones at the top of the list. #2 : These aren't summaries of the book! These are just the little points that I personally found surprising or inspiring. If a book wasn't surprisin…

My Sivers, I've been reading about you for years. I love your story about how you scaled CD Baby with People instead of Algorithms. I think its of greater advice now in a startup world where every thought of every startup is that everything has to operate with a robot brain. I lost my value in most books in 2010, We have lots of reads in common 2010 and my feeling about books is that lots fall under motivational porn…

I have not appreciated Zero to One much, and I know I might be in the minority here. My feeling is that most of that book is so specific, and so unique about Thiel's experience, that I found very little use in a normal life. My 0.02.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#26

Post by hycaria »

dash2 wrote: post #19

I would not recommend this as a book list. There is just one book here written before about the year 2000. If you are not reading a regular amount of classics, you are doomed to be historically parochial. Some people will love these books. If you are not already in that category, I would urge you not to go there. Pop social science and business self-help books are like chocolate - healthy in small doses, as part of a…

I think most readers here are in that category though, but I feel the same way as you do towards this kind of books and their readership.

I don't know how many self help and sometimes slightly spiritual books my mother will have to go through before finally feeling good enough with her life. She read a ton of them and yet the benefits seems scarce to the outer eye. Here it looks the same but with an entrepreneur vibe, which doesn't make it better.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#27

Post by thrav »

sivers wrote: post #2

Surprised to find this here. For what it's worth, for anyone interested, a few things: #1 : That list is sorted with my top recommendations up top. You can also click to re-sort it by newest or by name, but by default, I highly recommend the ones at the top of the list. #2 : These aren't summaries of the book! These are just the little points that I personally found surprising or inspiring. If a book wasn't surprisin…

Any further progress on that list of short, straightforward maxims to live by?

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#28

Post by thrav »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #25
andrew_wc_brown wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Sivers, I've been reading about you for years. I love your story about how you scaled CD Baby with People instead of Algorithms. I think its of greater advice now in a startup world where every thought of every startup is that everything has to operate with a robot brain. I lost my value in most books in 2010, We have lots of reads in common 2010 and my feeling about books is that lots fall under motivational porn…

I have not appreciated Zero to One much, and I know I might be in the minority here. My feeling is that most of that book is so specific, and so unique about Thiel's experience, that I found very little use in a normal life. My 0.02.

It’s definitely not advice for the average Joe or someone’s Mom and Pop. It’s about what it takes for a business to be monumental and transformative.

Re: Derek Sivers: Books I've Read

#30

Post by uberstuber »

Derek's book notes inspired me to post my own [1]. Making the effort to clean up my notes and go through them strengthens the lessons learned.

However, I'm not sure how valuable these types of notes are for others. Often I find a passage that resonates with me falls flat for others, and vice versa. It depends on other books you've read, life context, etc.

I do try to indicate who might find the book helpful, or who should probably skip it.

[1]: jamesstuber.org/booknotes

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