Required Reading

by Jacob Smith

Last Updated September 11, 2024

This is a list of books I’ve read which I think everyone should read presented in no particular order. This page will be updated periodically so feel free to check in later to see if anything new has popped up.

I’d love to see what books you think I should read.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

When asked what my favorite book is this is usually my answer. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a compelling science fiction story that tells the story of a revolution and the founding of a new nation that mirrors the founding of the United States. The story allows us to make sense of some of the decisions that the founding fathers made and explores a bit of Heinlein’s modern libertarian leanings. This is the book that convinced me that taxation is theft.

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

Michael Easter teaches us that we live in a “Comfort Crisis” we sleep in a comfortable temperature controlled house, and drive in our fast temperature controlled car, to get to our ergonomic temperature controlled office only to drive back home and have comfort food effortlessly delivered to our door. This is not how people have lived up until now and it is not good for our mental and physical health. In this book Easter explores how things like rigorous exercise, a limited diet, cold exposure, contemplation of death, and other uncomfortable things are good for us and he inspires us to step out of our comfort zones a little bit.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

1984 and Brave New World are books in the dystopia genre that are often talked about but I feel like Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451* is the book that best describes the dystopia we live in rather than some dystopia that we may be doomed to become. It shows a world where people sit in their homes surrounded by screens that get them caught up in worthless distractions. A world where you step into public surrounded by stimulation. A world where nobody seems to understand why you should seek to improve yourself through doing things that others find boring. A world that seems too familiar these days. The story is that of a man who comes to see the worthlessness of living in such a vain world and his escape from it.

Loserthink and Win Bigly by Scott Adams

Scott Adams is a smart and funny guy you should pay attention to, I don’t agree with him on everything but you can learn a lot from him. In Loserthink Adams teaches us how to avoid unproductive thought patterns and he does much more than cover the simple logical fallacies we should all be familiar with. He teaches us why we shouldn’t stress about the definitions of words, why staying true to artistic integrity will lead to failure, and many other interesting things. Win Bigly uses Trump’s 2016 presidential run as a case study to teach us effective persuasion techniques. It of course isn’t as in-depth as Robert Cialdini’s famous book Influence but it is much more entertaining and a great first step into learning the art of persuasion.

Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier

In today’s world adults stress way too much about kid’s feelings taking a therapeutic approach to parenting, teaching, and just talking to kids. To protect them from potential trauma they try to remove anything uncomfortable or challenging in a kids life. Shrier argues that this is not healthy for kids and it doesn’t prepare them for life out in the real world. She tells us that therapy is bad for most kids. And she presents important research showing us that kids need to be challenged, not coddled in order to succeed and be happy. This is a book that everyone with kids or who interacts with kids should read so that they can understand the dangerous environment kids exist in these days and how they can gain the courage to let kids grow.

Slaying Leviathan by Glen Sunshine

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute