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Reading

Here, I list the nonfiction books I still keep on my shelf — or remember well enough to include — along with the ratings I’d give them. It’s not a complete archive of everything I’ve ever read; it’s simply a record of the books that stayed with me. I’d love to remember every single title and retroactively attach a “finished on” date, but after nearly a decade of active reading... that’s probably impossible.

A note on my ratings: they’re scored on a 1–10 scale and reflect how much a book personally mattered to me and how much I enjoyed it — not how “objectively good” I think it is. A book can be excellent at what it sets out to do yet still receive a modest score if it didn’t leave a lasting impact on my worldview. Conversely, some books are mind-shifting and deeply impactful even if the prose is clumsy or downright painful to get through — and in those cases, I tend to rate them higher than their writing alone deserves. Practical or highly specific books can be useful in the moment, but unless they meaningfully change how I think or who I am, their scores simply land lower within this system.

The scale is closer to Japanese restaurant reviews than Western Goodreads-style ones: a 5 or 6 means good (like a typical 4.5/5), 7 or 8 means great, and anything above 8 is truly exceptional.

The Pathless Path
Paul Millerd
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Get Better at Anything
Scott H. Young
★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
How to Retire
Christine Benz
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
High Performance Habits
Brendon Burchard
★★★★★★★★★☆
Designing Machine Learning Systems
Chip Huyen
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Business Model You
Tim Clark, Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
The 4-Hour Workweek
Timothy Ferriss
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Tidy First?
Kent Beck
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
A Philosophy of Software Design
John Ousterhout
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Engineers Survival Guide
Merih Taze
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
The Millionaire Fastlane
M.J. DeMarco
★★★★★★★★★☆
The Art and Business of Online Writing
Nicolas Cole
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
The Human Element
David Schonthal, Loran Nordgren
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Feel-Good Productivity
Ali Abdaal
★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Just Keep Buying
Nick Maggiulli
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Level Up!
Scott Rogers
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Tax-Free Wealth
Tom Wheelwright
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
The 3 Alarms
Eric Partaker
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Buy Back Your Time
Dan Martell
★★★★★★★★☆☆
被討厭的勇氣
岸見一郎, 古賀史健
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Everyday Business Storytelling
Janine Kurnoff, Lee Lazarus
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
The Culture Map
Erin Meyer
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Designing Your Life
Bill Burnett, Dave Evans
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Steal Like an Artist
Austin Kleon
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Show Your Work!
Austin Kleon
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Building a Second Brain
Tiago Forte
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
How to Not Die Alone
Logan Ury
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The Alter Ego Effect
Todd Herman
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Dale Carnegie
★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
You Turn
Ashley Stahl
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Hidden Potential
Adam M. Grant
★★★★★★★★★☆
The Art of Game Design
Jesse Schell
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Martin Kleppmann
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
How to Take Smart Notes
Sönke Ahrens
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Eat That Frog!
Brian Tracy
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Anxiety at Work
Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Start with Why
Simon Sinek
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
★★★★★★★★★☆
Die with Zero
Bill Perkins
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Graduate Admissions Essays
Donald Asher
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Computer Systems
Randal E. Bryant, David Richard O'Hallaron
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Bad Blood
John Carreyrou
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Principles
Ray Dalio
★★★★★★★★☆☆
The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Academic Writing for Graduate Students
John M. Swales, Christine Feak
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Zero to One
Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Measure What Matters
John Doerr
★★★★★★★★☆☆
The Art of Computer Programming
Donald Ervin Knuth
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
設計模式與遊戲開發的完美結合
蔡昇達
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Design Patterns Explained
Alan Shalloway, James Trott
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future
John MacCormick
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Algorithms to Live By
Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Head First Design Patterns
Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra, Elisabeth Robson
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Introduction to the Theory of Computation
Michael Sipser
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Save the Cat
Blake Snyder
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Thank You for Arguing
Jay Heinrichs
★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
研究生完全求生手冊
彭明輝
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
教學的技術
王永福
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
10倍速!寫出最強文字
上阪徹
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
玩心設計
陳威帆
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
最高學以致用法
樺沢紫苑
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
The Four
Scott Galloway
★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Ultralearning
Scott H. Young
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Atomic Habits
James Clear
★★★★★★★★★★
The Productivity Project
Chris Bailey
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Win Bigly
Scott Adams
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆