It’s not unusual for me to pick up recommended titles without digging too deeply into the synopsis. When I came across The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power, I assumed it would be a fairly straightforward biography of Peter Thiel.

I can’t even recall what originally prompted me to buy The Richest Man in Babylon, although I suspect I heard it referenced either in an investing book or on one of the many recommended reading lists I’ve come across over the years.

I became familiar with Robert Hagstrom a good few years ago now, taking a particular liking to his books The Warren Buffett Way and Investing: The Last Liberal Art. Recently, through the The 100 Year Thinkers podcast, I’ve become reacquainted with him so to speak, as part of the monthly show he participates in with Bogumil Baranowski and Matt Ziegler.

On a recent episode of Talking Billions, Bogumil interviewed Richard Oldfield, who referenced his book Simple But Not Easy a couple of times during the conversation. I enjoyed the episode and, by association, tend to hold Bogumil’s guests in reasonably high regard

Generally, if I come across a book highlighted on the Richer, Wiser, Happier podcast, I can be reasonably confident I’m going to enjoy it. That was certainly the case when I picked up Brad Stulberg’s latest book after hearing him on RWH.

I read The Nvidia Way last year and for a while now, The Thinking Machine by Stephen Witt has been sitting in my Audible recommendations. After a couple of recent below par book selections, I decided to give this one a go.

I didn’t have this on my radar at all, but I’m glad I stumbled across it. Open: An Autobiography came to my attention after David Senra reviewed it on the Founders podcast, stepping outside his usual focus on business owners and entrepreneurs.

I’ve mentioned The Investors Podcast network before when reviewing Richer, Wiser, Happier, and The Intrinsic Value Podcast sits under the same umbrella while maintaining its own dedicated feed.

Among the podcasts I listen to regularly, Talking Billions hosted by Bogumil Baranowski is one of the more recent additions, although it’s been a good few months now since I discovered it. In that time, it’s quickly become one of my favourites.

I first read Extreme Ownership not long after its release just over a decade ago. I can’t recall exactly how I came across Jocko Willink for the first time, though I strongly suspect it was through a guest appearance on a podcast.

I recently listened to The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning by Gautam Baid following the audiobook release mid last year. It’s a wonderful book that I can’t recommend highly enough, both to investors and generalists alike.

Dave Itzkoff’s biography of Robin Williams. It’s a strange thing to read about someone you feel like you know a lot about only to realise how little you actually understood. The book revisits films I’d forgotten Williams was in, along with others I didn’t even realise were part of his catalogue.

Last summer I had a well overdue catch up with an old friend and colleague visiting from Australia. On the train back home, he asked about the book I had with me (I can’t actually recall which one it was now) but also mentioned that he’d just finished The Tao of Coaching.

How late is late enough to warrant a message to the awaiting party? Two minutes? Ten? Fifteen? How did your last performance review really go? Did you excel, or were there areas for improvement? More importantly, are you certain your interpretation is the same as your managers?

Off the back of 100 Baggers, Rule Breaker Investing by David Gardner popped up in my Audible recommendations. I’ve never really developed the habit of regularly checking The Motley Fool or listening to its podcasts, but I decided to give this a try anyway as sometimes the medium makes all the difference.

Whenever I head into town, I tend to drop into the local Waterstones and pick up a book without necessarily having one in mind. The Art of Winning by Dan Carter was one I picked up on a such a visit and what a find it turned out to be.

I’ve previously written about Nick & Zak’s Adventures in Capitalism. Although 100 Baggers by Christopher Mayer extends the focus to analysing what makes a 100-bagger, it has a similar underlying theme of patience and long term holding.

When was the decision actually made to drop the atomic bomb on Japan? History lessons tend to focus on the lead-up and the catastrophic aftermath, but less so on the precise moment, or moments when the decision to unless such unprecedented destruction was made.

Some book titles don’t quite do justice to the depth of what’s inside, and Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War definitely falls into that category. By the time you reach the end, it feels as though far more than thirty-three strategies have been explored.

I’m a bit torn on this one. I first came across The New Science of Momentum after hearing Don Yaeger interviewed on The Glue Guys podcast. I loved that episode as the topic of discussion around momentum in sport and business was right up my alley.