Recommendations you can check.
Computer science professor at Georgetown and author of Deep Work, Digital Minimalism and Slow Productivity; writes at calnewport.com.
15 things
Of Mice and MenBook John Steinbeck
Steinbeck deploys a standard third person omniscient narrative style that avoids all the flash of the modernists, and then postmodernists, that soon after took over the literary scene. But in his hands, it's enough. I still think about the ending.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-03-04·calnewport.com ↗
The World-Ending FireBook Wendell Berry
After years of people recommending him to me, I finally took the plunge into the literary world of Wendell Berry. Now I can't help but wonder what took me so long. This 2018 collection of Berry's best essays is a fantastic introduction into his genre-defining polemic style, which mixes razor-sharp commentary with a poetry grounded in lived experience, to argue on behalf of land, the environment, and a slower, richer approach to life.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-01-11·calnewport.com ↗
RelicBook Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
One of the best thrillers of the 1990s. I re-read this book in honor of Halloween this year (but didn't finish until November) and was pleased to find that it held up.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2021-12-03·calnewport.com ↗
The LoopBook Jacob Ward
Science journalist Jacob Ward warns about a future in which AI technology forms a tight cybernetic feedback loop with the biases ingrained into the human brain, pushing our day-to-day existence in frightening directions. It's sort of like a version of The Terminator in which Danny Kahneman plays a starring role. As longtime readers and listeners of mine know, a big theme in my techno-criticism is the under-appreciated degree to which technologies exert powerful, unintended consequences on our personhood and culture, so Ward's warning hits a sweet spot with me.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-03-04·calnewport.com ↗
Cathedral of the WildBook Boyd Varty
I picked up this book after hearing Varty's recent appearance on Tim Ferriss's podcast and I wasn't disappointed.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-03-04·calnewport.com ↗
Living with a SEALBook Jesse Itzler
The book was light and fun, but it makes a lot more sense if, like me, you first read Goggin's mega-bestselling memoir, Can't Hurt Me.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-03-04·calnewport.com ↗
How Star Wars Conquered the UniverseBook Chris Taylor
Though this book frequently digresses into discussions of the cultural impact of the Star Wars franchise, it also contains one of the most thoroughly-researched biographies of Lucas currently available.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-01-11·calnewport.com ↗
Hero On a MissionBook Donald Miller
I found myself unexpectedly (and perhaps dangerously) inspired by Miller's discussion of the 15-acre plot of land he and his wife bought outside Nashville, where they're carefully cultivating the forest, planting extensive gardens, and organizing retreats.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-01-11·calnewport.com ↗
Future EthicsBook Cennydd Bowles
Bowles' 2018 book provides a useful survey of the various problems tackled by this nascent field, and the frameworks that have emerged to tackle them.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2021-12-03·calnewport.com ↗
Number: The Language of ScienceBook Tobias Dantzig
Though the book perhaps gets a little too math-ey by the end (and this is coming from someone who is literally teaching discrete mathematics to university students at the moment), Dantzig provides a compelling overview of what we mean when we talk about "numbers," and why this is a question that we must repeatedly keep re-visiting.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2021-12-03·calnewport.com ↗
The Devil's TeethBook Susan Casey
I'm a big fan of Susan Casey, who has perfected a style of nature journalism that's built around a narrative of personal adventures. (I recommend you start with The Devil's Teeth.)
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-03-04·calnewport.com ↗
When the Lion FeedsBook Wilbur Smith
It's definitely a book of its time (it was first published in the 1960s), but it introduces plot and style conventions that echoed throughout many adventure titles that followed.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-01-11·calnewport.com ↗
K: A History of Baseball in Ten PitchesBook Tyler Kepner
As you might expect from a Times reporter, the writing craft is superb. As someone who came to baseball relatively late (my twenties), however, I occasionally found myself drowning in repeated references to players I didn't recognize.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2021-12-03·calnewport.com ↗
In Praise of SlownessBook Carl Honore
This book, published in 2004, provides a journalistic account of the various offshoots of the "slow food" movement that originally began in Rome in the 1980s.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2022-01-11·calnewport.com ↗
Steven Spielberg: A BiographyBook Joseph McBride
My key takeaway from the book: Spielberg, for reasons that McBride can never quite nail down, was capital-D driven. His story provides a master class in the potential of mixing relentless ambition, talent, and perfect timing.
One of his monthly posts listing the five books he finished, with a short verdict on each.
2021-12-03·calnewport.com ↗
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