Some of the books I've recently read and one-to-two sentences of how I felt about them. Most recently read first. If you want to read with me, join our Founders Book Club.

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
By: David Goggins
I don't often read motivational style books, but I am often intrigued by Navy SEALs. And certainly a SEAL who is also the only man in history to complete SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. The ultimate comeback story. Humans are incredible.

Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance on You
By: Suneel Gupta
By our good friend, Suneel Gupta. What a great read to help you craft your story, your pitch, and yourself. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a writer, or simply trying something new, find out how to become Backable.

Keep Sharp: How To Build a Better Brain at Any Age
By: Dr. Sanjay Gupta
We have an aging population and cognitive decline can feel inevitable. But it isn't. Dr. Gupta does a great job of explaining simple, effective ways to keep your brain sharp.

Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs
By: Mike Smerklo
Without a doubt, one of the realest, no BS takes about entrepreneurship. He doesn't make it seem glamorous, but he does make it seem fulfilling. And his stories about the early days (dot-com bubble, working with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and growing a company through the dot-com bust) are great. Read this for our Founders Book Club, where author Mike Smerklo joined us.

What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence
By: Stephen A. Schwarzman
I've never read anything by Steve Schwarzman, but I came away from this one fully impressed. He clearly watered down some of the controversial topics (as to be expected), but nonetheless his track record at Blackstone is enviable.

How to Take Smart Notes
By: Sonke Ahrens
This was one of the weirder books I've read in a while. Found it from the #RoamCult, and, yeah, it was weird. I guess I learned some things about good note-taking, but if you're not super into that sort of thing, skip this.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
By: Caldwell Esselstyn Jr
With a family history of heart disease, understanding prevention is something I take seriously. This was interesting, though light on science and lacking moderation of all sorts.

Empire of Shadows: The Epic Story of Yellowstone
By: George Black
Yellowstone is one of the best places on Earth. This book was a really interesting read into the early days of American exploration.

A Fly Rod of Your Own
By: John Gierach
I read this as an a little hype for our summer trip to our cabin in Montana. What an enjoyable read.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success In A Distracted World
By: Cal Newport
This is mostly stuff you know: focus on providing yourself time to do the work you need to do. But that's easier said than done, which is why we co-founded and invested in Motion.

Why Are We Yelling: The Art of Productive Disagreement
By: Buster Benson
Buster is a friend from Amazon days so I was really excited to read this. In today's world, we're not so good at disagreeing... can we do it better?

The Mom Test
By: Rob Fitzpatrick
I was skeptical, but this was a really useful guide to asking great questions to properly validate an idea.

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
By: Annie Duke
Changed the way I think about probabilistic decision-making. Loved it.

eBoys: The True Story of the Six Tall men Who Backed eBay, Webvan, and Other Billion-Dollar Start-ups
By: Randall E. Stross
Oldie but goodie. A profile of Benchmark from the go-go days of the dot-com bubble.

Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs
By: Gina Keating
Loved it. Read it for Founders Book Club, and it was excellent. Netflix is a remarkable company with a remarkable story.

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island
By: Vincent J. Cannato
Given our current immigration climate, I felt this was an important read. It was very dense, so I bored of it, but it was certainly informative and carried some narrative violations on both sides.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
By: David Epstein
I liked this book. I like to believe I'm a better generalist than specialist, so this was a good confirmation bias that it's okay to be that way.