My Favorite Books of 2010

by Cameron Schaefer on December 28, 2010

In no order whatsoever….ok, “Cloud Atlas” was probably my favorite, but after that, no order…

  1. “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell
  2. “The Irony of American History” by Reinhold Niebuhr
  3. “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work” by Matthew Crawford
  4. “The Unnamed” by Joshua Ferris
  5. “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy
  6. “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev
  7. “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation” by Steven Johnson
  8. “Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd” by Frans Osinga
  9. “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel
  10. “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
  11. “The 52nd Floor: Thinking Deeply About Leadership” by Levy, Parco, Blass
  12. “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers” by Osterwalder and Pigneur
  13. “Decoded” by Jay-Z
  14. “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card
  15. “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” by David Platt
  16. “Daemon” and “Freedom” by Daniel Suarez
  17. “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Carl Rigney December 28, 2010 at 8:57 pm

The best of the 90+ books I read in 2010, in roughly declining order, so if you only have time to read two, read the first two. Non-fiction:

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, by Clay Shirky.
Sustainable Energy – without the hot air, by David JC MacKay. Also available free online at http://www.withouthotair.com.
Science, Strategy and War (The Strategic Theory of John Boyd), by Frans P.B. Osinga.
The Unthinkable: Who Survives when Disaster Strikes — and Why, by Amanda Ripley.
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, by Sam Gosling.
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman.
Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence, by Sgt. Rory Miller.

Fiction:

Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Woodrell. Fiction. "Talkin’ just causes witnesses."
Child of Fire and Game of Cages, by Harry J. Connolly.
Daemon, by Daniel Suarez. Fiction.

And it’s not a book, but if you’re interested in Resilient Communities I highly recommend checking out Open Source Ecology which is looking to do for hardware what Open Source Programming has done for software. I heard about it through John Robb, and have become a supporter. Its founder will be giving a talk at TED in March.

Ahsan Ali December 28, 2010 at 9:09 pm

Nice list, Cameron. Will post mine though I didn’t read this year as much as I should have :(

Of these, I have only flipped through the Osinga (e)book.

P.S Are you on GoodReads.com?

Andrew December 29, 2010 at 5:44 pm

You should definitely apply for the Strat Policy Intern or Legislative Fellowship for your IDE program, and then follow-on to SAASS. You definitely think more strategic than most folks your rank, and would excel in those programs.

The DoubleB December 30, 2010 at 7:24 pm

Well from another point of view – I enjoyed reading:

The War for Late Night by Bill Carter
They Call Me BaBa Booey by Gary Del’ Abate
I’m Not High by Jim Breuer
She’s Having a Baby and I’m Having a Breakdown by James Barron

Okay and I am reading an updated version of The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman to exercise my brain some.

Sky January 3, 2011 at 7:28 am

Here are my top 11 books of 2010

http://books.google.com/books?lr=&uid=986655953397166403&as_coll=1001&sa=N&start=0

1-Rework
2-Upside of Irrationality
3-War
4-The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
5-Cognitive Surplus
6-How We Decide
7-The Forever War
8-Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
9-On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
10-Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School
11-Religious Literacy: What every American Needs to Know and Doesn’t

Ahsan January 3, 2011 at 7:46 am

Nice list, Sky. I’ve added some of those to my to-read list.

Thanks.

Matt January 3, 2011 at 8:29 am

I would add two books to the list, both which provide an amazing view into crazy worlds that the “masses” aren’t privied to:

1. Mustaine – Autobiography of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. A trip through the early 80′s Bay Area Thrash Scene. Great lessons on self control, happiness, integrity, and of course some cool stories about one of the best metal bands of all time.

2. The Big Short – An inside look of the most recent financial crisis by Michael Lewis. The book profiles 5-6 relatively unknown, but prominent figures during the subprime mortgage crisis. Most of the real life characters actually bet against the bubble, hence the title The Big Short. Crazy look into a world of greed and irrational pipe dreams. Very revealing on what really happened during the last few years.

Cameron Schaefer January 4, 2011 at 8:50 am

Thanks guys for throwing your picks in – makes it a much more fun and thorough list! Happy reading in 2011…we’ll have to do this again.

nate April 4, 2011 at 1:25 pm

haha.. we read a lot of the same books cam!

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