Books

The big ideas from popular books, without giving the whole thing away. Get the GIST, then decide if you want the REST.

FiltersComputers & TechnologyBusiness & MoneyClear

13 summaries

Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy

10x Is Easier Than 2x

A coach and a psychologist argue that a tenfold goal is simpler than doubling, because it forces you to drop the 80 percent of your work that cannot come along.

Money and Career
Mindset
7 min read
Cal Newport

A World Without Email

Cal Newport argues that the inbox has become a broken way of organising work, and lays out four principles for doing knowledge work without the constant chatter.

Focus and Productivity
Business Strategy
8 min read
Robert Mnookin

Bargaining with the Devil

Harvard negotiation professor Robert Mnookin uses Churchill, Mandela, IBM and bitter family fights to show when to make a deal with an enemy and when to refuse.

Business Strategy
Psychology
8 min read
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

Blue Ocean Strategy

INSEAD professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that the smartest companies stop fighting rivals in crowded markets and create new, uncontested ones instead.

Money and Career
Creativity
5 min read
Bill Perkins

Die With Zero

Bill Perkins argues that money is only worth the experiences it buys, so the goal is to spend it, and give it, while you are alive and able to enjoy it.

Money and Career
8 min read
Chris Voss

Never Split the Difference

The FBI's former top kidnapping negotiator shows how listening, labeling emotions and asking the right questions win better deals than compromise.

Business Strategy
Psychology
8 min read
Charles Eisenstein

Sacred Economics

Charles Eisenstein argues that our debt-and-interest money system manufactures scarcity and separation, and sketches a gift-based, ecological economy to replace it.

Money and Career
Philosophy
10 min read
Simon Sinek

Start With Why

Simon Sinek argues that the leaders and companies who earn real loyalty all communicate the same way: purpose first, product last.

Money and Career
8 min read
Mark Beckner

The Coder's Path to Wealth and Independence

A farmyard revolution promises equality for every animal, then slides, one small rewritten rule at a time, into the tyranny it set out to end.

Politics and History
Human Rights
8 min read
Ralph Kimball

The Data Warehouse Toolkit

The founding guide to dimensional modeling, teaching how to shape business data into fact and dimension tables people can actually query, one real-world case study at a time.

Software Engineering
Data Engineering
9 min read
Kenneth Reitz and Tanya Schlusser

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python

The Python community's opinionated field guide to setting up, writing, reading and shipping great code.

Software Engineering
Open Source
7 min read
Andrew Tobias

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

A funny, plain-spoken classic showing that financial security comes from spending less, clearing debt, using tax breaks and buying index funds steadily.

Money and Career
Habits
8 min read
Vicki Robin

Your Money or Your Life

A nine-step program that treats money as hours of your life, helps you define "enough," and maps a path to financial independence.

Money and Career
Habits
10 min read