Mark Lorch and Andy Miah – The secret science of superheroes
Great illustration of why I I prefer a scientific universe over a cinematic one.
Masayoshi San was never a tech visionary, although he likes to believe so.
More of a corporate history of Softbank than a true biography.
Since coding agents are reasonably capable and allow for massive efficiency gains, Lead Dev is the new entry level job.
Gene Kim and Steve Yegge – Vibe coding
No surprising insights, but recognizable experiences.
Let’s explore a progressive take of the singularity and see where that gets us
The start of the beginning of a leftist program, but not much more.
Great cooks improvise, using their knowledge and experience
Samin Nosrat – Salt, fat, acid, heat
A cookbook that speaks so often and highly about pasta cacio e pepe cannot disappoint.
Attract the right team, set a market-driven strategy, prioritize wisely in execution and… don’t run out of cash
Dense ‘how-to guide’ for executives that is worth re-reading from time to time.
People are suckers, psychologically speaking.
Maria Konnikova – The confidence game
Entertaining and well-composed deconstruction of the con in its many guises.
When you want to build a brand that bridges across generations and can withstand existential challenges, your origin story makes a difference.
Jens Andersen – The LEGO story
A stronger choice between family and business perspectives would have made the book stronger.
In a polarized, post-truth US political landscape, the special prosecutor system for investigating presidents urgently needs an overhaul.
Elie Honig – When you come at the king
Refreshing in the way the author separates their legal perspectives from political preferences in an increasingly partisan landscape.
The tale of Europe in the 20th century is one of immense human suffering, marked by two world wars and the decay of idealism at a massive scale
Geert Mak – In Europe (read in Dutch)
Impressive work that bridges the gap between a conceptual narrative and the personal experience of the people living through it.
AI Agents are already here, so you better get on the bandwagon.
Pascal Bornet et al. – Agentic Artificial Intelligence
Death by frameworks makes for boring reading of sound advice.
Over the past decades Apple and the Chinese tech industry grew in co-dependence, but in recent years the balance of power has been shifting towards China.
Patrick McGee – Apple in China
The hardware-centric perspective sets the book apart from other accounts.
The Indian diaspora across Asia and beyond has shaped culture and science globally.
William Dalrymple – The golden road
Recommended to pick and choose the chapters where the subject matter is most of interest to the reader.
From a 21st century perspective the vikings were bloody (and) weird.
Neil Price – Children of ash and elm
It is fascinating how much can de deduced from archeological evidence.
As trusted deputy of FDR, Harry Hopkins had a major impact on the way in which WWII unfolded
Geert Mak – Wisselwachter (in Dutch)
The author is skilled in blending the arc of history with the personal narrative of the actors shaping it, but could have been a bit more strict in curating the stories he included.
Trying to bring innovation to an organization that relishes traditions inevitably leads to an intense political battles
Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff – Unit X
However hard the authors try, it is hard to make the political machinations sound exciting.
Sam Altman is a skillful despot, leveraging his unrivaled influencing skills to amass to what he hopes will be infinite power
Refreshingly critical biography that, unfortunately, at times digresses into unverified personal narratives and broad strokes comparisons to colonialism.
Jensen Huang has a ruthless determination and an autonomous and far-sighted vision, both of which proved justified if measured by NVIDIA’s valuation.
Stephen Witt – The thinking machine
When reading a biography that is too current: remember to skip the final chapter, because it will be inevitably speculative and outdated.
The story of J.P. Coen terrorizing the Banda Islands serve well to illustrate the major social and environmental injustices of our time.
Amitav Gosh – The nutmeg’s curse
What starts as a well written exploration of a well-chosen historical event derails into a all-encompassing indictment of the Western, capitalist world order, but leaves the reader wanting to learn more about nutmeg.
The world is still on course for achieving the singularity -and nanobot in your bloodstream – in the 2030s.
Ray Kurzweil – The singularity is nearer
The book feels as if it is written for a different age than the current one in which the most relevant challenges in AI are not about the theoretical fronteir but about real-world implementation.