10 reads for your summer vacation
What's on our reading lists, from business strategy to Socrates
What we're reading and technology changing reading
In a now-annual tradition, the a16z crypto editorial team discusses themes (and picks) from a16z crypto's latest reading list, as well as books we keep re-reading, childhood favorites, classics, adaptations on adaptations — in book and movie form! — and much more.
What genres are we reading now, how, and why? How is technology — from AI and ChatGPT to the internet and audio — changing reading? And why are certain themes in the zeitgeist right now? Is all non-fiction just fiction now, and should we lean in to this for education? Are the kids alright?
From irony, truth, and why context matters, to Machiavelli to Formula 1 to nautical non-fiction to memoirs, this episode has it all.
(also check out last year’s conversation)
From beach reads to basic economics: 10 books for your long weekend
Here are a few of the books the a16z crypto team is reading and recommending this summer. Our latest list spans true stories, speculative fiction, and poetry with some clear through lines: striving for mastery, understanding edge cases (whether human, legal, or technical), and embracing unconventional thinking.
Here are 10 recs, but you’ll find many more in the full list.
Business, economics, and strategy
Focus: The ASML Way – Inside the Power Struggle over the Most Complex Machine on Earth, by Mark Hijink
“ASML is a strange and fascinating company — it’s the quiet giant that builds the enormous, complicated machines that produce the vast majority of the world’s chips. The book provides an interesting look at its history and internal dynamics.” – Arianna Simpson, investing
Basic Economics, by Thomas Sowell
“It might be impossible to write a more cogent explanation of the fundamental economic principles that govern human behavior. This book is filled with the basic mental models that explain a lot of what makes the world tick.” – Ali Yahya, investing
Nearly Perfect, by Thomas Drach
“Hot off the presses this summer is this nearly perfect theory of the relationship between competitive advantage and product design. Easily the best book in-category I’ve read in years.” – Scott Duke Kominers, research
Biography, history, and memoir
A Cracking of the Heart, by David Horowitz
“On the surface, it is a book about grieving, reckoning with regrets, ‘the cords of family’ pulling together, and stitching stories and truths told by and about a loved one after they are gone. But it is also a book about living on one’s own terms, making meaning and finding purpose in one’s life, understanding and connecting with each other despite differences in ideology, politics, and communication styles.” – Sonal Chokshi, editorial
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard
“Founders enmeshed in challenges of building can find perspective in the story of what Theodore Roosevelt and his son attempted and endured on their expedition to explore an uncharted river in the Amazon.” – Jason Rosenthal, operations
Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall, by Helena Merriman
“The almost unbelievable true story of a group of young, untrained students digging their way under the Berlin Wall to free dozens from East Germany. What makes it unforgettable is not just the danger or ingenuity, but the clarity of purpose: a small team risking everything to create freedom for others.” – Conner Brown, tech ops
The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, by Simon Winchester
“I loved this book about how precision engineering has shaped the world we live in. Each chapter of Winchester’s book charts the evolution of exactitude by successive orders of magnitude, from steam engines to silicon chips.” – Robert Hackett, editorial
Science and philosophy
Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson
“An insightful foray into the history, evolution, and implications of sports science, with plenty of real-world examples that demonstrate how and why we can trick our brains and bodies into squeezing out better performances than we think we can.” – Jay Drain Jr., investing
Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life, by Agnes Callard
“It's how to really live an examined life if you dare to deal with the consequences of doing so. Callard, a University of Chicago philosopher, advocates — passionately!— for using the Socratic method to engage with others to disturb your preconceptions.” – Tim Sullivan, editorial
Fiction
Glorious Exploits, by Ferdia Lennon
“Set in Sicily after the Peloponnesian War, but narrated in contemporary Irish vernacular, this book starts with two unemployed potters on their way to feed prisoners at the local quarry. It then turns into a surprisingly high-production-value staging of Euripides. Funny, moving, and a little magical.” – Stephanie Zinn, editorial
Books for builders and beyond
If your lists are still looking slim, see more of a16z’s recommendations in reading lists from seasons past, including summers 2024, 2023, 2022, 2019; and winters 2024, 2023, 2022, 2018, 2017, 2016. Or check out the books we’ve curated for our Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX) cohorts, as well as books from a16z crypto Founder Summit. As always, these books are not just for crypto builders and founders; they cover biographies, company building and organizational history, creative inspiration and sci-fi, and lots more.
Bonus: You can also try playing around with forage.com, a tool for discovering new books from a16z crypto founder and general partner Chris Dixon.
— a16z crypto editorial team
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