The Name of the Wind - For all the reasons mentioned above, is one of my absolute favorite fiction books. Its not just the characters, its Rothfuss' use of lan

The Name of the Wind - For all the reasons mentioned above, is one of my absolute favorite fiction books. Its not just the characters, its Rothfuss' use of language. I've never kept track of so many quotable phrases in a book. Enders Shadow Series by Orson Scott Card - I loved the majority of the Ender's Game series was disappointed when it was over. Throughout those books, Bean was always my favorite character and it was a great day when I discovered the Ender's Shadow series which chronicles Bean's life over several books. The thing I loved most about Bean were his powers of analysis and he taught me to think more about scenario outcomes and think about multiple ways of achieving my goals. Dune - A pattern is emerging here. I love the books where the hero CHOOSES to ascend and works to get there. Paul Atredies starts out a boy against harsh conditions and rises to the challenge. The Stand by Stephen King - I read this book when I was 14 or 15 on summer break in a week. I fell in from the start and read for entire days until it was done and when it was over I was in awe at the size (1000+ pages) and scope of what King accomplished. The Alpha Strategy by John Pugsley - Its an interesting book and look at economics and wealth preservation in layman's terms. Its funny because this book was written in the 80s and when I read it, it was immediately applicable. I grew up in a pretty liberal household and this book made me start to pay attention to what liberals and conservatives were saying and form my own opinions. Atlas Shrugged - I read this right after the book above and the two in combination really caused a mindeset shift for me. It wasn't so much that everyone is out to get me or against me, but more I am responsible for my outcomes and I need to invest in myself. E-Myth Revisited By Michael Gerber - Piqued my interest in systems and where I started to learn the value of systems and making success repeatable. Working the System By Sam Carpenter - More of the "how-to" book E-Myth Revisited should have been. Daemon Series - This one has been mentioned and while it didn't have the impact on my that the other books did, I did enjoy the world the author created. Thieves Emporium by Max Hernandez - This was a quick read and appealed to my love of technical fiction. Similar to Daemon, its use of technology in the story is interesting and not that far off from the real world at this point. [WARNING: GRAPHIC SCENES] I was unambitious and coasted through life until after college, and it wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I started really reading books like these. Over the past few years, I've become almost a completely different person. I read a tremendous amount and can say its had a huge impact on my "mental models" and how I approach life. Books I'm interested in reading next include: - Meditations - Works on mental models - Elon Musk biography (the amount he's able to accomplish quickly is staggering) I don't read as much fiction as I used to, instead choosing to focus on technical books, but fiction has definitely had an impact on my development as well.