Books compress a lifetime’s worth of someone’s most impactful knowledge into a format that demands just a few hours of our time. They provide the ultimate ROI – Michael Simmons
You want to know about anybody? See what books they read, and how they’ve been read – Keri Hulme
Amazon reviewer ranking top 25,000 worldwide. For my complete collection of books, please visit my Goodreads page.
Ernest Hemmingway once said “there is no friend as loyal as a book.” Friends come and go, even family can abandon you, but books, they’re always there for us. Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins helped me survive my teenage years, Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers inspired me to alter my life to finance, The Hacking of the American Mind by Dr. Robert Lustig prompted me to modify my lifestyle towards a healthier one, while The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche was there for me when I sat next to my father’s death bed.
Some books can completely change the way we see the world, like The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger and The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Others show us the root cause of some complex problems, like Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong and Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Some are intellectually stimulating, like Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Others are hilarious and give fresh perspectives on the world, like the Freakonomics series and any book by Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis.
And while every book has its own merits, and one life-changing paragraph is all it takes to make an awful book useful, every once in a while we’ll discover some books that are just simply mind-blowing, like 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, Debt: the first 5000 years by David Graeber, or Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
Of course we don’t have to agree with everything that we read, and sometimes reading books or authors that have opposing views with us is exactly what we need to do to understand the big picture. We can read the Bible, the Quran, Bhagavad Gita, and every other religious scriptures to understand why different religious people act the way they act, or read Communist Manifesto to understand how socialists organise their thoughts, and read science books to understand the development and logic of human discoveries, which would prevent us from getting fooled by amateur hoaxes.
Indeed, books teach us multi-perspectives that would keep us from having rigid views and keep us from being a judgemental extremists. After all, just like Thomas Aquinas once said, beware with a man who only reads one book.
Books also teach us empathy, to see the world from other people’s perspectives, and to learn a lot from them. George R R Martin said it best: “a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one.”
With that in mind, I’ve lived the crazy adventure life of Richard Branson, the thug life of young Stalin, the interesting life of the man who broke the Bank of England, and the little boy named Temujin who would build a massive empire from scratch. I’ve lived in the Golden Age of Islam, in the medieval Europe, in the Incan jungle fighting the Spanish invaders. I witnessed the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the fall of the Soviet Union, the disappearance of Kurdistan, and the 11th hour of the Indonesian independence from Japan.
I’ve also lived in the complicated network of drug cartels, the modern hackers, the Asian Godfathers. I’ve learned the secrets of the wealth of the Medici family, and how they lost them. The secrets of the power of the Bilderberg group, and how they got them. I saw the rotten practices of the Aid industry, the dodgy microfinance violations, and the inner workings of our current ruling empire.
I was there when Hitler was given 80 drugs per day, when Amazon crushed Wall-Mart, when Isaac Newton lost his money in South Sea Bubble, when Elon Musk was nearly bankrupt during Christmas. I was also there when Deng Xiaoping’s son got crippled, when Che Guevarra was surrounded in Bolivia, and when Alexander Hamilton lost in that duel.
Indonesian 1st vice president Mohammad Hatta once declared “I’d volunteer to go to prison, as long as there are books. Because with books I am free.” That’s exactly what happened with Nelson Mandela, where he kept his sanity for 27 years in prison by reading books, particularly Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Indeed, it doesn’t matter where we are, when we bring a book with us there’s a new world awaits at the palm of our hands. Even in prison. This is why I always bring something to read wherever I go.
Pablo Neruda once said “The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.” They call these types of books as quake books. And the following are the reviews of some of the quake books I’ve read over the years:
Made in America by Sam Walton
Stuff You Should Know by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant
Figuring by Maria Popova
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson
Quiet by Susan Cain
Pep Guardiola by Guillem Balague
The Wahhabi Code by Terence Ward
Power and Money by William D. Cohan
The Philosophy Book by Will Buckingham et al
The opposite of spoiled Ron Lieber
80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald
Freedom from fear by Aung San Suu Kyi
Perennial seller by Ryan Holiday
The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly
Alibaba by Duncan Clark
Endure by Alex Hutchingson
The Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant
Biografi Tursandi Alwi by S. Sinansari Ecip, Edi Sudarjat, Yadi Sastro
33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
Man of Contradictions by Ben Bland
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
The World According to Star Wars by Cass R. Sunstein
Game Changer by Dave Asprey
Lives of the Stoic by Ryan Holiday
The Wim Hof Method by Wim Hof
Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Crime Book by DK
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
Stoicism and the art of happiness by Donald Robertson
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
What doesn’t kill us by Scott Carney
How to enjoy your life and your job by Dale Carnegie
Klopp: bring the noise by Raphael Honigstein
Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking
The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton
The Soros Lectures by George Soros
Hitler’s Charisma by Laurence Rees
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Limitless by Jim Kwik
Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton
God by Reza Aslan
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Everything is F*cked by Mark Manson
The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim
The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness by Joel Ben Izzy
Run Fast by Hal Higdon
Spillover by David Quammen
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
Enchiridion by Epictetus
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Mixer by Michael Cox
The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Islam yang saya anut: Dasar-dasar ajaran Islam by M. Quraish Shihab
Interfaith Dialogues and Debates: What Would a Muslim Say (Volume 3) by Ahmed Lotfy Rashed
Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
The Qur’an Discussions: What Would a Muslim Say (Volume 2) by Ahmed Lotfy Rashed
The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
What Would a Muslim Say?: Conversations, questions, and answers about Islam by Ahmed Lotfy Rashed
Hedge Fund Market Wizards: How winning traders win by Jack D. Schwager
The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain by Alex Ayres
The Daily Stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living by Ryan Holiday
A World Without Islam by Graham E. Fuller
Mirrors: Stories of almost everyone by Eduardo Galeano
Musashi’s Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpertation of Miyomoto Musashi’s Classic Book of Strategy by Steven F. Kaufman
The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Ariana Huffington
The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the future of the global economy by Yanis Varoufakis
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future by Ashlee Vance
Bushido: The soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe
University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 years of lessons learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the annual shareholders meeting by Daniel Pecaut and Corey Wrenn
Inverting the Pyramid: The history of football tactics by Jonathan Wilson
Misquoting Muhammad: The challenge and choices of interpreting the Prophet’s legacy by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman
When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain: History’s unknown chapters by Giles Milton
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The surprising science behind why everything you know about success is (mostly) wrong by Eric Barker
Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim civilization from the past by Firas Alkhateeb
On Tyranny: Twenty lessons from the twentieth century by Timothy Snyder
Philosophy 100 essential thinkers by Philip Stokes
The Game Theorist’s Guide to Parenting: How the science of strategic thinking can help you deal with the toughest negotiators you know — your kids by Paul Raeburn and Kevin Zollman
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Reckoning: Financial accountability and the rise and fall of nations by Jacob Soll
Zero Zero Zero: Look at cocaine and all you see is powder. Look through cocaine and you see the world by Roberto Saviano
The Tao of Warren Buffett by Mary Buffett and David Clark
The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the birth of the modern world by Edward Dolnick
A Brief History of Indonesia: Sultans, Spices and Tsunamis: the incredible story of South East Asia’s largest nation by Tim Hannigan
The Adventure Capitalist: Camel, Carpets and Coffee: How face-to-face trade is the new economics by Conor Woodman
Understanding Islam in Indonesia: politics and diversity by Robert Pringle
Buddhist Warfare by Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer
Why Nations Fail: The origins of power, prosperity and poverty by Daren Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Fields of Blood: Religion and the history of violence by Karen Armstrong
Power Habits: 101 life lessons & success habits of great leaders, business icons and inspirational achievers by Chris Luke
The Chimp Paradox: The acclaimed mind management programme to help you achieve success, confidence and happiness by Steve Peters
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
The Crisis Caravan: What’s wrong with humanitarian aid? by Linda Polman
Indonesia Etc: Exploring the improbable nation by Elizabeth Pisani
If the Oceans Were Ink: An unlikely friendship and a journey to the heart of the Quran by Carla Power
Asian Godfathers: Money and power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia by Joe Studwell
Averroes: On the harmony of religion and philosophy by George F. Hourani
Life in Year One: What the World Was Like in First-Century Palestine by Scott Korb
The Thugs, the Curtain Thief, and the Sugar Lord by Onghokham
Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic: How microlending lost its way and betrayed the poor by Hugh Sinclair
Indonesia: Archipelago of fear by Andre Vltchek
Al Jazeera: How Arab TV news challenged the world by Hugh Miles
The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
Holy Cow: An Indian adventure by Sarah Macdonald
The Secret History of Al Qaeda by Abdel Bari Atwan
Passing Time in the Loo: v. 2 by Steven W. Anderson
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets by Steven Drobny
The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger
Devil Take the Hindmost: A history of financial speculation by Edward Chancellor
Traders, Guns and Money: Knowns and unknowns in the dazzling world of derivatives by Satyajit Das
Losing My Virginity – the Autobiography by Richard Branson
Money Masters of our Time by John Train
Awaken the Giant Within : How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! By Anthony Robbins
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Adventure Capitalist: The ultimate road trip by Jim Rogers