2023 Reading List

2023 Reading List

Books read and planned for 2023

  • Dragons of Eden cover
    Dragons of EdenFinished
    Carl Sagan
    1986
    Sagan traces how the human brain came to be. Clear, curious, and humble — the way science writing should read.
  • At the Edge of Time: Exploring the Mysteries of Our Universe’s First Seconds cover
    At the Edge of Time: Exploring the Mysteries of Our Universe’s First SecondsFinished
    Dan Hooper
    2019
    The first few trillionths of a second after the big bang was an incredibly active and mysterious time in our universe. Dan Hooper explores these few moments and explain how our universe may have come to be. He takes us to the edge of our current understanding and surveys the various unanswered questions that scientists are struggling with today.
  • Creation: Life and How to Make It cover
    Creation: Life and How to Make ItFinished
    Steve Grand
    2000
    The presentation is excellent. Builds up the universe from the most fundamental particle up to life and intelligence. Reframes our understanding of the physical universe as well as what it means to be intelligent. I wish there was more technical discussion on the implementation of the brain. However, the high level ideas are quite useful and goes a long way towards helping you understand the requirements for building truly intelligent life.
  • Death's End cover
    Death's EndFinished
    Cixin Liu
    2010
    A satisfying end to the saga. Wraps up the story well and introduces some hope which was a relief after the dark outlook of the previous book. Surprisingly, was able to continue introducing new concepts and exploring intriguing ideas up to the end.
  • Sleeping Beauties cover
    Sleeping BeautiesFinished
    Stephen King, Owen King
    2017
    Easy flowing story telling. A gret premise and well executed.
  • The Dark Forest cover
    The Dark ForestFinished
    Cixin Liu
    2008
    A bit dark. Proposes a bleak outlook on the relationship between civilizations in the universe. Incredibly well written.
  • The Far Side Gallery cover
    The Far Side GalleryFinished
    Gary Larson
    1982
    I deliberately paced myself with this one. I limited myself to 2 pages per night.
  • The Three-Body Problem cover
    The Three-Body ProblemFinished
    Cixin Liu
    2008
    Profound is an understatment. This well told story introduced many unique concepts. Intelligent use of scientific knowledge.