Reading · 13 books

Books that made
the work better.

An intentional shelf of books that shaped how I think about engineering, building, focus, learning and leadership. This is a curated collection, not an exhaustive reading log.

Browse the collection

01 · 5 books

Engineering & building

Systems, craft, flow, teams and testing business assumptions before scaling them.

  1. Engineering systems

    The Phoenix Project

    Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford

    Delivery is a system, not a heroics contest.

  2. Developer experience

    The Unicorn Project

    Gene Kim

    Locality, flow, simplicity and the conditions for good work.

  3. Engineering craft

    The Pragmatic Programmer

    Andrew Hunt & David Thomas

    A durable standard for clear code and sound trade-offs.

  4. Teams

    Peopleware

    Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister

    The human systems around software are part of the product.

  5. Startup practice

    The Lean Startup

    Eric Ries

    Use fast feedback to test assumptions before scaling commitment.

02 · 4 books

Focus & habits

How attention, defaults and repeated behaviour shape the quality of a day.

  1. Attention

    The Myth of Multitasking

    Dave Crenshaw

    Attention is finite, and switching costs are real.

  2. Time and focus

    Make Time

    Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky

    Design the day around what matters instead of letting defaults decide.

  3. Behaviour

    The Power of Habit

    Charles Duhigg

    Habits become easier to change when their cues and rewards are visible.

  4. Habit systems

    Atomic Habits

    James Clear

    Small systems and consistent environments compound into meaningful change.

03 · 2 books

Learning & wellbeing

Breadth, recovery and the conditions that support better judgment over time.

  1. Learning

    Range

    David Epstein

    Breadth and curiosity can compound into better judgment.

  2. Sustainable performance

    Why We Sleep

    Matthew Walker

    Sleep is infrastructure for memory, judgment and sustained performance.

04 · 2 books

Leadership & self-awareness

Working with people, making decisions and understanding the person doing both.

  1. Leadership

    The Diary of a CEO

    Steven Bartlett

    Practical prompts for decisions, influence and long-term thinking.

  2. Self-awareness

    Emotional Intelligence

    Daniel Goleman

    Self-awareness and empathy are part of effective leadership.