Great books you read in 2009?
sivers: (The links here bring you to my notes from each book, and the ISBN number for each so you can find it easily at your favorite library/store/whatever.)How We Decide - by Jonah Lehrer:
Brilliant book with one clear message: our emotional brain is faster and usually smarter than our logical brain. Our emotions are trained by years of logic and experience, retaining it all for real wisdom. Many decisions are better made by going with the gut feeling. Gets a little too technical with deep brain/neuro/cortex talk, but brings it back to usable points.
http://sivers.org/book/HowWeDecideThe Investor's Manifesto - by William J. Bernstein:
Absolutely my favorite author and advisor on the subject of investing. Anyone with any money to invest (or already invested) please read this book. Such clear thinking, using only facts, and using numbers not guesses. Modern portfolio theory: use passive indexes of the entire market, no speculation, no stock picking, and avoid the entire fee-sucking financial industry.
http://sivers.org/book/InvestorsManifestoSum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives - by David Eagleman:
Fiction. Awesomely creative think-piece of 40 different short stories of what happens when you die. To be clear: the author is not pretending this is fact! The framework is inspiring for anyone: coming up with 40 different answers to any one question.
http://sivers.org/book/SumThe Talent Code - by Daniel Coyle:
A great book showing that deep practice - (struggling in certain targeted ways - operating at the edges of your ability, where you make mistakes - experiences where you're forced to slow down, make errors, and correct them) - is what really makes you improve at anything.
http://sivers.org/book/TalentCodeInfluence - by Robert Cialdini:
Classic book on the psychology of persuasion. I read it 15 years ago, thought about it ever since, and re-read it now. How to get a 700% improvement in volunteers. How to sell more by doubling your prices. How to make people feel they made a choice, when really you made it for them.
http://sivers.org/book/InfluenceThe Time Paradox - by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd:
See my in-depth article about this book at http://sivers.org/time
http://sivers.org/book/TimeParadox