Alex Zhurakovskyi's Blog

Best Books I Have Read in 2017

The year 2017 has been busy for me. I have published two papers (on the synthesis of radianspenes and α-cyclopiazonic acidsOpenAccess) and submitted two book chapters. Most importantly, I got married. As the result, my reading list has been quite short — just 27 books. Here we go, in no particular order.

The Millionaire Next Door

By Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko.

Quite an interesting book that attempts to find out what makes rich people rich by exploring their habits, origins and legacy. Despite what the blurb says, this is not of the self-help kind and rather a collection of tables, interviews and statistics.

If Walls Could Talk: An intimate history of the home

By Lucy Worsley.

A captivating description of everyday life throughout the European history. Very nice addition to Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life.

Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

By Al Sweigart.

One of the two books on Python I've read in 2017. A very nice introductory book, with several useful reference tables.

Anatomy of the State

By Murray Rothbard.

A very short text describing some of Rothbard's political views. Even if you do not agree with libertarian ideology (like me), this will make a good read because it sums up several important ideas.

Show Me The Numbers

By Stephen Few.

Lots and lots of advice on presenting the data in the most readable and least distorted way.

I'm Feeling Lucky

By Douglas Edwards.

Memoirs of one of the first Google employees. Very good insight into what it means to work in one of America's most famous startups. (Spoiler: you will not like it)