Recommended reading

000 Computer science, information, and general works

  • Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control / Stuart Russell
  • Introduction to Algorithms / Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, Clifford Stein
  • The Pragmatic Programmer / David Thomas, Andrew Hunt
  • C Programming: A Modern Approach / K. N. King

100 Philosophy and phsychology

  • Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions / Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
  • The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values / Brian Christian
  • Indian Philosophy / Richard King
  • The Black Books / Carl Jung
  • The Red Book / Carl Jung
  • The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious / Carl Jung
  • Thus Spoke Zarathustra / Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann (Translator)
  • Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World / David Epstein
  • Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters / Steven Pinker

200 Religion

  • The Bhagavad Gita / Stephen Mitchell (Translator)
  • The Bhagavad Gita / Eknath Easwaran (Translator)
  • The Bhagavad Gita / Winthrop Sargeant (Translator)
  • Tao Te Ching / Stephen Mitchell (Translator)
  • The Shiva Purana / J. L. Shastri (Translator)
  • The Life of Milarepa / Tsangnyön Heruka, Lobsang P. Lhalungpa (Translator)
  • Autobiography of a Yogi / Paramahansa Yogananda
  • Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind / Shunryu Suzuki
  • The Perennial Philosophy / Aldous Huxley

300 Social sciences

  • David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants / Malcolm Gladwell
  • How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going / Vaclav Smil
  • Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know / Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking / Saifedean Ammous

400 Language

  • The Language Instinct / Steven Pinker

500 Science

  • Mathematics for the Nonmathematician / Morris Kline
  • Music, Language, and the Brain / Aniruddh D. Patel
  • Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed / Dr. Jim Al-Khalili

600 Technology

  • Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams / Matthew Walker PhD

700 Arts and recreation

  • The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization: The Art and Science of Tonal Gravity / George Russell
  • The Theory and Practice of Tone-Relations: A Condensed Course of Harmony Conducted Upon a Contrapuntal Basis / Percy Goetschius
  • Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer / Trevor Pinch, Frank Trocco

800 Literature

  • The Little Prince / Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • Island / Aldous Huxley
  • After Many a Summer Dies the Swan / Aldous Huxley
  • Cat’s Cradle / Kurt Vonnegut
  • The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats Vol. 1
  • Spring and All / William Carlos Williams
  • Ahead of All Parting / Rainer Maria Rilke
  • Nine Horses / Billy Collins

900 History and geography

  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind / Yuval Noah Harari