**Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind** by Yuval Noah Harari
A history of the human species. The observations, frameworks, and mental models will have you looking at history and your fellow humans differently. [1]
Sapiens is the best book of the last decade I have read. He had decades to write Sapiens. There’s lots of great ideas in there and it’s just full of them, chock full per page. [1]
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
The most brilliant and enlightening book I've read in years. He has written four of my top 20 books. [11]
Everything else written by Matt Ridley. ****Matt is a scientist, optimist, and forward thinker. One of my favorite authors. I’ve read everything of his, and reread everything of his. [4]
**Skin in the Game** by ****Nassim Taleb
The best book I've read in 2018, I highly recommend it. Lots of great ideas in there. Lots of good mental models and constructs. He has a bit of an attitude, but he has that because he's brilliant, and it's okay. So just look past the attitude and read the book, learn the concepts. It's one of the best business books I've ever read. And luckily, it doesn't masquerade as a business book. [10]
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Taleb
This is his collection of ancient wisdom. He is also famous for The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, and Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and Markets, all of which are worth reading. [7]
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard Feynman