Posted 8/02/2018

A Hacker’s Guide to Reading

Content

1. Intro
2. Business
3. Life
4. Technology
5. Women
6. Fiction

Intro

I wanted to learn as much as possible about building great teams and professional growth quickly. To reach this goal, I challenged myself to read 3 books a week for a year. The math coming out to 106 books. How I got there was making time in my day to read and audiobook. These methods increased the time I spend reading a book by x3.

• 30 minutes of reading a day
• Audiobook everywhere (in traffic, at work, even while cooking)
• Library trip once a week - see what resources they have
• OverDrive - they’re a great resource for free books and audiobook

Lisa’s Book Recommendation

I made of list of highly recommended reading selection that I made over the years. The books range in a variety of genres from business to cooking. I added links to purchase the book on Amazon (not sponsored), but I would highly encourage checking if your local library has any of them.

Business

1. Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek
   • I listened to the audiobook version of this twice! It’s a must read for those searching for your next career move and great for align your team.
2. Emotional Entelligence by Gill Hasson
3. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
4. The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
5. Grit by Angela Duckworth

Life

1. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
2. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
4. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
5. You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero
6. How to American: An Immigrant’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents by Jimmy O. Yang

Technology

1. Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews by Lewis C. Lin
   • This book is a great resource for product management candidates looking for frameworks and sample answers to help you win the interview.
2. Cracking the PM Interview by Gayle Laakmann-Mcdowell
   • Comprehensive book in how to get a job in product management.
3. Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann-Mcdowell
   • A staple book to preparing for a developer job interview process.
4. Everyone Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
   • Brilliant read demostrating how big data can give us surprising answers to our social sciences.
5. How Google Works by Eric Schmidt 6.Experience on Demand by Jeremy Bailenson
6. Soft Skills: The software developer’s life manual

Women

1. Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace
2. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
3. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant

Fiction

1. Crazy Rich Asian by Kevin Kwan
   • Best-Selling Novel, soon to be movie release on August 18 .
2. Rich China Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
3. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

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