Originally published in The Creative Apprentice.
February ended up being a fairly mixed reading month for me.
I finished four physical books and two audiobooks, and I picked up a few new additions for the shelf along the way.
The genres included manga, psychological fiction, business, health, and a memoir. I tend to just follow whatever interests me rather than sticking to a single lane.
Vagabond (Vol. 3) — Takehiko Inoue
This was probably my favourite read of the month.
Vagabond follows the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi and his journey toward mastery as a swordsman. The earlier volumes focused more on action and fighting, but this one slows things down and becomes much more philosophical.
After being defeated by a young spear master, Musashi retreats to reflect on what it will take for him to become the kind of warrior he wants to be. This volume spends a lot of time on his internal struggle and the sacrifices that will need to be made in order to pursue mastery.
Zero to One — Peter Thiel
This was a nonfiction business book about innovation and startups.
Thiel’s main argument is that competition is for losers. Because the most valuable companies create entirely new markets rather than competing in existing ones.
He calls this the difference between going from “1 to n” (scaling something that already exists) and “0 to 1” (building something completely new).
The book was interesting conceptually, but with that said, I didn’t find a huge amount of practical advice to take away from it. Still worth reading for the perspective of someone who helped build gigantic companies like PayPal and Palantir.
Expecting Better — Emily Oster
This was a nonfiction book about pregnancy that takes a more data and research-driven approach to the commonly accepted health advice.
Oster is an economist and looks closely at the research behind common pregnancy recommendations. Instead of just accepting rules like “no caffeine” or “avoid certain foods,” she looks at the raw data that influenced these recommendations and guidelines.
A lot of it overlapped with things I already knew from studying nutrition, but it was still interesting to see her approach the topic through the lens of statistics and risk analysis.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running — Haruki Murakami
This book is part memoir and part reflection on Murakami’s writing life.
It’s about how long-distance running became intertwined with his creative process. For decades, he followed a routine where he would write for up to 4 hours in the morning and then run long distances later in the day.
The book is a series of small essays extracted from his training logs, about the necessity of endurance and consistency in both his health and his craft.
As someone who has started to write more regularly, I found the idea of creative work as an endurance activity really interesting.
The Collector — John Fowles (Audiobook)
This was a psychological thriller that I discovered almost by accident while browsing Spotify.
It follows a socially awkward man, Frederick Clegg, who becomes obsessed with a young woman and kidnaps her, believing that if he keeps her long enough, she will eventually fall in love with him.
The first half of the book is told from his perspective, where he calmly rationalises everything he’s doing. The second half shifts to her diary, which shows the reality of the situation of someone held against their will.
Yellowface — R. F. Kuang (Audiobook)
This novel takes place in the publishing world and follows a struggling writer, June, who steals the manuscript of a successful author after she suddenly dies.
She publishes it as her own, and the book becomes a huge success. Later, people begin to question its origin and the social media backlash ensues.
The book explores ambition, plagiarism and the pressure of maintaining a lie once it starts to unravel.
When I was putting this list together, I started noticing a connection between several books.
In some way, each of them deals with the question of what people are willing to do in order to become who they want to be.
- In Vagabond, Musashi pursues mastery.
- In Yellowface, June pursues recognition.
- In The Collector, Frederick pursues love in a twisted way.
- Murakami pursues endurance through running and writing.
- Zero to One is all about how entrepreneurs should pursue innovation.
All very different stories, but with a similar underlying theme of ambition and identity.
Currently Reading
I’m currently working through Dracula by Bram Stoker, which has been slower going than expected. I’m about halfway through and hoping to finish it in March.
Bookshelf Additions
Lessons in Chemistry — Bonnie Garmus: A novel about a female scientist in the 1960s who unexpectedly becomes the host of a cooking show.
The Passenger — Cormac McCarthy: A philosophical novel about a salvage diver caught up in a mysterious aviation incident.
The Bookseller of Florence — Ross King: A history of Renaissance manuscript culture and the people responsible for preserving and publishing texts before the printing press.