Books

The books with tag #life-changing had a profound impact on my life or beliefs.

I don’t finish all the books. I doesn’t mean I won’t return to them in the future.

I highly recommend books tagged #favourite.

Scores: 0–25% I don’t recommend it; 25–50% an average book; 50–75% an above-average enjoyable book; 75–100% an awesome book.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

by Neil deGrasse Tyson 70%

a brief intro to the universe

Neuromancer

by William Gibson 70%

the archetypal cyberpunk work

Outlive

by Peter Attia 50%

Let’s focus on health span instead of live span… “All books are biased and cherry-pick supporting evidence”, but this one was the same just added this disclaimer.

Permanent Record

by Edward Snowden 80%

An autobiography of Edward Snowden

Nežná náruč rodičů

by Eva Kiedroňová 50%

návod na manipulaci s dítětem

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

by Douglas Adams 75%

second book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series

Partner u porodu

by Penny Simkin 75%

advice for dads how to be helpful during labour

Getting Things Done

by David Allen

a personal productivity system

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams 85%

a classic sci-fi comedy novel dealing with deep philosophical questions

Návod na prežitie pre bejby

by Igor Bukovský 60%

souhrn poznatků od youtubera

Nevítaný host

by Shari Lapena 55%

detektivní příběh z horského hotýlku

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

by Robert A. Heinlein 80%

an award winning sci-fi novel from 1966

Dune Messiah

by Frank Herbert 50%

the second book in the Dune series

The Clean Coder

by Robert C. Martin 75%

how to be a better programmer (or a more senior one)

The Feynman Lectures on Physics I

by Richard Feynman

the famous lectures by Richard Feynman turned into a book

Dune

by Frank Herbert 85%

award winning sci-fi saga

A Philosophy of Software Design

by John Ousterhout 85%

reducing complexity of software, from the author of Tcl

The Man Who Solved the Market

by Gregory Zuckerman 50%

a history of quantitative trading

The Pragmatic Programmer

by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt 75%

many useful tips for developers

A Jimmy šel za duhou

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

I thought I’d read the book at high school but was probably mistaken since I didn’t remember a thing while listening to the audio version in 2023.

Burning the Books

by Richard Ovenden 50%

a history of burning and destroying the written knowledge

Walden

by Henry David Thoreau 75%

thoughts of a guy in the middle of USA in the middle of 19th century

Data and Reality

by William Kent 60%

the book title says it succinctly

Foundation and Earth

by Isaac Asimov 85%

the last book from the Foundation series

Foundation's Edge

by Isaac Asimov 75%

the search for the Earth or Gaia, 500 years after Harry Seldon

Silmarillion

by J. R. R. Tolkien 60%

a collection of myths and stories from the world of The Lord of the Rings

The Second Foundation

by Isaac Asimov 75%

Mule’s search for the second foundation.

Foundation and Empire

by Isaac Asimov 70%

The fall of the first foundation. Mule’s quest.

Foundation

by Isaac Asimov 70%

The first book in the Foundation series.

Superintelligence

by Nick Bostrom 75%

How shall we survive in the world where we are not the most intelligent species?

The Courage to Be Disliked

by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga 60%

A dialogue of a philosopher and a young man about life; presenting mostly Adlerian life philosophy

Prelude to Foundation

by Isaac Asimov 75%

Harry Seldon on the run with help of Doors.

Artemis

by Andy Weir 75%

A crimi-thriller novel from the author of Martian

Proces

by Franz Kafka 60%

Zoufalství ve střetu s bezhlavou mašinérií

Jací jsme dnes

by Jaroslav Spurný 55%

Vzpomínky investigativního novináře Respektu

A Brief Candle in the Dark

by Richard Dawkins 70%

Dawkins’ autobiography, the second part. Up to his 70th birthday

An Appetite for Wonder

by Richard Dawkins 75%

Dawkins’ autobiography, the first part, up to the Selfish Gene publication

Your Music and People

by Derek Sivers 85%

How you should promote yourself and your music creatively

Sedm zákonů

by Miroslav Bárta 75%

Pohled na zrod, vzestup a pád civilizací z výšky. Směs Diamonda, Harariho, Roslinga, …

How To

by Randall Munroe 80%

Another funny book from the author of XKCD comics.

Jak se dělá imunita

by Blanka Říhová 60%

stručný přehled o fungování imunity

Superforecasting

by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner 75%

How to be better at forecasting. How to overcome our biases.

Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir 90%

A highschool teacher on a suicide mission to save the humanity

Thinking in Bets

by Annie Duke 75%

A poker player teaches us how to decide under uncertainty

Starship Troopers

by Robert Henlein 70%

A story about a young man who became a soldier accidentally, then became a lieutenant. All while fighting bugs in our galaxy.

Gump

by Filip Rožek 70%

Pěkný příběh. Číšila z toho láska k psům a zvířatům.

How to Avoid Climatic Disaster

by Bill Gates 70%

An overview of challenges on the way to carbon-neutral future by Bill Gates

Freakonomics

by Levitt, Dubner 75%

An original take on many topics

Quiet

by Susan Cain 65%

Our world needs introverts. Being introvert is normal.

The Rational Optimist

by Matt Ridley 70%

The best time to live is now. And it will be even better.

Numbers don't lie

by Václav Smil 75%

Interesting number facts about the world, a bit like Factfulness.

Snow Crash

by Neil Stephenson 75%

A sci-fi novel coining terms as Metaverse and Avatar

The Martian

by Andy Weir 90%

A survivor’s journal on Mars

Stalker

by Arkady, Boris Strugatsky 80%

A well known philosophical sci-fi novel

I, robot

by Isaac Asimov 85%

An anthology of Asimov’s great stories about robots, artificial intelligence etc.

How to live

by Derek Sivers 80%

One of a few authors who writes about ideas without any unnecessary words

Give and Take

by Adam Grant 60%

Givers, takers and matchers. Givers are the most and least successful of all. I had to stop listening to this.

The Five Elements of Effective Thinking

by Edward B. Burger 80%

Five steps toward a better thinking.

Hell Yes or No

by Derek Sivers 90%

A brief but dense book full of wit, clever questions, ideas and thought food. Derek is compressing many self-help and life-hack books and it is

Solaris

by Stanisław Lem 80%

A unique planet orbiting two suns is explored by scientists who are completely clueless. The planet creates persons from the scientists’ hidden memories but they fail to communicate and comprehend the planet.

Surfaces and Essences

by Douglas R. Hofstadter

Another book from my favourite author Hofstadter

Heroes

by Stephen Fry 80%

Fry is doing a great job of retelling the ancient well-known stories. As good as his previous book.

War of Art

by Steven Pressfield 60%

How to overcome the resistance to do anything important and to achieve your goals.

How not to Die

by Michael Greger 85%

A scientific approach for choosing what to eat. It turns out you should eat plant-based, non-processed, whole food.

Beginning of Infinity

by David Deutsch 90%

A scientific and optimistic view of our future. A really captivating book.

Atomic Habits

by James Clear 80%

Can't Hurt Me

by David Goggins 75%

Almost unbelievable life story of David Goggins who probably lacks self-preservation instinct. Too extreme to be a true self-help book, but there are some truths in what he is telling (preaching).

How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie 50%

One of the oldest self-help books. I am not the intended audience. I couldn’t follow his rules and being true to myself, authentic and consistent.

From Bacteria to Bach and Back

by Daniel Dennett 75%

Dennett’s latest attempt at explaining our mind and its evolution.

When Things Fall Apart

by Pema Chödrön 75%

A soothing voice will tell you how to cope with problems in your life, but not how to solve them.

Think and Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill 30%

Self-help book from 1937. After reading so many self-help book before this one, I realized it gets boring…

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

by Robin S. Sharma 85%

A self-help novel, full of great wisdoms packed into a bit weird story.

Calling Bullshit

by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West 80%

How to spot bullshit and what to do after that. Funny and important book.

Sum

by David Eagleman 80%

40 short stories with a twist at the end from a very imaginative neuroscientist.

Slepé skvrny

by Daniel Prokop 80%

Palčivé problémy Česka v podání předního sociologa, který neváhá kritizovat levici i pravici.

A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived

by Adam Rutherford 80%

What can modern DNA analysis tell us about our ancestors? A lot actually.

Cosmos

by Carl Sagan 75%

Sagan is one of the most prominent popular science author and this book was even turned into a series.

How Innovation Works

by Matt Ridley 60%

Innovation is a long, messy and complex process. The contributions of single scientics and inventors is overstated.

Putin's People

by Catherine Belton 75%

How Putin raised his power, gained control of whole industries, banks, companies and ruled Russia with the help of KGB and FSB. Not overwhelmingly pleasant to read.

Social Engineering

by Christopher Hadnagy 70%

Learn some actionable practices to hack human brain of other people and exploit it’s attributes and weaknesses.

The Code Book

by Simon Singh 65%

The history of cryptography from the acknowledged popular science (maths) book author.

The Evolution of Everything

by Matt Ridley 65%

If you push enough, everything can be explained with evolution theory.

The Missionary Position

by Christopher Hitchens 80%

Mother Teresa’s morals and believes clearly belong to the past.

The Science Book

by DK 80%

A brief history of natural sciences. Heavily biased towards physics and chemistry.

Thirty Million Words

by Dana Susking, Beth Suskind 65%

Encourage your child’s ability to self-regulate

Můj Janáček

by Milan Kundera 70%

Kunderův příspěvek k Janáčkově odkazu

Outgrowing God

by Richard Dawkins 75%

Another briliant book from the great Dawkins. You love him or you hate him. I love him.

Conscious

by Annaka Harris 65%

A hard topic to write about. I expected a bit more since Sam Harris (her husband) and some other notable authors and scientists have recommended the book.

Genius

by James Gleick 60%

A biography of Richard Feynman. Nothing memorable.

How to Create a Mind

by Ray Kurzweil 60%

Hard to tell if the book is really so bad by the blink but I was expecting little more from such an author.

How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds

by Nicholas Boothman 75%

This books comes with a classification of people into three groups: visual, tonal and motoric, which seems quite plausible and useful.

The Great Mental Models II

by Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien 55%

Comparatively worse than the first book (blink)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot 80%

I should probably read the whole book, this blink certainly was interesting!

The Language Insinct

by Steven Pinker 65%

He is a great author, but personally, he gets natural language completely wrong.

This is Your Brain on Music

by Oliver Sack 65%

I’ve read Sack’s Musicophilia and it was much better.

Antifragile

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb 70%

Taleb introduces another great term—antifragility—which can be found in many areas. And which can be consciously improved. It’s more than robustness.

The Parasitic Mind

by Gad Saad 50%

Bit misleading title for the book full of angry arguments against overly liberal policies mainly in USA. I stopped listening to the audio version of the book circa in the middle.

Lifespan

by David A. Sinclair 85%

there is a slight chance that our generation can live to 100 years with a good health. There is also a non-negligible chance that we won’t die.

Edison

by Vítězslav Nezval 45%

Bylo tu však něco krásného co drtí odvaha a radost z života i smrti…

The Great Mental Models I

by Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien 75%

Probably the best (and funniest) was Hanlon’s razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

Algorithms to Live By

by Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths 65%

Well known algorithms. Nothing extraordinary.

Life 3.0

by Max Tegmark 70%

Refreshingly interesting although it sometimes feels like blog entries or a diary of an extremely intelligent scientist

Making the Modern World

by Václav Smil 70%

Hard to assess properly from blink, but Bill Gates recommends this author repeatedly so I should probably read something unabridged from him in the future.

The Book of Why

by Judea Pearl 75%

Not very engaging but definitely important topic of correlation, causation, statistics and AI.

How to Lie with Statistics

by Darrell Huff 70%

Maybe blinkist is summarizing the books badly as I tend to score the books from Blinkist quite low.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

by Robert T. Kiyosaki 75%

Learning at work is win-win: you earn money and at the same time learn new things so invest into yourself. Buy assets, not liabilities. Invest as soon as possible.

Mindset

by by Carol S. Dweck 75%

Fixed vs growth mindset. The former is limiting you, the latter will help ou to improve yourself quickly.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

by Yuval Noah Harari 80%

The third book from Harari, probably the weakest of the three, but still a fun to read.

Boj o první místo

by Jaroslav Foglar 60%

Jedna z nejslabších knih od Foglara

Chvály Zadní země

by Miloslav Nevrlý 75%

Méně známá knížečka od libereckého poutníka Míly Nevrlého.

Čtyři po půlnoci

by Stephen King 75%

Obsahuje dvě povídky – Časožrouti a Skryté okno do skryté zahrady.

Dějiny

by Hérodotos 75%

Půjčil jsem si od Dana Kropáčka, nebo na jeho doporučení jsem přečetl.

Den Trifidů

by John Wydham 85%

A lot of material for thinking about our society and psychology

Dobrodružství v zemi nikoho

by Jaroslav Foglar 75%

Dobrodružný příběh o stavbě srubu na tajném a úžasném místě

Dva divoši

by Ernest Thompson Seton 80%

Krásné dobrodružství kluků v přírodě až příliš krutě uťaté realitou tehdejšího života.

Džungle před tabulí

by Evan Hunter 65%

Příběh o učiteli v New Yorku

Enlightenment now

by Steven Pinker 65%

Velmi dlouhý argument o tom, proč je věda, vzdělání dobrá.

Everything is Fucked

by Mark Manson 75%

His previous book was much better, but this one is better compared to other self-help books I have read.

God is not great

by Christopher Hitchens 70%

Hitchens has much more arguments against religions than other prominentatheist writers (e.g. Dawkins with his God’s delusion) and this book seemed more compelling.

Hoši od Bobří řeky

by Jaroslav Foglar 75%

Kronika pražské Dvojky

Hospodské povídky

by Václav Koubek 60%

Jednu knížku z Koubkových povídek jsem četl později než ty dvě další…

J. S. Bach

by Otto Bettmann 65%

Encyklopedicky uspořádaná biografie J. S. Bacha

Jáma a kyvadlo

by Edgar Allan Poe 90%

Soubor povídek

Jeden den Ivana Děnisoviče

by Alexandr Solženicyn 75%

Popis jednoho obyčejného dne v gulagu na Sibiři v 50. letech 20. století

Karí povídky

by Václav Koubek 75%

Četl jsem myslím cestou z Prahy od Barnáše, který mi je půjčil. Ve vlaku jsem přečetl obě i Vesnické povídky.

Karpatské hry

by Miloslav Nevrlý 95%

a book which beautifully describes the magic of wandering in the wild mountains (of Romania)

Kdo chytá v žitě

by J. D. Salinger 55%

Povinná četba na střední. Typický příklad knihy, kterou jsem četl dřív, než jsem měl. Tipuji, že kdybych ji četl teď, hodnotil bych ji lépe.

Láska je jen slovo

by Johannes Mario Simmel 85%

Logicomix

by Apostolos K. Doxiadis 75%

I read it in Czech as my neighbour borrowed me the book.

Motýlek

by Henri Charriére 85%

Mozart – člověk a génius

by David Weiss 55%

životopis W. A. Mozarta

Mozart – Stopy transcendence

by Hans Kueng 25%

Myslím, že mi to půjčil pan prof. Hanuš.

Mozartova cesta do Prahy

by Eduard Mörike 70%

Kdysi jsem si to půjčil z adamovské knihovny.

Muž s dýmkou a houslemi

by Sirt Arthur Conan Doyle 85%

Mythos

by Stephen Fry 80%

It was so good, that I bought it in Czech for my grandma. She loved it and now it circulates in our family.

Navzdory básník zpívá

by Jarmila Loukotková 85%

Četba této knížky mi zařídila 1 z maturity z češtiny, protože jsem si vytáhl téma renesance.

Nemusí být vždycky kaviár

by Johannes Mario Simmel 85%

Neviditelný

by H. G. Wells 70%

Nikdo není ostrov

by Johannes Mario Simmel 85%

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell 70%

Malcolm is a good storyteller but I don’t enjoy his books very much.

Příběhy Sherlocka Holmese

by Arthur Conan Doyle 95%

Klasika.

Rationality

by Eliezer Yudkowsky 70%

Ramblings on rationality, biases, false believes, artificial intelligence, …

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe 75%

Sbohem, můj krásný plameni

by Zdeněk Mahler 90%

Velmi napínavé, mírně nepřesné, ale čtivé a zábavné.

Setkání s Rámou

by Arthur C. Clarke 75%

Hard sci-fi. Classic.

Sni svůj bláhový sen

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

Nevím o čem to bylo, ale bylo to dobrý.

Stínadla se bouří

by Jaroslav Foglar 95%

Druhý díl stínadelské trilogie

Tajemství Velkého Vonta

by Jaroslav Foglar 95%

Třetí díl stínadelské trilogie

Talking to strangers

by Malcolm Gladwell 55%

Just several anecdotal stories about how people can’t really understand and predict each other

The Better Angels of Our Nature

by Steven Pinker 75%

A clever argument in favour of optimism.

The Dark Forest

by Liu Cixin 85%

The second part of the trilogy.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

by Stieg Larsson 60%

The second part of the trilogy.

The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck 55%

Asi bych musel být Američan, aby mě ta kniha bavila.

The Lord of the Rings

by J. R. R. Tolkien 75%

Must read

The Return of the King

by J. R. R. Tolkien 75%

Must read.

The Running Man

by Stephen King 75%

Sci-fi od krále hororu

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

by Mark Manson 95%

one of the best self-help books I’ve ever read; own your life

Three-body problem

by Cixin Liu 90%

I enjoyed it almost as books from A. C. Clarke and other titans of sci-fi.

Trnová dívka

by Jáchym Topol 30%

Tuto knihu jsem pravděpodobně vůbec nepochopil, možná jsem ji četl příliš brzy.

Ubik

by Philip K. Dick 75%

Přečteno na doporučení Vojty Hanuše. Klasika sci-fi žánru.

Vesnické povídky

by Václav Koubek 75%

Útlá knížečka od českého písničkáře. Vtipné povídky.

Vraždy v ulici Morgue

by Edgar Allan Poe 85%

Výběr povídek od Poea. Klasika!

Všichni lidé bratry jsou

by Johannes Mario Simmel 90%

Moje první Simmelovka, na doporučení taťky.

Why we sleep

by Matthew Walker 80%

Walker is exaggerating to emphasize his point, but there is a lot of interesting facts.

Z čeho jsou utkány sny

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

The title is taken from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Záhada hlavolamu

by Jaroslav Foglar 95%

Rychlé šípy ve Stínadlech

Zázračný úklid

by Marie Kondō 55%

If you are a hoarder, you need to read this. If you have too many things in your house, you should read this. If you are a minimalist, skip it.

Mým marodům

by Jan Hnízdil 60%

Spousta zajímavých myšlenek, ale je potřeba autora brát s rezervou. Což je tedy potřeba asi vždy a všude.

Deep Work

by Cal Newport 70%

It was not so eye-opening, probably because I’ve read a bunch of similar books before this one—I liked Essentialism much more.

The Death's End

by Liu Cixin 90%

It. Was. Grand. I consider it to be almost on a par with A. C. Clarke’s work. We started to the Czech audioversion on 2022-07-09.

The Three-Body Problem

by Remembrance of Earth’s Past 75%

The first fiction book after a while and it was worth it. I want more!

Essentialism

by Greg McKeown 90%

One of the best self-help book I’ve read.

The 4-Hour Workweek

by Timothy Ferriss 75%

Stop working and fully enjoy your life! Easy, isn’t it?

It Starts With Food

by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig 50%

Whole30 diet, not very good for vegans and vegetarians

Homo Deus

by Yuval Noah Harari 85%

If you consider yourself an intellectual, you should read this since all people considering themselves as intellectuals probably have read this book as well, myself included.

Sapiens

by Yuval Noah Harari 90%

An instant favourite. What a thinker this Harari!

The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg 65%

Understand how habits are made and broken and change your life!

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

by Richard P. Feynman 80%

Funny. So famous that you need to read it.

The Laws of Simplicity

by John Maeda 70%

The topic of simplicity is really complex.

The Moral Landscape

by Sam Harris 75%

An attempt at formalizing or defining morality. That’s a hard task, but Harris doesn’t fail completely.

The Gene

by Siddhartha Mukherjee 55%

Not so good as his previous book about cancer.

Economix

by Michael Goodwin 75%

Great non-fiction comix. I want more of these!

Science in the Soul

by Richard Dawkins 60%

Richard Dawkins selected short writings

Factfulness

by Hans Rosling 95%

people are quite bad in estimating how world is improving

The End of Faith

by Sam Harris 75%

Another attempt at attacking religion from one of Four Horsemen.

The Formation of Vegetable Mould

by Charles Darwin 75%

The last book of Darwin which perfectly shows how rigorous he was and that he was such a talent for discovering of long-term phenomena.

Thing Explainer

by Randall Munroe 95%

You can’t make a mistake with anything from Randall Munroe if you like science and engineering. He is brilliant.

I Contain Multitudes

by Ed Yong 55%

It felt to me like a very long blog entry or a longish article on web rather than a science popular book.

Open Access

by Peter Suber 55%

A good overview of the issue with publishing science

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

by Thomas S. Kuhn 60%

Hard to read. Both history and acquaintance made me doubt that practitioners of the natural sciences possess firmer or more permanent answers to such questions than their colleagues in social science.

Metamagical Themas

by Douglas R. Hofstadter 80%

An anthology of Hofstadter’s articles in Scientific American

A Short History of Nearly Everything

by Bill Bryson 75%

A good non-fiction audiobook if you are cooking or cleaning your room.

Chaos

by James Gleick 60%

An overview of a completely new scientific field

The Demon-Haunted World

by Carl Sagan 90%

A great book by a great scholar. I expected more science and less politics, but still, great reading.

Guns, germs, and steel

by Jared M. Diamond 60%

Goodreads review: I agree with the opinion in the book and I like the whole idea but the arguments could have been much shorter and denser.

The Ancestor's Tale

by Richard Dawkins 80%

Goodreads review: Another great book from Dawkins. I would love to have like 100 more pictures to illustrate the living or extinct animals.

Gödel, Escher, Bach

by Douglas R. Hofstadter 75%

Probably the hardest book I’ve ever read. If you want to get the overall idea, read I am a strange loop instead.

What If?

by Randall Munroe 100%

What If is an instant favourite for me. Funny, full of interesting stuff.

On Intelligence

by Sandra Blakeslee and Jeff Hawkins 85%

This book had an impact on me while working on my PhD thesis as it resonated with my view of artificial (machine) intelligence.

Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing

by Christopher D. Manning 75%

Sometimes it felt a bit out-dated but the explanations of various algorithms and principles was very good and understanable.

Consciousness Explained

by Daniel C. Dennett 45%

The quasivisual nature of the phenomenology of comprehension has been almost entirely ignored by researchers in cognitive science, particularly in Artificial Intelligence, who have attempted to create language-understanding computer systems.

The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

by Richard Dawkins (ed.) 80%

A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the ser ious scientifi c workers are the only profoundly religious people.

Labyrinths

by Jorge Luis Borges

a collection of short stories and essays

The Red Queen

by Matt Ridley 80%

Doporučení od Honzy Michelfeita. Goodreads review: Packed with new information, many examples, clever ideas - it was delight to read each day on my way to work.

Language Myths

by Laurie Bauer (ed.) 60%

A set of short articles about language myths. Some great, some weak, but good overall.

The Extended Phenotype

by Richard Dawkins 60%

The book was quite hard to follow since it is very academical and if you are not acquainted with biology and genetics I think it will be hard to follow for you too.

Musicophilia

by Oliver Sacks 80%

It is clear from this book that music and its perception is very deeply engraved into our brain.

The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

by Charles Darwin 80%

This is a must-read for all students. The style is not very entertaining but there are only a few such impactful book in the world.

The Paradox of Choice

by Barry Schwartz 60%

If I read this book before all those Arielys, Kahnemans, then it would be much more interesting and mind-boggling.

Bad Science

by Ben Goldacre 80%

An overview of the problems with the current state of science and its methods and procedures

The Da Vinci Code

by Dan Brown 75%

my first book read in English and while travelling

The Emperor of All Maladies

by Siddhartha Mukherjee 80%

Cancer seems to be an inevitable part of our biology

Reč těla

by Allan Pease 75%

Learn to manage your body expressions to help you persuade, empathize, soothe, … others

Ani sami bohové

by Isaac Asimov 75%

Dates probably wrong.

Nahé slunce

by Isaac Asimov 80%

Už jako kluk jsem však nedokázal uvěřit, že by poznání mohlo být nebezpečné, že řešením je nevědomost. Mně se vždy zdálo, že řešením je vědění.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman 90%

clever and courageous; it strongly supports my convinction that we are just a bit better than apes

The Greatest Show on Earth

by Richard Dawkins 80%

Bertrand Russell said, ‘We may all have come into existence five minutes ago, provided with ready-made memories, with holes in our socks and hair that needed cutting.

Ocelové jeskyně

by Isaac Asimov 80%

Další výborná kniha od Asimova.

A Brief History Of Time

by Stephen W. Hawking 80%

the most commonly unfinished book of all times–hard to digest but a real treat for a curious mind

Malý princ

by Antoine de Exupéry 60%

Everytime you read it I learn something new.

The God Delusion

by Richard Dawkins 75%

Dawkins’ attack on the religion. This probably won’t make you an apostate but I liked it a lot as many other Dawkins’ books.

A Dance with Dragons

by R. R. R. Martin 75%

After having read all 6 books I decided to read only non-fiction in the future. I broke this rule only a few years later with Three-body problem.

Desatero domácí ekologie

by Mojmír Vlašín 60%

Rady a tipy pro domácnosti. Některé rozumné, některé přehnané, ale žádné zbytečné.

A Feast for Crows

by George R. R. Martin 80%

4th book from Martin’s epos.

A Storm of Swords

by R. R. R. Martin 80%

A Clash of Kings

by George R. R. Martin 85%

Překladatelské perličky Navzdory neutuchajícím hádkám mezi jejím otcem a jeho bratrem, kterého kdysi vyvlastnil, panovalo hluboké pouto. (Friday, November 02, 2012, 05:38 PM, page 1759-60)

I Am Legend

by Richard Matheson 85%

A fiction book about last surviror on Earth, fighting zombies. Classic.

Jak drahá je intuice

by Dan Ariely 70%

Third book from Dan Ariely. A bit less entertaining but still very informative.

A Game of Thrones

by George R. R. Martin 80%

1st book of Martin’s epos.

The Black Swan

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb 90%

my first book from Taleb and an instant favourite

The Selfish Gene

by Richard Dawkins 90%

This book has changed my life. It made me realize that I am a machine for propagating DNA–a survival machine. Everything else is a by-product of evolution.

Pavučina lží

by Dan Brown 60%

26. ledna jsem rozečetl knihu od Dana Browna. Šifru mistra Leonarda jsem viděl, Andělé a démony také. Dočetl jsem ji s Barunkou 2.

Jak drahé je zdarma

by Dan Ariely 85%

Anchors, framing, prospect theory and much more

Slova a pravidla

by Steven Pinker 35%

Knížka od Pinkera. Přestal jsem ji číst, protože nesouhlasím s teorií, kterou tam Pinker popisuje. Obsahuje spoustu pěkných příkladů, ale jejich interpretace mě rozčilovala, tak jsem ji asi v půlce odložil.

Umění překladu

by Jiří Levý 45%

hlavní dílo českého teoretika překladu

451 stupňů Fahrenheita

by Ray Bradbury 75%

The second best-known novel from Bradbury

Literární poklesky

by Stephen Leacock 80%

Fakt nechápu, jak to mohl překladatel zvládnout přeložit.

Metafory paměti

by Douwe Draiisma 60%

A history of metaphors of memory, how they changed with technology and how they related to understanding of our minds.

Introduction to Algorithms

by Thomas H. Cormen 75%

Nevím, jestli jsem to dočetl.

Hordubal

by Karel Čapek 55%

Novela z Čapkovy noetické trilogie o vraždě Juraje, který se vrací po letech z Ameriky do Podparpatské Rusi

Toulavý autobus

by John Steinbeck 30%

Novela z roku 1947 o jízdě autobusem v Kalifornii

Divím se, že jsem tak veselý

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

První Simmelův román, true story o lidech zasypaných ve sklepě, kteří v sebeobraně zabijí chemika, který chce vyhodit zával do povětří.

Jak chutná moc

by Ladislav Mňačko 60%

Podobnost hrdiny s postavou prezidenta A. Novotného je čistě náhodná!

Větrné toulání

by Miloslav Nevrlý 75%

Výběr krátkých povídek a příběhů od Míly Nevrlého

U řeky Piedra jsem sedla a plakala

by Paolo Coelho 30%

Milostný příběh, který mne vůbec neoslovil.

Glenn Gould—Music and Mind

by Geoffrey Payzant 70%

A biography of the extravagant and famous pianist

Liška Bystrouška

by Rudolf Těsnohlídek 90%

Vtipný příběh o trampotách jedné příliš chytré lišky

Smrt si říká Engelchen

by Ladislav Mňačko 60%

Autobiografický román točící se kolem Ploštiny a partyzánů na konci 2. světové války

The Joy of Music

by Leonard Bernstein 75%

A must-read for classical music listeners.

Nejkrásnější sbírka

by Miloslav Nevrlý 95%

Nádnerná a poetická knížka. Nejlépe čtená u ohně v rumunských horách.

Velká Fermatova věta

by Simon Singh 75%

One of my first popular science (math) book.

Marťanská kronika

by Ray Bradbury 90%

Must read.

Farma zvířat

by George Orwell 75%

Petr a Lucie

by Romain Rolland 65%

Útlá knížečka se smutným koncem

1984

by George Orwell 95%

classical dystopia

Báječná léta s Klausem

by Michal Viewegh 60%

Pokus o navázání na úspěch Báječných let pod psa

Povídky

by Edgar Allan Poe 85%

Nechte prosím kytky žít

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

Nevím o čem to bylo, ale bylo to dobrý.

The Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway 15%

I probably need to re-read this as it was boring as fuck when I read this at high school.

The Two Towers

by The Lord of the Rings, 75%

Druhý díl Tolkienovy ságy

Romeo, Julie a tma

by Jan Otčenášek 75%

A s klauny přišly slzy

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

Bídníci

by Victor Hugo 85%

Klasický román z francouzského prostředí

Vladař

by Niccolò Machiavelli 55%

Mildly interesting

Svůj kalich hořkosti

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

Už si nepamatuju o čem to bylo, ale všechny romány od Simmela byly děsně čtivý.

Aféra Niny B.

by Johannes Mario Simmel 75%

Hurá ještě žijeme

by Johannes Mario Simmel 85%

Noční práce

by Jáchym Topol 30%

Na doporučení Vojty Hanuše, vůbec mě to nebavilo.

Věc Makropulos

by Karel Čapek 75%

Román o nesmrtelnosti

S láskou k vlastni nejdál dojdeš

by Johannes Mario Simmel 85%

Nevím o čem to bylo, ale bylo to dobrý.

Zpráva o třetí planetě

by Arthur C. Clarke 90%

An anthology of Clarke’s short stories. Great read!

Válka s mloky

by Karel Čapek 80%

Další Čapkova trefná metafora

R.U.R.

by Karel Čapek 75%

Bílá nemoc

by Karel Čapek 75%

Klasika.

Krakatit

by Karel Čapek 75%

Čapkova další trefná metafora

Nemova říše

by J. M. Troska 75%

Česká sci-fi klasika.

Neviditelná armáda

by J. M. Troska 75%

Česká sci-fi klasika.

Rozkazy z éteru

by J. M. Troska 75%

Česká sci-fi klasika

Zápas s nebem

by J.M. Troska 75%

Česká sci-fi klasika.

J. S. Bach

by Ernest Zavarský 60%

Knížka, kterou jsem si opakovaně půjčoval z adamovské knihovny. Byl jsem snad jediný.

Dášeňka, čili život štěněte

by Karel Čapek 75%

Česká klasika

Pejsek a kočička

by Josef Čapek 65%

Klasika.

Přístav volá

by Jaroslav Foglar 70%

Jirka Dražan, Modrý život, Přístavní čtvrť, …