was made →
Recommended by
Patrick Collison
Patrick Collison is the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, a payment processing platform valued at over $22.5 billion.
According to a Bloomberg article – when Patrick was bored in school, he would read books. “I would line up the angles so I was hidden from the teacher’s view,” he said. However, he found out years later that an enlightened principal had instructed teachers to allow it.
In his own words, this list is a "fairly complete catalog of the physical books he owns". According to him, he would have read around half of the books from this list. In one of his tweets he said that "Life is too short to not be reading the very best book you're aware of at every given moment." A lot of the books on this list were recommended to him by Bret Victor and Paul Graham.
Sources: the books on this page have been compiled from the bookshelf on his website. A lot of his Twitter recommendations over the years have also been added.
Battle Cry of Freedom
History
Beyond The Checkride
Open Odyssey
The Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics
Math
SmallTalk 80 Language
Programming
Wandering Significance
Philosophy
Oliver Byrne
Mathematics
Writing to the Moment
I Own
Recent Economic Changes, and Their Effect on the Production and Distribution of Wealth and the Well
To Get
Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, Eleventh Edition
Reference
The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol 1
Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol 2
Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Science
Instrument Flight Training Manual As Developed by Professional Instrument Courses, Inc. 3rd Ed.
The Art and Craft of Problem Solving
Math
Computer Lib/Dream Machines
Non Fiction
Parallel and Concurrent Programming in Haskell
Programming
The Problem of Political Authority
Philosophy
Codex Seraphinianus. Ein Orbis Pictus des Universums der Phantasie.
Art
Urban Street Design Guide
Architecture
Also recommended by
Whitney Tilson
Daniel Ek
Warren Buffett
Naval Ravikant
Poor Charlie's Almanack
Business
The Last Days of Pompeii
Grandpa S Books
The Next Whole Earth Catalog
Hippie Favs
Summary
Free Reads
Maui Revealed
Travel
Also recommended by
Mark Zuckerberg
Naval Ravikant
Ray Dalio
First Round Capital
Barack Obama
Keith Rabois
Daniel Ek
Ashton Kutcher
Bill Gates
Sapiens
Non Fiction
Life in Moving Fluids
Science
Wooden
Sports
Starting Strength
Fitness
Back to Barbary Lane
Fiction
LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual
Lisp
Bruno Munari
Design
Less and More
Design
An Introduction to Harmonic Analysis
Math
Princes of the Yen
Economics
The Sea Ranch
Architecture
Out of the Blue Too
To Get
Logic & Design in Art, Science, and Mathematics
Design
Bradbury Stories
Short Stories
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
Physics
From Third World to First
History
The Dark Forest
Science Fiction
Sea Ranch...Diary of an Idea
To Be Shelved Digitally
Angle of Attack
Space
Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur
Physics
A Pattern Language
Architecture
Wireshark Network Analysis
Security
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Fantasy
The Princeton Companion to Mathematics
Mathematics
The Paris Review Interviews, I
Non Fiction
Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model
Physics
Wooden on Leadership
Leadership
Are Prisons Obsolete
Non Fiction
The Paris Review Interviews, II
Non Fiction
Hard Landing
Business
"It’s probably best thriller about deregulation of US air travel that you’ll ever read."
Asimov's New Guide To Science
Science
Backpacking California
Travel
The Machinery of Life
Science
Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region
Science
What It Takes
Politics
Swiss Graphic Design
Design
A Fine Balance
Fiction
Watchmen
Graphic Novels
The Paris Review Interviews, III
Non Fiction
The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1
Programming
Once An Eagle
Fiction
Dictator
Historical Fiction
The Complete Stories, Vol. 2
Science Fiction
Cracking the Coding Interview
Programming
The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog
Reference
Saint
Aviation
AN Evil Cradling
Non Fiction
A Piece of the Action
Business
Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital
Economics
Stairway Walks in San Francisco
San Francisco
The Arrival
Graphic Novels
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Non Fiction
Selections from Science and Sanity
Philosophy
Nmap Network Scanning
Security
On Lisp
Programming
Essays of E.B. White
Essays
The National Parks
History
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Non Fiction
Quantum Computation and Quantum Information
Physics
Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming
Programming
Streetfight
Non Fiction
The Seasoned Schemer
Programming
Maritime Economics
Economics
The Paris Review Interviews, IV
Writing
Visual Explanations
Design
The Deep
Science
The Arabs
History
Trading Places
Economics
Quantum Electrodynamics
Physics
The Ocean of Life
Science
The Character of Physical Law
Physics
Proficient Motorcycling
Non Fiction
Technics and Civilization
History
Chasing the Flame
Biography
Fall of Giants
Historical Fiction
Making Silicon Valley
History
North Star Over My Shoulder
Aviation
Coding the Matrix
Math
Topology
Mathematics
Inside the Painter's Studio
Art
Spacetime and Geometry
Physics
Calculus On Manifolds
Mathematics
The 40s
History
The Art of the Metaobject Protocol
Programming
All Art is Propaganda
Essays
Common LISP
Programming
Feynman Lectures On Gravitation
Physics
Civilisation
History
Complications
Non Fiction
"Masters of Doom is fantastic; deserves to be much more widely known."
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Non Fiction
Battle Royale
Fiction
Airplane Performance, Stability and Control
Libreria Ingegneria
Guided Fight Discovery
Default
The Dutch Republic
History
Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Types and Programming Languages
Programming
Matterhorn
Fiction
The Count of Monte Cristo
Classics
The Man Behind the Microchip
Biography
The Singapore Story
Biography
Season of the Witch
History
Le Ton beau de Marot
Language
The Evolution of Cooperation
Non Fiction
Team of Teams
Business
Learn to Play Go
Go
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Mystery
The Complete Essays
Philosophy
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk Jr.
General Nonfiction
Memory Machines
History
Semiology of Graphics
Design
Moon Lander
Space
Principles of Quantum Mechanics
Physics
Feynman Lectures On Computation
Computer Science
Memorial
Poetry
River Town
China
American Tabloid
Fiction
The Killing Zone
Aviation
A Photographer's Life
Photography
'A Problem from Hell'
Non Fiction
The Periodic Table
Non Fiction
Arguably
Non Fiction
Arguably
Non Fiction
St. Augustine's Confessions
Philosophy
Machine Learning
Bookshelf 2
The Chip
History
Life Stories
Non Fiction
Governing the Commons
Economics
It's Our Turn to Eat
Africa
Kissinger
Biography
A Small Matter of Programming
Programming
John Maynard Keynes
Economics
Designing for People
Design
Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns
Programming
Wind, Sand and Stars
Non Fiction
If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... Where Is Everybody
Science
"I tend to agree with the book's conclusion: no single great filter in our past but that several Drake equation coefficients are smaller than we might expect"
Perfect Health Diet
Health
The Flavor Bible
Cookbooks
Private Pilot and Recreational Pilot FAA Knowledge Test 2010
Default
Statistics As Principled Argument
Statistics
Doing the Impossible
Non Fiction
"The best project management thriller I've read this year: Matrixed management structures, daily deliverables, SPO methodology, orbital dynamics, people on the moon -- it's really got it all."
The Age of Discontinuity
Business
Say Again, Please
Aviation
Process and Reality
Philosophy
Instrument Procedures Handbook
Aviation
How to Study Public Life
Urban Planning
Exploratory Data Analysis
Statistics
A Thousand Hills
Africa
Also recommended by
Elon Musk
Reid Hoffman
Max Levchin
Keith Rabois
Farnam Street
Zero to One
Business
"In the book, he writes about how investors underestimate the extreme power of exponential growth and undervalue quickly-growing companies."
Before the Storm
History
Conjectures and Refutations
Philosophy
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Science
The Philosophy Book
Philosophy
Pioneering Portfolio Management
Investing
Technics and Human Development
History
How to Solve It
Mathematics
The Rise and Fall of American Growth
Economics
"Gordon's new book is great! Despite pompous title, actually a page-turner!"
The Thirty Years War
History
Land of LISP
Programming
Debt
History
The Rise and Fall of Nations
Economics
Nixonland
History
Flying IFR
Aviation
Lore of Running
Running
Abstract Algebra
Math
An Introduction to Political Philosophy
Philosophy
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters
History
The Chicken From Minsk
Science
Practical Common LISP
Programming
Toward a Theory of Instruction
Education
The Non
Running
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
Aviation
Sum
Short Stories
How to Survive in Your Native Land
Education
The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning
Non Fiction
Quantum Computing Since Democritus
Science
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science
Philosophy
Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming
Programming
The Scramble for Africa
History
Beautiful Evidence
Design
The 60s
History
The Letters of Anton Chekhov
Letters
The Educated Mind
Education
How to Live
Philosophy
Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens
Biography
The Ancestor's Tale
Science
Engines of Logic
Computer Science
Garbage Collection
Computer Science
The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth
English Class
The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee
Coffee
The Subtle Knife
Fantasy
Quantum Mechanics
Physics
Nixon Agonistes
History
Whole Earth Discipline
Non Fiction
The Theoretical Minimum
Science
The Gutenberg Galaxy
Non Fiction
The Shellcoder's Handbook
Computer Science
Also recommended by
Stephen King
Ernest Hemmingway
Martin Luther King
Nelson Mandela
War and Peace
Classics
Managing Oneself
Business
Toward a Radical Middle
History
William Blake and the Age of Revolution
History
Understanding Media
Non Fiction
My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles
Mathematics
Programmers at Work
Programming
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan
Book Cart
Cultural Amnesia
Non Fiction
Instrument Oral Exam Guide
Aviation
I Didn't Do It for You
Africa
The Fabric of Reality
Science
Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell
Physics
The Road to Reality
Science
Connected
Romance
The Nude
Art
The Startup Owner's Manual
Business
The Case for Mars
Science
The Handmaid's Tale
Fiction
Buckminster Fuller's Universe
Biography
Payments Systems in the U.S.
Business
Stuff Matters
Science
The Monkey Wrench Gang
Fiction
Smalltalk 80
Smalltalk
The Copernican Revolution
Science
Conscientious Objections
Non Fiction
Examkrackers MCAT Biology
Mcat
The Future and Its Enemies
Non Fiction
Out of Mao's Shadow
China
Hacking the Xbox
Non Fiction
And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared
Science
The Quest for Consciousness
Science
The Tangled Web
Security
Out of the Crisis
Business
The Well
Non Fiction
Epic Measures
Non Fiction
A History of Western Philosophy & its Connection with Political & Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Philosophy
A Primer of Drug Action
Science
Popper Selections
Philosophy
The Founder's Dilemmas
Business
Einstein's Dreams
Fiction
Red Plenty
History
Enlightenment 2.0
Politics
All Will Be Well
Memoir
"While Angela’s Ashes is the most famous Irish version, ten years later I still often think about John McGahern’s 'All Will Be Well'. A beautiful book."
Poorly Made in China
China
From Satori to Silicon Valley
History
Collective Electrodynamics
Science
The Children's Machine
Education
Bicycle Design
History
Setting the Table
Business
Biohazard
Science
Inventing Freedom
History
Technology, Management and Society
Business
The Revolt of the Masses
Philosophy
Also recommended by
Hacker News
Designer News
UXTools
Grid Systems in Graphic Design/Raster Systeme Fur Die Visuele Gestaltung
Design
The Outsider
Non Fiction
Skeletons on the Zahara
Non Fiction
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Business
How the Internet Became Commercial
History
The Irony of American History
History
The Art of Possibility
Non Fiction
Branding Terror
Design
In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays
Philosophy
The Closed World
History
Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
Physics
About Face 2.0
Design
Hitch 22
Non Fiction
Genentech
Business
"A great book about doing something totally new"
A Vast Machine
Science
Operating Systems Design and Implementation
Computer Science
Murder Trials
History
Positioning
Business
The Baffler
Politics
Special Relativity
Physics
Human Enhancement
Philosophy
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat
Science
The Mechanical Bride
Non Fiction
Winning the Story Wars
Business
The Society of Mind
Science
The Money Game
Finance
Pacific
History
Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
History
Slack
Business
The Alexiad
History
Hamlet
Classics
The Dynamics of Creation
Non Fiction
Creative Capital
Venture Capital
Upstart
Lapham's Quarterly
History
Theoretical Aerodynamics
Default
The A.B.C. Murders
Mystery
Small Wars, Faraway Places
History
A First Course in Mathematical Analysis
Mathematics
Crystal Fire
Innovation
Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook with WAAS 4th Edition
The Ohlone Way
Instrument Flying Handbook
Aviation
The Party
China
Physics of Cancer, 2nd Edition, Volume 1
Science Tech
The Internet of Elsewhere
Non Fiction
Pioneer Aviators of the World
Chinese Lessons
China
Bicycling Science
Cycling
Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning
Math
Computers and Society
To Get
Whisky Classified
The New Rules of Lifting
Fitness
Possiplex
Biography
The Human Use Of Human Beings
Science
Jony Ive
Biography
Moral Mazes
Non Fiction
Dracula
Classics
The Trouble with Physics
Science
A Devil's Chaplain
Science
Manhattan Project
History
The Information
Non Fiction
A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities
Science
Brave New World
Classics
Global Catastrophic Risks
Science
The Lunar Men
History
Citizen Sim
Netgalley
Reinventing the Automobile
Design
Cicero
History
Historic San Francisco
History
A Window on Eternity
Science
Hire with Your Head
Business
Book from the Ground
Art
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz
Africa
The Power of Productivity
Economics
Artful Sentences
Writing
Tenth of December
Short Stories
Programming Interviews Exposed
Programming
The Disappearance of Childhood
Non Fiction
K2
Non Fiction
Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies
Philosophy
The German Generals Talk
History
The Inevitable
Non Fiction
Enemies
Fiction
Incompleteness
Philosophy
Network Security Hacks
Security
Longitude
History
A Great Leap Forward
History
From Counterculture to Cyberculture
Non Fiction
The Bounty
History
The Wealth of Networks
Non Fiction
Amazing Airplanes
Picture Books
Tap Dancing to Work
Business
No Future for You
Politics
Regional Advantage
Economics
Introduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Computer Science
Our Knowledge of the External World
Philosophy
A Theory of Fun for Game Design
Game Design
Advanced Topics in Types and Programming Languages
Computer Science
Alibaba
Business
Fly and the Fly
Non Fiction
Wings
Aviation
The Infinite Resource
First Reads
The Myth of the Rational Voter
Politics
Return to the Little Kingdom
Business
A Country of Cities
Non Fiction
Human Society in Ethics and Politics
Philosophy
Just Six Numbers
Science
The Early Asimov
Science Fiction
A Mathematician's Apology
Mathematics
Pyongyang
Graphic Novels
My Years with General Motors
Business
Marshall McLuhan
Non Fiction
Real Analysis
Mathematics
Programs and Manifestoes on 20th
Architecture
Also recommended by
George RR Martin
Haruki Murakami
Chuck Palahniuk
Barack Obama
The Great Gatsby
Classics
The Social Conquest of Earth
Science
e
Mathematics
Mr. Penumbra's 24
Fiction
New Hopes for a Changing World
Philosophy
First, Break All the Rules
Business
Justice as Fairness
Philosophy
Two Lucky People
Economics
Nuclear War Survival Skills
Survival
"I did find this book very interesting (albeit macabre)."
America Between the Wars
History
Warped Passages
Science
Plagues and Peoples
History
Nations and Nationalism since 1780
History
A Confederacy of Dunces
Fiction
The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America
Non Fiction
Technological Nature
Nature
Unknown Quantity
Mathematics
FAR/AIM 2007
Aviation
Reckless Disregard
Mystery
The Computer and the Brain
Science
Postcards from Tomorrow Square
China
The Andromeda Strain
Science Fiction
Charlie Munger
Investing
Foucault's Pendulum
Fiction
Ragtime
Fiction
The Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science
Economics
Death in Florence
History
Technopoly
Non Fiction
The Scientist as Rebel
Science
"Nick Bostrom's new book is excellent."
Strangers Drowning
Non Fiction
The Monk and the Riddle
Business
The Transit of Venus
Fiction
The Feminine Mystique
Feminism
Racing Weight
Running
The New Turing Omnibus
Computer Science
Men, Machines, and Modern Times
Technology
"The act of invention may simply be making conscious, explicit, and regular what has been done for a considerable time unconsciously or by accident."
The Hand
Science
The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Century Philosophers
History
Three Famous Short Novels
Fiction
Uglies
Young Adult
American Colossus
History
Suck
Humor
The Emperor's New Mind
Science
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Art
Globalization and its Discontents
Economics
Existential America
Philosophy
A Beautiful Question
Science
Ghosts by Daylight Love, War, and Redemption
Non Fiction
Also recommended by
Keith Rabois
Dustin Moskovitz
Hacker News
Emotional Intelligence 2.0
Psychology
Isn't it well for ye
Irish
The Best Software Writing I
Programming
Cairo
Non Fiction
Blade Runner
Film
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War
Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
The Simple Science of Flight
Non Fiction
The Great Escape
Economics
Speedboat
Fiction
The Lost Daughter
Fiction
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Philosophy
The Aeneid
Classics
The Cowshed
History
The Moon
Space
The Opposite of Loneliness
Non Fiction
The Planet Remade
Science
"Oliver Morton's new book about geoengineering is worth reading"
How Judges Think
Law
Tender Is the Night
Classics
Functional Differential Geometry
Math
The Sun Also Rises
Classics
Plato at the Googleplex
Philosophy
Paradise Lost
Classics
The Entrepreneur's Manual
Business
On Photography
Photography
The Pea and the Sun
Mathematics
Trout Fishing in America
Fiction
Ghetto at the Center of the World
Non Fiction
Immigrants
Economics
The Diary of John Evelyn
History
Apple Inside Macintosh, Volumes I, II, and III
Wish List Computer History
Last and First Men
Science Fiction
Business Adventures
Business
Flying Across America
Donated To Book Thing 2015
The End of Error
To Get
Death in the Clouds
Mystery
Out of Their Minds
Computer Science
BSD Hacks
Technical
The Loneliness of the Long
Fiction
The Culture of Education
Education
The Journalist and the Murderer
Non Fiction
"On relationship between journalist and subject. You're likely to read in one sitting."
Organizing Genius
Leadership
Why Does the World Exist
Philosophy
Frankenstein
Classics
The Viral Storm
Science
The Knowledge
Non Fiction
Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love Story
Current Test
The Missing Risk Premium
Finance
Mapping the Airways
Spatial
The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth
Economics
The Nature of Mathematical Modeling
Mathematics
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Politics
The Sands of Mars
Science Fiction
Softwar
Business
"If you want to wrap your head around what Larry Ellison accomplished, this is the book"
Mirror Worlds
Technology
Origins of Genius
Psychology
This Will Change Everything
Science
The Mind
Fiction
Thinking in Time
History
Machine Learning for Hackers
Data Science
Fate, Time, and Language
Philosophy
The Good Old Days
History
Cypherpunks
Non Fiction
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Biography
Singularity Rising
Science
CEO, China
China
The Portable Medieval Reader
History
My First Trip to China Scholars Diplomats and Journalists Reflect
Memoir
The Little Airplane
Picture Books
Uncontrolled
Politics
Abraham Lincoln
Fiction
A Farewell to Alms
Economics
Has Man a Future
Philosophy
New York Diaries
Nyc
The Corporation That Changed the World
History
This Explains Everything
Science
The Pigeon
Fiction
Future Perfect
Non Fiction
Lonely Planet Brazil
City of Thieves
Future Shop
Owned Books
Pop Internationalism
Economics
I Will Fear No Evil
Science Fiction
Reflections on the Revolution In Europe
Politics
Daily Rituals
Non Fiction
Medieval Technology and Social Change
History
India Becoming
India
Singapore, Singapura
Singapore
"Highly recommended! Singaporean infant mortality went from 3X to 0.5X the US in 100 years."
Blown to Bits
Non Fiction
Accidence Will Happen
Non Fiction
GDP
Economics
The Dawn of Innovation
American History
Perfidia
Fiction
Bootstrapping
Non Fiction
The Trees of Golden Gate Park and San Francisco
Trees
How to Be Alone
Essays
The Clockwork Rocket
Science Fiction
Polemics
Philosophy
Dreaming in Chinese
Non Fiction
Go Set a Watchman
Audible
How to Be a Carioca
Travel
Inside the Peloton
Cycling
Has Globalization Gone Too Far
Economics
The Age of Edison
History
Hooligans
Owned
The Department of Mad Scientists
Science
A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis
Non Fiction
Great Speeches of Our Time
Non Fiction
The Really Hard Problem
Psychology
General Knowledge
To Get
Simulation and Its Discontents
Non Fiction
Hard Times
Classics
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Young Adult
How to Abandon Ship
Own Unread
Tubes
Non Fiction
From the Ground Up
0 2021
"...is a very interesting read. (In part because it covers the radical time when the Bay Area built housing.)"
Mass Flourishing
Economics
Priceless
To Get
WikiLeaks
Non Fiction
A Journey
Politics
The Age of Em
Science
This Town
Politics
The Great Fire
Fiction
Good Hunting
History
A Long Way Down
Fiction
What Should We Be Worried About
Science
"Amazon package arrived. This is the kind of book that being in a startup makes you order. "
Legacy
Science
How Not to Network a Nation
History
English Society in the Early Middle Ages, 1066
History
What to Think About Machines That Think
Science
The Kraus Project
Non Fiction
The Fifth Generation
Computers
Inside WikiLeaks
Non Fiction
The Casual Vacancy
Fiction
The Futurist
Fiction
Snowdrops
Fiction
Designing Data Visualizations
Data
The Rain Forests of Home
Aftermath
Star Wars
Brrm! Brrm!
Fiction
Weather Whys
Science
Thinking with Type
Graphic Design
Postcyberpunk, including
Audio Wanted
Bill Bolton Flying Midshipman
Vintage Boy Series
Extrapolation, Interpolation, and Smoothing of Stationary Time Series
Nonf
The Seasons of Thomas Tebo
African Lit
The Move beyond Form
English And Literature
Head to Head
Top Secret! What 100 Brave Critics Say about Miracle in the Andes
Lincoln
Kawasaki Klr650 1987
Democracy in America
Fifty Classic Destinations for Pilots
Cooking as Courtship
Impro
No One a Neutral
To Get
n+1 Number Thirteen
Shark Bait
To Get
Introduction to Common LISP
The Diary of John Evelyn, Volume 2
None
James Andrew Miller’s Powerhouse
"Powerhouse is a really fun read—a story about multiple layers of entrepreneurship."