Corentin Derbré
Projects:
Books I've read
Books I've read
Tiny summary but detailed notes for each. Use the ISBN number to find it from your local library or anywhere else. This page will constantly update as I read more, so bookmark it if you want to check back in a few months.
Getting Things Done – David Allen
Date read: 2012-11-01. How strongly I recommend it: 10/10
An essential reading in organazing litterally everything simply. Before reading it I kept everything in my head. Now I apply this system to every aspect of my life.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
My Life in Advertising And Scientific Advertising – Claude C. Hopkins
Date read: 2016-04-04. How strongly I recommend it: 7/10
Extremely practical and simple advice on marketing. Specific and actionable, easy to understand and read. Written in 1966, the author already uses quantitative and scientific methods to select the best performing ads.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy – William B. Irvine
Date read: 2016-04-04. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
History, techniques, advice and how to about Stoicism. Captivating and easy to use. The author frequently gives his opinion and expericene along the great Stoics examples, wich is really humble and welcome, especially to understand how Stoicism applies well to modern life.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
An Architectural Approach to Level Design – Christopher W. Totten
Date read: 2016-04-10. How strongly I recommend it: 5/10
Good overview on the topic, but not going in depth, no advanced descriptions, and no conclusion.
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A Philosopher’s Notes Volume 1 – Brian Johnson
Date read: 2016-04-10. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
Easygoing writing style. A complied list of advice on many virtues and techniques to be happy and reach goals. Useful reminder of ideas and concepts. It might not make sense to 'how to live well' newcomers, and doesn't add anything for people familiar with 'how to live well'.
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The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle – Steven Pressfield
Date read: 2016-04-12. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
In itself it's a good read. But the best is the idea of identifying resistance as it takes many shapes when trying to reach a goal. This is the first step of being able to push trough it. I often think about this concept when facing hardships.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy
Date read: 2016-06-05. How strongly I recommend it: 6/10
Presented as a simple guide to success. While I liked reading the book and learning more about applying compound interest to many areas, I didn't learn anything.
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Quantitative Trading – Ernest P. Chan
Date read: 2016-06-06. How strongly I recommend it: 7/10
Good introduction to quantitative trading. Some parts are complicated and require a decent finance, programming, math and portfolio optimization knowledge. Also talks about setting a business up and developing algorithm ideas.
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Bold: How to Go Big – Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler
Date read: 2016-06-07. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Good book about new ways of doing things like crowdfunding and exponential growth. Gives simple how to's for each point made. An easy to read and inspiring book.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Level Design: Concept, Theory, and Practice – Rudolf Kremers
Date read: 2016-06-07. How strongly I recommend it: 5/10
I've read too many Level Design books, so I skipped after chapter 9. It's as good as any other Level Design book. Some parts are outdated. Good overview but doesn't bring some new insight on the subject.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
The Effective Executive – Peter Drucker
Date read: 2016-10-27. How strongly I recommend it: 7/10
Good principles, but many examples are outdated, and many principles have evolved or became more widespread. Gives a better understanding of the role of being an executive in organizations.
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Mastery – George Leonard
Date read: 2016-10-27. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
Short and well written. Explains what mastery is, how to achieve it, as well as common pitfalls like being a hacker knowing just enough instead of a master constantly improving.
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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck – Mark Manson
Date read: 2016-12-06. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Great book about remembering that pain and suffering is needed for growth. You don't have unlimited attention, so give it carefully and don't give a fuck about the rest.
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Poor Charlie’s Almanack – Charlie Munger
Date read: 2017-06-18. How strongly I recommend it: 10/10
May sometimes be hard to read, but the ideas and the common sense of Charlie Munger is impressive. His checklist of models is a masterpiece. He underlines the importance of being multidisciplinary.
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The Art of Profitability – Adrian Slywotzky
Date read: 2017-07-19. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
Helps seeing in depth how business generate profit, with great examples. And the writing is exquisite, told as a teaching story. It also includes a lot of great book recommendations and exercises.
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Radical Honesty – Brad Blanton
Date read: 2017-08-02. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Raises important questions about honesty and about the truth. Simple and honest book. Not especially great writing style. Unfortunately 1/3 of the book is about the author's personal new-agey ideas. Recommended for the radicalism of his solution that questions the status quo.
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Slipstream Time Hacking – Benjamin Hardy
Date read: 2017-11-01. How strongly I recommend it: 6/10
A really interesting concept that I personally experienced. However the book does not give real advice on how to use that time hacking method. Not specific enough. But it's a short read so it's ok.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
The Personal MBA – Josh Kaufman
Date read: 2017-12-10. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
A dictionary that covers everything for business. Written in small bits that are easy to read, with examples. A must-read for understanding business.
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Principles – Ray Dalio
Date read: 2018-03-05. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
The open mindedness and algorithmic/rational approaches are a lifetime of work! This book is rich in useful and inspiring information, but also not directly actionable.
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Au Contraire! Figuring Out the French – Gilles Asselin and Ruth Mastron
Date read: 2018-04-01. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
I couldn't stop reading this book. Introspection can overlook cultural influence, and reading this made me learn a lot about myself (I'm French), about differences in cultures and base views of the world.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Indonesia 2014 – Derek Sivers
Date read: 2018-04-18. How strongly I recommend it: 7/10
200 questions about culture and business in Singapore. Precise, short and actionable answers. It would have been nice if it was updated to 2018, when I read it. In short Indonesia seems too messy to operate a business there.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Singapore 2014 – Derek Sivers
Date read: 2018-04-26. How strongly I recommend it: 7/10
200 questions about culture and business in Singapore. Precise, short and actionable answers. It would have been nice if it was updated to 2018, when I read it. Singapore seems like a place tailored for business.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Show Your Work! – Austin Kleon
Date read: 2018-04-28. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
I read that while searching for ways to know more interesting people. The book is short, well written and gets the idea accross. Just show your work (online)!
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Turning Numbers into Knowledge – Jonathan Koomey
Date read: 2018-05-29. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Focusing on numbers and displaying data, but also gives broader advice like Question Authority or Know Your Audience. Chapters are short and to the point, with examples and exercises. A handful tool.
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Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives – David Eagleman
Date read: 2018-06-17. How strongly I recommend it: 10/10
Delighful and quick to read. All the stories are deeply thought provoking. I don't have any notes, just my favorite stories.
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Einstein's Dreams – Alan Lightman
Date read: 2018-06-20. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Interesting stories about different rules for time. The stories are a bit repetitive in the setup.
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Seeking Wisdom – Peter Bevelin
Date read: 2018-06-27. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
A collection of commonsense and wisdom. Concepts are easily applicable. The focus is mainly on investing but it applies to all life really. A really good book.
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Screw It, Let's Do It – Richard Branson
Date read: 2018-07-02. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
Short and to the point: just do it! Reading this book I could not escape from the fact that challenge is the way to grow. Richard Branson is extremely bold and his simple and honest lessons are great and always illustrated by a personal story of his.
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The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
Date read: 2019-03-12. How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
Could have been written in half the book but provides essential thinking and operating framework to make startups work. It's mostly scientific thinking applied to startups. I'm glad I read it.
Read my notes, or go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.