There are many books to read about programming, but it’s not just programming that you should read about. You must get a wide array of knowledge in order to be successful. There comes a time when you must interact with another person, or manage someone. These are instances where programming skills won’t help you, you must also have communication skills. In this list I highlight a bunch of books I have read over the years that have helped tremendously, that aren’t hard core programming. At some point I will write a piece on my recommendations for programming books as well.

None of these will be in any particular order, they are simply books I have read that I got a lot from. Note, I’m not affiliated with any of these books.

12 Rules for life & 12 more rules for life, by Jordan Peterson

These are very popular books and for good reason, they have helped a lot of people. These books cover a lot about human existence and how to make the most out of your life. I particularly like the topics around relationships. It’s not often you read about relationships from the perspective of striving to create the most good in them. By that I mean the importance of them in your life and how little most people put attention into them. We have all seen marriages of decades where neither is there out of anything but comfort. Peterson conveys the importance of striving to have a relationship that not only works but works well. Showing you that you can aim to have a relationship with two people at their best, if you put in the work. Now this isn’t all that is in the book, it's much more. Mostly it is a self-help book on getting the various aspects of your life in order, to extract the most good you can from your life. They are both great reads, I have personally read them multiple times.

4000 weeks, by Oliver Burkeman

I started this book with no background, I read the blurb, intrigued by the term that we only live for 4000 weeks. I was blow away by the quality of this book. It discusses the time you have on this earth, how short it is. Ultimately it discusses how you must choose what to pursue in life, you can’t do it all. There will always be things you can’t do, many more things you can’t do than you can. Life is about making the conscious choice on what you want to do, rather than let it slip away. Burkeman highlights that you must make a conscious choice every day, and to always remember that you can’t do it all. Burkeman further highlights that life isn’t about having a rigid, 24/7 structure, instead leaving time to enjoy it, for life is short and fleeting. For me, this book was incredible because I constantly have a nagging guilt whenever I’m not putting in work to reach my next goal. This book gave me the insight to slow down, to accept that I can’t do it all.

The Horus Heresy, Warhammer series

This is an entirely off-topic recommendation, but I had to share it. This series comprises 52 books, but the real meat is the first 5 books. If you are a fan of Warhammer, or just a fan of Sci-fi, these 5 books are some of the best fiction I have ever read. I wanted to include these because, as Burkeman talks about in 4000 weeks, you need to enjoy life as well. I won’t go on about these too much, however, I’ve yet to read better Sci-fi, which is completely subjective, but it should say something about how good they are.

Greenlights, by Matthew McConaughey

This might seem an odd choice but hear me out. Matthew McConaughey is an odd character. He's wild, he's fun, and his stories are entertaining beyond belief. I am by no means a big McConaughey fan, but this book was a fantastic read, written by McConaughey himself and if you listen to the audiobook it's read by him.

The Goal

This book is a classic, I believe it’s widely recommended when working for Amazon, which makes sense given its premise. The book revolves around a plant manager attempting to improve the overall factories output. It goes through all the steps from identifying the problems to fixing them, to finding new problems to then fixing them. The principals in the book can be applied to any team and any process. It gets you thinking about the inefficiencies in your own teams and projects and makes you think about how to fix them.

Deep work, by Cal Newport

I am a huge fan of Cal Newport. I have written about this book before, but I will recommend it again. Deep work focuses on how you can focus on the most important aspects of your life, in a distracted world. Newport discusses how you can carve out time to focus on these projects, inching towards them incrementally. I have read this book twice, it’s that good. If you want to increase your productivity without burning out, then this is the book for you.

Digital minimalist, by Cal Newport

Another book by Newport, and another I have read multiple times. Newport highlights the importance of remaining off devices as much as possible if you want to live a life of deep work and maximal productivity. If you are someone who spends a lot of time on their phone, then is book quite possibly could change your life.

So good they can’t ignore you, by Cal Newport

I sound like a broken record, but Newport has some excellent books. This one I have read three times. Newport highlights the importance of pursuing what you are good at, over what you’re passionate about. The most impactful topic is the idea of building career capital and then using that to move into other areas. For example, as a software engineer you build a foundation of a career, then instead of taking promotion after promotion. You use the leverage of your skill to reduce the number of days you work, to pursue something else. Furthermore, Newport shows the importance of career capital with real world examples on how people have transitioned from career A to B. Fantastic book, highly recommend anything by Cal Newport.

Strong Money, by Dave Gow

Lastly, I wanted to throw in a financial book. I have read dozens and dozens of financial books over the years, but this was easily the most approachable and the most fun. A new book, released in 2022, it takes you on the journey of how to retire early in any field of work. I personally have grown into the idea of retiring somewhat early, or at least having the financial freedom to work less than a 40-hour week. If you’re at all interested in the FIRE movement (Financial independence retire early), or you don’t know anything about it, give it a read. It could very well open your eyes to what is possible in your life and career. You don’t have to retire at 65 years old. At the very least, it gets you thinking about investing.

Wrap up

All these books are personal favourites of mine. Some you might think to yourself, that's an odd recommendation but trust me, they are incredible.

If you want to purchase any of these books, I have linked them below. Note that they are affiliate links and I will receive a commission, this has no bearing on if I would recommend them or not.