Every month I send out my top book recommendations with detailed reading notes so you can dig in and explore something new. But that list grows quickly and I know it can be tough to decide what to read next. Things also change over the course of a year and whether or not a book resonates with you depends on timing, where you are in your life, and what challenges you’re facing.

To provide a more useful starting place, I’ve reflected on the past year and narrowed down my top recommendations to just ten books. I read more than usual this year as I researched subjects and material for my own upcoming book so there were far more than 10 great books to choose from. If you want a more comprehensive list, you can always check out the Book Notes section of my website. Cheers!

10. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard

A wonderful autobiography that details Chouinard’s early days as a climber and the origins of Patagonia. Most of the content in the book was originally intended to act as a philosophical manual for employees of Patagonia. But Chouinard makes this captivating for any reader through stories that explore his own life lessons, the trials of building an enduring company, and the trap of short-sighted decisions. The book contains powerful insights on simplicity, disrupting yourself, communicating with customers, seeking inspiration from unlikely sources, and the lifelong search for your guiding principle. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away…” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

9. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

Incredibly useful and detailed book on longevity. Attia emphasizes the importance of focusing not just on lifespan—how long you live—but healthspan—the quality of your years. He details how Medicine 2.0 has missed the boat and treats medical conditions on the wrong end of the timescale after they’ve already taken hold. In Medicine 3.0, the focus is on prevention, and this demands that you take responsibility for your own health. Attia frames up the tactics in Medicine 3.0—exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional health, and exogenous molecules—and adds scientific rigor, as well as recommendations so you can begin applying them to your own life. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“In Medicine 2.0, you are a passenger on the ship, being carried along somewhat passively. Medicine 3.0 demands much more from you, the patient: You must be well informed, medically literate to a reasonable degree, clear-eyed about your goals, and cognizant of the true nature of risk.” Peter Attia

8. Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee

Be Water, My Friend captures a loyal Bruce Lee fan base, but Shannon Lee’s enthusiasm for her father’s philosophy and her personal commentary delivers a book that holds its own. The core tenet of the book is that fluidity leads to growth and evolution. Martial arts reflect personal growth in this way and there’s no better teacher than Bruce Lee. The emphasis on “life is motion, find a way to move with it” builds upon ideas in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, but in an accessible way for an audience who might be more interested in philosophy than martial arts. Beautiful sections on awareness, enthusiasm, experimentation, purpose, and movement. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“All goals apart from the means are an illusion. There will never be means to ends, only means.” Bruce Lee

7. Personal History by Katharine Graham

Graham tells her own story with honesty and candor. She reflects on how she built her own strength and self-confidence navigating a business world dominated by men while leading the Washington Post through its crucible moments of the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and the pressmen’s strike of 1975. The Post not only endured but thrived, elevating its position among the most respected newspapers in the country thanks to Graham’s dedication to serving the public good, her ability to make tough decisions, and her commitment to upholding high journalistic standards. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“What I essentially did was to put one foot in front of the other, shut my eyes, and step off the edge.” Katharine Graham

6. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks

David Brooks has been my favorite author this year—his focus on the messiness of life and learning to invest more of yourself in what matters just hits differently as you get older. I absolutely loved The Road to Character (below on this list) and enjoyed this latest book just as much. As Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen…” And to be clear, most of us suck at this. Myself included. But Brooks offers a practical guide and exploration of how we can try to develop one of the most important skills we can invest in—learning how to truly see and illuminate another person. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“Nothing in life is of any value except the attempt to be virtuous.” Iris Murdoch

5. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

A beautiful and inspiring memoir about Jaouad’s diagnosis with a rare form of leukemia in her early 20s and her struggle to survive. Four years later, she had survived. But she was then faced with the question of how she could possibly begin living again. So she borrowed a friend’s car, subleased her apartment, and set off on a 15,000-mile road trip over 100 days. Along the way, she visited strangers who had written to her while she was sick in order to uncover her way back to herself. The book is full of thought-provoking sections on mortality, meaning, recovery, and how to reconcile our past with our present in order to find a path forward. Jaouad’s a brilliant writer and her story will steal your heart. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“Recovering isn’t about salvaging the old at all. It’s about accepting that you must forsake a familiar self forever, in favor of one that is being newly born. It is an act of brute, terrifying discovery.” Suleika Jaouad

4. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

The story of one of the greatest fighter pilots and military strategists in history. John Boyd was such an entertaining character—he never backed down, he didn’t operate according to conventions, and he lived life on his own terms. He was the first man to codify maneuvers, tactics, and strategies of air-to-air combat, changing the way every air force in the world fights and flies. He was a founder of the military reform movement, challenging the careerists and bureaucracy in the Pentagon to reconsider their outdated mental constructs. After retirement, he immersed himself in the study of philosophy, theory of science, military history, and psychology, packaging everything he knew about all forms of conflict into a briefing called “Patterns of Conflict.” Entertaining cover to cover and a book that will help hone your own strategic thinking. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?” John Boyd

3. Decoded by Jay-Z

Jay-Z details his own story and deconstructs the lyrics of the most important songs in his career. I couldn’t put this book down—Jay-Z’s rise to become a self-made billionaire is one of the most inspiring stories you will come across. It’s crazy smart and packs a punch. There are great lessons in fundamentals, depth, truth, flow, and motion that are worth reflecting on and instilling in your own life and work. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“Success could only mean self-sufficiency, being a boss, not a dependent.” Jay-Z

2. The Road to Character by David Brooks

Brooks examines the generational shift from humility to the “Big Me”—where everyone’s now encouraged to see themselves as the center of the universe. As part of the “Big Me,” we’ve become obsessed with resume virtues—wealth, fame, status—things that exist beyond our control and don’t necessarily correspond to living a meaningful life. When in fact, we should be focused on eulogy virtues—kindness, bravery, honesty. But to get here, we must get out of our own heads, stop asking ourselves what we want out of life, and instead ask ourselves what our lives and circumstances want out of us. Brooks cites examples of those throughout history who faced crucible moments and used the struggle against their limitations to develop more enduring virtues. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“We don’t create our lives; we are summoned by life.” David Brooks

1. Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

The best biography that I’ve read on Theodore Roosevelt—though it only covers his early years from age 10 to 27. These were the years that Roosevelt grew from a fragile child and naive New York assemblyman into a hardened cowboy in the Badlands of North Dakota. McCullough was one of the best biographers and historians we’ll likely ever see. He breathes life into Roosevelt’s coming-of-age, grief, and transformation. See my reading notes or Amazon for details and reviews.

“Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.” Theodore Roosevelt