[German translation] Haruki Murakami is a well known and quite successful Japanese author. I’ve known him since I’ve read his book Kafka on the Shore some 10 years ago, which was weird, but great. Turns out he is an endurance runner as well, cultivating it as a hobby just like me. Naturally this book was on my list and actually was gifted to me twice. It’s a short collection of moments in his life during which he was focussed on training for specific races, for example the NYC marathon which he usually runs every year. I’ve found myself in many of his words. As a book, though, I’m not sure it’s justified. A bunch of blogged essays would have done just as well. On a positive note, the German translation of the Japanese original was refreshing – I don’t speak Japanese, but you can hear it somehow between the lines. Something different to the US originals I usually read.
2020
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Wer jetzt noch umblättert ist selber schuld
10 Jahre The Hirsch Effekt aus der Sicht von mir
264 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 12th of January, buy here.[German only] German artcore band The Hirsch Effekt have had an interesting run during the last ten years as a niche genre power trio. I have long been fascinated with the inner workings of day-to-day business of such a small band trying to make it all work. This is exactly the kind of book I’ve wanted to read about the topic. The devastating concerts with two visitors, the sold out clubs with amazing crowds, the fun times and the fights with the band mates. It’s all very real and I felt for the guy. Makes me like the band even more.
2019
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Permanent Record
328 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 30th of December, 2019, buy here.An important document of the times we’re living in. Global mass surveillance is a fact. Snowden writes about his life in an interesting way, focussed on facts, with just about zero humor. It’s not the place for that. For everyone who has followed him by watching interviews or listening to him talk on conferences or in Podcasts, there isn’t much factually new, but his personal surrounding story adds to the story quite a bit. Who is he, why is he motivated in such a way, what exactly happened during those few days in Hongkong, how did the flight play out – it’s all rather thrilling to read about.
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Holyge Bimbel
Storys vong Gott u s1 Crew
68 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 19th of November, 2019, buy here.[German (sort of) only] A comedian’s translation of some parts of the Old and New Testament into the German modern idiot’s internet slang. For the first 50 pages it’s hilarious and I laughed tears and was surprised by great puns and ideas, but then it got boring. Good idea to make the book very short.
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Greif – for running life
352 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 15th of November, 2019, buy here.[German only] Crazy successful endurance running coach writes a book containing his wisdom reached after 40 years of coaching multitudes of people towards national championships. His marathon training plan is considered one of Germany most popular ones and it’s the center-piece of the book. 250 pages of side notes broaden the picture. Some make sense, some don’t (or aren’t scientific). He was a tough coach and his writing is full of strength and funny alpha charisma. Obviously nothing special in a literary sense, but many things to take away.
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How To
Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems
320 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 14th of November, 2019, buy here.Fun and easy little book about crazy ideas and how you could, in theory, make them work using science. At point it blows your mind, some parts are a bit dull, but in general it keeps you entertained and going on reading. The author is brilliant, his webcomic xkcd super smart and funny. Easily digestible stuff for in between heavier books.
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Running Human
Humans Are Perfect Barefoot Runners
195 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 31st of October, 2019, buy here.I have first seen him at Tallinn marathon in 2015, written in my blog about him, and subsequently received an email from the man himself. We conversed and met many more times. Turns out, he’s not only very smart, friendly, and a funny guy, but he also has the most amazing life story. Born in Guinea into an average family, he went on to learn a number of languages, became a medical doctor after studying at the university in Havana, Cuba, went on to complete studies in political science and international law, became a French citizen and diplomat to the country to live in many interesting places on almost all the continents: Nicaragua, Australia, the USA, France, Suriname. Three sons. Then, at 55, he got into marathon running – the first, most important, and best sport that Homo sapiens can do. That’s what his book is about.
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Deutscher Buchpreis 2019, Die Nominierten, Leseproben
100 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 26th of October, 2019, buy here.[German only] At this point I have started a sort of mini book club with my friend Vera who reads a lot, and this was her first recommendation to get an overview of what’s happening currently in the German speaking book scene. 20 very different books, each gets about 4 pages. It’s sometimes hard to imagine how the books will turn out to be after an excerpt this short, but still this was a good idea I’m probably repeating next year. About 5 of the books I could actually imagine enjoying. The rest seems ivory tower style unnecessarily intellectualized.
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War on Peace
The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence
432 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 22nd of September, 2019, buy here.Uber-talented young diplomat, son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, Pulitzer prize winner during his early 30s, writes this book about the decline of diplomatic solution searching in global politics and the rise of the military. He worked in the Obama administration under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for 8 years and has seen a lot. The main topics are Afghanistan and the Taliban, but also Colombia and Syria. You get to see how the diplomatic machinery works and why it’s seemingly off the rails at this point.
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Die Reise zum Riss
Berichte aus einem gespaltenen Land
272 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 4th of September, 2019, buy here.[German only] My friend’s first book, comprised mainly of the articles he wrote for Spiegel magazine during the years 2015-2019. Thematically revolving around the left/right extreme political shift in Germany. What are the reasons, what do the people think, how do some live and make it work. It’s promoting dialogue above all. Lots of different stories about very different people make it an easy and interesting read, but the analytical chapters in between were my favorite ones.
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Can’t Hurt Me
Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
364 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 2nd of August, 2019, buy here.„The toughest man on the planet“ wrote an autobiography. It’s remarkable what this man has accomplished in his lifetime. The most interesting part is his willpower to achieve greatness. It’s still enigmatic to me where he got it from. His childhood was horrible and he barely made it into adulthood in one piece. And then it started. Inspiring. The 40% Rule has made it into my brain and now gets applied whenever I feel physically spent (“When you think you are absolutely physically done, you’re at just about 40 percent of your body’s capabilities.”). Lasting impact.
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Living with a SEAL
31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet
262 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 21st of July, 2019, buy here.The protagonist is an interesting character, super rich former rapper and businessman with many successful ideas he followed through and sold. Hired David Goggins to get in shape after having already done lots of marathons and ultras. The SEAL, David Goggins, makes him do push-ups and two runs per day, in addition to several unconventional workouts. For 31 days. Short and fun read, but rather repetitive and without any benefits for the reader. Except maybe that push-ups are a great workout routine. Weak and sometimes dumb language. The book seems like it has just been one of dozens of projects going on in Itzler’s life at any point in time.
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Herr Sonneborn geht nach Brüssel
Abenteuer im Europaparlament
432 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 16th of July, 2019, buy here.[German only] Martin Sonneborn has been a longtime person of interest to me. I first started to follow him after he founded the party Die PARTEI around 10 years ago and joined it almost instantly. I think I even voted for it once. Here’s this incredibly smart guy who’s studied Germanistik, political sciences, and a third thing, but has a hang to do dadaist political satire instead. Hilarious. When he got elected into the EU parliament I was really happy. This is his book about the first 5 year term inside that 751 member institute with about 32,000 employees total. He moved from behaving like the outsider he was in the beginning and laughing about everyone, to actually caring about a few core issues while still laughing about everyone. He is a national treasure and really important for Germany. Everyone slightly interested in EU politics should read this.
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The Brain
The Story of You
224 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 9th of July, 2019, buy here.A neuroscientist gives a comprehensive introduction into how the brain works. How are decisions made, what is consciousness, what’s mankind’s status at creating a brain simulation (still far away), and quite a few curiosities along the way are mentioned as well. It all seems like science is still far away from really understanding the inner workings. But it’s a fascinating topic nonetheless, put into words which are easily understood by non-neuroscientists. -
Creativity, Inc.
Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
368 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 13th of June, 2019, buy here.The founder and president of Pixar writes about the history of his company with a focus on how to manage a company that has creative output as their USP. Very interesting little stories about the early struggle as part of Lucasfilm, Steve Jobs stepping in as an investor, the first movie Toy Story, the many successes but also problems to overcome, the merger with Disney, and last not least a heartfelt chapter about Steve Jobs and his early death. Catmull talks a lot and in interesting ways about how to make employees feel free to say what they think and not be intimidated by anyone if they have concerns. He also never uses the word "employee". A very emotionally susceptible leader with a rock-solid rational background – probably one of the best combinations of both. Great book, on point, not blown up, five stars. -
The Miracle Morning
The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life – Before 8AM
138 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 8th of April, 2019, buy here.Short self-help book promoting the conscious effort to start the day with a routine of positive activities like meditation, exercise, affirmations, visualisations, writing, reading. It’s a bit loud and repetitive, but the main idea is interesting and worth trying. The sentence "personal development is a prerequisite to attracting success" stuck with me especially. It makes sense to devote a bigger chunk of time to self-improvement. The book could have been a short essay, though. No need for 100 pages explaining the suggested routine and its benefits over and over again.
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Barefoot Running Step by Step
244 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 30th of March, 2019, buy here.A very light read about the advantages of barefoot running, containing lots of tips and tricks on how and why to transition. Main take-aways include relaxing the shoulders, looking forward not down, land with the ball of the foot and right afterwards the complete rest of the foot to increase the area of contact, touch the ground gently not strike it, and most of all, bend the knee! Many friends of the author are portrayed, there’s some fun stories and Ken Bob shows a jolly sense of humor from time to time. Made me want to try barefoot running.
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Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
528 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 23rd of March, 2019, buy here.The history of mankind since 13,000 BCE. Why have certain peoples gained such a big advantage over others to be able to conquer and rule them? Because of geographic advantages. Better domesticable crops, better domesticable animals, led to food surpluses that made it possible to have specialists who can innovate and improve technology for a society, tribe, chiefdom, eventually state. Interesting to read, full with Fun Facts and little take-aways, but about 20% of it is redundant or repetitive. Also worth mentioning, this book is highly controversial as many of Diamond’s “facts” stem from observations he has made personally and are therefore not representative of whole societies’ behaviors over centuries or longer timespans.
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Getting More
How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life
399 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 24th of February, 2019, buy here.A world-renowned consultant who’s not only helped the CEOs of billion dollar companies, but also consulted whole governments on how to solve crises with opposing countries on the verge of war. He writes about negotiation tactics in this book. 80 percent of it are examples of his students being successful using his teachings, the other 20 percent are actually useful. Main take-aways include: put empathy on top of the list (what does the other side want, feel, need, think?), never use threats or ultimatums (they just never work), leave all emotions out of it (if you can’t, say you’re getting emotional and would like to reschedule), be incremental with your proposed changes, frame problems in a positive way so the other side will look at them differently. Interesting to read, not worth the 400 pages though. It inspires to try more of this in actual life situations.
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Triggers
Creating Behavior That Lasts – Becoming the Person You Want to Be
272 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 20th of January, 2019, buy here.A world-renowned consultant who’s helped the CEOs of billion dollar companies gives advice on how to live a more positive life by keeping in check your reactions and steering them into the directions most beneficial to everyone involved, focusing on the interpersonal level. „Am I willing / at this moment / to make the investment required / to make a positive difference / on this topic?“ and daily questions: „Did I do my best today to...“, „Did I do my best to enjoy the last hour?“ were great take-aways. It’s all in our own control.
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Forever Outnumbered
Tales of Our Family Life
352 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 11th of January, 2019, buy here.Short and funny book written by an Instagram pro who has four daughters, including twins. Easy to read and digest. Quite similar to my own life with our four daughters. Nothing much to learn from, though. Easy entertainment. I was wondering about the title “Forever Outnumbered” which paints such a negative picture, as if having daughters was somehow making enemies, or just being less preferable. Interestingly, it looks like the title has since been changed to “Dadlife”.
2018
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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
176 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 16th of December, 2018, buy here.Bought it because of the title. Has barely anything to do with running. It’s a bunch of short stories about hardship in pre- and post-war Britain. It’s very well written and the author managed to keep my attention although the genre usually isn’t interesting to me. Still, I wouldn’t put it on a recommendations list.
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Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
305 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 7th of December, 2018, buy here.One of the bestsellers of the year, falling into the genre of self-optimization. As you might be aware of, I’m quite interested in this topic. Most of these books have a few good ideas but unnecessarily stretch them out over hundreds of pages. Not this one. The density is tolerable and the arguments he makes are sensible. Take away: ditch all the social networks. Turn off everything for a few hours each day to focus on the core point of your work, and that point alone. Another good point is to not blindly follow “any-benefit goals”, meaning, goals that lead to improvement of some measure, but not of significance. Focus on the biggest benefit goals instead. Yes, makes sense. Sometimes you need a whole book to teach you simple things like these.
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Unbeholfen Golfen
148 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 24th of November, 2018, buy here.I found out one of my former teachers wrote a book about his break-up with a parent of a friend of mine. That situation was weird in itself for a bunch of years, but I always liked the guy and especially his humor. He used a pseudonym to publish this book. Good idea. Fun and short read, though nothing special in and of itself.
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Eat and Run
My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
273 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 1st of November, 2018, buy here.After reading “North”, I was keen on finding out more about Scott Jurek and read his previously published autobiography. While it’s a bit more self-promoting and even egotistical, his achievements are incredible and the path that led him there is captivating. What do you have to have experienced in order to be able to win so many tough 100 mile footraces? He explains it. The part “Eat” of this book came up short, in my opinion. Eating only plants is something that made him famous and routinely turns heads when people find out about his endurance abilities. I would have liked to find out more about that.
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North
Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail
285 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 7th of October, 2018, buy here.Simply great. One of the world’s best ultra runners wrote about his quest to set a new FKT (= “fastest known time”) for covering the 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) of the Appalachian Trail. Spoiler: he did it. But the journey was immensely tough and you live it all through with him while reading this. I’ve read a bunch of reports about crazy races from athletes, but rarely one is so eloquently written, captivating, and full of variety.
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Der Ultralauf-Kompass
178 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 5th of September, 2018, buy here.A different kind of advisory book. Instead of listing experiences one after the other, this one is consisting of Questions & Answers. If you are interested in moving into ultra running (that’s covering distances longer than a standard marathon of 42.2 kilometers). The answers are mostly quite short and also funny, full of information, as well as easy to digest.
After finishing the book, I was left with a boosted confidence in my own running abilities. Running incredible distances isn’t the toughest thing there is, it’s possible for almost everyone.
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Eine Frage der Leidenschaft
Mit Mut und Motivation zum Erfolg
224 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 20th of June, 2018, buy here.I admire the guy, triple IRONMAN world champion, but this autobiographic book seemed like it was written by a dim ghostwriter. Nearly 95 percent of it was already very public knowledge if you followed the career of Frodo. Still enjoyable, but far away from a masterpiece.
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Im Keller
224 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 20th of May, 2018, buy here.The kidnapping victim Reemtsma himself wrote this book rather quickly after being set free because he needed to find closure with the whole situation. Being a brilliant mind with a huge amount of literary knowledge, this book turned out very interesting but also makes you feel quite uneasy because the emotional toll on everyone has been so high and it’s all completely real.
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Wir sind dann wohl die Angehörigen
Die Geschichte einer Entführung
240 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 20th of April, 2018, buy here.The author went to my school and is just a year older than me. We never got to know each other, but I was aware of his story. When he was 13 years old, his insanely rich father got kidnapped for a ransom of 30,000,000 Deutsche Marks and Swiss Franks (around 20 million EUR, adjusted for inflation). Jan, the father, was held in a cellar for around 30 days, while the police went crazy and the emotional rollercoaster of everyone involved was hard to picture. Johann now finally wrote down the whole story from his perspective as a teenager. Makes you feel uneasy.
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Tribe
On Homecoming and Belonging
192 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 10th of March, 2018, buy here.Why do people find solace and strength through belonging to and identifying with a group? This book tries to answer it, though often not scientifically accurate or proven, it certainly provides the reader with a lot to think about. Also, it’s an easy and quick read.
2016
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Finding Ultra
Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
390 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 1st of December, 2016, buy here.Great inspiring person, great book. Rich Roll has a history of being an alcoholic and overworked Los Angeles lawyer who has then found himself through ultra endurance sports and a plant-based lifestyle, becoming one of the fittest people on earth. The story itself is captivating, but all the time he comes off as having a very well balanced character. That is what stood out the most to me. He seems to be genuinely happy. His podcast is very popular and interesting too and it confirms that feeling.
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Im Zelt
Von einem, der auszog, um draußen zu schlafen
272 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 20th of November, 2016, buy here.German comedian who is also know for crazy endurance feats and quirky experiments went ahead and spent the night outdoors for a better part of a year and chronicled what he experiences. He writes very eloquently and also funny, but the main attraction are the unusual situations he gets himself into. I felt compelled to spend a few days outdoors just for fun as well, and did so.
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Born to Run
The hidden tribe, the ultra-runners, and the greatest race the world has never seen
308 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 1st of September, 2016, buy here.Who ever thought that continuously running even longer distances than a marathon would be crazy or unhealthy – think again. There are entire populations who do this daily, and just for fun. The Tarahumara of the Mexican Copper Canyons, for example. The author tells the story how he found them, visited them, got to know them and therefore, the human body’s capabilities, and created this amazing ultra marathon race with Western running stars like Scott Jurek. Truly eye-opening and heart-warming. It changed my view on running long distances tremendously.
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The 4-Hour Workweek
Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and join the New Rich
416 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 1st of August, 2016, buy here.A classic to read if you find yourself drawn to being or already are self-employed. Tim Ferriss is highly motivated and lives what he writes about. Part of him sometimes comes off as trust-fund frat-boy arrogant, but in general he seems nice and genuine. This book tells the story of how he built his business and reached financial independence, but it’s packed into a sort of “How To” guide style. Obviously, no one can replicate his journey, but along the way there are many useful tips and tricks to learn from. It left me with a big motivational boost.
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UltraMental
An unconventional approach to training for endurance events on a few hours a week (or less)
78 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 1st of May, 2016, buy here.This was a fun and very short book about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for endurance athletes. Fun exercise ideas but nothing mind-blowing in there.
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Ultramarathon Man
Confessions of an All-Night Runner
308 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 14th of April, 2016, buy here.Strong dude. Dean had an early midlife crisis, and, as many people do, he decided to get fit afterwards. But unlike most, he made it to the top of endurance running. Doing things like running 100 miles over night to get to the starting line of a marathon race, which he then ran in less than three hours right there and then. Finishing 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states of the USA. He’s become known worldwide. His willpower seems to be unmatched. The book is full of fun details and keep being entertaining.
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying
A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever
258 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 7th of March, 2016, buy here.The book took the world by storm. The trend of “decluttering” your home and belongings from all the unnecessary things was started by her. The idea of Minimalism got a huge boost through her works. Phrases like “sparking joy” made it into the public vocabulary. She got her own Netflix series, freeing hoarders of their material burden.
Kondo writes eloquently and gets to the point fast. It’s a pleasure running through this book and it certainly got me to make a few changes that still sit tight in my brain.
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Getting Things Done
The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
352 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 3rd of February, 2016, buy here.There’s a large community that worships David Allen for his business productivity advice. The idea is to nerdify tasks, put them into categories, and just use an overall coordinated system to manage what you need to accomplish. For me personally, there were a bunch of things to take away. For example, “if a new task can be done in less than two minutes, do it right then.” – helped me a lot. The weekly reviews are also helpful. And for a time I categorized all my tasks into the recommended three lists named “Next Actions”, “Waiting For”, and “Someday / Maybe”. Helped a lot.
2014
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Bringing Nothing to the Party
True Confessions of a New Media Whore
292 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 20th of November, 2014, buy here.This is a fun one. Carr writes about how he tried to make a living in the emerging new economy, specifically the journalistic transition into the web. The author is the unusual combination of well-educated overachiever and disoriented slacker.
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Die Prüfung
304 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 16th of January, 2014, buy here.[German only] The first publication of my good friend Krischi. I can’t remember any other time I had read a detective novel before, as it’s not my area of interest at all. But still, I really enjoyed this one. The characters are well depicted, it’s fun to follow the hero’s journey. And up until the very end it wasn’t obvious to me, “who did it”. A fun and good book worth my time. I don’t just say that because I like the author.
2013
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A Game of Thrones
A Song of Ice and Fire
896 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 7th of January, 2013, buy here.I started to read the books after I got into the TV series, just about when season 2 was nearing the end of airing. The book was great and I truly enjoyed reading it. Too bad the series took a deep dive after season 5. It somehow also made me quit reading the other books. But maybe I’ll pick them up when (or if) the next book finally appears.
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Around Africa on My Bicycle
705 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 5th of January, 2013, buy here.Took me longer to read than it took Riann to circumnavigate Africa. He did it in 2 years, I needed 3. Although it’s quite an interesting book, I lost motivation again and again. It’s possibly his style of writing, which isn’t the best. But the content of the book is truly worth it. You really feel like getting a good grasp of the African continent and its massive diversity. It doesn’t seem like this huge unknown area afterwards anymore.
2012
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Losing My Virginity
How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
624 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 15th of August, 2012, buy here.Fun and life-affirming. I’ve always admired Richard Branson’s positive style, his nickname is “Doctor Yes” after all. He’s done it all the unconventional way and took on so many seemingly impossible challenges. How he details them all was captivating.
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Decision Points
544 pages, ★★★☆☆
Finished on 14th of July, 2012, buy here.What a controversial president. Weird ideas and goals in his head. Funnily enough, after reading the book you realize he’s also just a human being and I found myself sympathizing even. All politics aside, it could be a fun evening with him having beers and joking around. He doesn’t take himself too seriously in the book and he rarely comes of as arrogant or puts his "achievements" on a pedastal. In the rare cases he does, it comes off embarrassing. Even more surprising that he was this bloodlusty idiot during his presidency.
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Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
592 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 1st of July, 2012, buy here.Fascinating life story, what an unusual human being. There were many things he did in such a way that really made me wonder why, but running a company and being a hands-on CEO was definitely his ultimate calling.
Walter Isaacson writes this biography in an entertaining way that keeps you wanting more. I very rarely took breaks from reading it.
2008
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Fahrenheit 451
240 pages, ★★★★☆
Finished on 11th of July, 2008, buy here.Similar to Orwell’s 1984, this book paints a dystopian picture of earths societies. Chilling to read, loved it.
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1984
237 pages, ★★★★★
Finished on 28th of April, 2008, buy here.Obviously, the book is a must-read for everyone on earth. The dystopian future that Orwell painted has almost become a reality by now and that’s rather frightening. I would love to see a modern TV or movie adaption of it, though.