agility @ sea

I’ve gotten into books about great leaders and memoirs in general with a little comic relief sprinkled in. Here’s a list of what I’ve listened to on Audible over the last year or so.

1. Steve Jobs – Isaacson. I know most of the stories, but still enjoy hearing them from such an articulate author. Steve Job’s companies had the most profound impact on my career. Thanks Steve.

2. Benjamin Franklin – Isaacson. A little less interesting to me, but really set the foundation of the power of the press to shape politics.

3. South Sea Tales – Jack London. Nice little short story book that covered many of the islands we were sailing through in the South Pacific while we there.

4. Getting Stoned with Savages – Maarten Troost. A comprehensive guide to Kava and Vanuatu which we ultimately skipped in order to get to New Zealand.

5. Elon Musk – Ashlee Vance. Still baffles me that visionary leaders can create such a compelling reality distortion zone. While not as charismatic a leader as Jobs, Elon could possibly have the greatest positive impact on the planet of all time. Go Elon.

6. The Billionaire and the Mechanic – Julian Guthrie. Learned a few new things about Larry in this book even though my whole career was spent working with their technologies. Similar success to Jobs and ahead of Elon, but not sure where he will stand when the history books are written about his impact on the world. Damn good sailor.

7. Return to Paradise – Michener. Another great book to read while on passage in the South Pacific.

8. The Innovators – Isaacson. Quick spin though numerous leaders, but fairly thin portraits compared to his other works.

9. Bossypants – Tina Fey. One funny lady. LOL too many times to remember.

10. The Sun also Rises – Hemingway. Beautiful, delicious account of a time gone by in France.

11. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich – William Shirer. Jerri and I started listing to this after the election. While I think it’s critically important to understand history, this was a tough one to get through given the political drama in the US. Power corrupts – absolute power corrupts absolutely.

12. The Last Lion – William Manchester. Excellent portrait of Winston Churchill. One of my favorites. No idea if a man like this could thrive in today’s society. Really spoke to me about how important it is to know your history and facts along with the ability to clearly articulate a clear and passionate vision. One of the best protectors against tyranny of all time.

13. Devils Bargain – Joshua Green. Quick contemporary look at Bannon and how he’s impacted the political landscape. Didn’t realize how aggressively he and his cohorts have been fighting against the Clinton dynasty for many decades.

14. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate – Al Franken. Very funny and informative about what it’s like to be a US Senator. While I don’t agree with all of his politics, he is fighting the good fight for honesty and decency and I deeply respect his work and mission. You got my vote Al.

15. 1984 – Orwell. Bad narrator and too cryptic for me to get into.

16. Pure Drivel – Steve Martin. LOL

17. Mao: The Unknown Story – Jung Change, John Halliday. This is tied with Churchill in being the most impactful book I’ve heard. It gives great context to the power of running a country with 3 billion people and the inherent corrupt nature of some people. Was it 80 million people that died from starvation while he was sending food to Russia in order to build his military might? In a completely unrelated perverse way listening/reading Mao gave me hope for the world. There is no way we will ever see a time again when billions of people were only consuming 1.5 Kilos of meat per year in order to buy missiles. Also was great to understand the historical context of Russia, North Korea and Vietnam.

18. The Bully Pulpit – Doris Kearns Goodwin. Teddy Roosevelt and Willam Howard Taft were great friends and together were one of the great teams of all times. Teddy was an amazing and revolutionary leader, but he also got caught up in the cohesive nature of power after being President. Taft was a man of integrity and while not a true politician was very impactful and another one of the truly great American presidents.

19. Yes Please – Amy Poehler. Good book, waiting for Amy to correct her record on Luis C.K.

20. The Pixar Touch – David Price. A few NeXT stories about Steve Jobs and the history of graphic animation. Steve would park his car in the handicapped spot in the front of the building not because he was a self obsessed narcissist, but because people would key his car if he parked it out back.

Up Next

21. Rebel Yell – S.C. Gwynne.

Decided to read about a few ancestors. Stonewall Jackson.

22. Andrew Jackson –

Another ancestor and populist president.