Knowledge from books
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Knowledge from books *
Book “Ikigai” by H Garcia & F Miralles
My rating: 7/10 - worth reading, especially as it only takes a few hours to finish it.
My notes: follow this link
Reflections after turning the last page of the book
Starting with the world’s five Blue Zones — where people live the longest on average — the authors share practical habits you can adopt today to add years to your life and to find meaning in your journey. Many of their prescriptions echo the themes Johann Hari explores in his book Lost Connections: cultivate warm social ties, move lightly and often, eat mindfully, and ground each day in a clear purpose. The book gives thus a "confirmation" by linking it to the evidence from the Blue Zones, which gives confidence that there are things you can actually do to live longer. If you’re after an immediately actionable takeaway, check my notes and especially the "10 rules" to live by at the end of it.
Book “The mountain is you” by Brianna Wiest
My rating: 8/10 - some of the ideas should be directly picked-up and implemented in your daily life.
Reflections after turning the last page of the book
We all face - to some extend - self-sabotage, self-doubt, fears and old traumas. It’s always easier overcome all these roadblocks and climb the mountain with a guide: this book is exactly that. Nothing more, nothing less: a guide about turning inward, healing and becoming a better - or the best - version of yourself.
Book “All about love” by Bell Hooks
My rating: 7/10 - worth reading but not life-changing
My notes: follow this link
Reflections after turning the last page of the book
I live for love.
Through time, romances and relationships, I’ve always focused on the feeling of it. I know what love feels like — I can close my eyes right now and relive those moments with great intensity. I can recognize love by sensation. By the warmth in my chest. But for all those years of loving and being loved, I never took the time to ask myself:
But what is love, really?
Why didn’t I ever try to understand it — to study it, question it, or learn how to do it well? As if love were some kind of magic spell — something you just fall into, helplessly, and when it happens you should just accept it for what it is, as if it was a magical intervention, a sign of the mystical.
That’s how I treated love: something you believe in, not something you practice. But for the first time ever, I read about love.
Bell Hooks’ All About Love gave me a new definition — one I’ll carry with me:
Love is the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.
It’s not a spell. It’s not just chemistry. It’s a conscious choice — a practice of care, commitment, and responsibility. That realization hit me hard. All those times I thought love was just something that happened to me.. maybe I was just being swept up in emotion, not truly loving at all. Maybe I was still clinging to the naive, teenage idea of love, and it was time to change my views in love.
I hope I can carry these lessons forward — and not just hope, but practice love more deliberately: for myself, for my friends, for my relationships.
Book “The hard thing about hard things” by Ben Horowitz
My rating: 7/10 - worth reading especially if you’re working at a C-level
My notes: follow this link
Reflections after turning the last page of the book
As we romanticize life, we often romanticize the journey of successful startups and companies. But being a CEO is rarely glamorous — it’s hard, all-consuming, and often forces you to choose between the lesser of two evils without even knowing which is which.
Common sense is surprisingly absent in many organizations, and this book serves as a much-needed slap in the face — especially if you find yourself blindly following conventional corporate patterns. No, you don’t have to lie or withhold information to be a good leader. And yes, you can conduct performance reviews or fire someone without being an a**hole about it.
Horowitz offers plain, actionable advice, delivered without sugarcoating. If you're working at a C-level — or aspire to — this book will give you concrete ideas for building and leading a better organization.
Book “BOLD” by Peter H. Diamandis
My rating: 5/10 - might provide the spark you need to launch your own business, but much of its content feels outdated in light of recent technological advances and shifting geopolitical realities
My notes: follow this link
Reflections after turning the last page of the book
If you need a motivational nudge to finally launch your idea or your business, Bold might be the push you’re looking for. It’s packed with success stories, strategies for raising capital, and overviews of exponential technologies that entrepreneurs can leverage.
But while the spirit of the book still inspires action, much of its content feels increasingly dated — both in terms of tech (AI, Web3, biotech have since exploded) and its optimistic outlook on a future shaped by benevolent billionaires. The world has changed, and Bold’s closing vision of a unified, abundance-driven future doesn’t quite match the geopolitical and economic direction we're actually seeing.
Still, it delivers a clear message: big change starts by doing. You just have to start now.