Compilation: My bookshelf

Books (and audiobooks) that I’ve enjoyed reading and/or found useful at some point (in no particular order). If I had to build a personal library from scratch with physical books – these would be on the bookshelves for sure. If I was more disciplined at the point of reading a lot of these books, I would have had notes with key extracts and key points, alongside my personal takeaways / interpretations related to the contents and any broader insights / thoughts the reading triggered (instead of these things cropping up in conversations with friends).

Inspired by Patrick Collison of Stripe and his bookshelf on his personal website.

Starred books are the ones that either (i) caused a paradigm shift in me or (ii) massively shaped my behaviour at a certain point in my life or (iii) energised my reading habit due to being such an interesting read. The commentary in square brackets will help understand the category a given book falls in.

List of completed books:

• * The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey [one of the foundational “self help” / “self improvement” books that is full of gems on how to live deliberately and organise life towards that end, have productive interpersonal relationships and continuously energise yourself as a human being to be able to do the previous two things; completed a partial reading of some chapters and skimming the rest in university but because a guidebook on organising my life at two crucial points when I successfully lived deliberately without burning out; returned to the book and implemented the “Daily Private Victory” practice from the “Sharpening the Saw” chapter in a year of being burned out and it really helped me turn things around and achieve something of a transformation – I wish I never stopped the practice; definitely one I will revisit at some point as there will be wisdom, from timeless principles, that I can extract from it]
• The 5 Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity by Kory Kogon, Adam Merrill and Leena Rinne [essentially the “First Things First” chapter of The 7 Habits fleshed out and adapted for the modern age; portions of my organising systems for work and personal life are rooted in insights from that book; I’m also a big fan of interviews about the book with Kory and Leena – they were a great companion on long walks and helped reinforce key points]
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity by David Allen [big picture there is no better book on setting up an organising system (ie weekly reviews, capturing etc) but I tried and failed to implement it in detail (as the majority of people have also done); however I’ve extracted a bunch of principles from it and, alongside The 5 Choices, it’s hugely influenced my organising systems]
• * The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent [extremely valuable to me; totally impacted my thinking and behaviours across multiple dimensions of my life; the themes pulled from historical case studies, which is quintessential Robert Greene, continue to stand the test of time; it’s 50 Cent inspired and he is a fascinating partial contributor and case study but it’s 70% Robert Greene / 30% 50 Cent in spirit; purchased on Audible because of being a 50 Cent fan and finding the central theme of fearlessness, but ended up buying physical copy, highlighting and annotating, consuming all the supporting content I could find and thinking through all areas of my life and addressing weak points]
• * Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street by Andrew Ross Sorkin [my first narrative non-fiction book (as far as I can recall) that I read in uni and it gripped me and engrossed me so much I took the book with me everywhere and read it during every spare moment, including whilst waiting for a date and being almost jolted awake by the girl because I arrived early and got lost in the book; sometimes life just has perfect timing and seeing what ego does, seeing someone who shared my temperament in action, and reading about a context that the company I wanted to start my career in played a significant part in dealing with the fallout of – as well as the writing being engaging – was just the perfect sweet spot]
• Barbarians At The Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar [recommended by one of my colleagues during my internship and was an absolutely cracking read]
• * Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel [the main reading Dr / Professor Andre Spicer used to frame my Corporate Social Responsibility module in university – providing a more deep and philosophical basis to what can be a dry topic – thereby helping me fill in some philosophical gaps and providing a better foundation for philosophical books I read later on]
• * Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays translation) [this is maybe the most “spiritual” book for me as an individual, being a fan of Stoicism; there’s nothing quite like the most powerful man of his time, a pretty much perfect exemplification of a “philosopher king”, dealing with crises and battling the human condition whilst returning his spirit back towards stoic virtues – the only permanent thing – in his personal diary; I once drove myself crazy because I had other translations on my Kindle and couldn’t find the excerpt referring to being able to rekindle one’s philosophy (ie virtues and principles) like “glowing coals” as an antidote to evil, which is within this translation, and was in a frenzy because I was worried I’d somehow hallucinated something that resonated with me so deeply – thankfully I had the sense to download this translation and find it, and then ordered a physical copy because I had lost my highlighted copy during the process of moving homes once; also I later discovered that Retired General Jim Mattis, whose model of “body, mind and spirit improvements” inspired and influenced my life for more than 12 months at one point, carried a copy with him during deployments – which I thought was pretty cool]
• * Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy [the first productivity book I ever read as a kid doing my A-Levels; short and sharp and still useful when feeling demotivated or unfocused; I should re read this or listen to the audiobook every 6-12 months]
• * Power Forward: My Presidential Education by Reggie Love [completed the audiobook version and then extracted some screenshots from the kindle version; Obama’s early morning workouts routine was an inspiration when I was trying to do the same thing before getting into the office and Reggie’s experience of doing mundane tasks was very relatable as a way to show your team you are truly “on the team” instead of being a passenger as a junior]
• * Managing Oneself by Peter F. Drucker [a Coach Firas Zahabi recommendation from his one of his AMAs / podcasts and one hell of a short but interesting read which I devoured on a flight]
• * The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma [a book that has some absolute gems – the 20/20/20 formula was a helpful model of self renewal – surrounded by a completely unnecessary story with absurd characters; I listened to the full audiobook but extracted the valuable bits from the kindle version for myself – a great example of when the reading techniques of “inspecting” or “skimming” the first line of each paragraph can be extremely valuable]
• SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence by Cindy Wigglesworth [audiobook first; kindle next to remind me of some of the principles]
• The Economist Style Guide by The Economist [tbc]
• * Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy [my first proper “self help” book as a kid that I listened to as an audiobook and then bought the physical book and read that; off the back of finding “Eat That Frog” useful]
• Enter the Dangal: Travels through India’s Wrestling Landscape by Rudraneil Sengupta [tbc]
• The House of Dimon: How JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Rose to the Top of the Financial World by Patricia Crisafulli [tbc]
• Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase by Duff McDonald [tbc]
• * Battles That I Fought and Interviews of War Heroes: 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh by Oli Ahmad [a very important but overpriced book given the importance of spreading this subject matter to the Bangladeshi diaspora internationally; but worthwhile for me as it gave me a flavour of my Maternal Grandfather’s commanding officer during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, in his own words, when he was being interviewed by the author; other books had spoken about him in the third person but this was direct from him which was extremely valuable for me; made me more proud of my Bangladeshi heritage and my grandfather’s contribution and the exceptional leadership he served under]
• * Bangladesh at War by K.M. Safiullah [tbc]
• * Bullets of ’71: A Freedom Fighter’s Story by Dr. Nuran Nabi [tbc]
• * A Sector Commander Remembers Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 by Quazi Nooruzzaman [tbc]
• Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead by Jim Mattis [tbc]
• * The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy [tbc]
• * Atomic Habits by James Clear [tbc]
• * Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe [completed full audiobook and then brought Kindle version to reinforce key points – especially my barbell deadlift and barbell squat form back when I was lifting with more regularly!; big fan of the opening chapter which is legendary]
• Happier, No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times by Tal Ben-Shahar [tbc]
• The Resistance Training Revolution by Sal Di Stefano [audiobook first and then physucal book]
• * I think therefore I play by Andrea Pirlo with Alessandro Alciato [the first eBook I read, on the first tablet I ever brought as a treat once I secured a grad job, about my favourite football player of all time, and it was one hell of a pick – well written and fascinating; to this day I wish I could be as unbothered under immense pressure as Pirlo is]
• Bittersweet Victory a Freedom Fighters Tale by Abdul Qayyum Khan [tbc]
• * Enter the Dragon by Theo Paphitis [tbc]
• * The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [tbc]
• * How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond by Caroline Webb [tbc]
• * The Dealmaker: Lessons from a Life in Private Equity by Guy Hands [tbc]
• Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb [tbc]
• * Tuesdays With Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson by Mitch Albom [tbc]
• * The Hustler by Walter Tevis [tbc]
• * Dajjal the Anti Christ by Ahmad Thomson [sentimental value; bought for me by an uncle and was the first challenging Islamic book that thought about the coming of the Anti Christ – a big theme of some horror movies I enjoyed – at an individual and societal level]
• Companions of the Prophet by Abdul Wahid Hamid [sentimental value; recommended by a teacher and some good examples of individuals sacrificing for a higher purpose and modelling what I now label as the four stoic virtues]
• Companions of the Prophet 2 by Abdul Wahid Hamid [sentimal value; same rationale as first version]
• * Papillon by Henri Charrière [this was maybe the first longer novel I tackled as a kid and I couldn’t put it down – both a fascinating read and one that really pushed my reading stamina to a new level]
• * The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien [tbc]
• * Certain books from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) [the first book of the series, I read when I was a kid (I think maybe in one of the last few years of primary school…), and I just couldn’t shake the day dream of an owl delivering a sealed letter with my name on it and then going to Diagon Alley to find a wand that suited me – I pretty much had to then read all the next books I could get my hands on]
• Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual Mk1-MOD1 by Jocko Willink [I was a big listener of the Jocko Podcast and drank the kool aid at the time – gotta say it was pretty fun as i had some other friends who jumped on the bandwagon too lol and I also enjoyed talking about the podcast with some colleagues at the time]
• Way of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way by Jocko Willink [another one from drinking the Jocko Podcast kool aid]
• * Royal Marines Fitness: Physical Training Manual by Sean Lerwill [stumbled upon this through following my curiosity about how calisthenics are incorporated into elite military training – ended up being exposed to a whole lot more interesting stuff about mindset and case studies such as troops coming back from Christmas holidays and getting into “commando fitness” on the ship to the Falklands to go and fight there]
• * The Para Fitness Guide by Sam McGrath [similar to the Royal Marines one; inspiring case studies and fascinating insights for a younger me]
• * “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech / speech transcript by Malcolm X, 12 April 1964, Detroit, Michigan [tbc]
• The story behind “This too shall pass” – the Persian proverb by Sufi saint Fariduddin Attar [Tbc]
• …
• Animal Farm by George Orwell [enjoyed it far more than 1984 which I grinded through in December 2019 just to complete the book before 2020 started (having no idea what the world was in for over the next 3 years or so!!!); a short read to help bring back routine of fiction reading before bed to wind down and help reduce TV watching]
• The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future by Mustafa Suleyman [possibly my joint favourite read of 2025 tied with Antifragile]

List of partially completed (but still incredibly valuable at the time) books:

• * Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance by Jonathan Fields [tbc]
• * The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson [tbc]
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Peter D. Kaufman [tbc]
• No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy: The Life of General James Mattis by Jim Proser [tbc]
• * Get Things Done: What Stops Smart People Achieving More and How You Can Change by Robert Kelsey [tbc]
• * Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin [read portions of this around the same time I started listening to the Jocko Podcast – found the physical training ethos of the “Believe” chapter and the early rising aspect of the “Discipline Equals Freedom” chapter extremely inspiring / fascinating when I was building a habit of morning workout when younger; whilst I’m not drinking the Jocko kool aid anymore – growing up can be so disappointing – this may be a book I come back to because the other principles still seem to stand, but maybe through skimming and extracting instead of reading cover to cover]
• * How to be Strong, Healthy and Happy by Bob Hoffman [tbc]
• Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman [tbc]
• The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz [tbc]
• Men’s Health Your Body Is Your Barbell by BJ Gaddour [tbc]
• * Leadership in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Presidents by Doris Kearns Goodwin [especially found Abraham Lincoln’s reading and studying habit as a form of self-renewal, after going through failures in his legal and political careers and falling into a deep depression, extremely interesting; utilised that as inspiration when I was recovering from burnout and used Stephen Covey’s “Daily Private Victory” practice as a way to get out of it; I adore Doris Kearns Goodwin and I think it’s very likely that I will definitely end up reading all of her works at some point – she combines a great writing style, is fantastic at capturing the human condition and it’s ups and downs, and is really warm and interesting in her interviews]
• Untranquil Recollections: The Years of Fulfilment by Rehman Sobhan [tbc]
• Confession of a Terrorist! Musings on Bangladesh Liberation War by AbulKalam Shamsuddin [tbc]
• Stand Up Straight: 10 Life Lessons from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst by Paul Nanson [tbc]
• The End of Dieting: How to Live for Life by Dr. Joel Fuhrman [Firas Zahabi recommendation from his YouTube channel podcast / AMA series]
• StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Gallup [tbc]
• * Resilience (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series by Harvard Business Review [tbc]

List of audiobooks – mix of partially completed and fully completed (in hindsight, would have preferred to start with a physical copy and then listen to the audiobooks in the gym or during commutes etc):

• * The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons’ Den by James Caan [super interesting listen; may have been my first Audible audiobook and great one to start with]
• The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun by Robert Greenfield [super interesting listen]
• * Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next by LA Reid [super interesting listen]
• Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday [tbc]
• The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage by Ryan Holiday [tbc]
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki [tbc]
• Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki [tbc]
• * The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason [tbc]
• The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy [tbc]
• Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success by Gary Vaynerchuk [tbc]
• Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Dr Peter Attia [tbc]
• The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future by Ryder Carroll [tbc]
• How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius by Donald Robertson [tbc]
• Master The Day: Eat, Move and Live Better With The Power of Daily Habits by Alexander Heyne [tbc]
• Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus [tbc]
• Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise [tbc]
• How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism by Stephen Guise [tbc]
• Read to Lead by Jeff Brown and Jesse Wisnewski [this was just a way to give me a boost of inspiration for my renewed reading habit in the summer / autumn of 2024 after being put off reading because of grinding my way through “Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition” by Lulu Chen over late 2022 / early 2023 and falling off consistent slow / deep reading for almost the entirety of 2023 and the first half of 2024…; reinforced a couple of things I’ve heard previously from Naval Ravikant and Charlie Munger which was pretty cool]
• The Warrior Ethos by Steven Pressfield [tbc]

Update log / tracker

• Created: 29 September 2025
• Updated: tbc