My 2025 Bookshelf
"Lords of the Cosmos" by Arjun Khemani (2025)
Arjun Khemani—the young scholar behind memorable podcasts with Naval Ravikant and David Deutsch—condenses Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity into something more accessible. His core argument: human progress is fragile, constantly threatened by socialism, authoritarianism, and anti-growth environmentalism. Written under the Conjecture Institute's banner, it's a timely defense of optimism and innovation.
(Update: Conjecture Institute has released Bold Conjectures, a compilation of interviews with David Deutsch—I’m keen to read it next.)
"Buffett & Munger Unscripted" by Alex Morris (2025)
Everyone praises the Berkshire letters; few have read all thirty years of AGM transcripts. Morris does the work for you, organizing three decades of Q&A into searchable topics e.g. chapters on Capital Allocation, or, When to Buy/Sell. The wisdom is finally categorized for practical use—making this the best gift for serious investors.
"The Genetic Book of the Dead" by Richard Dawkins (2024)
Dawkins offers a vivid metaphor: every organism is a palimpsest, a manuscript overwritten countless times. Today's traits—camouflage, cuckoo deception, bone structure, behavior—are edits from vanished worlds, telling stories of environments that no longer exist. It lacks the punch of The Selfish Gene or The Blind Watchmaker, but it's a beautifully illustrated meditation from a master explainer.
"Birds, Sex and Beauty" by Matt Ridley (2025)
Why do male birds perform elaborate dances and songs? Ridley resurrects Darwin's underappreciated insight: sexual selection and female choice. From dawn leks of Black Grouse to peacock displays and virtuoso songbirds, he shows how beauty evolves alongside survival—sometimes for its own sake. Research-dense and occasionally dry, but sharp on how aesthetics drive evolution.
"Winning Long-Term Games" by Luca Dellanna (2024)
A compact playbook for compounding small edges over years. Dellanna blends risk management, behavior design, and systems thinking: build habits that survive volatility, favor asymmetric bets with limited downside, tighten feedback loops, and make the right action the easiest one. His nod to ergodicity is key—choose strategies that work in your timeline, not just on average.
"Dear Fellow Time-Binder" by Chris Mayer (2022)
Mayer—author of 100 Baggers—takes an unexpected turn into General Semantics. This short, letter-style guide sharpens thinking and communication: words aren't reality; add specifics to avoid vague labels; separate facts from inferences; pause before reacting; ask better questions. Simple examples, everyday applications, occasional investing insights. Concise and immediately useful.
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