Episode · The Pragmatic Engineer · 2026-03-18
Gergely Orosz & Jean Lee: books mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer
Building WhatsApp with Jean Lee
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Jean Lee recommended A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Gordon Malkiel, Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson, What color is your parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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A Random Walk Down Wall Street
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Gordon Malkiel is a foundational personal finance and investing guide that popularized the concept of the index fund and random market walks.
Recommended“Um I read the Random Walk Down Wall Street, which is a great book. I recommend that people read it if you're interested in financial management and I read several other books to really educate myself to be able to manage this new wealth that I I came across as a young 29-year-old.”
Where to get it
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Surrounded by Idiots
Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson is a popular psychology book that categorizes human behavior and communication styles using the DISC personality framework.
Recommended“There's several books like I love the book Surrounded by Idiots. Have you read that book? It talks about the the DISC personality, the different types of personalities.”
Where to get it
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What color is your parachute?
What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles is a classic career-guidance and self-help book designed to help job seekers identify their personal strengths, priorities, and goals through structured introspection.
Recommended“Anyways, it kind of depends on what your goals are, but you gave me some specific things like for your career, I think for me what was really helpful was What Color Is Your Parachute? That helped me really understand my strengths and my goals and priorities in my career and life.”
Where to get it
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The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian young adult novel set in a ruined nation where children are forced to compete in a televised death match.
Recommended“Hunger Games was one of my favorite books. I I read the whole series. I read it as well and I I almost like the I like the movies as well, but I love the books.”
Where to get it
