Person
Every book Jimmy Soni recommended on podcasts
Across 3 podcasts. Every show Jimmy Soni appears on, in one place — not just one.
Jimmy Soni’s most recommended books
- The Everything Store by Brad Stone
- Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
- A night to remember by Walter Lord
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
- Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers' Edition by Ashlee Vance
- Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis
- Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
Jimmy Soni discussed a variety of books and literary influences during his appearances on How I Write. He recommended Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat as a quintessential example of a masterwork that initially debuted to small notice before achieving massive success. Soni also praised Walter Lord's A Night to Remember, noting that he was completely riveted from the first page despite knowing how the story of the Titanic ends. In addition to recommendations, Soni discussed several books that served as models for his own writing projects. He noted that he read Brad Stone's The Everything Store more than twenty times while working on his book about PayPal, and that he bought multiple research books including Peter A. Thiel and Blake Masters's Zero to One. Furthermore, he cited Eric Jorgenson's The Almanack of Naval Ravikant as a structural inspiration and model for his upcoming biography on Kobe Bryant.
Books recommended by Jimmy Soni
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The Everything Store
The Everything Store by Brad Stone is a canonical history of Amazon's first twenty years and the leadership style of Jeff Bezos.
Discussed“for the founders, it was The Everything Store by Brad Stone, which I think I've talked to you about before. I read that book over 20 times.”
Where to get it
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Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand is a celebrated work of nonfiction that chronicles the improbable journey of a small, underdog racehorse and the resilient team that guided him to greatness during the Great Depression.
Discussed“Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit and Unbroken. I I just I marvel at her. I marvel at her actually as a person. She has chronic fatigue syndrome and she still manages to write these incredibly insanely detailed books.”
Where to get it
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The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson is a curated collection of wisdom, aphorisms, and insights compiled from the entrepreneur and philosopher Naval Ravikant.
Discussed“my next project is going to be a book in the spirit of like the almanac of Naval Ravocant or the Almanac of Charlie Mer and it's called the tow of Kobe.”
Where to get it
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A night to remember
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord is a classic historical account that meticulously reconstructs the final hours and sinking of the RMS Titanic through survivor interviews.
Recommended“I recently read this wonderful book called A Night to Remember, which is about the sinking of the Titanic. It's like one of the better books I've I've read in the last little while. And I know how that story is going to end. We all do. But I was riveted from page one to the end.”
Where to get it
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The Boys in the Boat
Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat is an inspiring historical non-fiction account detailing the University of Washington rowing team's improbable journey to gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Recommended“One of my favorite one of my favorite books is Boys in the Boat, right? It's a it's a quintessential example for me of the publishing industry getting it wrong.”
Where to get it
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Bad Blood
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou is a detailed work of investigative non-fiction documenting the rise and fraudulent collapse of Elizabeth Holmes's blood-testing company, Theranos.
Discussed“there has to be room in the world for walter isaacson's code breaker and for bad blood right we've got to be able to keep the worst of the worst excesses and faults in check and that's the role of the fourth estate and of enterprising reporters like john who did bad blood right”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance is an in-depth biography tracing the life, career, and complex ventures of the prominent entrepreneur.
Discussed“I bought Ashley Vance's book about Elon Musk.”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers' Edition
Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance is a comprehensive biographical account chronicling the life, career, and entrepreneurial ventures of Elon Musk across companies like Tesla and SpaceX.
Discussed“I bought Ashley Vance's book about Elon Musk.”
Where to get it
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Founding Brothers
Discussed“there's a great book on that actually called founding brothers uh there was one of my like kind of texts that made me think a lot about the founders”
Where to get it
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Liar's Poker
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis and Blanca Ribera de Madariaga is a semi-autobiographical exposé detailing the author's chaotic experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the reckless financial boom of the 1980s.
Discussed“Michael Lewis is he he could have followed up Liars Poker with probably like 10 more books about finance, right?”
Where to get it
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On Writing Well
William Zinsser's On Writing Well is a widely acclaimed classic guide to non-fiction writing that emphasizes clarity, simplicity, and the removal of clutter from prose.
Discussed“So, writes about something like how how the word soft has a feel to it. Like soft, right? Is is different than smooth, right? Like like Yeah. Yeah, a lot of reading happens in the ear, right? And so, we I I I'm often thinking about warmth as like the quality of Like what does it mean when somebody sees”
Where to get it
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Talent
Talent by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross is a nonfiction guide designed to help leaders identify, evaluate, and recruit exceptional individuals.
Discussed“and maybe tyler cowan's book on talent does this because there's a whole section in there about peter”
Where to get it
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The Art of the Idea
The Art of the Idea by John Hunt is a book that explores the nature of creativity, innovation, and the generation of original concepts.
Discussed“because in some ways like the the right person to answer the bell labs question is probably john gurtner who did sort of the quintessential book on bell apps it's called the idea factory”
Where to get it
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The Code Breaker
The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson and Kathe Mazur is a compelling biography of CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna that explores the revolutionary world of gene editing.
Discussed“there has to be room in the world for walter isaacson's code breaker and for bad blood right”
Where to get it
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The PayPal wars
Discussed“I bought Zero to One, I bought the PayPal Wars, I bought other books about these people, I bought Ashley Vance's book about Elon Musk.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
The Power Broker by Robert A.
Discussed“People 100 years from now will still be reading The Power Broker by Robert Moses. They will still be reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.”
Where to get it
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The tao of Charlie Munger
The Tao of Charlie Munger by David Clark is a curated collection of succinct quotes and foundational wisdom from the legendary investor and business partner of Warren Buffett.
Discussed“my next project is going to be a book in the spirit of like the almanac of Naval Ravocant or the Almanac of Charlie Mer and it's called the tow of Kobe.”
Where to get it
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Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand's bestselling biography Unbroken tells the extraordinary World War II story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who survived a plane crash, weeks adrift on a raft, and brutal captivity in Japanese prison camps.
Discussed“Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit and Unbroken. I I just I marvel at her. I marvel at her actually as a person. She has chronic fatigue syndrome and she still manages to write these incredibly insanely detailed books.”
Where to get it
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Wanting
Wanting by Luke Burgis explores the concept of mimetic desire, explaining how human beings unconsciously copy the desires, ambitions, and envies of the people around them.
Discussed“i have had long conversations with a friend luke burgess who wrote a book called wanting and we've we've sort of talked about this a lot right”
Where to get it
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Zero to One
Zero to One by Peter A.
Discussed“And I just kept like I went on Amazon, I bought every I bought Zero to One, I bought the PayPal Wars, I bought other books about these people, I bought Ashley Vance's book about Elon Musk.”
Where to get it
Books Jimmy Soni wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“My source of relief was I I needed to get through big projects. Uh the founders book which I was working on, business things, client things, and raising a daughter.”
“He did the blind side. He did the big short.”
“He did the blind side. He did the big short.”
“This is the book. It's Jane's carousel. Um, and it's actually a pretty pretty weighty substantial project.”
“but i i think that we need to my book i would actually argue is not not really a tech book uh it's a book about a group of people who come together to solve a big problem”