Books like Perfecting Sound Forever

01

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell · Psychology

Outliers is Malcolm Gladwell's argument that exceptional success is less a product of individual genius or drive than it is of hidden advantages, timing, and accumulated opportunity.

A kindred history read.

02

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman · Psychology

Thinking, Fast and Slow is Daniel Kahneman's account of the two cognitive systems that govern human thought.

A kindred history read.

03

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

John Carreyrou · Business

Bad Blood is Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's account of Theranos, the blood-testing startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes that claimed its proprietary technology could run hundreds of diagnostic tests from a single finger-prick of blood.

A kindred history read.

04

Empires of Light

Jill Jonnes · History

Empires of Light is Jill Jonnes's history of the War of Currents — the late-nineteenth-century battle between Thomas Edison's direct-current electrical system and George Westinghouse's alternating-current system, with Nikola Tesla as the third figure whose genius made AC practical.

Both dig into technology.

05

The Big Change

Frederick Lewis Allen · History

The Big Change is Frederick Lewis Allen's account of how the United States was transformed between 1900 and 1950, covering the shifts in technology, economics, social life, and values that remade American society in half a century.

Both dig into technology.

06

Thunderstruck

Erik Larson · History

Thunderstruck interweaves two narratives set in Edwardian England and the North Atlantic: the story of Guglielmo Marconi's obsessive drive to make wireless telegraphy work across the Atlantic Ocean, and the story of Hawley Harvey Crippen, a mild-mannered American doctor who murdered his wife in London in 1910 and fled with his mistress — only to be captured at sea because of a wireless telegraph message, the first criminal caught with the technology's help.

Both dig into technology.

07

All Marketers Are Liars

Seth Godin · Business

All Marketers Are Liars — later republished as All Marketers Tell Stories — is Seth Godin's argument that successful marketing is not about facts or features but about stories that confirm what consumers already believe about the world.

Both dig into authenticity.

08

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

Charles Petzold · Science

Code is Charles Petzold's explanation of how computers work, built from first principles.

Both dig into technology.

09

Continuous Discovery Habits

Teresa Torres · Business

Continuous Discovery Habits is Teresa Torres's practical guide to making product discovery a sustainable, weekly team practice rather than a periodic research event.

Both dig into technology.

10

Digital Minimalism

Cal Newport · Self-help

Digital Minimalism is Cal Newport's argument that most people's relationship with smartphones and social media is not freely chosen but engineered — the product of business models that monetize attention and design interfaces for compulsion rather than value.

Both dig into technology.

11

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Ashlee Vance · Biography

Ashlee Vance's biography of Elon Musk is the most comprehensive account of Musk's life and companies up to 2015, written with Musk's cooperation after an initial refusal and a long negotiation.

Both dig into technology.

12

Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

Marty Cagan and Chris Jones · Business

Empowered is Marty Cagan and Chris Jones's guide to what separates product organizations that consistently build products people love from those that operate as feature factories.

Both dig into technology.