After posting Bridging the Great Stagnation: Why Taking an Extra Decade to Master the Fundamentals Matters, I got wind from my dedicated social contact who braves Twitter that some are interested in a book list alongside. Rather than post specific books, I’ll post my personal algorithm for the content I focused on reading during each period of my education, and suggest tailoring the lists and ordering of lists to taste.
This list of lists is close to both the order and the lists, that I myself worked through. I’d recommend not focusing too closely on page count, as some works are more dense and/or less type I fun than others. I typically would get 75-90% through the top 100 on a given list during the suggested period. As a final note, I’ll point out that this reading is the reading I recommend on the side of reading done during the course of formal education, and on the side of reading done for unstructured enjoyment.
Middle school
- Read for enjoyment, as many books as you can to develop the skill and joy of reading. Develop a habit of reading 25-75 books per year.
High school
- Pick a list of classic literature, and go through it, e.g. The Greatest Books of All Time
Gap year
- Important intellectual works beyond literature, e.g. sourcing from St. John’s great books curriculum and philosophy reading list, e.g. King’s College Cambridge advanced reading
College
- Pick a list of science fiction, and go through it, e.g. The Classics of Science Fiction
Graduate school
- Modern literature, e.g. The Greatest Books of All Time since 1990, recent science fiction (since 1990)
Postdoc
- Focus on reading works for enjoyment, classic literature, philosophy, great books, by those whose voices are underrepresented in the lists above. E.g. marginalized voices and non-Western cultures.
Real Life
- Focus on reading works that pique interest based on current events and life circumstances, incorporating extensive nonfiction. Pick various themes for periods of time (1-2 years), e.g. China, Justice, Management to source chunks of reading from.