Kevin Kelly Recommended Books
Kevin Kelly has recommended 19 books. Browse the complete reading list with quotes and sources below.
Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review.
(Read more on Wikipedia)19 Books Recommended
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It's All Too Much
An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
"I actually gave it a whole page [in my book 'Cool Tools'] because I thought the message was so profound." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
The Sound of the One Hand
281 Zen Koans with Answers
Kevin Kelly recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book. (Source)
Gödel, Escher, Bach
An Eternal Golden Braid
"Over the years, I kept finding myself returning to its insights, and each time I would arrive at them at a deeper level." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Steve Jurvetson, Naval Ravikant, Demis Hassabis, David Deutsch, Sahil Lavingia, Chris Hayes
Finite and Infinite Games
"Gave me a mathematical framework for my own spirituality." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Tristan Harris, Stewart Brand, Simon Sinek, Graham Duncan, Jane McGonigal, Tobi Lütke, Daniel Gross, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Shea
The Essential Rumi
"There is nothing that I enjoy more than at night reading Rumi." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Ultimate Resource
"[The author]’s clarifying insight—that mind and intelligence can overcome any physical limitations, and are therefore the only scarce resource—has become a big idea that colors much of what I look at today." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
The Fountainhead
"By the end of the book, I decided to drop out of school. I never returned. It was the best decision of my life." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Mark Cuban, Tim Urban, Larry Ellison, Emma Watson, Travis Kalanick, Vince Vaughn, Ev Williams, Jesse Williams, Noah Kagan, Fred Wilson, Jim Carrey, Ray Dalio, Shah Rukh Khan
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko
The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need
"It's a cartoon, basically, and it's aimed at young people as trying to teach them how to become indispensable." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Regional Advantage
Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128
"A really good book." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Childhood's End
"This story of a singularity always stuck with me as something to prepare for." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Shantaram
"You get an incredibly vivid, immersive, deep, and in some ways uplifting view of India and the underworld in India, into that part of Asia." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Richard Branson, Josh Waitzkin, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Phil Jackson
The Qur'an
"Read it through. It’s an amazing book." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Peopleware
Productive Projects and Teams
"A hugely underappreciated book. I remember all kinds of things from it." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Gandhi
An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments With Truth
"[This book] curiously led me to Jesus. [The author]'s stance of radical honesty prompted me to attempt the same. It started my spiritual awakening." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
So Good They Can't Ignore You
Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
"What you really want to do is to master something and to use your mastering of something as a way to get to your passion." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Future Shock
"[The author] was the one who introduced the term 'future shock' which was that people would actually have like a resistance or a reaction to the future." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
Holy Bible
"Probably the most amazing thing you haven’t read yet." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Leaves of Grass
The Original 1855 Edition
"While reading this classic poetic ode to America and possibilities ('I am multitude!') my gasket blew, and I became seized with an unstoppable urge to travel." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Also recommended by:
What the Dormouse Said
How the Sixties Counter culture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry
"About the hippy origins of the personal computer industry." - Kevin Kelly (Source)
Other Recommenders
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Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.
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