Miguel’s library

A short inquiry into the difference between lying and speaking without any concern for the truth.

Frankfurt distinguishes the liar, who must pay attention to what is true, from a speaker who is indifferent to truth altogether. The distinction changes how we think about sincerity, persuasion and the responsibility that comes with making a claim.

Seven compact journeys through relativity, quantum theory, particles, gravity and our place in the universe.

Relativity changes our understanding of space and time; quantum theory unsettles familiar ideas about matter. Rovelli brings these shifts together with elementary particles, gravity and the place of human beings in nature. The small format gives each lesson the concentration of an essay.

A case for creating opportunities yourself, learning through action, and asking for less permission.

The book connects personal experience with stories of people who built prototypes, made contact and learned by doing. Its recurring question is practical: what useful action is already available, even before the ideal role, credentials or circumstances arrive?

A practical guide to expressing your ideas clearly, inspiring confidence and making decisive conversations count.

Some meetings matter long after they end. This book approaches preparation, clarity and confidence as skills that can be practised. Its aim is to help a reader bring a clear idea into a room and make the exchange memorable for the right reasons.

Brand building as a layered creative practice, joining strategy, culture and the details people remember.

The onion offers a way to think about a brand’s identity: distinct layers, held together by a coherent centre. Wilson moves among anecdotes, images and working observations, giving culture, chance and timing a place alongside strategy. The physical edition uses rough paper, red sewing thread and a soft-touch cover.

Naval Ravikant’s reflections on wealth, judgement and happiness, gathered into a guide for thinking independently.

The first part considers how judgement, specific knowledge and ownership can contribute to wealth. The second turns to happiness, desire, health and the quality of attention. The book is arranged for browsing as well as continuous reading, with ideas that can be revisited independently.

A collection of Elon Musk’s ideas on work, invention and ambitious projects, curated by Eric Jorgenson.

The chapters collect ideas about learning, engineering, work and projects pursued over long periods. The format lets individual observations build into a broader account of ambition and problem-solving. Jorgenson’s role is that of a curator, bringing scattered public material into one readable sequence.

A personal account of failure, useful combinations of skills, and the daily systems that make progress possible.

Rather than treating success as a straight path, Adams examines what can be learned from projects that go wrong. He discusses systems, energy and combinations of ordinary skills, connecting them to examples from his own life. This is the second edition, with the blue illustrated cover.

An impossible assignment, a blue vase, and the resourcefulness of a man determined to finish what he starts.

Bill Peck asks for a chance to prove himself at a lumber company. What begins as a sales assignment becomes a test of judgement and determination, culminating in the search for a blue vase. The story makes its argument through obstacles that demand a fresh response, one after another.

A pilot meets a traveller from a tiny planet, and learns to see friendship, love and responsibility with new eyes.

The little traveller’s encounters with adults reveal the strange importance people attach to ownership, authority and counting. Against those habits, the story offers the patient work of knowing another being. This model takes its cover from Gallimard’s seventieth-anniversary edition.

The lives of the Buendía family unfold through love, solitude and extraordinary events in the town of Macondo.

Generation after generation returns to familiar names, desires and mistakes. The intimate history of a family becomes the history of a town, moving between invention, conflict, memory and forgetting. This anniversary edition pairs the novel with illustrations by Luisa Rivera.

How value, pricing, guarantees and a clear promise can turn a business proposition into a compelling offer.

An offer combines more than a price and a list of features. Hormozi examines the result a customer wants, the obstacles they expect and the ways a business can make its promise more credible. The book develops those elements into a repeatable approach to shaping and presenting an offer.

Eight approaches to finding the people who could become your customers, from outreach to referrals and advertising.

A strong offer still needs to reach the right people. This volume considers different routes to attention and demand, including direct contact, useful content, paid advertising and recommendations. Each approach asks how a business can create a reliable flow of new conversations.