As I posted my hundredth book review yesterday—a reflection on Cal Newport’s Deep Work—I found myself pausing to contemplate how reading hasn’t just filled my time, but fundamentally transformed my life. That number, one hundred, marks an important milestone that I’d like to celebrate by looking back on my experience reading and reviewing so many books.

How did this journey begin?

It must be said that I began this journey very hesitantly. I have always been reading at least one book per year, if only to keep myself entertained while my phone’s battery was dead, but the idea of reviewing books germinated slowly in my brain.

It all began when I started tracking what I was reading in a Google Sheet. If we look at the sheet in question, it’s pretty obvious that the 2020 pandemic had much to do with that. Boredom leads us to do things we have never attempted before, out of sheer desperation to be entertained. Luckily, reading is a pretty amazing hobby, and so I started reading all kinds of books out of curiosity. Back then, my reviews were simple one liners that I had no intention of sharing with the rest of the world.

There was one problem, though. I was never reading books to learn. Always to be entertained. I knew that if I read any non-fiction book, I wouldn’t be able to remember anything. It was only when I read Team Topologies using my pen and highlighter to deliberately take notes in the book and create my own summary that something finally clicked. I now felt empowered to remember what I was reading. This made me feel more confident than ever to try challenging books like The DevOps Handbook, which had haunted me for years. The experience was so transformative that I wrote a blog post titled Overcoming Learning Anxiety, which became the basis of my first self-published book a couple years later.

I started writing more comprehensive reviews because I became more confident that I had things to say about the things I was reading. I could now create links between the different works and cross-reference them. My review format kept evolving as I was using it and trying new ideas.

Basically, the more I read, the more I felt empowered. This was one of the few times where I felt I could be addicted to something that would create a virtuous cycle of benefits. It was not only the relaxation provided by reading that improved my life; I found that each time I implemented the books’ ideas in the real world, my life got more interesting, engaging, meaningful. So I just kept going, and going, and going! I knew I would reach the objective of writing a hundred reviews. The question now became, what would stop me? Would I reach a point where it would become increasingly difficult to come across fresh ideas?

Moments of doubt

There were certainly moments of doubt along the way. This wasn’t accomplished in a straight line. I still had a day job that took most of my time. In fact, between the time I started and the time I posted my hundredth review, I was let go twice from my job! Major things happened in my personal life. But undeterred, I just kept on working on my reviews. I liked to pretend that it was my side hustle, a personal time investment that, who knows, could become profitable somewhere down the line, somehow. It was the only project that made me feel in control and that was truly bringing me positivity in my life.

However, when I posted my review of Dan Pink’s Drive, that’s when the first serious moments of self-doubt crept in. The subject of this book is motivation, and reading it made me question my own reasons for sinking so much time into reviewing books. Was I doing all of this for show? Was I really extracting as much from books as I was claiming? Who was I really doing this for? What did I have to show for all my efforts? Who was this benefiting? This flurry of questions took me by surprise. I wanted to make sure that my motivations came from within, not from external validation, but here I was, doubting myself.

Still, I persevered. I looked back on how much more aware I felt since starting this adventure, and this reinvigorated my curiosity to keep reading. I continually searched for books that were just outside my comfort zone, that would potentially teach me new things. Since I now was painfully aware that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, I simply strived to explore new subjects and authors that both interested and intimidated me. For the first time in my life, it felt like I was genuinely doing research, and having fun while doing it. The underlying question of all this research was figuring out how to improve my life and the impact I had on those around me. And poof, out of nowhere, here I was, completing my hundredth review!

Some meaningful pictures

Here are some pictures I collected of my journey.

My favorite books

Below is a list of some of the books that had the biggest impact on me since I started my reviews. Their ideas inform my consciousness day after day, and I believe putting them to action has improved my life significantly.

The Phoenix Project

This is a novel telling the tale of how Bill, an employee of Unlimited Parts inc., managed to almost single-handedly turn the company’s fate around by fixing its most important and failing project, nicknamed Phoenix.

I have read this book twice, since it resonates so strongly with me. I can’t help but identify with Bill. I want to have that sort of impact in the world. It’s an irresistible mission! Unfortunately, life is not as rosy as fiction would like us to believe. I have tried three times to become Bill in real life for the different companies I have worked for, and in my opinion failed every time. This is a result both of lack of experience and of difficult environments.

Still, this dream of resurrecting a project from its ashes and turn it into a success, while propelling my own career at the same time, is a very seducing prospect. It’s a vision I cannot get out of my head. It propels me to try new things, to be optimistic. I know that one day I will find a way to feel the deep sense of purpose Bill and his team must have felt when they reaped the rewards of their hard work.

I think that in the future I will use this book as a conversation starter with my colleagues, instead of trying to impose my vision on everyone.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

This book was written in 1936, which makes it quite old. In fact, it is a classic of business books and should probably be read by anyone who aims to become successful in any way. For me, there is definitely a before and an after reading this book.

For context, I am an extrovert who enjoys meeting new people. Before picking up the book, I thought I knew all there was to know about winning friends and influencing people. Boy was I wrong!

In all honesty, I couldn’t tell you succinctly how to win friends and influence people. It’s certainly not as easy as the title makes it sound because everyone is different. However, it did make me aware that I needed to learn how to better listen to people when they talked to me.

Listening as in not interrupting the person in front of me. As in actually responding to their ideas and adding to them, regardless of the actual subjects I really want to talk about. Listening both patiently and actively.

It’s a strange thing to say, because I have been talking to people all my life. Yet, this book gave me reasons to be more attentive. It turns out, when you genuinely listen to what people say, even if what they talk about is of no immediate interest to you, they are giving you the keys to their kingdom. You simply have to recognize it. This is not about being manipulative: it’s about creating win-win scenarios. By listening more, you are able to care better.

This has impacted my relationships in countless ways, some of which I still have yet to understand. I couldn’t recommend this book enough.

Mastery

I would always rather have been a teacher than a student. I hate feeling like I know less than other people. My ego often gets in my own way.

This is one book that made me realize that no amount of whining would bring me success. In truth, I really needed to sit down, listen to what the truly experienced people around me had to say, and test their ideas. It also made me realize that any relationship between a student and a mentor is supposed to be temporary. No mentor is all-knowing. This was another insight: after finding in me the force to spend time with whatever mentor life would pair me with, I would then have to find the force to eventually disagree with them and forge my own path. That was something I had not really thought about previously, since I’m used to collecting relationships as a way to validate my self-image. I’m not used to disagreeing, and this book made me realize this was a skill I definitely needed to work on.

I feel like I read this book at exactly the right time in my career, at the age of 30.

Unlearn

By the time I wrote my review of Unlearn, I had accumulated 33 reviews online. I was feeling pretty good about the wealth of knowledge I had accumulated. But here’s a book that completely blew my mind and made me realize that libraries of knowledge are living organisms. A paradoxically essential ingredient to any kind of intelligence is the ability to unlearn and to relearn.

This book made me realize that there will surely be a time when I’ll become completely enamoured with a book, write a glowing review for it, only to realize years later that there was something fundamentally wrong with it and that I’ll have to rethink any decision I made based on such a book’s principles. I’m glad it prepared me for that.

In a way, this book surely made me better at dealing with criticism, because I reframed it as the perfect tool for unlearning outdated ways of behaving. It also gave me hope that anyone can improve and that, in the future, luck will smile on those who have sharpened their unlearning and relearning skills. This book is a big reason of why I am motivated to keep reading and hunting for my next insight.

How to Read a Book

Can you believe that I have written 96 book reviews without first having read How to Read a Book? If that sounds preposterous, that’s because it probably is! It’s classic of me: trying to prove to myself that I can do something without reading the manual.

Well, the good news is that there is no single way to read a book. Just being able to finish a book is a good enough start. However, I feel like I have learned a lot from this one. For instance, there are different levels of reading: are you aiming for speed, or for depth of understanding? It is important to know the answer to this question, because it will inform how the read is performed.

This book made me change my review template and I find that the questions it makes us ask to the book really help in making sense of it and summarizing it. Questions such as:

• What is the book about as a whole?
• What is being said in detail, and how?
• Is the book true, in whole or part?
• What of it?

The Bible

We can count The Bible as non-fiction, right?

What began as a humorous quest for bragging rights ended up being one of my favorite reads of all time. I found the Bible absolutely fascinating. It made me more curious about the world, about the birth, life, and death of communities, and about our human thought systems.

I come from a scientific background. I have a post-graduate degree in physics, and never before have given much serious thought to faith. However, reading the Bible did make something faithful grow in me. I don’t know what label to give it yet. Is it Jesus? Is it God? I’m not sure. However, it has shown me humanity in an entirely new light. It gave me hope, in a way. It gave me proof that as a collective, we can unlearn some very deeply rooted beliefs and replace them with something radically different. The best example I can imagine is related to the golden rule: “Treat others like you’d like to be treated.” This is the opposite of what the divine law had stated for God knows how many years, that whatever bad deed will be met measure for measure (“An eye for an eye”).

This is a remarkable thing to relearn. It is a deep, fundamental mental shift. It sounds so obvious to us contemporaries, that exhibiting kindness rather than revenge even in the face of crime is the only viable strategy if crime is ever to stop. Yet, this flies in the face of the Law that helped shape an ancient society that still exists today.

Reading the Bible made me eager to learn more about different cultures, and gives me hope that, in time, anything can be unlearned for the better.

Going forward, now what?

I think I will continue reading books. I notice that I have read a lot of self-help, so I’m looking forward to expand in new directions. I don’t intend to feel too bad about my choices either way. This is something I do for fun and relaxation, above all else. The fact that I can derive some insights from this hobby is a welcome benefit, but it cannot become the goal without becoming a bore.

I enjoyed the experience of writing a book. I’m now wondering what my next one will be about. My dream of becoming a best-selling author will have to be rethought, that’s for sure. My goal is to find the real questions I want to answer and to use my hobby to get at the heart of them. I’m in no rush. Again, if I can find a way to have fun while doing this, I know I will succeed.

Because I have accumulated a wealth of quotes, I have been looking for a way to put it to good use. Something I have been experimenting with is creating posts on social media to expand on some quotes I find particularly impactful. Originally I posted one quote per workday, but that was a little too intense to sustain, so in 2025 I am trying one post per week. This is still an experiment in progress, and I am unsure of what it will teach me, but if anything it is keeping me active in writing, and is creating some social media presence for myself.

More concretely, though, my efforts in 2025 will be spent toward becoming more stable in a new role that has yet to be defined.

So, what to make of all this?

Reading had a transformative impact on my life, in ways that I had never imagined. I don’t want to give the impression that it solved all my problems; far from it, it actually made me aware of how many problems truly stood in my way! Hence, the difficult days have not disappeared. However, sheer despair is gone. Shy, curious hope took its place. It’s fragile, but it’s definitely there. The backdrop of my mind is no longer dark. It’s light.

This gave me courage to try things I would have never dared before. For example, I am now a regular at a nearby gym. I have taken control of my health by limiting what kind of food enters in my house.

It has also given me the courage to let go of debilitating crutches. I started recognizing my addictions for what they were. Because I started loving myself and caring about my well-being, I found the motivation to do without many of the activities that used to drown my brain in dopamine. This makes for a way more boring life on the surface, but this is also the first time in my life where I can undeniably see progress in the way I think about things.

I have found some amount of inner peace. Despite these positive outcomes, I try to stay level-headed. I know that no peace is permanent. There will be more moments of self-doubt, instances of forgetting my own values, and regrettable decisions informed by unexpected emotions. I accept all of that.

While I don’t yet know the full moral of my story, I know this: the simple act of reading intentionally has given me tools to face whatever comes next. For anyone considering their own reading journey, don’t wait for the perfect moment or system. Start with one book, one review, one reflection. The transformative power of regular reading might surprise you as much as it surprised me.