Book Recommendations - Richie Chan

I make this page for two reasons: (1) to document my learning/reading journey (therefore the below reading list is an ongoing WIP document) about the things I’m deeply interested in, like design, futures, urban/city, critical studies, human agency, and other topics; (2) to share this list with anyone who’s interested in similar topics or just want to read to gain more knowledge, understand self/world, escape, etc. Because I strongly believe in self-empowerment through reading that allows us to open ourselves to new worlds of thought and achieve great things.

Like I said, I offer this list as sort of an ‘evolving archive’: part personal blog, part public resource. I meant this to be a shared literacy resource. However, I wish to highlight that it’s difficult to categorise some of the readings as they cross disciplines, but nonetheless I try to put them under categories which I find useful to me. I suppose I still believe in the old saying–however cliche this sounds and is overused (abused) these days–“knowledge is power” by Francis Bacon. But really what resonates with me is the Aristotelian saying, “to know oneself is the beginning of all wisdom”. I guess I still have a long way to go to finding out who I really am…

For those who find it hard to pick up reading, I’ve got your back. I’ve tried here to include a mix of accessible and foundational material. Also some tips: I suggest starting small: 30 minutes a day–morning or evening–depending on which part of the day you feel most productive–accompanied by some reflection, routine, and consistency. It sounds like a lot of work, and yes, the beginning is always tough and there’s no workaround but if we’re willing to put in the hard work from the get go, over time, it only gets easier, instinctive, habitual, second nature.

Let’s invest ourselves in books (plus some other media I put here) as our closest and most trusted friends/allies.

This list is a WIP curated and updated over time.

Also, I’m on Goodreads. Follow me and explore this amazing portal.

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Way of life

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (2025 release and listed into Oprah’s Book Club. I decided to get a copy of the novel to see what the hype is about. The first page, the first line, “The hardest thing in the world is to live only once.” Enough said.)
Tao Te Ching by Derek Lin (2006) (The author makes reading into this eastern philosophy accessible. Takes pains to share insights from reading other previously translated texts which don’t seem to give justice to Lao Tzu’s verses. Included are all 81 of them.)
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Cultivates stoicism and by extension, resilience)
Awakening Your Ikigai by Ken Mogi (2018)
Ways of Seeing by John Berger (1972)
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki (1933)
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki (2017) (Insights and tips on how to live a simpler, minimalistic life–the case for true happiness)
(introductory) Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans (2016) (The title says it all. The book offers tips and tools like odyssey planning, good time journalling, lifeview and workview writing, gravity and anchor problems application. In particular, one key highlight for me is learning from the authors how to choose wisely (discerningly).)

Human agency

The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (1958)
Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen (1999)
Homo Deus by Yuvai Noah Harari (2015)
Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation by Margaret Archer (2003)
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (1995)
The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes (1967)
Basic Writings by Nietzsche by Friedrich Nietzsche (1992)

Psychology (primary domain for me to explore introversion (or at least what I think I have) among other things)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (2013)
The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World by Jenn Granneman (2017)
Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead by Nancy Ancowitz (2009)
The Art of Being Alone: Solitude Is My Home, Loneliness Was My Cage by Renuka Gavrani (2023)
Walden, or Life In The Woods by Henry David Thoreau (1854)
The Wisdom of Insecurity – A Message for an Age of Anxiety by Alan Watts (2011).
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Gustav Jung (1989).
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (2009)
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (1995).
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz (2004).

Way of life

Critical studies (incl. some urban themes)

Futures

Anything design

Human agency

Psychology (primary domain for me to explore introversion (or at least what I think I have) among other things)