Hugh Gramelspacher

Bookshelf

Books I've read and my thoughts on them since 2024. Tracked via Hardcover API.

Currently Reading(1)

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Eric Ries

34%

Read(28)

The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels

Michael Shaara

Meditations

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

The Design of Everyday Things

The Design of Everyday Things

Donald A. Norman

Art of War

Art of War

Sun Tzu

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Walter Isaacson

April 1865

April 1865

Jay Winik

Source Code

Source Code

Bill Gates

L'Etranger (Collection Folio, 2) (French Edition) Publisher: Gallimard

L'Etranger (Collection Folio, 2) (French Edition) Publisher: Gallimard

Albert Camus

The Martian

The Martian

Andy Weir

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Walter Isaacson

Fidel Castro My Life by Castro Fidel & Ignacio Ramonet

Fidel Castro My Life by Castro Fidel & Ignacio Ramonet

Fidel Castro

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Angela Duckworth

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Timothy Ferriss

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Michael E. Gerber

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less

Greg McKeown

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know

Malcolm Gladwell

Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most

Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most

Greg McKeown

Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

Chris Miller

The Least of Us

The Least of Us

Sam Quinones

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Cal Newport

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

Donald J. Robertson

Atomic habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Atomic habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

James Clear

How to Think Like Socrates

How to Think Like Socrates

Donald J. Robertson

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Cal Newport

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

David Goggins

The Unplugged Alpha: The No Bullsh*t Guide To Winning With Women & Life

The Unplugged Alpha: The No Bullsh*t Guide To Winning With Women & Life

Richard Cooper

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

James M. McPherson

Want to Read(53)

The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

Mastery

Mastery

Robert Greene

The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead

Bill Gates

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Walter Isaacson

Shoe Dog

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Ron Chernow

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Kai Bird

Einstein: His Life and His Universe

Einstein: His Life and His Universe

Walter Isaacson

Winds of War

Winds of War

Herman Wouk

Crimea

Crimea

Orlando Figes

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

Susan Wise Bauer

Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It

Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It

Oliver Burkeman

Flow

Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

Ed Conway

All the President's Men

All the President's Men

Carl Bernstein

Introduction to Algorithms

Introduction to Algorithms

Thomas H. Cormen

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering

Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?

Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?

Michael J. Sandel

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

Tim Wu

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Peter Attia

AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors

AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors

Ronald M. Razmi

Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition

The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition

Andrew Hunt

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

The Alignment Problem

The Alignment Problem

Brian Christian

The Book of Why

The Book of Why

Judea Pearl

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Robert C. Martin

Blink

Blink

Malcolm Gladwell

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friedrich Nietzsche

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian

The Laws of Human Nature

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene

Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body

Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body

Andrew D. Huberman

The Coming of the Third Reich

The Coming of the Third Reich

Richard J. Evans

A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?  England 1783 - 1846

A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783 - 1846

Boyd Hilton

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

Mary Beard

The Fate of Rome

The Fate of Rome

Kyle Harper

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Philip Freeman

The Last King of America

The Last King of America

Andrew Roberts

Empire

Empire

Niall Ferguson

Caesar: Life of a Colossus

Caesar: Life of a Colossus

Adrian Goldsworthy

The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

Adam Tooze

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

Peter Heather

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War

Stephen R. Platt

Blood and Iron

Blood and Iron

Katja Hoyer

The Third Reich in Power, 1933-1939

The Third Reich in Power, 1933-1939

Richard J. Evans

The Western Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918

The Western Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918

Nick Lloyd

Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-1815

Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-1815

R.J.B. Knight

Napoleon: A Life

Napoleon: A Life

Andrew Roberts

Revolutionary Spring

Revolutionary Spring

Christopher Clark

The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

Steve Coll

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger

William Hague

The Third Reich at war

The Third Reich at war

Richard J. Evans

Reviews

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The Design of Everyday Things

Such an incredible book. It really made me think about why design matters and the impact bad and good design can have on lives, and the lessons and thoughts it left me were very profound and incredibly relevant considering the age of the book. Highly recommend for anyone interested in design or just building anything others will use.

February 20, 2026Read more →
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

This was a really good book and taught me a lot about Ben Franklin's life! Only giving 4 stars because it wasn't as interesting nearing the end. Otherwise solid biography!

January 5, 2026
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April 1865

I thought this book was interesting and it convinced me of it's claim that April 1865 was a pivotal month for the United States, but I personally wasn't a fan of it's pseudo-historical narrative with fictional dialogue interwoven with facts that didn't have sources or citations. It made me not know what was the authors inserted dialogue, and what was historical fact, which threw me off personally.

January 4, 2026Read more →
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Source Code

As a Computer Science student in Seattle this has got me going 🔥

December 25, 2025
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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

I thought this book was really good, though some of the practical advice wasn't that useful for me. The focus on outsourcing your job to India and getting random people to write reports or do menial tasks for you didn't seem that applicable.But in the age of AI, it's a lot more practical since AI is kind of a proxy for this outsourced labor he's been talking about as you can easily get the weather reports or scheduling he was discussing done. The book is definitely in need of a major rewrite to be adaptable for AI and automation technologies, and a lot of what he was talking about can be augmented by AI.What I got the most out of was the mindset shift. His perspective on life was the most valuable thing: you only get one life and you have to live it to the fullest. Try to take as much time off as possible, explore the world, be more adventurous, and do more things that make you happy rather than being extremely career-focused. It's definitely opened up my mind to a lot more possibilities.

December 13, 2025Read more →
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The Least of Us

This book was great, provided a lot of valuable insight into the opioid crisis and really highlighted the human aspect of it.

January 28, 2025