Why this exists
I got tired of losing good books.
I’m Brian Renshaw. I lead, and I read to get better at it. I spend a lot of time listening to people I respect think out loud, and they keep naming books.
Then the episode ends and the title is gone.
So when a book comes up in a conversation worth trusting, I keep it, along with the reason it came up.
What a book page gives you
Every entry names the person who brought the book up, the podcast it came up on, and what they actually said about it. That is usually enough to decide whether to read it.
This is not a complete index
It does not try to be. Coverage grows as I listen, and plenty of good conversations are not here yet. Treat it as somewhere to find something, not as a record of everything.
The original voices come first
Every book links out to the conversations it came up in. This is an independent companion, not a replacement for listening, and it is not affiliated with the podcasts or authors it covers.
How the entries are made
Podcast transcripts help identify books and the context in which they are discussed. AI assists with extraction and concise summaries. Source passages and book identities are checked before publication; uncertain entries are held for review. Mistakes remain possible. Follow the original conversation for full context.
Two different collections
Books brings together book discussions and author interviews from several podcasts. What Is Cal Reading? is a separate record I compiled from Cal Newport’s podcast transcriptions. A book’s presence on that list does not mean he recommends it.
Reading what you find
Finding a good book is half of it. The other half is reading it, so I made Reading Habit, an iPhone and iPad app for making reading a daily habit. You mark the days you read, without counting pages or minutes, and work toward a monthly book goal you set yourself.
Corrections
Please include the page address and the relevant original source.
Book links
Each book page carries a link to find that book on Amazon. Those are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. They do not affect which books appear here or what is said about them.