While in Prison for a little over a year I read 137 books. As you can see in the list below, the books range from libertarian manifesto to novels about 18th century Africa. I purposely listed them here in the order that I read them. The first book listed was what I read on day one, and the last book listed was yet to be finished when I was finally released. If you follow the list you can see into my daily life inside, because what I was reading largely shaped how I was feeling.
Some books I read the whole series, though sometimes I had to stop because I didn’t have the next book. I would write to friends and family asking them for books, but most of my books came from people I didn’t even know! As an aside, thanks to all of you who sent care packages to me while I was away. It meant a lot to me, and helped to make my time pass much faster. I also got over 200 letters from people, largely unknown to me until that point. Thank you!
After finishing a book, I wrote it down and kept a list. Below I show a picture of each one and a list of the books that go with it. Feel free to ask my my opinion on certain books or how I was feeling while I was reading then.
Purse.io has ShapeShift integration so you can buy directly with steem! I’m able to continue buying more books with the Steem I earn from this post. Thank you!
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
- The Master Switch by Tim Wu
- Riverworld: To Your Scattered Bodies Go: by Philip José Farmer
- Riverworld: The Fabulous Riverboat: by Philip José Farmer
- Jennifer Government by Max Barry
- From Jailer to Jailed: My Journey from Correction and Police Commissioner by Bernard Kerik
- Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crile Jr.
- The Essential Talmud by Adin Steinsaltz
- Jackpot: High Times, High Seas, and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs by Jason Ryan
- The Racketeer by John Grisham
- The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- The Chamber by John Grisham
- Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky
- Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Gray Mountain by John Grisham
- The Litigators by John Grisham
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Busting Vegas: A True Story of Monumental Excess, Sex, Love, Violence, and Beating the Odds by Ben Mezrich
- Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
- Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
- The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
- The Defector by Daniel Silva
- The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva
- Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva
- Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo and Alexander Bennett
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
- Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
- Shibumi by Trevanian
- The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
- Satori by Don Winslow
- The Professional by Kresley Cole
- The Master by Kresley Cole
- Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
- Winter of the World by Ken Follett
- Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
- The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva
- The English Girl by Daniel Silva
- The Heist by Daniel Silva
- The Kill Artist Daniel Silva
- The English Assassin by Daniel Silva
- The Confessor by Daniel Silva
- I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
- Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
- Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
- Hilarity Ensues by Tucker Max
- Night Fall by Nelson DeMille
- The Lion's Game by Nelson DeMille
- Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
- Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose
- The Lion by Nelson DeMille
- The Panther by Nelson DeMille
- The Appeal by John Grisham
- The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century by Harry Turtledove
- Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
- The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius
- The Confession by John Grisham
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove
- Sycamore Row by John Grisham
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille
- Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille
- The Brethren by John Grisham
- Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
- A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva
- Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva
- The Messenger by Daniel Silva
- The Partner by John Grisham
- Those in Peril by Wilbur Smith
- Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
- VICIOUS CIRCLE by Wilbur Smith
- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
- Private Parts by Howard Stern
- Golden Fox by Wilbur Smith
- A Time to Die by Wilbur Smith
- The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- Last Dance at the Hotel Kempinski by Robin Hirsch
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen
- World Without End by Ken Follett
- Insatiable: Porn — A Love Story by Asa Akira
- The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
- The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
- Schottenstein Edition Pirkei Avos by Rabbi Menachem Davis
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré.
- The Last Ship by William Brinkley
- Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
- The Source by James A. Michener and Steve Berry
- Numbered Account by Christopher Reich
- Assegai by Wilbur Smith
- Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
- The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg
- The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Hornet Flight by Ken Follett
- The Expats by Chris Pavone
- A Falcon Flies Wilbur Smith
- The Emu Dialogues by Jens Kohler, Robert Marra and Luciano Iacobilli
- 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart
- Vengeance by George Jonas
- The Leopard Hunts in Darkness by Wilbur Smith
- The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell and Laurie Thompson
- Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana Meditation by Marshall Glickman
- The Five Keys to Mindful Communication: Using Deep Listening and Mindful Speech to Strengthen Relationships by Susan Gillis Chapman
- The Quest: A Novel by Nelson DeMille
- A Sparrow Falls by Wilbur Smith
- When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith
- The Triumph of the Sun by Wilbur Smith
- The Law of One, Book 1 by Ra
- Letters to a Buddhist Jew by Akiva Tatz and David Gottlieb
- Power of the Sword by Wilbur Smith
- The English Spy by Daniel Silva
- Rage by Wilbur Smith
- Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias by Peter Ludlow
- The Ethics of Liberty by Murray N. Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe
- Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
- The Bastiat Collection by Frédéric Bastiat
- From Mathematics to Generic by Alexander A. Stepanov and Daniel E. Rose
- World OrderSep by Henry Kissinger
- Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
- The Diamond Hunters by Wilbur Smith
- The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo and Don Bartlett
- Whiteout by Ken Follett
- The Man from St. Petersburg by Ken Follett
- Jackdaws by Ken Follett
- American Assassin by Vince Flynn
- The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson
- Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
- Shanghai by Christopher New
Nice reading list; i think i am beginning to see a common theme emerge from the titles :)
Would be awesome if you could come on our weekly Beyond Bitcoin hangout and share your stories and experiences. It is every Friday and this weeks hangout is starting right now ; current speakers are:
It would be a honor to have you attend even if you just wanted to drop in and see what it was about and maybe sometime in the future share your experiences with the community..
Check out the official thread HERE
Hope to see you around :)
Absolutely, email me cs@charlieshrem.com
Awesome; really great to hear; i think you will have some very interesting input..
I will shoot you an email with a few more details and the link to next weeks RSVP post !
Speak soon, Cheers :)
Which of these are you really glad that you read and which are hardly worth the few centimeters of real-estate their title takes on that worn out paper sheet?
Don't read book of numbers. I really liked letters to a Buddhist Jew. If you like religion discussions it's awesome. Also the mindfulness books and last dance at hotel kempinksi
another example of why the ability to upvote yourself is bs
Huh? What are you talking about?
@recursive brought his comment to the top of the thread. I would argue it's pretty rude, although it's the whale's prerogative.
And I would strongly disagree with you. People of influence have influence. That's their reward for being early adopters and taking risk while others were busy doing other things. Or those who were willing to invest and power up STEEM: same thing. They are willing to take risk and convert real value (read: benefits they provided to other human beings in other areas which they were rewarded for by the market) into a speculative investment.
It certainly is. You can either leave and go somewhere else that better fits what your version of "bs" is or is not, or you can work to gain influence of your own. As it stands now, your comment seems like envy. There's no coercion involved here. It's all completely voluntary. My advice to you: stop being negative and start bringing something positive to the conversation. You just might find yourself rewarded by the network.
If you are writing things you don't think are worth your own upvote, then you'd better not write them in first place.
@demotruk: using the same reasoning, when a whale upvotes anyone else's comment or post, they are making that comment go to the top at the expense of everyone else's comment. How arrogant are they to think their opinion of what comment is good should supercede everyone else's opinion?
Or maybe you could see it from another perspective and consider that whales are upvoting things which they think are helping improve the discussion around the post. Why should they have a blind spot for their own comment if they made that comment specifically to make the discussion more useful and interesting to everyone else?
Look again at what I put in my comment without getting too focused on who wrote it, then look again at your rant: do you really think people will have the time to read 100 books? Isn't it helpful to the discussion to know what are the most recommended and the most worthless books in the list?
Charlie Shrem, a reputed member of the crypto community, was used by the financial mob to make an example, and sent to jail over petty regulation related charges, following which he spent one year reading 100+ books that appealed to his mood back then. Aren't you anxious to know which he felt were the most meaningful to him in that situation and which he would recommend to a community who shares a similar mindset?
@demotruk: completely my bad. I did miss that you were not the original commenter. I do try to remain level headed and not hostile with these discussions, but the constant complaining about those with influence here and how they chose to use it is starting to get under my skin.
I apologize for taking that out on you and ask for your forgiveness.
@lukestokes You are replying to me as though I was the same person who made the original comment. Your response is unnecessarily hostile over something about which reasonable people can disagree.
I would apply Kant's principle to it, could you genuinely will that everyone here lived by that maxim? It would mean Ned and Dan raising their own comments and rewarding themselves hundreds of dollars each time. In order to raise your voice up, others must go behind. I would not wish to push my voice above others and pay myself in the process, unless given sufficient reason. This is all a tangent though, so we can continue this elsewhere if you'd like.
@recursive
I would simply answer that there is good reason to have a blind spot to yourself, to counter the effects of self-serving bias. People are generally biased to see their own behavior as particularly valuable as it is a way of reinforcing self esteem, the same bias doesn't exist as generally towards others. It's for the same reason that raising your voice above others is seen as rude while "hear, hear!" is not. Since most people see their own input as more valuable, most people would be biased towards voting for themselves. If everyone was to live by the maxim of allowing themselves to upvote their posts, then the website would be overwhelmingly dominated by the comments of the largest whales always at the top and extracting value from their own system. If whales upvoting their own comments and extracting the rewards turns off new users, then it isn't something they should do. If it turns out to be just a handful of people complaining, then fine, it obviously isn't a big problem.
Incidentally, my one line post was not a rant. It was not meant to diminish your comment but to explain the sentiment which the other poster expressed. I'm sorry for calling your post rude, it wasn't intended as a personal slight.
I gave you a lengthy, rather passionate reply below, mistaking @demotruk for you. "bs" stands for "bull sh*t" which is pretty strong wording and why I gave such a strong reply. We are all entitled to our opinions, but using (IMO) earned influence to promote your own comments above others is part of this ecosystem and something I actually enjoy as a return on my investment here.
its bullshit
that you would even try to justify up voting yourself and when it's forked/patched I am going to spike it in your faces, "I told you so."If the witnesses agree upvoting yourself should not be allowed, and the change is made, then I will go along with what the group decides on this matter. Let me ask you this though, which would you prefer:
Which one, to you, provides more transparency and honesty? If they do release a patch to prevent #1, #2 will surely happen. The problem, it seems, is an underlying moral or philosophical disagreement about what is reasonable and what is bullshit. That, unfortunately, will not be solved with a pull request. It's a matter of ideas.
This is a really good post, I am always looking for new things to read. How was Man in the High Castle? The show they made on Amazon is really good, looking forward to the new season. I am glad you were able to grow your mind in there, but happier that you can use it in the outside world now! :)
The book was fantastic ! It was the first book I read in there so it made me feel good that America won, and then I remembered I was in prison lol
hahahahaha! America then is QUITE a bit different from the USSA today, as you now know!
Hahah... wow. The irony. :)
Argh :/
I haven't read a book for years, and I have no desire or need to. To me it is a slow, low vibration to stare at page after page. I would rather go out for a walk or train my flexibility. But if I was in prison I may while away the time with my head in a book.
Books gave me the ability to escape :)
yes, its a form of escapism...and really if one is free in ones mind then one it truly free
Thanks for doing this @charlieshrem. Which is the most mind-blowing book that you've read? Gonna pick one up :)
Seveneves and cryptonomicon!
I've been meaning to read cryptonomicon for a while now. It'll be my next purchase on Audible.
Heh. Wow. That one will take me a while. :)
I have cryptonomicon on my shelf! Have not read it! Lol, looks like we're gonna read it together :D
My booklist is often out of control. So many great books to read. Currently listening to the Origins of Virtue and loving it.
You have to ! Best book ever
agree, Seveneves was awesome ! listened to the audiobook within the last month. Audiobooks (imho) are a great resource to knowledge, and just so damn portable !, lol
Reading is what kept my sanity in jail and in prison when I was sentenced.. I ended up reading about a 600 page book every 2-3 days. It truly keeps you from losing your mind or your patience for those who seek disarray.
You're here... would you mind voting it up? Thx :) https://steemit.com/steemit/@webosfritos/top-bitcoin-pioneers-and-thought-leaders-you-want-to-be-following-in-steemit
thanks!
Wow. That is a long list.
Which book or books had the greatest impact on you out of all those?
BTW - The Man in the High Castle is also a TV series now - haven't gotten round to watching it myself but have heard a lot of good things about it.
The bastiat and rothbard books were great ! Crypto anarchy essays and all the novels !
Thanks. I will need to check them out just hope they aren't too dense for me.
The show is good, a little slow, but I still want to watch it next season.
I think it is on Amazon Prime?
This is an amazing list Charlie! Your mind must be exploding with knowledge and ideas.
The picture interesting
I'm so happy to see some Rothbard and Bastiat in there! I suspect you view the world a bit differently after reading their works.
Wow, this is interesting. What were some of the books they said you couldn't read though?
Hmm I'm not sure, usually books around hacking and things like that wouldn't be allowed. You couldn't get Wired magazine for some reason
I've got a long list of books I've been meaning to read. Maybe I should go up to the USSA and, surely get arrested for something in the "land of the free", to get caught up on my reading. :P
It's not worth it, I'd trade not reading these books for that time of my life back
It would provide some much needed peace and quiet for me if I spent some time in the clink.
Did you get any of your books from the prison library or only from outside ?
Half and half. Most were from strangers, many had letters of well wishing attached
Wow, that's quite a long list! If you don't mind answering, how'd you get the time to read all of them? I was led to believe that prisoners were assigned work details.
Good question, everyone does have to work. Wether it's a 30 minute cleaning job or a 5 hour mexhanic job. I worked landscaping, and I had time in the mornings. At night time, usually after dinner you'd find me holding court in the library, either reading or talking. I read mostly at night, nighttime was super quiet and the only time to find silence so I would read for hours and sleep during the hot afternoons.
Thanks!
Charlie,
I think it's awesome that you have discovered Steemit and it allows you to make a living writing blogs from prison. Sure beats laundry and license plates!!!
Is Charlie already back in prison ;) ?
he is out ..
Nice reading list;
Great reading list especially the mindfulness list made me very curious.
Would you recommend it, did it support your way of thinking ?
All the best !
Thank you for sharing your experience and books. I'm amazed by the quantity of books that you read. I'm glad you're here on Steemit.
Shit you burned through books faster the the nazis did in the Catholic Church
I would have Probably need another half year. Dam government locking up the good guys. I will be following
Any suggestions on the best 5 you read ? @charliesherm
That's a lot of books, nice done! Do you have any favorite book(s) you would recommend? :)
The good list of books, and at me is enough time one to read
John read How to Win Friends and Influence people and The Prince while in prison after his lawyer recommended them. The prison tried to refuse both books claiming The Prince was a book teaching people how to lie. I read some fiction that was floating around the block also but overall books are hard to come by in my exsperience. Overall loved your list even if it did bring up painful thoughts and memories. Following you and hope you will check out our content. https://steemit.com/@lily-da-vine
Almost 20 years ago, I had to spend a little bit of time in the state run hotel(controlled substances). Reading was such a great escape. This was back when Amazon was mostly just books. My family used to order me tons of stuff of Amazon. I also used to share them with others, since the selection available was very sparse.
Unfortunately, when I left, I tried to donate them, but there was a lot of red-tape associated. I ended up taking a 5-hour bus ride with a trash-bag filled with books.
This was the only book from your list, that was also on my list. It was a really great book, and the back-story behind it is amazing as well.
looks like my laundry list.......awesome article!
Without even perusing the list I can see that it is going to great, as the very first listing is "Man In The High Castle" by Philip K Dick. Brilliant book.
Good on you for keeping a list of what you read. Never been in prison, but I was in bootcamp (there are some parallels lol) and the only list I kept was the specific food items I was going to eat when I got out. Lucky Charms was on that list. I don't even like Lucky Charms... strange.
good job))
What is prison like? If you had so much time to read interesting stuff, I guess you made the most of it. Thanks for sharing your very interesting list.
I hope never to end up in prison, but when I listen to Johnny Cash "Live at Folsom Prison", there's always something strangely dignified about thinking about the life of a prisoner. I guess this post adds to this feeling.
May prisons never exist again!
I'm astonished that the first book you read was 'The Man In The High Castle'. I finished that book in the early hours one morning when I was struggling with insomnia, strongly recall the feeling that I was slipping into a different reality. The tv series doesn't come close. How did it make you feel?
Brilliant
Prison, the best place to read books
can't believe you did jail time, holy moly.
I'm REALLY glad to see there aren't any religious texts on that list. :)
@charlieshrem Some good reading there ! I was surprised at how many I have read. Grisham is like an addiction ... Quite a few on the list I would recommend to any anarchist or anyone considering "freedom" an issue. I can empathise with reading anything you can get your hands on at times in a "cage". It is seriously fortunate and unfortunate that you had the time to contemplate what you did read. Congratulations on your choices and your very unfortunate "opportunity" to educate yourself ! I have heard that like 90% ? of people don't read books after HS or college ... Very sad.
Read More, Reason More ... JTS
This here list has provided some hidden gems to add to my list. Thank you oh so very much for contributing to the greater community.
Pleasure !