Bookshelf

My main takeaway from this book is that many people would do well to prioritize their health and fitness many years before it becomes obvious to do so.

I especially appreciated his "backcasting" framework to determine age-based fitness targets that are equivalent to performing routine activities later in life: e.g., based on the average rate of decline of strength with age, the strength required to lift a grandchild at age 80 is more-or-less equivalent to the strength needed to goblet squat 55lbs at age 40. This is a useful framework for setting near-term fitness goals based on the activities I'd like to be able to do in the long-term.

If checklists are good enough for surgeons, they're good enough for me. This book had a significant effect on my own personal organization. These days, I practically run my life via a series of checklists.

Extraordinary worldbuilding.

The sheer scale and creativity of ideas in this series is simply phenomenal. This series easily represents three of my favourite books of all time.

This is one of my favourite book series of all time; however, KSR's writing comes with a detail-oriented, science-nerd worldbuilding style that can make some sections feel tangential and the overall plot seem slow. I happen to love the writing, but as a warning, if you're 20% through Red Mars and not having fun, you probably won't enjoy the rest of the series.