Note: I used to maintain this page when I was a graduate student. I might still update from time to time, but this is not complete or informative anymore! :)
In my free time I love to read, cook, do yoga, and be outdoors, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing. I also love traveling and road trips. This is a non-exhaustive list of things I liked and enjoyed over time or found useful.
Non-fiction and textbooks
2026
The Third plate: Field notes on the future of food
2025
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference. Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor
2024
Speaking of Crime: The Language of Criminal Justice. Lawrence Solan and Peter Meijes Tiersma
Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. Chris Bail
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Priya Parker
2023
Pragmatics. Stephen Levinson
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. Brene Brown
Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design. Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores
Nudge. Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein
Designing Your Life. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Thomas Kuhn
2022
Philosophy: The Classics. Nigel Warburton
The Effect: An Introduction to Research Design and Causality. Nick Huntington-Klein
Food and Feasting in Art. Silvia Malaguzzi
Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide. Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras
Who We Are and How We Got Here. David Reich
How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Katy Milkman
Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans. Melanie Mitchell
Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Joshua Angrist and Jörn-Steffen Pischke
2021
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. David Epstein
Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live. Nicholas Christakis
Everything Is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer. Duncan J. Watts
Counterfactuals and Causal Inference: Methods and Principles for Social Research. Stephen L. Morgan and Christopher Winship
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu. Dan Jurafsky
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries. Safi Bahcall
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
2020
Field Experiments: Design, Analysis, and Interpretation. Alan S. Gerber, Donald P. Green
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Yuval Noah Harari
21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Yuval Noah Harari
2019
Crowdsourced Health: How What You Do on the Internet Will Improve Medicine. Elad Yom-Tov
Observation and Experiment. Paul R. Rosenbaum
Predictably Irrational. Dan Ariely
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success. Adam Grant
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Yuval Noah Harari
2018
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. Dana Mackenzie and Judea Pearl
Thinking, Fast and Slow. Daniel Kahneman
Twitter: A Digital Socioscope. Yelena Mejova, Ingmar Weber, Michael W. Macy
The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us. James W. Pennebaker
Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age. Matthew J. Salganik
Mostly outdoor tried-and-tested activities and day trips
Switzerland
Cross-country skiing at Piste du Golf Crans-Montana
Cross-country skiing at Sainte-Croix Piste Les Rasses–Les Cluds
Cross-country skiing at Täsch Cross-Country Ski Trail
Cross-country skiing at Piste de la vallée de la Jogne near Gruyères
Cross-country skiing at Plans-sur-Bex
Snowshoeing trail Parcours de La Chia in Gruyeres
Snowshoeing trail Solacyre at Leysin
Snowshoeing trail Pas de l’Ours–Crans-Montana
Snowshoeing trail Parcours du Chasseron
Snowshoeing trail Parcours de Ratvel, walking up to the summit of the Niremont
Winter hike near Interlaken Royal Walk Mannlichen at 2342m altitude
Winter hike near Zermatt Rotenboden-Riffelberg trail starting at 2815m altitude
Hike Five Lakes in Zermatt mountains (the queen of all hikes starting at 2571m altitude)
Hike in the valley of 72 waterfalls (the Lord of the Rings hike)
Hike Vigne et Passerelle à Farinet
Hike from Bretaye lake to la Tete du Meilleret
Visit St. Beatus Caves near Interlaken
Visit Sauvabelin park, tower, and zoo
Visit Cailler chocolate factory in Gruyeres
Italy
Cross-country skiing in Monte Bondone
Hike to San Remedio pilgrimage site
Hike in Pala group San Martino
Cycling from Riva del Garda to Punta Larici
France
Aiguille du Midi
Cordon Les Bénés circular route with view of Mont Blanc
Bay Area
Redtail Loop trail at Arastratero Preserve and brunch at Rossotti’s Alpine Inn
Maryland & DC
Guinness Open Gate Brewery (experimental brewery)