📚 My non-obvious summer reading list｜Azeem Azhar 的偏旧、偏冷门夏日书单｜英文原文 + 中文翻译 (2026)

原文信息

阅读 Exponential View 官方原文：My non-obvious summer reading list

副标题：A bit older, a bit left field 作者：Azeem Azhar 发布时间：2026 年 8 月 1 日公开范围：原文页面标注为付费文章；以下内容截至公开页面显示的部分。付费墙后的内容不补写。

English original

My non-obvious summer reading list

A bit older, a bit left field

Azeem Azhar Aug 01, 2026

Readers often ask me what books are on the bookshelf you see behind me in my videos. 1

A bookshelf filled with books on economics, politics, technology, and society — *The bookshelf behind Azeem Azhar in his videos.*1

One of the surprising effects of working with AI is that I spend much more time reading long-form, books and journal articles in particular. More than before, I appreciate a book as a complete thing, an idea held together by an author, chewed over, possibly for years, and presented in a new way. 1

There are over 350 titles on the bookshelf in my study. The oldest one is a 231-year-old first edition. The newest is likely an advance reader copy of something I have been sent. As I’ve been working on my new book this year, I’ve really been focused on reading things relevant to that, and I haven’t read as broadly as I normally would. 1

I do want to share some suggestions of things you might want to read over the final month of summer while trying to be a little bit non-obvious, focusing on older titles or the left field. 1

As a side note, I’m wildly impressed by how well-read Exponential View readers are from what you share in the community Slack (join if you’re a member on the annual plan) and when we meet in person. 1

Here you go:

FICTION

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

Bookshop.org US · Bookshop.org UK · Waterstones · direct from Fitzcarraldo (UK) or NYRB (US) · Amazon 1

Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection looks at the meticulously curated life of a pair of digital nomads currently holed up in Berlin. The reality isn’t the Instagram feed. Perfection is my top choice. 1

I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken

Bookshop.org US · Bookshop.org UK · direct from Copper Canyon Press · Amazon 1

I don’t read much poetry. But I turned to Richard Siken’s latest collection in an attempt to learn. He wrote I Do Know Some Things after suffering a stroke that wrecked his language skills. It takes you through his journey of relearning who he is. It is prose as poetry, flat and unrelenting. 1

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I’ve also really fallen back into Russian literature for the first time in decades. 1

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground is just a standing rebuke to anyone who thinks humans make great decisions. It’s the protagonist standing tall against every version of utopia. 1

Bookshop.org US · Waterstones · Penguin UK · Amazon Bookshop.org UK carries the Alma Classics translation rather than Pevear & Volokhonsky. 1

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

Bookshop.org US · Bookshop.org UK · Waterstones · Oxford University Press · Amazon 1

Scientific nihilism clashes with romantic liberalism in Turgenev’s novel. This is a tale of generational disruption and of what even disruptors can’t remove. I dropped my copy in the swimming pool. 1

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Public-access boundary: The official page shows the paid-subscriber gate after Fathers and Sons. The remainder of the article is not publicly readable here, so it is not translated or reconstructed. 1

中文翻译

一份不那么常见的夏日书单

偏旧一点，也偏冷门一点

Azeem Azhar 2026 年 8 月 1 日

读者经常问我，视频里我身后那面书架上都有哪些书。 1

上图为 Azeem Azhar 视频中的书架，对应英文原文配图。 1

与 AI 一起工作带来的一个意外变化是，我花在长篇阅读上的时间多了很多，尤其是读书和学术期刊文章。比起以前，我更能体会一本书作为完整作品的价值：它是一个作者多年咀嚼、可能花了数年时间才整理出来的想法，以一种全新的方式呈现出来。 1

我的书房书架上有 350 多个书名。最老的一本是一本有 231 年历史的初版书。最新的可能是别人寄给我的某本书的提前试读本。今年我一直在写新书，阅读重点也放在与新书相关的内容上，因此没有像平时那样广泛阅读。 1

我还是想分享几本你可以在夏天最后一个月阅读的书。这次会尽量选得不那么常见，偏向年代较久或比较冷门的作品。 1

顺带一提，从你们在社区 Slack 里分享的内容（如果你是年费会员，可以加入社区），以及我们线下见面时的交流来看，我非常惊叹于 Exponential View 读者的阅读广度。 1

书单如下：

小说

《Perfection》：Vincenzo Latronico

上图为 Vincenzo Latronico 的《Perfection》书封，对应英文原文配图。 1

Vincenzo Latronico 的《Perfection》写的是一对数字游民精心策划的生活，他们此刻暂居柏林。现实并不是 Instagram 动态里展示的样子。《Perfection》是我最推荐的一本。 1

《I Do Know Some Things》：Richard Siken

上图为 Richard Siken 的《I Do Know Some Things》书封，对应英文原文配图。 1

我平时不太读诗。但为了学习如何读诗，我拿起了 Richard Siken 的最新诗集。他在一次中风损害语言能力后写下《I Do Know Some Things》。这本书带你走过他重新学习「自己是谁」的过程。它像散文一样写成诗，平直而不留情面。 1

《地下室手记》：Fyodor Dostoevsky

我也重新读起了俄罗斯文学，这是几十年来第一次。 1

上图为 Fyodor Dostoevsky 的《地下室手记》书封，对应英文原文配图。 1

Dostoevsky 的《地下室手记》简直一直在反驳那些认为人类很擅长做决定的人。主人公挺立着，对抗每一种乌托邦。 1

《父与子》：Ivan Turgenev

上图为 Ivan Turgenev 的《父与子》书封，对应英文原文配图。 1

Turgenev 的小说写的是科学虚无主义与浪漫的自由主义发生冲突。这是一个关于代际断裂的故事，也写到连颠覆者都无法移除的东西。我把自己的那本掉进了游泳池。 1

付费订阅边界

已经是付费订阅者？登录

公开内容边界： 官方页面在《父与子》之后显示付费订阅门槛。其后的文章内容在当前公开页面中不可读，因此这里不翻译，也不根据上下文重建。 1

References

1Exponential View - My non-obvious summer reading list