After a great 2019, and a middling 2020 for reading, and an even worse 2021 (lots of half read books with my attention as shot), here I am with my renewed sense of enthusiasm in the new year!
Having a reading list helps me make decisions about getting in quality reading without falling into decision making slumps. I aim to have a large percentage of my reading written by women, POC, and international writers; and typically read a handful of Man Booker short list titles. I typically make a list of my favorite categories, and then will supplement or swap as I find reading that calls out to me. I make room for the synchronicity of just picking up any random title, but I always have a backup!
A few notes and observations:
Audio Books: yes, I definitely count audiobooks as reading. I process information better when on my walks and runs, and thus prefer listening to memoirs or non-fiction this way. It’s also easier for me to stay engrossed and follow along while I’m moving physically.
Don’t forget FOOD! For the past several years, I read almost zero food memoirs, literature, or history – some of my favorite topics. So I made this one of my kitchen resolutions this year! (Again.) I’m also re-reading cookbooks
The library is your friend. While I always try to support local book stores – I’m also a huge fan of my local library – grabbing things off the Speed Read Shelf is my jam. Plus you can leave with a large stack and it always feels like I’ve won something.
As always, still working my way through my list of Personal Leadership Development Books, and the BBC Big Read. I also read quite a few business books for work – whatever I need to expand my ideas and sharpen my skills. Our team has quite a few readers, and an up and coming leadership book club has us reading (me re-reading Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly, next.)
January:
- Re-read Atomic Habits by James Clear; Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg (done!)
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (done!)
- We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers (in-progress!)
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
- Re-Read: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown (work book club)
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- What it’s Like to Be a Bird David Allen Sibley
Categories to choose from: (I often choose outside these, but I find that when I’m in the mood for a particular feeling, it breaks down by this type of category.)
YA fiction or Fantasy
- Gallant by VE Schwab (March 1 Release)
- Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
- The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy) by S.A. Chakraborty
- In the Serpents Wake (Tess of the Road #2) by Rachel Hartman
- Skyhunter by Marie Lu
Leadership / Business / Finance:
- Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson
- The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, Kaley Klemp
- Think Again by Adam Grant (in-progress!)
- Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr
Writing and Creating:
- The Practice: Shipping Your Creative Work by Seth Godin
- Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
- The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert
Fitness and Health / Mindfulness / Brains
- Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection by Ximena Vengoechea
- How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
- The Body, A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
- The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life by Piero Ferrucci
Gripping / Thrilling / Literary:
- My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- The Hunger by Alma Katsu
Memoirs / Non-Fiction Reporting
- The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
- Taste by Stanley Tucci
- Eat a Peach by David Chang
- Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
- “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman
Books to Finish (technically there are many more half-reads over the past few years):
- The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk
- Dutch House (Audiobook?)
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- Circe by Madeleine Miller (may switch over to Kindle)
- Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
What’s on your shelf this year? What’s up next?
xo Sam
