Here is where I record the books I read, and a 3 sentence (or less) summary of each. I took this idea from James Clear’s ‘favorites’ – seems like a great way to condense a book down to what it meant to you after you’ve read it.
My goal, generally, is to read, or listen to, (at least) 12 books a year, a mix between fiction and non-fiction.
2021
5000 Words Per Hour
A quick read, with practical examples and not a lot of “fluff” about the author. Yes, the title is somewhat click-baity in nature, but the content of the book does follow through on the technique that the author uses to generate a lot of words in a short amount of time. Planning, consistency, practice, and measurement are, I would say, the primary concepts focused on in the context of an authors perspective.
8 Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha’s Path
by Bhante Henepola Gunarantana
I listened to this book, and I feel like it might have been a much different reading experience – being able to more easily reread bits and pieces, and being able to highlight/take notes. It was an informative look at the basics of what is meant by Buddhism, and the generally ascribed path to enlightenment that is often talked about. Parts, I felt, were maybe organized for someone thinking of becoming more devotional to the practice, but despite that, the language was simple, clear, and informative.
Awakening From The Dream: Reimagining The Buddha’s Wheel of Life
This short read really introduced me to the idea of the Wheel of Life as expressed through the allegorical illustration on the books cover. It is a compelling idea, and explained with very little Buddhist mysticism – it’s mostly explained through a more psychological perspective. It has definitely made me reflect on the mental states in which I find myself, and has given me a framework to think on the kinds of suffering (in a more esoteric sense) that I experience.
Novel’s of the Discworld
The Color of Magic
A wonderfully silly fantasy through a truly fantastical world. The world building is full of humor and delight, and the characterization was brilliant and engaging without taking itself too seriously. Terry Pratchett deserves his reputation, and I, for one, will be reading much more of the Discworld.
The Drawings of Heinrich Kley
by Heinrich Kley
This is not a novel, but it is a book I spent some time studying, and will likely continue to study. It’s a reproduction of two published sketchbooks of Heinrich Kley, all of the work is in ink. It is beautiful, dynamic, whimsical, creative, and, a little bit, dark.
Godserfs
Silent Hall
A fun fantasy, with an interesting take on the influence of gods on the fictional world. Left me an impression of wanting to know more about the setting, but not really a strong desire to read more books in the series, especially not right away.
The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name
This was an interest walk through the authors journey to find explicit proof that the Christian Eucarist, in its earliest form, was psycodelic, and that Christian ritual around the Eucarist was directly influenced by the likes of the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was compelling, and fascinating to hear the history “wines” and “beers” and their use through the ancient world. Sheds a new light on what ritualistic use of psychodelic’s might do for humanity, should stigma and law around their use be lifted.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Her show swept Netflix by storm years ago, and I finally got around to reading her “manifesto” on tidying up… and it was quite illuminating. I appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into her approach much more after reading her book. A worthwhile read if for no other reason than to help yourself start thinking about what it means to actually be tidy, or to tidy up a living space.
Magic by the Numbers
Master of the Five Magics
A quick read through a hero’s journey. Really a great take on magic in a fantasy setting, albiet with some stiff exposition and and scenes. This book has definitely interested me in further books set in the same conceptual universe.
Project Hail Mary
This book reminds me a lot of The Martian – which is absolutely okay. I felt for the character, I loved the setting and the problem solving that had to be done, and I loved the world building… especially the weird aliens!
Silo
Wool
Probably one of the best science fiction books I’ve read this year. It is set an unknown time into the future when the world is, apparently, inhospitable, and humanity has been reduced to an underground silo of a thousand people. Setting, character development and plot are all front and senter here, coming together in an amazing story leaving me wanting to read more!
Talking to Strangers
The subject matter was intriguing and well worth a read, highlighting how difficult it can be to talk with other people without introducing error that comes from different perspectives. However, the audiobook drove me crazy with it’s background sounds and musical interludes… could have done without the over production there.
2020
A Fire Upon The Deep
by Vernor Vinge
The thing that strikes me about this book is the mechanism by which the “Tines” communicate, and how they coordinate with one another. My mind wonders about how this would apply to computers – especially in the distant future – that each held the ability to store memory and process sensory data, and could ad hoc join together and mesh as a single device, if all connected components were compatible. The rest of the story… well, had plenty of interesting bits in it, but I wasn’t overly impressed with how many questions I have, and how unlikely it is they will ever be answered in other books.
Caffeine
Just an audio book, I think, but an interesting exploration of what caffeine is to people, and what kind of effects it can have. A legal drug, a stimulant, but with few serious side effects on the face of it. A good listen, but I’m not sure this belongs here, truthfully.
The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle and the Struggles for the Soul of Western Civilization
by Arthur L. Herman
This book is rich with ideas that span millenia and, I think, deserve a bit of consideration. Aristotle and Plato were a lot more important to the civilizations of the western world than are, perhaps immediately apparent, and this book does a great job of exploring their influence through history. Truly, it brings up a lot more questions that it answers for me, and shines a light on some of the behaviors we’re seeing in the world today – this book is definitely on my recommended reads list.
Dragonsbane
This was a surprisingly wonderful tale of dragons, gnomes, kings, princes, knights, wizards and witches. All these things, though are only the backdrop on which a strong tale of the desire for power, love, and the choices we make in life sits. There is a richness to the worldbuilding, to be sure, but the combination of plot and worldbuilding leaves me yearning to explore all the unseen and unsaid parts of the world.
Fortitude
I appreciated the overall message of this book – be more responsible, less sensitive, and get after it. I’d recommend it.
How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber and Elain Mazlish
I haven’t read many books on parenting, but I’d highly recommend this book to every parent, new or old. This book gets to the point quickly, identifies things a parent can do, and then describes them through examples in stories the authors have been told by parents using their techniques. Even as a novice of the technique, I’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the tension and adversarial situations I’ve had with my eldest – yes, there’s still the emotional outbursts and obstinance on occasion, but I’m able to handle and diffuse them much better.
Kings of the Wyld
Great world building, lots of emotional ups and downs, deep character motivations, plenty of humor, and so very familiar if you play D&D. This was a fun one, and an easy one to cruise through. Everything I imagine would happen on an epic D&D campaign with characters being pulled out of retirement for one last go at it before the start of a new campaign.
Loserthink
An interesting perspective on modes of thinking, and how we like to fool ourselves with modes of thought. ‘Loserthink’ is certainly a one-word descriptor for what the content of the book is about, but I can’t help to think that there might be a better word, one that removes the connotation of being a loser from a way of thinking that makes people lose. If nothing else, though, this book does provide for some subject matter for introspection.
Meditation in Plain English
This book is a straight foward introduction to what Vipassana Meditation is, and what you need to do to practice it. It sprinkles in some of the core ideals of Buddhism, but that isn’t the focus. It also goes over a lot of the roadblocks one might face when starting out – really a clear, concise read and a good reference.
Mistborn
The Well of Ascension (Book 2)
Holy cats! I zipped into this one soon after book 1, but soon kind of got fatigued – I think I just picked it up too soon after the first one, I hadn’t given myself enough time to let things sit and absorb. After I picked it up again, though, I banged through it quick, and what a cliff hanger!
The New Right
An inspection of a cultural movement that is, in some ways, an opposite reaction to the rising extremism of the left. An interesting and informative read into a part of American politics that is not otherwise discussed in my circles or in the national dialog I find my self paying attention to.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
I am familiar with some other of Neil Gaiman’s work, but I don’t think I was really prepared for this one. It was an engrosing tail told mostly from the perspective of a child who barely has a grasp on the world, and it leaves you feeling like there is so much that happens in the spaces of time that we forget as we grow older. A gentle, easy read with just enough humor, whimsy and dread to leave you thinking on it for awhile.
One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way
A very relaxed read – reminiscent of Atomic Habits, but less about a systematic breakdown of how to change habits. This book is more about a philosophy and approach to problem solving and improvement. I’d say it could be described as discussing the benefit of the ‘compound interest’ of small changes made over time.
On Writing
What can I say? He’s a master writer, and the book is a master work full of inspiration and insight. The book weaves a narative about his life as it pertains to writing, and exposes his opinions on how to be a good writer.
Revelation Space
Worldbuilding was fantastic, but I think this book fell short on character development and subplotting. I suspect newer books by this author would be much better, but this one leaves much to be desired. Almost worth it for the worldbuilding alone, but it doesn’t carry the story quite enough to make this a favorite of mine.
Sithra: Kingdom of the Air
A beautifully articulated visual story – it feels a lot shorter than 96 pages! A young girl is thrust out into the world on her own, and she finds that she can see the unseen. This book seems like just a the tip of the iceberg for a larger, wonder filled story.
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings (Book 1)
I’ll be honest, the shear size of this book was a bit intimidating. It was a quaranteen freebie, but would be worth whatever it’s being sold for. I found each of the character view points compelling (let’s be honest, there was ONE that was a little weaker than the others, but still interesting enough to hold my attention), and my pace of reading only picked up towards the end – leaving me wanting more!
Turning Pro
I was moved a bit by The War of Art, so I decided to read this one. It’s a shorter piece, but does go deeper on a philosophy of creativity and work that is helpful for self reflection. It has given me a lot to contemplate.
The War of Art
An important read, and one that I didn’t expect to be at the outset. Pressfield articulates something in this book that is hard to put to words before you hear them, but seem too simple afterwards. The content of this book will stick with me for a long time, I suspect, and I’ll probably come back to it in order remind myself of what Resistance truly is.
Win Bigly
Certainly an interesting perspective on prediction and persuasion. This book has piqued my interest about persuasion and manipulation, for sure. A good introduction, I suspect, to the subject matter.
2019
America Before: The Key to Earth’s Lost Civilization
A look at evidence for a civilization existing more than 12 or 13 thousand years in the past, utterly destroyed by a global cataclysm. I’d recommend it for a read – it makes it easy to understand what we think we know, and provides a compelling picture of a possible past we know very little about.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits
CCRR - Cue, Craving, Response, Reward. Use these nobs in the positive and negative to reinforce things that can be habitual. Focus on the smallest thing to do, and don’t discount environmental changes.
Bobiverse
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
A software engineer wakes up as a digital copy of his now dead self, taking on the role of an AI interface for an interstellar exploration and colonization effort.
For We Are Many
Bob (and clones) get themselves into it. They have a self-defined responsibility to see humanity spread to the stars, and not die on Earth where they’ve kicked off a nuclear winter. Oh, and they might get eaten by space bugs.
All These Worlds
Bob (and even more clones) must fight and win against space bugs, or humanity and all life in the galaxy might eventually die. Bobs also learn a thing or two about love and loss, and start to explore how being a digital life form that lives forever affects their ability to relate to humanity.
Born to Run
A great story about a race between people who appreciate running as something fundamental to what it means to be human. The story is entertaining, and interleved with other stories from the author on his path to understanding why his foot hurt while he ran even short distances. To be honest, it made me understand running in a different light and has given me something to seriously reflect upon.
Can’t Hurt Me
Might be the best book I have read this year, this is more than an inspirational self help book. This is a biography of a man capable of taking ownership of his life and failures, and using them as fuel to understand himself more deeply. The extra bits in the audio book version just added to my respect for how this man leads his life.
Deep Work
Lot’s of interesting ideas about attention and focus, without interruption. There is also an element of intentionality to timing, restriction, and response to external attention grabbers discussed. This book try’s to help one consider what artificially matters in your life, versus what holds actual meaning.
Delta-V
A near future hard science fiction exploring what it might take to kickstart the escape from the Earth’s gravity well. Leaves me hanging a bit, as there is an unresolved hatred… but I suspect this is going to be the subject of future books. Worth a read!
Diaspora
This emphasizes the science in science fiction. Very descriptive in it’s imagined use of science, and I imagine fairly accurate where it can be… but a lot of the book went over my head and was hard to maintain a deep interest in. It was compelling enough to finish reading, and left a wierd dichotomy of satisfaction and disatisfaction at the conclusion.
Elantris
A long and satisfying fantasy tale with a splash of a lot of different things: empires clashing, succession, theology, magic, redemption, finding one’s own path, love, hate, betrayal, duty, secrets. It does have frustrating chapter boundaries, but they really only serve to carry you along and keep you reading. In reflection, the character I least liked reading ended up being, in some ways, the most interesting character presented, with a nice satisfying ending to the story arc that was, for my part, unexpected!
Gentleman Bastard
The Lies of Locke Lamora
A clever, tricksy, band of “theives” saves everybody. The worldbuilding makes you want to know a lot more about the place these characters live.
God’s Debris
This was a short, but interesting read. Not really a book on religion, more of a thought experiment, as the book says. The experiment is about world view and perception of reality, and the argument that there isn’t just one.
Happy
An excellent exploration of what it means to be happy. Explores stoic philosophy, but with the context of thousands of years of thought and consideration to frame what it means to be happy, and what it takes to be happy. Definitely worth more than one read.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
With a title like that, frankly, I was super skeptical… but I listened to a interview he did, and decided to give it a read (my personal financial situation could alwas use betterment). Turns out, book has a lot of hype and fluff in it… but also contains a good amount of meaningful and practical advice. I’d recommend this to anyone that wants to understand a simple, practical, long-term approach to personal money management.
Mistborn
The Final Empire (Book 1)
Wow - this was an amazing story with rich world building, character development, and plotting. While it stands on it’s own, it really feels like it has only scratched the surface of the trilogy. My favorite part was the realization that there was actually a single primary character we were following, and it was done in such a perfectly dramatic high point of the book.
The Murderbot Diaries
All Systems Red
More of a novella, this story dives into what it is to be a somewhat antisocial AI that everyone would otherwise expect to want to murder everyone if it would be allowed to roam free. Picked it up at a bargain price… and I think it was a fair price – the regular price of more than $10 would be to much to pay for this book, but for $3 it is well worth the time.
Artificial Condition
This is a direct continuation from All Systems Red, and of similar length. Fun read, but would not pay full price for it. Felt like part 2 of the first book, with a feeling there should be at least a few more parts.
Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons and Dragons
by IDW and Wizards of the Coast
More Rick and Morty hijinks, more Dungeons, more Dragons. Beautiful art, fun story, and dialog consistent with the show. Nothing not to like!
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The subtitle is quite accurate – a brief history of humankind [as we understand it]. It presents a walk through of the growth of humankind up to the present, and left me with a slightly hopeful disposition towards what I see the world doing and some interesting questions to ponder about the decisions humanity will make going forward.
Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse, translated by Hilda Rosner
A tale that describes a person’s path to finding truth and enlightenment from within and without. A read that requires patience and begets comparison with ones own self.
Sky Heart
Awesome design, line work, and color! Book one in a graphic novel series, this book really seems like only the tip of the iceberg, and I desperately want more! Seems like it’ll be a fun coming of age type of story set on the backdrop of an intricately unique world.