After a great 2019, and a middling 2020 for reading, I’m back with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for books 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 two 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 – I’m happy that our library is still open to grab things.
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. Last week was our engineer Danielle’s first week of work, and she asked if we could have a shared reading list in our team knowledgeable. 🙂
January:
- I’ll be kicking off a round of The Artist’s Way with a group of friends.
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (read!)
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (Wellesley Book Club Book)
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson
- Stand Out by Dorie Clark (re-reading with a friend)
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.)
Food Writing:
- The Man Who Ate Too Much by John Birdsall.
- Everything is Under Control by Phyllis Grant.
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson.
- Dirt by Bill Buford.
- Rebel Chef by Dominique Crenn.
Gripping / Thrilling / Literary:
- My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- The next in one of my Scandi crime series of choice.
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
YA fiction
- VE Schwab – what have I not read?
- Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
- The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy) by S.A. Chakraborty
- Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova (Brooklyn Brujas)
Leadership / Business / Finance:
- How I Built This by Guy Raz
- Health Design Thinking by Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton
- Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed
Fitness and Health / Mindfulness / Brains
- The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk
- How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
- The Body, A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
Audio Books:
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (been half read for a while!)
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- Prairie Fires – by Caroline Fraser
What’s on your next up list?
xo, Sam
