For those who missed my last post, I am enaged in a reading competition with my good friend Erik Young (aka EPY) in 2010. I have had several requests to post my list of books I plan to read this year, so the list at the end of this post obliges those requests. I think you will find it pretty eclectic.
My list has 14 non-fiction selections and only 8 fiction selections; it started with NO fictions, but I really like to read fiction, so once I saw the deficiency, I added some I had been meaning to read for some time.
One of the fun aspects of this competition is the unexpected joy of being able to add more books to the list as I realize that my throughput is up – so I have started asking my friends for their SINGLE RECOMMENDATION (you can send multiple titles, but what is THE ONE you are recommending?) for a great read. As I read each book, I will write a short review and let you know who recommended which book and what they have to say about it, too.
Anyone else have a book suggestion for me?
Here is my INITIAL reading list for 2010:
| Book | Author |
| My Man Jeeves | PG Wodehouse |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde |
| The Deportees | Roddy Doyle |
| Ulysses | James Joyce |
| I Am Charlotte Simmons | Tom Wolfe |
| Vanity Fair | William Makepeace Thackeray |
| The Fellowship of The Rings | JRR Tolkien |
| The Moving Toyshop | Edmund Crispin |
| Imitation of Christ | Thomas a Kempis |
| Going Rogue | Sarah Palin |
| What Matters Now | Seth Godin |
| Thomas Jefferson – A Life | Willard Sterne Randall |
| The Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith |
| Rule of St Benedict | St Benedict |
| Federalist Papers | Hamilton Madison Jay |
| Beyond the 120-Year Diet: How to Double Your Vital Years | Roy Walford |
| St Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox | GK Chesterton |
| Small Arms Design and Ballistics | Townsend Whelen |
| The Committeeman After Five | James L MacNair |
| Pepys Diaries (just the first volume, for now) | Samuel Pepys |
| Democratizing Innovation | Eric von Hippel |
Comments (6)
A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis et al. Excellent neuroscience for the layman.
I would reccommend:
Any books by Malcolm Gladwell
Justice by Michael Sandel
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – if you like any sort of science
TBH, I wasn’t a big fan of Dorian Gray.
If you’re doing this, I can’t recommend a Kindle (or an iPad‽?!‽?) enough. Your back, your bag, and your wallet will thank you.
Connor
That’s impressive Veeck! I am not the reader you are but have been picking up the pace for the last six months. Here are my two favorites:
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (all of his books are great and based in my neighborhood). Historical fiction
This one is for you:
Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Pefect Fish (you’ll have a newfound appreciation for what marketing can do with a fish)
Pirate Lattitudes by Michael Crichton — just published (found the manuscript after his death). Historical fiction.
Tony Horwitz:
A Voyage Long and Strange
Confederates in the Attic
Blue Latitudes
One for the Road
Bagdad without a Map
J Maarten Troost:
Getting Stoned with Savages
Lost on Planet China
The Sex Lives of Cannibals
Thanks, everyone! I love the suggestions (and advice). I DO have a Kindle and my first book of 2010 was read on it. I am lukewarm about the experience…
That’s an impressive list. I’ve read a couple and will probably steal the idea for a couple more.
I am looking forward to Brian Solis’ new book Engage. However, I can’t recommend it since I haven’t read it.
If I could only recommend one I would say On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins, it’s an amazing survey of how the mind works.
Also, I occasionally post book reviews on my blog when I finish relevant ones. Actually just wrote a review of The 4 Hour Work Week.
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