Books
- The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter: while this isn’t loved by some Pratchett purists, I found this work of speculative fiction delightful & insightful and I was excited to find out there is a whole series.
- How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin: from one of my favorite authors of 2018, this collection of shorter fiction is excellent.
- The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: highly-recommended fantasy where one of the perspectives is a god, and the plot constantly snowballs.
- The Power by Naomi Alderman: an excellent allegorical tale about power and gender.
- Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman: second in the Arc of a Scythe, Shusterman continues to deliver high intensity young adult fiction with lots of opportunities for deep discussion. I only wish it had a discussion guide like the first book!
- Whitehack 2nd Ed. - Notebook Edition by Christian Mehrstam: this is an old-school RPG game with new school sensibilities. Includes pages for your own characters, notes, rules, etc.
- Curse of Strahd by Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford: this D&D 5 adventure has had some solid updates from previous Ravenloft stories, including addressing problematic areas in better ways.
- Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan: the first of the Powder Mage trilogy, this has a fresh take on fantasy and mystery. McLellan feels like a disciple of Sanderson.
- Still Life by Louise Penny: the first of the Armand Gamache novels. I appreciated the attention Penny gave the the psychology and relationships of the characters.
- Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon: a comic that asks big questions about war and freedom from a unique angle.
- The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson: the 12th book of the Wheel of Time, and the really picks up and gets good, again. With this book, I can now see why folks like Egwene.
- Mouse Guard Sketchbook: Legends by David Petersen: this is Petersen’s art that is homages-to-the-homages that show up in the Mouse Guard Legends collaborations.
- Freefall by Jessica Barry: an accelerating thriller with fast-switching perspectives between a daughter trying to stay alive and her mother who thinks she is already dead.
- In a Dark, Dark wood by Ruth Ware: feels like an old-school-but-modern thriller mystery.
- Dawn by Octavia Butler: the first book in the Xenogenesis series, I’m looking forward to where this goes.
- Last Tango in Cyberspace by Steve Kotler: a fun near-future cyberpunk-noir mystery.
- The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy: this short fiction is a mashup of anarcho-punk aesthetic and modern supernatural horror.
- Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan: the 11th book, where the plot started to finally advance, again!
- The Good Detective by John McMahon: the first P.T. Marsh mystery, one where it’s possible the detective’s actions led to the death of the prime suspect.
- Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman: Neal’s son joins him on this new book, and a whole cast are involved in the audio recording. Not as good as Shusterman’s normal work, this is still an enjoyable book.
- Atmosphæra Incognita by Neal Stephenson: a hard scifi short story from a collection about building possible futures.
- X-Files: Cold Cases by Joe Harris, Chris Carter, and Dirk Maggs: new audio stories in the X-Files universe, setup like full-audio dramas.
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: in a deviation from the norm, this book is more about the sensory experience than the characters or plot.
- Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez: I find most Lovecraft unpalatable, but this comic interpretation was spellbinding.
- Cable & Deadpool: If Looks Could Kill by Fabian Nicieza, Mark Brooks, & Patrick Zircher: this comic has all the weirdness you might expect from Deadpool & Cable.
- How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi: it’s rare for me to give 5 stars to anything, but Kendi did an excellent job sharing complex and important perspectives in an informative and actionable way.
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport: Highly recommended book exploring how you can focus your digital time on the things that matter most. Unlike many minimalism-focused works, Newport goes into great detail in what to do with the space & time that you free up. My full review/reference (as well as links to my experiment and a podcast I recorded for Resilient) are found here.
- Educated by Tara Westover: an incredible memoir of someone who grew up in an abusive, anti-intellectual, conspiratorial home environment without any real schooling (home or otherwise) and went on to earn a prestigious PhD.
- How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan: an informative book about psychedelics and their applications in medicine.
- Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell: incredible narratives and insights of how things can go wrong when we talk to strangers, along with some (admittedly light) recommendations on how we can change structures and systems to do better.
- Offscreen edited by Kai Brach: I read issues 17 through 19 of this large print-only magazine in 2019, and often found value in the interviews, perspectives, and recommendations. “Offscreen is an independent print magazine that examines how we shape technology and how technology shapes us. "
- Southern Horrors by Ida B. Wells: this classic and important work is a reminder of how fear, power, and violence were (and still are) wielded to subjugate people.
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg: All about the various factors that affect habit formation and change. You can see my full reference and review here.
- Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson: the folks at Basecamp continue to bring countercultural guidance on simplicity, focus, agility, and sustainability for operating an organization.
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek: over and over, Sinek reminds us that our why is what people are drawn to, and that the rest is rationalization.
- Ultralearning by Scott H. Young: a collection of tips from Young’s ultralearning experiments and research.
- Technopoly by Neil Postman: a book of criticism that asks more questions than it is prepared to answer, but still an incredibly important work to grapple with. I read this as part of Strangers Book Club, which I highly recommend.
- The Oz Principle by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman: this is a book about continually asking the helpful question “What else can we do to rise above our circumstances and get the results we want?”
- Food Rules by Michael Pollan: short summaries of Pollan’s research on eating, including many tips on how not just what to eat.
- Open Borders: the Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith: a collaboration presenting the case for open immigration. Unfortunately heavy on the economic benefits and light on the ethical rationale, but still a useful work to bring exposure to this important topic.
- Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier: this is a good companion to Digital Minimalism, detailing some of the reasons that most social media is manipulative and unhealthy for people and our digital ecosystem.
- Ancient Civilizations of North America by Edwin Barnhart: an excellent background on the history of North America before modern colonists.
- Heretic! by Matthew J. DiStefano: the title refers to judgments aimed DiStefano, due to theological interpretations rooted in love & justice instead of fear & hate.
- Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans: originally called Growing Up in Monkey Town, this memoir shares Evans’s tale of reclaiming her faith back from a fear & judgment paradigm.
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell: stories about how ideas and behaviors gain traction.
- The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond: a look at how humans are and aren’t different from the “other chimpanzees”.
- The Alcohol Experiment by Annie Grace: an informative, judgment-free journey with solid grounding in psychology and behavioral science.
- The World in 2020 by the Economist: this is Economist’s yearly comments and predictions for the coming year.
- The Pioneers by David McCullough: this book by the acclaimed historian covers those who colonized the Ohio Valley.
- Individuals have habits, organizations have routines
- Keystone habits are great for building other habits and producing momentum through repeated small wins
- Keeping a food journal, making your bed, and working out are all habits which have many seemingly-unrelated positive impacts on your life
- “Willpower” is stronger when people feel agency or impact
- Try altering variables like a scientist, in order to see which reward you were actually seeking, and which you might like
- Jot down the things that come to mind with each test; this helps with awareness and attention
- Use 15 minute waits/alerts to help with elimination and analysis
- When I see cue i will do routine in order to get reward
- This is your implementation intention and should be explicitly stated
- 2/3 useful commentary on consciousness
- 2/3 bullshit & misused quotes
- And if you’re saying “hey, those don’t add up” you’re beginning to understand the book
- There’s promise in psychedelics for treating mental illness & addiction
- Psychedelic results are affected by the intention & context of use
- Meditation & the Overview Effect have related results
2019 📚 Review: Fiction
Overview
I set a goal of reading 63 books in 2019, which was a 10% increase over 2019. I met this goal exactly. I have again increased my goal by 10% plan to read at least 70 books in 2020.
About half of the books I read (32, to be exact) were fiction. I tend to read from the sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, classics, and RPG categories. These are all categories that help explore ideas and/or history.
How I Read
I get my books multiple ways. If I don’t know if I’ll like the book, I look for the audiobook or ebook in my Scribd subscription and then Libby (to borrow digitally from my local library). If it’s a book I’ll want to reread or lend, I order a hardback via Indiebound or Alibris. I only buy fiction ebooks if there are massive discounts on something I want and it’s not already in Scribd. I use Bookbub to watch for these discounts.
My book (and article) highlights and notes from all sources go automatically into Readwise.io, where I review 15 highlights each day to aid in retention and reflection. This is one of the ways I start my day, and it’s incredibly valuable.
I rate books between ⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, with ⭐️⭐️⭐️ being the cutoff for a worthy book. Thus, I will only share about the ⭐️⭐️⭐️ through ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ books, here.
Recommended
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Further Notes
For a review of my non-fiction read in 2019, see here. For 2018 books, see here.
For the Goodreads overview of my reading, see here.
Note: this post has affiliate links. I am linking to things I truly enjoy, and have not been paid or pressured to recommend any of them.
2019 📚 Review: Nonfiction
Overview
I set a goal of reading 63 books in 2019, which was a 10% increase over 2019. I met this goal exactly. I have again increased my goal by 10% and plan to read at least 70 books in 2020.
About half of the books I read (31, to be exact) were non-fiction. I seek books that may be “eye-opening”: those that challenge my understanding, worldview, and conceptions. I look for books of criticism, history, philosophy, ethics, theology, psychology, business, economics, and politics.
How I Read
For nonfiction, I get the books multiple ways. If I’m not sure I’ll like it and don’t expect I’ll need to take a lot of notes, I look for the audiobook or summary first in my Scribd subscription and then Libby (to borrow digitally from my local library). If I know I’ll want to reference the book a lot after finishing it, I order a hardback via Indiebound or Alibris. If I expect to learn a lot and/or take lots of highlights and notes, I’ll borrow the ebook via Libby or buy it from an ebook seller.
My book (and article) highlights and notes from all sources go automatically into Readwise.io, where I review 15 highlights each day to aid in retention and reflection. This is one of the ways I start my day, and it’s incredibly valuable.
I rate books between ⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, with ⭐️⭐️⭐️ being the cutoff for a worthy book. Thus, I will only share about the ⭐️⭐️⭐️ through ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ books, here.
Recommended Books
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Further Notes
For a review of my fiction read in 2019, see here. For 2018 books, see here.
For the Goodreads overview of my reading, see here.
Note: this post has affiliate links. I am linking to things I truly enjoy, and have not been paid or pressured to recommend any of them.
📚 Micro-Review: _The Power of Habit_ by Charles Duhigg
📚 Finished The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This book is mostly useful narratives that introduce the factors that affect habits. It also includes a short “how-to” on changing habits.
Some Insights
How to Change Your Habits
Identify the routine
Figure out what your habit loop is so that you can work to supplant it with another.
Experiment with rewards
Isolate the cue
Each time you experience the feeling, write down answers to the following:
1. Where are you?
2. What time is it?
3. What is your emotional state?
4. Who else is around?
5. What action preceded the urge?
Have a plan
Write it like the following:
Further Reading
Application instructions were very short and only covered in the appendix. For more detailed application notes, read Atomic Habits. I am finishing my read and review of that book, and will link it here when complete.
Yay! 📚 Readwise.io silently added Pocket to their automatic list.
📚 Finished The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson, the other day. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I can see why folks like Egwene, now!
📚 Finished Educated by Tara Westover. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An incredible book that was not what I expected it to be. Tara’s memoir tells of her time growing up with what I can most-succinctly describe as “the worst Facebook people”, which does it no justice.
📚 Finished The Pioneers by David McCullough ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was surprising to me that this focused on what we now think of as the midwest, and the southeast midwest, at that. This was the west back then.
📚 Finished Power of Now by Echkhart Tolle. ⭐️⭐️
📚 Finished Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wish it had included discussion guides/questions like the first book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finished Reading 📚 How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
Finished reading: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan 📚
Currently reading: How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan 📚
Sunday Quote 📚
Sunday Quote 📚
Finished 📚 How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Highly recommended. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reading Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle and noting he’s in lock-step with Sally Williamson on the topic of Leading Executive Conversations. Great stuff here and throughout the book so far. 📚
📚 Recommended: How Long ‘Ti’l Black Future Month N.K. Jemisin.
Finished 📚: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Highly recommended. I haven’t rated a book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in a long time! (There’s only 14 such books)
Highly successful HPB run 📚 Bonus: that’s a signed edition of Fall
Goodbye, Urusla 📚