My 2023 reading list
52 beautiful books on the wall, 52 beautiful books…
I don’t often make New Year’s Resolutions, and I’m not sure I’ve ever actually accomplished the few I’ve set myself in the past. To help me achieve mine this year, I thought I’d share it and record my progress in public, no matter how many people are actually reading. And if it’s helpful for someone along the way, even better!
In 2023 I will read one book every week.
For someone who wouldn’t describe themselves as a bookworm, this is quite a daunting challenge. Most worryingly, I have neither a kindle, nor any empty shelf space at home (this could get messy…).
Why?
I enjoy reading good books but I struggle to broaden my horizons and I want to reduce my screen time (especially before bed). Reading 52 books in a year will force me to pick up genres I don’t normally read, and needing to read at least 50 to 100 pages per day will necessarily limit my doomscrolling.
I also have a habit of buying books but never reading them, so this will also force me to read some of the tomes currently collecting dust on shelves.
[Update] To add to my 'why,' Alastair Loasby has decided to motivate me by pledging a donation of £100 to the World Literacy Foundation if I complete my 52 books before the year is out (thank you Al!).
I will join him with a complementary pledge: To donate £5 for every book I don't read up to the target, creating a win-win for our chosen charity! If you'd like to join in with this, either by sponsoring or reading along with me, I will find a way to make it all more 'official'...
What?
At present I only read non-fiction books (often science or business) or science fiction. I will start by continuing this trend and then branch out as I inevitably (hopefully) run out of material in these two narrow areas. If you’re also a fan of these genres, here are some of my all-time favourites:
Non-Fiction
Factfulness - Hans Rosling
That’s What She Said - Joanne Lipman
The Cuckoo’s Egg - Cliff Stoll
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race - Reno Eddo-Lodge
Fiction
Star of the North - D. B. John [the only non-sci-fi book here]
Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan
The Player of Games (and the rest of The Culture series) - Ian M. Banks
I’d like to have a 50-50 split between fiction and non-fiction throughout the year, but will not enforce this too strictly. Any book is better than nothing! Some genres I particularly want to challenge myself to try more (some for the first time) are: Graphic novels, historical non-fiction, best-selling (‘pop’) fiction, classic fiction, mental health non-fiction, and memoirs/biographies. If anyone is actually reading this and you have great suggestions in these categories, please let me know!
How?
I have compiled a list of books from my Amazon ‘saved for later’ list, my unread purchases on my bookshelf, and suggestions from friends, family and the internet. I will read one book every week, writing a short summary after each one. I will also try not to read the same ‘type’ of book two weeks on the go.
Since 2023 started on a Sunday, that will be ‘change-over’ day, when I will aim to finish my current read and pick-up the next book. If I finish a book early, I will start the next one early. If I finish a book late, I will pick something easy or short as my next read, to help stay on track.
Let’s begin:
I have already cheated. My first book was a very easy read (it even had pictures) and I started before 2023. And my second book is one I was already 100-pages into. But I’m hoping this will allow me to get off to a good start and reduces the chances that I quit early!
The list so far:
My reflections on the list so far:
Lots of exciting books, pretty happy with the calibre of literature awaiting me
Lots of business books and nowhere near enough fiction
Not many ‘new categories’ like graphic novels and classic/popular fiction (I will need to source recommendations)
I will allow the list to evolve as I remove less appealing candidates and add new suggestions or releases
Current and completed
What If 2 - Randall Monroe [NF, Science, Comedy] (READ)
Cibola Burn - James S A Corey [F, Sci-Fi] (READING)
Fiction
The Helix - Yasmeen Cohen [Young Adult]
Woken Furies - Richard Morgan [Sci-Fi]
Dune - Frank Herbert [Sci-Fi, Classic]
Machines Like Me - Ian McEwan [Alt. History]
Trust - Herman Diaz [Finance]
The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman [Comedy]
Non-fiction: Business & Economics
Range - David Epstein
Black Box Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
The 4-Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss
Principles - Ray Dalio
The Data Loom - Stephen Few
Rebel Ideas - Malcolm Gladwell
Tescopoly - Andrew Simms
One Up - Van Dreunen
No Rules Rules - Reed Hastings
How Brands Grow - Byron Sharp
The Economic Singularity - Calum Chace
Zero to One - Peter Thiel
The Caesars Palace Coup - Max Frumes and Sujeet Indad
The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
What We Owe The Future - William MacAskill
Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
Non-Fiction: Popular Science
The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson
Who Owns the Future - Jaron Lenier
21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harare
The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk
Superintelligence - Nick Bostrom
A Thousand Brains - Jeff Hawkins
I Think You’ll Find it’s a Bit More Complicated Than That - Ben Goldacre
Wild - Jay Griffiths
Non-Fiction: Climate Focus
Green Swans - John Elkington
Speed & Scale - John Doerr
Non-Fiction: Biographies & Memoirs
Permanent Record - Edward Snowden
Never Too Much and Never Enough - Mary L Trump
Very Bad People - Patrick Alley
Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer
Brown Baby - Nikes Shukla
Non-Fiction: Historical & Political
The Aquariums of Pyongyang - Kang Chol-Hwang & Pierre Rigoulot
Chernobyl - Serhii Plokhy
Le Mage du Kremlin - Guillaume Cerutti
Chums - Simon Kuper
Otherlands - Thomas Halliday
The Dawn of Everything - David Graeber & David Wengrow
Non-Fiction: Other
Lighter - Yung Pueblo [Self-development]
How the World Really Works - Vaclav Smil [Economics]
12 Rules for Life - Jordan B. Peterson
Non-Fiction: Other
Mythos - Stephen Fry
The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu
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Again, if anyone is reading… let me know what I should add (or remove!).