I never did get around to posting this at the beginning of the year, but I wanted to share what I read & which were my favorites. I've recently met my 50 book goal for this year which is by far the most I've ever read in a single year. (Unless you count the dozens of times I read each of my Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid until I found every possible outcome.) A few of these I read with a kindle or a physical book, but the majority of them I listened to as an audio book since I do a lot of driving for work.
Reading these books was an alternative to going back to school since work is too busy for me to attend a school right now. Plus I really love the freedom to learn about whatever I feel like learning. A lot of these were the daily deal on Audible that I picked up since they sounded interesting.
My main reason for reading 50 books this year was to expand my world view. For the majority of my life, I'd only read religious books and thought it was not worth my time to read anything else. Now that I'm no longer religious and broken out of that mold, I'm discovering so many new and exciting things that I've never known about before. I'm definitely planning on reading another 50+ books next year as well.
1. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi 2. Bad Astronomy - Philip Plait 3. The Beak of the Finch - Jonathan Weiner 4. The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker 5. Memories of the Afterlife - Michael Newton 6. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing 7. 11/22/63 - Stephen King 8. Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills 9. The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown 10. Bioshock Rapture - John Shirley 11. The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd 12. Divergent - Veronica Roth 13. The Martian - Andy Weir 14. I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak 15. Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice - Kevin Cullen 16. The Sociopath Next Door - Martha Stout 17. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy 18. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris 19. You are Not so Smart - David McRaney 20. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 21. Einstein's Cosmos - Michio Kaku 22. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives - David Eagleman 23. Parallel Worlds - Michio Kaku 24. Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality - Hannah Holmes 25. Eon - Greg Bear 26. The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins 27. Stardust - Neil Gaiman 28. Still Foolin' 'Em - Billy Crystal 29. Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me - Carol Tavris 30. Eternity - Greg Bear 31. The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida 32. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett 33. History of the Indies of New Spain - Fray Diego Duran 34. Legacy - Greg Bear 35. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman 36. Contact - Carl Sagan 37. Unwind - Neal Shusterman 38. Life: An Unauthorized Biography - Richard Fortey 39. You are Now Less Dumb - David McRaney 40. Winter of the World - Ken Follett 41. The Secret History - Donna Tartt 42. The Pluto Files - Neil deGrasse Tyson 43. Last of the Bandit Riders...Revisited - Matt Warner 44. Classical Mythology - Elizabeth Vandiver 45. Lola - Vladimir Nabokov 46. The Android's Dream - John Scalzi 47. 1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed - Eric H. Cline 48. Edge of Eternity - Ken Follett 49. Gulp - Mary Roach 50. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson 51. Super Mario - Jeff Ryan 52. The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger 53. The Demonologist - Gerald Brittle 54. The Poisoner's Handbook - Deborah Blum 55. Coraline - Neil Gaiman 56. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam - Chris Ewan 57. Blackout - Connie Willis
My two most favorite books this year by far were The Golem and the Jinni and The Martian. When I have time later I may comment on what I liked/didn't like about each book I read.
Reading these books was an alternative to going back to school since work is too busy for me to attend a school right now. Plus I really love the freedom to learn about whatever I feel like learning. A lot of these were the daily deal on Audible that I picked up since they sounded interesting.
My main reason for reading 50 books this year was to expand my world view. For the majority of my life, I'd only read religious books and thought it was not worth my time to read anything else. Now that I'm no longer religious and broken out of that mold, I'm discovering so many new and exciting things that I've never known about before. I'm definitely planning on reading another 50+ books next year as well.
1. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi
2. Bad Astronomy - Philip Plait
3. The Beak of the Finch - Jonathan Weiner
4. The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker
5. Memories of the Afterlife - Michael Newton
6. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing
7. 11/22/63 - Stephen King
8. Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills
9. The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown
10. Bioshock Rapture - John Shirley
11. The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
12. Divergent - Veronica Roth
13. The Martian - Andy Weir
14. I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak
15. Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice - Kevin Cullen
16. The Sociopath Next Door - Martha Stout
17. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
18. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris
19. You are Not so Smart - David McRaney
20. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
21. Einstein's Cosmos - Michio Kaku
22. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives - David Eagleman
23. Parallel Worlds - Michio Kaku
24. Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality - Hannah Holmes
25. Eon - Greg Bear
26. The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
27. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
28. Still Foolin' 'Em - Billy Crystal
29. Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me - Carol Tavris
30. Eternity - Greg Bear
31. The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida
32. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
33. History of the Indies of New Spain - Fray Diego Duran
34. Legacy - Greg Bear
35. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
36. Contact - Carl Sagan
37. Unwind - Neal Shusterman
38. Life: An Unauthorized Biography - Richard Fortey
39. You are Now Less Dumb - David McRaney
40. Winter of the World - Ken Follett
41. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
42. The Pluto Files - Neil deGrasse Tyson
43. Last of the Bandit Riders...Revisited - Matt Warner
44. Classical Mythology - Elizabeth Vandiver
45. Lola - Vladimir Nabokov
46. The Android's Dream - John Scalzi
47. 1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed - Eric H. Cline
48. Edge of Eternity - Ken Follett
49. Gulp - Mary Roach
50. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
51. Super Mario - Jeff Ryan
52. The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger
53. The Demonologist - Gerald Brittle
54. The Poisoner's Handbook - Deborah Blum
55. Coraline - Neil Gaiman
56. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam - Chris Ewan
57. Blackout - Connie Willis
My two most favorite books this year by far were The Golem and the Jinni and The Martian. When I have time later I may comment on what I liked/didn't like about each book I read.