I’m so incredibly grateful for books. Someone has taken their entire life experience, learnings, and wisdom and written it down, in a single place, so that other people can learn from their journey.
I love reading and read every single day. In the past, I used to fly through books (and read ~40 books per year), but this year I’m trying something different.
I realised that when you are at school, or university and are really studying a subject deeply to learn, understand and remember it, you don’t just read something once. You don’t just rip through it, put it aside and start the next book or reading.
You read it slowly, you study it, dissect it, re-read it, discuss it, and write about it.
And so this year, my goal is to read more deeply. To actually study the books I read. To re-read them and to write about them.
I’m still hoping to break the 30 mark – but I am anticipating that I’ll read less, but read better.
Here’s what I’ve been reading.
2022
December
- The Fires of Heaven: The Wheel of Time Book #5 by Robert Jordan
- Eldest, by Christopher Paolini (Audible)
- Jerusalem: The Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore
- The Jester, by James Patterson
November
- Priceless, The Hidden Psychology of Value, by William Poundstone
- Eragon, by Christopher Paolini (Audible)
October
September
- Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks
- The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict
- The New Kingdom, by Wilbur Smith
August
- Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland
- The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
July
June
- Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About Business & Life, by James Kerr
- The One Impossible Labyrinth by Matthew Reilly
May
- The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power by Max Chafkin
- The Three Secret Cities, by Matthew Reilly
- The Two Lost Mountains, by Matthew Reilly
April
- The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports by Joshua Robinson and Jonathon Clegg
- Write Useful Books, by Rob Fitzpatrick
- The Science-based Playbook of Pricing & Promotions, by Thomas McKinlay
March
- The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time Book #1), by Robert Jordan
- The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time Book #2) by Robert Jordan
- The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time Book #3) by Robert Jordan
- Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan
February
- Queen of Storms, by Raymond E. Feist
- $100MN Offers: How to Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi
January
- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond
- King of Ashes, by Raymond E. Feist
2021
December
- The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer, by Christopher Clarey
- The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon
- Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers and Innovators Create & Dominate Markets by Ramadan, Peterson, Lochhead and Maney
- Crypto Theses for 2022: The Messari Report (although technically not a book, at 165 pages, I feel like it counts!)
November
October
- Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves by Matthew Reilly
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis
September
August
July
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan
June
- Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
- Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein
May
- Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks (Audible)
- The Anarchy, by William Dalrymple
- Shoemaker: Reebok and the Untold Story of a Lancashire Family Who Changed the World by Joe Foster
April
- The Secret of Our Success: How Culture is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species and Making Us Smarter by Joseph Henrich
- Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card (Audible)
March
- Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu
- Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
- The Happiest Man on Earth, by Eddie Jaku
February
- The Ickabog by JK Rowling
- The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom, to Mao and the China Dream, by Michael Wood
January
2020
December
- Finally finished the beast of a book that is Napoleon…
November
October
September
August
- The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman (Audible)
- Unbeatable Mind, by Mark Devine
- Augustus: First Emperor of Rome, by Adrian Goldsworthy
- Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu
July
June
May
- The Decision, by Kevin Hart
- Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan
April
March
- It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Take Control of Your Life
- Vindolanda by Adrian Goldsworthy [Re-read]
February
January
- World Class Speaking by Craig Valentine
- Caesar by Adrian Goldsworthy [Re-read]
- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
- The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
2019
December
- That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix by Marc Randolph
- Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
- Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
November
October
- Area 7 by Matthew Reilly
- Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
- Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
- The Miracle Equation by Hal Elrod
September
- Ask by Ryan Levesque
- Peak by Anders Ericsson
- Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
- How to Fight a Hydra by Josh Kaufman
August
- When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
- Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard
- Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
July
June
May
- Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
- Letters From a Stoic by Seneca
- Bad Blood: Secrets & Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
- Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
April
- Think – Using Pink Sheets by Matt Church
- Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
- The Right Side of History by Ben Shapiro
March
- Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Guilia Enders
- The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
- The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
- The Visual MBA by Jason Barron
February
January
2018
December
November
- Who: The A Method for Hiring, by Geoff Smart, and Randy Street
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
October
September
August
- Marketing Secrets Blackbook, by Russel Brunson
- Content Multiplier Formula, by Peng Joon
- 12 Rules for Life, by Jordan Peterson
July
June
- Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Harari
- The Decision Checklist, by Sam Kyle
- The Harsh Cry of the Heron, Lian Hearn
May
- High-Performance Habits, by Brendon Burchard
- Wizard: The Life & Times of Nikola Tesla, by Marc Seifer
- Heaven’s Net is Wide, by Lian Hearn
April
March
February
January
- Britain Begins, by Barry Cuncliffe
- Where New Zealand Began, by Paul Rose
- Expert Secrets, by Russel Brunson
- The Golden Lion, by Wilbur Smith
2017
December
- Vindolanda, by Adrian Goldsworthy
- The Boron Letters, by Gary Halbert
- The Go-Giver, by John Mann
- Class Clowns: How the Smartest Investors Lost Billions in Education, by Jonathon Knee
November
October
- A Random Walk Down Wall-Street, by Burton G. Malkiel
- How Proust Can Change Your Life, by Alain de Botton
September
- The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
- The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
- The Age of Swords (Audible) by Michael J. Sullivan
August
- Dot Com Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online by Russell Brunson
- The Age of Myth (Audible) by Michael J. Sullivan
July
June
May
April
- The 10X Rule (Audible) by Grant Cardone
- Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
- Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
March
- Top 101 Growth Hacks by Aladdin Happy
- Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris
- The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle
February
January
- Ego is the Enemy (Audible) by Ryan Holiday (This was a re-listen. I believe this book should be read by everyone once every year as a reminder!)
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupรฉry
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
2016
December:
- Why We Argue About Climate Change by Eric Knight
- Say Hello to Happiness by Michael Adamedes and Rob Prior
- The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly
- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
November:
October
September
- The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross
- Ego Is The Enemy (Audible) by Ryan Holiday
- Eragon by Christopher Paolini (a bit of fantasy to mix it up!)
- Eldest by Christopher Paolini (once you’ve read one, you can’t stop!)
August
- High Output Management, by Andrew Grove
- The Way of the Superior Man, by David Deida
- Four Points, Fourteen Lines, by Tony Chan
July
- Living Happiness, by Sebastian Kade
- The Miracle Morning (re-read) by Hal Elrod
- River God, by Wilbur Smith
June