The Big Board of Books - 2018

I once had an inspirational English teacher named Mr. Corn (yes, real name, and yes, it was Indiana) that kept a list of recommended books on a big board at the front of the classroom. After years of reading from required book lists in sequential order or basing my reading solely on books that I found (1), it was refreshing to be offered a list of books in which we were openly told that all are recommended books, but you'll have to find the book that connects with you personally (2).

I've been asked frequently this year for book recommendations and in an effort to continue The Big Board of Books in a digital format, here are the 60+ books I've read in 2018. I've divided the books by general subject area and included my rating and a brief overview. 

Hopefully, at least one book inspires and connects with you.

The Big Board of Books rating scale:

***** = Run to the library immediately!

**** = Excellent

*** = Good

** = Fair

* = Bleh

The best books I read in 2018 (5 stars):

Non-fiction

• Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery - Scott Kelly
• Grant - Ron Chernow
• An Indigenous People's History of the United States - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• North: Finding My Way While Running The Appalachian Trail - Scott Jurek with Jenny Jurek
• We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy - Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes - Jason Fagone

Fiction

• The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu
• The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

THE BIG BOARD OF BOOKS:

Non-fiction

Biography - Health & Fitness

*****North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail - Scott Jurek with Jenny Jurek - Ultrarunner Scott Jurek's personal account of his record breaking run on the Appalachian Trail. Amazing read for anyone who runs, hikes, or just enjoys the outdoors.

****Alone on the Wall - Alex Honnold - The biography of the greatest Free Solo climber of all time.

****Let Your Mind Run - Deena Kastor - Marathon runner Deena Kastor's biography. It's also extremely well written and a joy to read.

****Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike - Phil Knight - This book is part biography, part business, part spiritual, part travel guide. It's well worth your time.

***Appetites - A Cookbook - Anthony Bourdain - It's Anthony Bourdain (RIP) and his favorite items to cook at home for friends and family.

***Eat and Run - Scott Jurek - The biography of possibly the greatest ultrarunner of all time, Scott Jurek.

**Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life - William Finnegan - The autobiography of surfer William Finnegan, including his adventures around the world and the science of surfing.

**Finding Ultra - Revised and Updated Edition - Rich Roll - The biography of Triathlete Rich Roll with large focus on health and a vegetarian diet.

**Endure - Alex Hutchinson - This book provides insight into understanding the mental and physical limits of the human body, focused on athletics.

**What I Talk About When I Talk about Running - Haruki Murakami - This book overviews famous writer Murakami's thoughts on running.

Biography - Philosophy

****When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi - A 36 year old neurosurgeon is diagnosed with terminal Stage IV lung cancer and overviews his philosophy on life.

***The Stranger in the Woods - Michael Finkel - The true story of an individual who spent 27 years living alone, in the woods, in Maine.

*The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson - This book provides thoughts on what you say no to being as important as what you say yes to. This I agree with, however, the title is probably the highlight of a hopeless, rambling story that could've been better summarized in one paragraph.

Biography - Political / Historical

*****Grant - Ron Chernow - The definitive biography of Ulysses S. Grant, with significant focus on Civil War and Presidency. Even better than the amazing biography of Hamilton by Chernow. 960+ pages of "I couldn't put this down". An absolute masterpiece.

****Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow - The book that inspired the play that inspired Broadway tickets no one could afford.

****The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War - Ben Macintyre - The true story of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian-spy-turned-British-asset.

***Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me About What's Worth Fighting For - Michelle Rigby Assad - A CIA agent overviews her story and time in counter-terrorism.

***How to Catch a Russian Spy - Naveed Jamali - The true story of an American civilian who worked as a double-agent with the FBI to disrupt Russian intelligence.

Biography - Technology & Science

*****Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery - Scott Kelly - Astronaut Scott Kelly spent over 500 days on the International Space Station. His story - honest, transparent, and you'll learn to cringe at the word "Seedra".

*****The Woman Who Smashed Codes - Jason Fagone - The amazing true story of Elizebeth Friedman, and her husband William Friedman, the greatest code breaking duo in history. Elizebeth's story is finally being told and her importance in making the history of the 20th century.

****First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong - James R. Hansen - The official biography of Neil Armstrong, used as basis for the movie.

****Ghost in the Wires - Kevin Mitnick - Kevin Mitnick was at one time the most wanted hacker in the world.

****Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon - Robert Kurson - The title explains it.

Biography - Other

***How to American - An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents - Jimmy O. Yang - The biography of Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley, Crazy Rich Asians). Hilarious and honest.

*Molly's Game - Molly Bloom - Molly Bloom's biography focused on her time running the biggest poker game in Hollywood. Made into a movie.

Business / Self-Improvement

****Brotopia: Breaking Up The Boys Club of Silicon Valley - Emily Chang - This book discusses the reasons why Bro culture developed and why it continues today. Most importantly, how we can all fight back and change it.

***American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment - Shane Bauer - The author, and former prisoner himself, goes undercover in the for-profit prison business at a prison in Louisiana.

**The 4 Hour WorkWeek - Expanded and Updated - Timothy Ferriss - Provides insights into how to live more and work less, think 80/20, saying "No", and outsourcing.

**Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products - Nir Eyal - This book focused on software products and design.

History

*****An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - One of the most influential and important books I've read in years. It should be required reading for any North American. 

****Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War - Gus Russo & Eric Dezenhall - The true story of a CIA and KGB spy who were best of friends during the Cold War.

****Endurance - Alfred Lansing - The unbelievable true story of Ernest Shackleton's voyage (and disaster) to the South Pole. It's a classic book that has received a renewed and deserved interest. I've probably heard this book referenced more this year than any other book. It is the pinnacle of human endurance.

****The Flying Tigers: The Untold Story of the American Pilots Who Waged a Secret War Against Japan - Sam Kleiner - This book overviews the American Volunteer Group (better known as The Flying Tigers) in WWII that fought Japan on behalf of China and, eventually, the US.

****Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans - A.J. Baime - An extensive account of the Ford vs Ferrari racing teams in the 1960s and excellent reading for any gearhead. Soon to be a movie in 2019 with Matt Damon playing Carroll Shelby.

****Pirate Hunters - Robert Kurson - The search for a legendary pirate wreck in the Caribbean.

****Shadow Divers - Robert Kurson - The true story of Two Americans who risked everything to solve the mystery of a missing WWII German submarine

****The Taking of K-129 - Josh Dean - An amazing story of the CIA stealing a Russian sub from 17,000+ feet deep in the Pacific during the Cold War. The story wouldn't be believable if you didn't know it was actually true.

****Valley of Genius - Adam Fisher - The history of Silicon Valley, told by the people who made it happen.

**Dream Team - Jack McCallum - The definitive story of the 1992 US Olympic basketball team, which included Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and team.

*A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived - Adam Rutherford - A book of history told through looking at our genes.

Politics

*****We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy - Ta-Nehisi Coates - Coates' collection of essays written during the Obama administration.

****Fear: Trump in the White House - Bob Woodward - An in-depth and very well sourced overview of life before and during the beginning of the Trump administration.

***The Fifth Risk - Michael Lewis - The story of the beginning of the Trump administration and how the people put in charge had (and have) literally no idea what they're doing.

**The Death and the Life of Great American Cities - Jane Jacobs - Jacob's influential book on the design of cities.  This book will connect immediately with individuals who have lived in New York (in a good way) or San Francisco (it will make you cringe).

Technology & Science

****Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil DeGrasse Tyson - This book will make you immediately want to build a device to track Dark Matter.

****The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age - David E. Sanger - A fantastic overview of where we were, where we're at, and where we're headed with cyber warfare. 

**The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert - A book on the current 6th major extinction driven by man.

Travel

**Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders - Joshua Foer - A visual and historical account of lesser known, but intriguing, world wonders.

Fiction

History

*****The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead - The book follows Cora, a young slave in Georgia, who makes a desperate bid for freedom. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award - deservedly so.

***Origin - Dan Brown - The author of The DaVinci Code's latest book. The perfect long airplane or train ride book.

**The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins - Think Gone Girl….with a train.

**The Revenant - Michael Punke - The basis for the movie that focused on frontiersman Hugh Glass.

**The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen - The narrative story of a communist Double Agent who comes to America from Vietnam after Saigon falls and reports back to his communist superiors. Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize.

Romance / Humor

****Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan - A modern day Cinderella story taking place mostly in Singapore.

Science-fiction

*****The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu - A stellar sci-fi book based in China and I won't say any more. Read it. It's the 1st book of 3 in the Remembrance of Earth's Past series. Soon to be a series on Amazon Prime.

****Artemis - A Novel - Andy Weir - The author of The Martian returns with a book on the Moon.

**A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - The misadventures of Arthur Dent - Earth, aliens, and extremely influential in pop culture.

Thriller

***Orphan X - Gregg Hurwitz - A new thriller series in the style of Robert Ludlum. It's definitely worth a read if you're into the genre. And if you're into the genre, definitely, definitely read Ludlum.

***The Nowhere Man (Orphan X Series, Book 2) - Gregg Hurwitz - This book continues where Orphan X ended. It's an even better, and tighter, storyline than Book 1.

***The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye - David Lagercrantz - Book 4 of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series. It's not quite at the 5-star level of Larsson's books, which were 1-3 in the series and started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

***The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz - Book 5 of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series.

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Post The Big Board of Books notes:

 (1) I still remember the exact sidewalk location in Lebanon, Indiana where I found a hardback copy of Clavell's Shogun being given away for free!

(2) If memory serves, my favorite book at the time was The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. 

Public Service Announcement on your Public Library: I'm a huge proponent of using your local public library. I typically rent all my books in e-book format via the Overdrive app, which many public libraries offer. If you're spending all your money on buying books, just remember what Matt Damon said in Good Will Hunting: “You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.”

The Award for the "Library Book with the Longest Waitlist of the Year": Crazy Rich Asians, in which I was #987 on the library waitlist for the book. They should make that book into a movie.

Books I always recommend if you're trying to return to reading:

• Non-fiction: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
• Fiction: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Book 1 of The Millennium Series) by Stieg Larsson (Books 2 and 3 that follow in The Millennium Series are superb as well)