Books: Keeping Those New Year Resolutions

The New Year is always a time when people try to reset their life and list targets for the year ahead. Many of those resolutions are forgotten once January gets going, but I made one last year and did manage to stick to it all year.

I read quite a few books and as we started 2019 I thought it might be a nice idea to make a note of every book I read and how I read it. I do still buy some paperback books, especially at airport bookstores, but the majority of my reading now is on the Kindle or using the Audible app to listen to audiobooks.

Some people don't believe that anything other than ink and paper qualifies as real reading, but I can assure you that I believe the Kindle offers a great reading experience. It's waterproof, works in the dark, and does not have the distractions of a phone - when I'm reading my Kindle I am not seeing notifications from Instagram and Twitter, as I would be if I were consuming content on my phone.

Audiobooks are also a fantastic way to consume books when doing something else. I walk my dog several times a day and in the morning I will listen to news and current affairs podcasts, but I have a personal rule that says after midday I can only listen to books - not more news. This means that I can get through a large amount of audio content just by walking the dog, when driving, or even just going to the shops.

I wasn't sure how many books I was reading on average when I decided to start recording them all, but I had estimated a couple every week. Now that I can look back at the list of books I read in 2019 I can see that the estimate was quite good - my guess was 104 books and I actually read 110.

In 2019 I only read one single book in paperback format - a biography of Elvis Presley. Everything else was on the Kindle or Audible. I do think it's a shame that when I buy this virtual content I don't get a physical book mailed to me - I'd happily pay a bit extra when buying digital content so I can also receive the paperback in the mail and leave it on my shelf at home, but maybe publishers just aren't all that smart?

If you look at the list then it's quite a wide variety of content from political biographies, economic analysis, history, psychology, but also plenty of fiction. I can't stand these lists of books that every business leader "must read" where they only feature self-help and business analysis. You can get far better ideas about how to run a business and live your life from Ray Bradbury and Ian McEwan that you ever will from Tim Ferriss. If you want to know about power then read Robert Caro. If you want to know about leadership then read about the life of Ulysses Grant. If you want a thriller that you know is going to entertain then search for almost anything by Stephen King.

I'll try to keep the habit going in 2020 as it's interesting to look back and remember exactly when I read a particular book. I did manage to finish Dry January in 2019 as well and I'm planning to repeat that this year, but it's still early in the month!

Click here to see the list of 110 books that I read in 2019 and please feel free to comment on any of the books here...

Book photo by Doug Turetsky licensed under Creative Commons