My 2023 Reading-Resolution
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…).
For my (current) list of books, skip to the bottom of the article.
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
Fiction
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, as it was a Christmas gift. 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 chance of early failure!
The list so far:
My reflections on the list so far:
Current and completed
1. What If 2 - Randall Monroe?[Non-fiction, Popular Science, Comedy]?(Read)
2. Cibola Burn - James S. A. Corey?[Fiction, Sci-Fi]?(Reading)
Fiction
3. The Helix - Yasmeen Cohen?[Young Adult]
4. Woken Furies - Richard Morgan?[Sci-Fi]
5. Dune - Frank Herbert?[Sci-Fi, Classic]
6. Machines Like Me - Ian McEwan?[Alt. History]
7. Trust - Herman Diaz?[Finance]
8. The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman?[Comedy]
Non-Fiction: Business & Economics
9. Range - David Epstein
10. Black Box Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
11. The 4-Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss
12. Principles - Ray Dalio
13. The Data Loom - Stephen Few
14. Rebel Ideas - Malcolm Gladwell
15. Tescopoly - Andrew Simms
16. One Up - Van Dreunen
领英推荐
17. No Rules Rules - Reed Hastings
18. How Brands Grow - Byron Sharp
19. The Economic Singularity - Calum Chace
20. Zero to One - Peter Thiel
21. The Caesars Palace Coup - Max Frumes and Sujeet Indad
22. The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
23. What We Owe The Future - William MacAskill
24. Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
Non-Fiction: Popular Science
25. The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson
26. Who Owns the Future - Jaron Lenier
27. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harare
28. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk
29. Superintelligence - Nick Bostrom
30. A Thousand Brains - Jeff Hawkins
31. I Think You’ll Find it’s a Bit More Complicated Than That - Ben Goldacre
32. Wild - Jay Griffiths
Non-Fiction: Climate Focus
33. Green Swans - John Elkington
34. Speed & Scale - John Doerr
Non-Fiction: Biographies & Memoirs
35. Permanent Record - Edward Snowden
36. Never Too Much and Never Enough - Mary L Trump
37. Very Bad People - Patrick Alley
38. Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer
39. Brown Baby - Nikes Shukla
Non-Fiction: Historical & Political
40. The Aquariums of Pyongyang - Kang Chol-Hwang & Pierre Rigoulot
41. Chernobyl - Serhii Plokhy
42. Le Mage du Kremlin - Guillaume Cerutti
43. Chums - Simon Kuper
44. Otherlands - Thomas Halliday
45. The Dawn of Everything - David Graeber & David Wengrow
Non-Fiction: Other
46. Lighter - Yung Pueblo
47. How the World Really Works - Vaclav Smil
48. 12 Rules for Life - Jordan B. Peterson
And more to be decided...
49. ?
50. ?
51. ?
52. ?
Again, if anyone is reading… let me know what I should add (or remove!).
AI & Data Transformation Leader
2 年Hey Sam, great initiative! I suggest “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” - a really refreshing book on how to prioritise in this fast moving busy world.
Coaching stress, risk, time, money & results; mentoring skilled professionals; passionate about education & mental health
2 年Great plan!
Vice President - FICC Transformation at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
2 年Nice idea - good luck lad ????
Chief of Staff, RAC Product & Technology
2 年I even have the pleasure of having a friend among the authors in my list: Yasmeen Cohen with her first novel, recently published! ??