Reading Roundup 2023

The most impactful book to me in 2023 was one I wrote with my wife Carol and our youngest son. Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventures with Asperger’s is our growth journey from accepting “that’s just Philip,” to obtaining a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, to learning how to cope and still succeed. From the distinct advantage of countless wayfinding steps more than 20 years in the making, we offer pragmatic guidance, self-help encouragement, and real reason for hope to all parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. (See our website for more.)

I try to read widely, for both intellectual development and entertainment. Not all my choices pertain directly to my work, or even my personal interests. Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, recommended to me by my physicist son, wasn’t one I’d have chosen on my own, but it did augment what I learned from the Oppenheimer film this year. Even fiction, when it represents a divergent point of view, can add to my useful stores of knowledge. Ilana’s Love, a book by my friend (which, despite the inference from its title is not a romance novel—a genre I usually do ignore!), furnished a thought-provoking perspective on relationships.

I re-read all 4,100 pages of the 7-volume Harry Potter series, (the first published 26 years ago!) enjoying many details and nuances not found in the films. J.K. Rowling is a master of originality, dialog, character development, and plot complexities.

Is it just me, or are subtitles are getting longer all the time? But then there’s John Grisham, whose obviously successful title formula is: “The ____.” Nonetheless, the subtitles do help me better remember the content afterward.

The complete list of those I’ve read this year follows, but here are my personal citations for those I’ve found most captivating, memorable, or practical in the following categories:

Work-related: Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need

Biography: Leonardo da Vinci

History: The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush

Science: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

Nonfiction: Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

Business: Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s

Spiritual: Experiencing God Day by Day

Fiction: What Rose Forgot, and The Man Who Died Twice

1.?????? Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?, Philip Yancy

2.?????? Storytizing: What’s Next After Advertising? Bob Pearson

3.?????? The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush, Pierre Berton

4.?????? The Freedom of Self-Forgiveness: The Path to True Christian Joy, Timothy Keller

5.?????? A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks, Brad Edmundson

6.?????? Black Ice, Brad Thor

7.?????? The Case For Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection, Lee Strobel

8.?????? The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

9.?????? Seeing Red, Sandra Brown

10.?? Jerks at Work: How to Deal with People Problems and Problem People, Ken Lloyd

11.?? Born a Yankee, Grace Carstens

12.?? Missing Witness, Gordon Campbell

13.?? Ilana’s Love, Laurel West

14.?? Relic, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

15.?? Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read

16.?? Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Nando Parrado with Vince Rause

17.?? The Book of Lies, Brad Meltzner

18.?? The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World, Ken Alder

19.?? Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel

20.?? Reliquary, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

21.?? What Rose Forgot, Nevada Barr

22.?? Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s, Brad Edmundson

23.?? The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzner

24.?? Once Upon a Wardrobe, Patti Callahan

25.?? Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan

26.?? What’s Wrong With Me? A Journal of Emotional Healing in a Broken World, Royce Alan Alford

27.?? Leonardo da Vinci, Wallter Isaacson

28.?? Stepping Stones: Our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’s, Tim and Carol Herd with Philip Herd

29.?? An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong

30.?? The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, Henry Beston

31.?? 13?, Nevada Barr

32.?? Love Me, Garrison Keillor

33.?? Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, Alex Wellerstein

34.?? Address Unknown, Katherine Kressman Taylor

35.?? Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan

36.?? The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer

37.?? The Judge’s List, John Grisham

38.?? The Troop, Nick Cutter

39.?? The Whistler, John Grisham

40.?? The Reckoning, John Grisham

41.?? What Was Rescued, Jane Bailey

42.?? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling

43.?? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

44.?? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

45.?? Molly’s Pilgrim, Barba Cohen

46.?? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling

47.?? The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman

48.?? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling

49.?? Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

50.?? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

51.?? Getting Through the Tough Stuff: It’s Always Something, Charles Swindoll

52.?? Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need, Todd Henry

53.?? The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman

54.?? Experiencing God Day by Day, Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby