160. ...this year’s reading list…
(2023 reading list)
Reading is a project. I’m reading with purpose. I want to be a better human. Or maybe I want to understand other humans better. Books serve as windows into different worlds, minds, and perspectives, nurturing our understanding and empathy.
Sometimes I just like to feel the weight shift as the book I’m reading falls from my hand, the day’s last paragraph diffusing into my mind as I descend into sleep.
I read different books in different places at different times. There are early morning armchair books, couch books, duvet and pillow books, back pocket bus and travel books. There are night time sleepy books and upright, edge of the seat books. There are books that flow over and through me and there are books that need page corners folded and lines underlined. Some books demand scratchy marginalia conversations with their authors.
Fictions and narratives give us insights into other ways of thinking about the world. Non-fiction introduces, elucidates, illuminates, and helps us ask better questions about the world around us.
I wrote about books that might inspire a person to think here.
It seems I started keeping reading lists in 2019. This time last year I shared my annual list on Substack for the first time and that led to some fun conversations with other readers about books and reading and keeping lists so I’m sharing again this year.
I wrote about gathering books and the slow process of reading here.
This year I’ve read more books by people I’ve met or that people have asked me to read. There have been books I’ve struggled with for various reasons. I think I might be exploring that for a long time.
Here’s this year’s reading list…
Elect Mr Robinson for a Better World.
Donald Antrim.
The Expanse.
James A. Corey.
Parting Words.
Benjamin Ferencz.
Escape into meaning.
Evan Puschak.
The artist of the floating world.
Kazuo Ishiguro.
Understanding Comics.
Scott McCloud.
Sorry, please, thank you.
Charles Yu.
How to kill your family.
Bella Mackie.
Leviathan Falls.
James A. Corey.
Being Happy.
Epicurus.
Lessons in Stoicism.
John Sellars.
The Heroes Journey.
Joseph Campbell.
Maus.
Art Spiegelman.
Into The Wild.
Jon Krakauer.
Ego is the Enemy.
Ryan Holiday.
The Chaos Machine.
Max Fisher.
The Watcher.
Ross Armstrong.
Human Compatible.
Stuart Russell.
Buddhism for Beginners.
Thubten Chodron
Buddhism for Beginers. (twice!)
Jack Kornfield.
Toy Fights.
Don Paterson.
Why you are NOT Buddhist.
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyenytse.
My Own Personal Armageddon.
Gillian Lee Anderson.
Sum.
David Eagleman.
Mayflies.
Andrew O'Hagan.
Imprfct.
Steven Davie.
White Noise.
Don deLillo.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Gabrielle Zevin.
The way of all flesh.
Ambrose Parry.
Because I don't know what you mean and what you don't.
Josie Long.
The Long Earth.
Terry Pratchet and Stephen Baxter.
The Satsuma Complex.
Bob Mortimer.
Creativity Inc.
Ed Catmull.
Suzanne.
Tom Humberstone.
A Philosophical Investigation.
Philip Kerr.
The Circle.
Dave Eggers.
Discipline is Destiny.
Ryan Holiday.
Excellent Advice for Living.
Kevin Kelly.
Driftnet.
Lin Anderson.
Selfless.
Brian Lowery.
Sapiens. (again)
Yuval Noah Harari.
The book you want everyone you love to read.
Philippa Perry.
Convenience Store Woman.
Sayaka Murata.
Stoic Wisdom.
Nancy Sherman.
The Coddling of the American mind.
Jonathan Haidt Greg Lukianoff.
How to know a person.
David Brooks.
I’m currently reading…
Making Comics.
Scott McCloud.
On the shortness of Life.
Seneca.
Michael Rosen’s Book of Play!
Michael Rosen.
The Fifth Season.
N. K. Jemison.
They might all make it onto the finished list for 2023. One or two might creep over into next year’s list. Time is weird in the holidays.
Is there a theme for the year?
I chose to read a lot of stoicism and buddhism. I want to be a better person. A lot of the fiction I’ve read has been about characters in difficult situations, often of their own making, and the ways that they explore, break out, or make peace with the complexities of their life.
What if I had to pick a top five for this year? How would I rank them? Which has been most enjoyable, enlightening, impactful?
Here’s five that rocked my world while I was reading them.
Parting Words.
Benjamin Ferencz.
Escape into meaning.
Evan Puschak.
Maus.
Art Spiegelman.
Stoic Wisdom.
Nancy Sherman.
Sum.
David Eagleman.
There, that’s five books which caused me to grab people by the shoulders, look into their eyes and say “oh my word, have you read this book”. I don’t think you could possibly be let down by them. I urge you to get all five and dig in.
But I could also comfortably insist, for very different reasons, that you read these…
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Gabrielle Zevin.
White Noise.
Don deLillo.
Mayflies.
Andrew O'Hagan.
The Satsuma Complex.
Bob Mortimer.
Because I don't know what you mean and what you don't.
Josie Long.
It’s been an unusual year of reading for me. Not always reading the book I wanted to be reading but always leaning into the process.
Read what you like. Also read a bit of what you don’t know and even some stuff that you actively dislike, because that’s how you expand what you know. When you know more you find more to like.
What about you? What’s been your stand out book for 2023?
What should I read in 2024?
Subscribe now to ensure you wont miss out on next year’s reading list…
Thanks for reading. Thanks for being with me while I push out into the world and learn to write out loud.
Love you bye,
Paul.
Thanks for the tips! My favourite books this year were Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.