Similar to 2016 and 2017, I spent a lot of time reading books. Original goal was to read at least 25, but I managed to read only 24. However, I attribute it to spending a lot time reading genres that were outside my comfort zone, such as philosophy and biographies.
Here is a small collage I built with a python script, of all the titles I managed to read.
Fiction
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
Hosseini, Khaled
This was by far my favourite in the entire year. The story was beautiful, heart wrenching & soul crushing tragedy. The collateral damage from the wars fought in the name of proving oneself or beliefs better than others, seemed not very far from reality at all.
The book was as evocative as this other book “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” by A_rundhati Roy. _They certainly seemed to exist in the same realistic universe.
2. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert A.
I ended the year with a quick blaze through the book. And it read like an action movie which you know is terrible but you watch anyway because its fun.
3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two (Harry Potter, #8)
Tiffany, John
Just 6 years ago, I read the Harry Potter for the first time. It was incredibly enjoyable, nostalgia inducing journey to revisit the universe again, despite the book not entirely living up to the hype of the original series.
4. Space Team (Space Team, #1)
Hutchison, Barry J.
5. Use of Weapons
Banks, Iain M.
6. Stories of Your Life and Others
Chiang, Ted
The change of title of the book to “The Arrival”, after a short story became a movie, deceived me into purchasing this. I was throughly confused while I went through the first short about the tower of babylon as I wondered how it related to space and aliens.
7. Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1)
Child, Lee
8. Artemis
Weir, Andy
Comics
1. Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1)
Andersen, Sarah
2. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
Brosh, Allie
Biography
1. Mr. Nice
Marks, Howard
2. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built
Clark, Duncan
3. Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens
Izzard, Eddie
4. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
le Carré, John
5. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Bourdain, Anthony
Philosophy
1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Pirsig, Robert M.
2. How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life
Price, Catherine
3. How to Walk (Mindfulness Essentials, #4)
Nhất Hạnh, Thích
4. The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future
Zeldin, Theodore
Non-fiction
1. A Burglar’s Guide to the City
Manaugh, Geoff
2. You Are Not So Smart:
Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself
McRaney, David
3. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Gladwell, Malcolm
4. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
Collins, James C.
5. How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships
Lowndes, Leil