2015 - My Year in Books

Every year, I set myself a two-books-per-month reading goal. It’s a pace I can hit without too much trouble, and it allows me time to navigate some of the 1000 page behemoths hoarding space on the to-be-read shelf.

In 2015, I managed to read thirty books. Some were fantastic. Others were boring. Most were educational in some sense.  I’m not much of a critic or reviewer.  Any book that holds my attention to the end must impart some knowledge, even if it that knowledge concerns effective fiction pacing.

Below is my 2015 reading list. I like keeping a record of when I read certain books. Often it results in comments like, “Wow, it’s been ten years since I read that? I still remember every word.” Other times the comments are like, “It’s only been two years since I read that? I don’t remember a thing about it. Not sure I read it, but why would someone have hidden it on my bookshelf?”

I also want to include links to each book. For authors and bookstores alike, links are never bad. If I steer even one reader their way, I’ll consider it a success. For digital, I’ll go with Kindle, because it’s the most popular format and is what I prefer.  For hardcover/paperback, I’ll link to my favorite independent bookstore, the Book Cellar in Chicago.

So, without further ado, my 2015 reading list, in reading order:

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Things a Little Bird Told Me by Biz Stone
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

How to Fly a Horse by Kevin Ashton
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Dead Wake by Erik Larson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

J by Howard Jacobson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Monopolists by Mary Pilon
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by Tad Williams
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Holy Cow by David Duchovny
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate by Naomi Klein
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Third Reich at War by Richard J Evans
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Armada by Ernest Kline
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Napoleon by Andrew Roberts
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon by Tim Weiner
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Igniting the American Revolution by Derek W Beck
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

Pacific by Simon Winchester
Kindle  |  Book Cellar

What We’re Fighting For Now is Each Other: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Climate Justice by Wen Stephenson
Kindle  |  Book Cellar