books in 2023

2 minute read
personal

One of my goal for 2023 was to read more books. I am an average reader at best (as per my old kindle & pocket stats).

This year I was carrying my kindle wherever possible and also consciously nudging myself to read more books using streaks app on iOS.

Anyway, here is a list of all the titles that I have read this year.

Last Updated On: Sun Jan 7 23:09:18 IST 2024s

  • learnings:

  • The first half the year was good in terms of number of titles read. Then in the second half things slowed down a little more. I kept starting multiple titles and leaving them after 30-40%.

  • A constant flow of good fiction books can help reduce the hurdles that comes with non-fiction.

  • I ended up choosing many books that were short, you end up gaming the metrics that you are optimizing for. Many books which I only finished 30% were longer than actual books that I finished 100%

  • Reels and access to phone is a big detriment to everything and especially a good reading session.

Read

  1. How to become a writer - Ruskin Bond - 4.5/5
  2. So good they can’t ignore you - Cal Newport - 5/5
  3. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - What I Learned While Editing My Life - Donald Miller - 4/5
  4. Stealing the Corner Office: The Winning Career Strategies They’ll Never teach you in B-school - Brendan Reid - 5/5
  5. The Education of Yuri - Jerry Pinto - 4/5
  6. The Criminals of Kathmandu (Adventures of Feluda) - Satyajit Ray - 5/5
  7. In Praise of Shadows - Junichiro Tanizaki - 3.5/5
  8. How to Live - Derek Sivers - 5/5 : Strongly Recommended
  9. Sum: Tales from the afterlives - David Eagleman - 4.5/5 - a little trippy
  10. The extraordinary life of Sam Hell - 3/5
  11. Let’s talk money - Monika Halan - 5/5 (highly recommend it for personal finance in India)
  12. Catcher in the Rye - 5/5 (always a good read for me, must read it every decade)
  13. The four commandments - 3/5 (This is a great book for some, but I had read a lot of it before in some other form)
  14. Steal like an artist - 4/5 (a page turner, one sitting book, insightful)
  15. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life - 5/5 (I don’t think I will ever rate anything by Taleb less than 5)
  16. Goat Days - 5/5 (A beautifully painful story)
  17. Bird by Bird - - 5/5
  18. Black River - 4/5
  19. Chewing the fat - 4/5 (Opinionated and witty, best)

Started but didn’t finish

  1. On Writing Well - William Zinsser
  2. How to be an Adult - David Richo
  3. The Three Body Problem
  4. Designing Your Life: Build the Perfect Career, Step by Step
  5. Money Wise: Timeless Lessons on Building Wealth

self-promotion: if this blog adds value to your life, then you can show your appreciation by buying me a coffee

PS: The links above are affiliate links, so if you buy from those links, Amazon will give me a tiny reward (1%) - so you can skip buying me a coffee separately :P