Books
Like any normal, well-adjusted person, I keep track of which books I read each year. A lot of them are fun, trashy books about aliens or dragons, while others are not very fun, trashy books about aliens or dragons.
Series are aggregated, and listed by the date I finished reading the last one, which can make some years look really weird.
Ratings are how I felt about the book at the time, which in some cases has changed a lot.
I didn’t start tracking until about 2010, everything before then is from shaky memory, so there’s a bunch missing that maybe I’ll fill out some day.
2023
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (8-book series)
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Zen advice on the creative process, can dip in and out of the book depending on where you are in a project. I wish he’d used specific examples from his work, but the book is probably already a bit longer than it could be anyway.
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
Don't mistake this for a book about FTX, the focus here is Sam Bankman-Fried. Worthwhile if you're interested in his story and the genesis of FTX. more »
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Another plot-driven sci-fi popcorn read with a familiar story line
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Popcorn read that is pretty much what you expect from the title. Enjoyable read, but I’m surprised it was nominated for the Hugo.
Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor (4-book series)
Bob’s consciousness is uploaded into a spaceship’s, which heads out to explore the universe. Casual, humorous narrative style reminiscent of The Martian.
Cheela by Robert L. Forward (2-book series)
The evolution and biology of a vastly different form of life living on a neutron star. Some interesting ideas, but should have been half the length. Written in the 80s and showing it’s age.
The Player of Games by Iain Banks
Firefall by Peter Watts (3-book series)
Quick series with some interesting ideas (human hive minds, vampires in space).
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Came very highly recommended, many likened it to Ready Player One, which isn’t a great comparison. Though both books lean heavily into nostalgic video games, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow the book is really about relationships, romantic and platonic. Not a bad read, but didn’t live up to the hype for me.
The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama
2022
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (8-book series)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I do not get the hype
The Song Machine by John Seabrook
Like, Comment, Subscribe by Mark Bergen
The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski (8-book series)
I haven’t played the games or watched the show, but the books are enjoyable enough if you like the genre.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
No Filter by Sarah Frier
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (7-book series)
Fast-paced, fun young adult sci-fi series
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
Astounding to read all the gory details about Weinstein’s behaviors and everyone who enabled it. Ronan Farrow is a fantastic writer.
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
Some interesting ideas, but not my favorite of his
The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee (3-book series)
Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
Novel-length hustle porn
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
I have no idea how this has a 4.2 on Goodreads or how I managed to finish it.
CIRCE by Madeline Miller
Fun, modern take on the backstory of characters from Greek Mythology
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
Good intro to the benefits of fasting, in case (like me) you have to convince people you’re not crazy for not eating six times a day
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
2021
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
The Expanse by James S. A. Corey (16-book series)
Space antics with realistic physics. Quality dips midway through, but first few books are great. I haven’t watched the show yet.
Xenogenesis by Octavia E. Butler (3-book series)
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Version Control by Dexter Palmer
Not for everyone, but I enjoyed this more than I expected. Nominally about time travel, but the evolution and permutations of adult friendships resonated with me.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Some interesting ideas, but a bit of a slog
Upheaval by Jared Diamond
Endurance by Alfred Lansing
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
After the disappointing Artemis, Andy Weir is back with a read that recaptures the nerdy fun of The Martian
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (6-book series)
Series starts strong, though the most recent book was just OK. Waiting on the final book to be written.
2020
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2-book series)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Interdependency by John Scalzi (3-book series)
Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas
Makes an important and though-provoking point, but with about twice as many pages as necessary which dilutes the message
The Long Winter by A. G. Riddle (3-book series)
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
2019
Lightbringer by Brent Weeks (5-book series)
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Super Pumped by Mike Isaac
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson
Classic Stephenson: Interesting ideas, but drags at times.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Conquerors by Roger Crowley
Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg
Snowing in Bali by Kathryn Bonella
Cribsheet by Emily Oster
Futebol by Alex Bellos
Another Day of Life by Ryszard Kapuscinski
Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse
The Swamp by Michael Grunwald
The Effective Engineer by Edmond Lau
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (14-book series)
2018
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Zones of Thought by Vernor Vinge (2-book series)
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Broken Earth by N. K. Jemisin (3-book series)
2017
Artemis by Andy Weir
Diaspora by Greg Egan
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland
Deep Work by Cal Newport
A good idea, but this is a New Yorker article worth of content stretched into a book.
The Vital Question by Nick Lane
Rise of the Robots by Martin R. Ford
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
The Passage by Justin Cronin
2016
The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton (3-book series)
Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Cixin Liu (3-book series)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
Split Second by Douglas E. Richards
Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Replay by Ken Grimwood
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton (2-book series)
Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown (3-book series)
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
2015
Nexus by Ramez Naam (3-book series)
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
What If? by Randall Munroe
Ratio by Michael Ruhlman
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
How Babies Talk by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff & Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Armada by Ernest Cline
Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt & David Thomas
Sleeping Through the Night, Revised Edition by Jodi A. Mindell
The Sleepeasy Solution by Jennifer Waldburger & Jill Spivack
2014
Business Adventures by John Brooks
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (2-book series)
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (2-book series)
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
Lock In by John Scalzi
Sex on Six Legs by Marlene Zuk
Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
Homeland by Cory Doctorow
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Zero to One by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
Earth Abides by George Rippey Stewart
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Daemon by Daniel Suarez (2-book series)
The Martian by Andy Weir
Silo by Hugh Howey (3-book series)
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss (2-book series)
2013
Being Geek by Michael Lopp
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond
The Long Ships by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson
World War Z by Max Brooks
Feersum Endjinn by Iain Banks
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe (2-book series)
Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (2-book series)
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Ringworld by Larry Niven
How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen
Accelerando by Charles Stross
2012
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
All Clear by Connie Willis (2-book series)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (3-book series)
Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (3-book series)
Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
2011
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
The Uplift War by David Brin
The First Law by Joe Abercrombie (3-book series)
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
Sandkings by George R. R. Martin
Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin (5-book series)
2010
World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold (3-book series)
Why We Get Fat and what to Do about it by Gary Taubes
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell II
2009
Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
2008
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (3-book series)
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein
Watchmen (2019 Edition) by Alan Moore
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Night Gardener by George P. Pelecanos
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Guevara
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Definitive Book of Body Language by Barbara Pease & Allan Pease
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Complications by Atul Gawande
Boomerang by Michael Lewis
Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Better by Atul Gawande
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
2007
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Portuguese translation
The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Shangri-La Diet by Seth Roberts
The Science of Happiness by Stephen Braun
The Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out how Type Works by Erik Spiekermann & E. M. Ginger
Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee
Present Value by Sabin Willett
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Information Anxiety by Richard Saul Wurman
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (7-book series)
Portuguese translations
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Core Performance by Mark Verstegen & Pete Williams
Code Complete by Steve McConnell
About Face 3 by Alan Cooper & Robert Reimann & David Cronin
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
2006
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
This book really helped my mental health
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Game by Neil Strauss
The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs
The Code Book by Simon Singh
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (4-book series)
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Ensaio sobre a lucidez by José Saramago
Ensaio sobre a cegueira by José Saramago
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
No idea how anyone ever though this was a true story.
2005
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins & Yan Wong
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Nature Via Nurture by Matt Ridley
Collapse by Jared Diamond
2004
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The movie translated this very well, no particular reason to read it if you've seen it
Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
2003
Your Money Or Your Life by Joseph R. Dominguez & Vicki Robin
Heart’s in the right place I guess, but the authors got super lucky buying bonds when rates were high in the 80s so good luck replicating that
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Portuguese translation
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Paradise by Toni Morrison
Naked by David Sedaris
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Daisy Miller by Henry James
Read the Spanish translation because I was traveling and ran out of books
2002
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould
Travels with Lizbeth by Lars Eighner
The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The Red Queen by Matt Ridley
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams
The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett
Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale & Stan Redding
Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
2001
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
Style by Joseph M. Williams & Gregory G. Colomb
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud
Number One Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Dune by Frank Herbert
Breaking Windows by David Bank
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
2000
Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard Feynman & Ralph Leighton
1999
Visual Explanations by Edward R. Tufte
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
1998
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
One of the best design books ever written
The Stranger by Albert Camus
1997
The War of the Worlds by Herbert George Wells
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Barely finished this, not sure how I was convinced it was worth reading (it is not).
1996
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card (4-book series)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 by George Orwell
1995
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (2-book series)
Jason Bourne by Robert Ludlum (3-book series)
A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
1994
Timeline by Michael Crichton
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Congo by Michael Crichton
1993
Needful Things by Stephen King