Getting lost in books has been a hobby of mine since I was a child. I loved reading. I would spend hours upon hours reading. I was always well beyond my reading level despite multiple school changes through elementary school & it gave me pride to know I excelled in that area. No matter what was going on at home or what I was facing in a new school, reading could always take me somewhere else. It showed me life & the world was much larger than my experience & gave me ideas & goals to strive towards. Books have always been a reliable constant in my life, even when nothing else is. My love for reading has never diminished. I am a perpetual lover of learning. Whether I’m reading industry books, self-help books or the occasional fictional novel, I end the book with a lesson or a new point of view. Or I close the book with a profound emotion or appreciation. Bill Gates reads 50 books a year. He says there’s always something for him to learn. Reading has a slew of benefits from brain sharpening & improved conversational skills to new skills & new world views. Theres a statistic that says the average person reads about 4 books a year. I hope to see that number increase. On New Year’s Day 2017, I set the intention to read 25 books that year & I reached that goal. On New Year’s Day in 2018, I set the intention to read 36 books. I’m happy to say I’ve reached that goal as well. For 2019, I'm setting the goal at 40. It seems very daunting if I'm being honest. But it's possible. Here's my list of books I read in 2018, the books I read in 2017 & some of the books I’m looking forward to in 2019.
2018 List: 1. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris
2. Ali: A life - Jonathan Eig
3. The 10X Rule - Grant Cardone
4. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin
5. I'm Fine and Other Lies - Whitney Cummings
6. Unleash Your Inner Money Babe - Kathrin Zenkina
7. Verbal Judo - George Thompson
8. Instagram Secrets - Jeremy McGilvery
9. My Mother Was Nuts: A Memoir - Penny Marshall
10. The Participation Game - Norty Cohen
11. How to Be Bawse - Lilly Singh
12. The Best Seller Code - Jodie Archer & Matthew L. Jockers
13. Content Inc. - Joe Pulizzi
14. The Charisma Myth - Olivia Fox Cabane
15. We're Going to Need More Wine - Gabrielle Union
16. As We Speak - Peter Meyers and Shann Nix
17. Creativity Inc. - Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace
18. Attached - Rachel S. F. Heller, Amir Levine
19. Sunset Thunder - Shannyn Leah
20. Daring Greatly - Brene Brown
21. Facebook Advertising: Crack Facebook's Advertising Code - Riley Reive
22. The Digital Marketing Handbook - Robert W. Bly
23. Whiskey in a Teacup - Reese Witherspoon
24. Girl Wash Your Face - Rachel Hollis
25. When Life Gives You Lululemons - Lauren Weisberger
26. Micro Resilience: Minor Shifts for Major Boosts in Drive, Focus & Energy - Allen P. Haines, Bonnie St. John
27. Crucial Conversations - Kerry Paterson
28. The 5 Second Rule - Mel Robbins
29. Talk Like TED - Carmine Gallo
30. The Hormone Reset Diet - Sara Gottfried
31.12 Rules For Life - Jordan Peterson
32. Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger
33. Not that Kind of Girl - Lena Dunham
34. Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss
35. Newsjacking - David Meerman Scott
36. Becoming - Michelle Obama
2017 List:
1. Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg
2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck - Mark Manson
3. Love Lives Here - Maria Goff
4. The Sleep Revolution - Arianna Huffington
5. Racism without Racists - Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
6. Pussy: A Reclamation - Regena Thomashauer
7. Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid - Robert J. Sternberg
8. The Industries of the Future - Alec Ross
9. The Supremes Greatest Hits: The 34 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life
10. You are a Badass - Jen Sincero
11. Racial Formation in the United States - Michael Omi & Howard Winant
12. Daniel Goleman - Working with Emotional Intelligence
13. Race, Class & Gender - Margaret L. Andersen & Patricia Hill Collins
14. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World - Adam Grant
15. Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert
16. Knowledge & Decisions - Thomas Sewell
17. Managing the Unexpected - Karl E. Weick & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe
18. The One Thing - Gary Keller
19. Love Does - Bob Goff
20. Women & Leadership - Barbara Kellerman & Deborah Rhole
21. Through the Labrynth - Alice H. Eagly & Linda L. Carli
22.Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture - Kim S. Cameron & Robert E. Quinn
23. The Book of Joy - Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu & Douglas Abrams
24. H3 Leadership - Brad Lomenick
25. All Marketers Tell Stories - Seth Godin
Books on my reading list for 2019:
1. I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers, Meditations for a Meaningful Life - Maria Shriver
2. Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World - Eileen McNamara
3. Politics: A Treatise on Government - Aristotle
4. Genius Foods - Max Lugavere
5. She Wants It - Jill Soloway
6. The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class - Elizabeth Currid-Halkett
7. Stoicism: The Art of Creating Small Changes for Life Long Habits of Self-Discipline, Mental Toughness, Productivity and Mastering Confidence, Jealousy and Anger Management - Chandler Andersen
8. This Will Only Hurt a Little - Busy Phillips
9. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups - Daniel Coyle
10. Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies - Jared Diamond
Happy Reading.