When I was a teen I had a lot of free time after school, way more than I have now working a full time job.
Most kids my age used to go out and drink. I used to stay home and read. Yes, I was (and still am) the shy kid. I would also play computer games from time to time, but not as often as I would be reading.
In these last few months I’m trying to read whenever I can, before that I would only read one or two books a year. This year I’ve read 5 books so far and I’m on track to read at least one more by the end of the year. I could read way more if I forced myself to, but I don’t want to force it too much.
Reading should be something that you do because you enjoy it, not something that you do to hit a target of “number of books to read in [insert a specific timescale]”.
You need to read with an open mind and will. Having a forced limit is counterproductive to that objective.
What I’ve been reading in 2019
I’m mostly been reading Fantasy books for fiction and Business books for non fiction.
Non Fiction:
The non fiction section has been dominated by Basecamp.
- Getting Real by Basecamp
- Rework by Basecamp
- Remote by Basecamp
- Shape Up by Basecamp
- It doesn’t have to be crazy at work by Basecamp
On top of the books I’m also listening to the podcast, I especially recommend the episodes with the CEO of WordPress about the future of the web and of 1Password about their first founding round and what it means getting VC funding.
Fiction:
- Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
- Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson The fantasy author to look for. His books deliver consitently and he writes at an unmatched pace.
- Fire & Blood by George R R Martin Fire & Blood is not Winds of Winter unfortunately. The book was pretty meh, but the backstory of Aegon and how he Targaryens rose to claim the 7 kingdoms was interesting regardless.
Next year I plan to keep reading more business/productivity related books and get up to par with the rest of Brandon Sanderson books. Pretty sure that will take the whole year so I will not add any other book for the times being.