Last year, I started a list of the books I’ve read, updating about every quarter (still investigating how to auto-update through a Kindle API of some sort). This year, I want to call out some of my reading habits.
Reading More
First thing is that I’ve been reading more. I usually find a book I really enjoy then set off to read everything they’ve written. This year, I found Barry Eisler and set off to read the 10 volume John Rain series as it takes place in large part in Tokyo. This is what pushed me over the one book per week mark. The other authors I’ve enjoyed are Gillian Flynn, Andy Weir, JK Rowling.
Impactful Books
I’ve read a few books that have profoundly changed me. Here they are:
- The Premonition – Changed my life and I’ve joined the team at The Public Health Company. Coupled with The Fifth Risk, this book really hit hard and led me to believe something should and can be done about pandemic response and biosecurity.
- On The Clock – An eye-opener on the dismal state of low-wage labor. I have much more respect for those putting in the hard labor and a disdain for the companies ruthlessly optimizing. I held one of the types of jobs written about so can see how thoroughly the industry has changed for the worse.
- American Dirt – The sheer misery inflicted upon those looking for a better life of opportunity on the way to America.
- The Grapes of Wrath – Another story about being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Amazing this happened in the last century in American in the very region in which I live. I can’t drive through the I-5 agricultural corridor without thinking of the mad scramble to doom during the Dust Bowl years.
Reading to Connect
I’ve also started reading books to better connect with those around me. Some of those books are The Secret Garden, Nomadland, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and This is Going to Hurt.