My 2023 Book List
All the books I completed: my ratings, reviews, and thoughts
Hey Friends,
I never read much as a child or well into my teenage years. Then, in my early 20s, as I began struggling with severe social anxiety, I turned to books; genres of self-help, spirituality, and mental health, vehemently consuming any book that promised a transformation. But it wasn’t until 2023 that I began a passionate relationship with fiction, learning that fiction too can heal — it can expand our view of reality, teach us to love more profoundly, and empower us to challenge the narrative of our own lives.
So, for the first time, my yearly book list had just as many fiction novels as non-fiction books.
I listened to more books than I read the last year. However, most books I completed were a combination of listening and reading as I switched between the Audible app and Kindle (the Kindle reader or the iPhone Kindle app). Both apps worked seamlessly together, allowing me to pick up where I left off. Also, I read a couple of fiction novels using the Audible-enabled narration in the Kindle app to follow the book’s written text.
I think it’s important to mention that I wouldn’t have completed nearly as many books if I opted for a traditional book. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the tactile feel of physical paper, but I find it challenging to carry a physical book with me everywhere and take advantage of the pockets of free time in my busy schedule.
So, whether you are an avid reader or want to make reading a habit, I recommend making technology your friend in helping you achieve your reading goals for 2024.
So, without further ado, here is my 2023 book list:
1. Never finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within — David Goggins (Audible Version)
My Rating: 5/5
David is not palatable for everyone. His intense approach to life is very masculine and is grounded in forcing change through sheer will and determination. David was able to triumph in the face of severe childhood abuse and trauma, and genetic disadvantages to become a man with awe-inspiring mental resilience, allowing him to accomplish feats of endurance and physical strength only heard of in fables. Yes, I think most of us can learn something valuable from David, but certainly not emulate him because I believe that anger as a driving force is not sustainable. I think carrying his overwhelmingly masculine energy is unhealthy without balancing it with some more restoring and nurturing feminine energy.
This book is recorded in a podcast-style conversation, and I found it very entertaining and inspiring — it gave me the fuel to jumpstart my fitness journey and the mental resilience to push the perceived limits of what my body can do.
Are you engrossed in your yin, feminine energy and find it hard to move and take action toward your goals? If so, perhaps David is the nudge you need; just be prepared to hear a boatload of F-bombs.
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures — Shelby Van Pelt (Audible Version)
My Rating: 4.5/5
This is a sweet tale about finding purpose and community when faced with the harsh reality of life and the inevitability of death. The author spins a tale, albeit slower than I would’ve preferred, of an aging woman, a young man, and a giant Pacific octopus and how their seemingly separate narratives intertwine into a beautiful and satisfying story. The author did a great job developing the characters, and by the end of the novel, you’ll likely fall in love with Marcellus, the octopus, just as much as I did.
The Audible narration is excellent and makes the story much more compelling.
3. Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir (Kindle/Audible)
My Rating: 5/5
`You are more likely to know Andy from his novel The Martian, adapted into a blockbuster movie starring Matt Damon.
Like The Martian, Project Hail Mary is a hard sci-fi novel, weaving real science into the plot. The story is of a lone astronaut named Grace, who wakes up in a spaceship without recollection of who he is or why he is millions of miles away from home.
The author does a great job alternating his chapters unraveling Grace’s backstory, leading up to the opening scene of the book, with Grace’s effort to figure out his mission aboard the spaceship while working with an affable otherworldly being who he hopes can help him figure things out.
Surely, what the author lacks in literary elegance, he makes up with a well-researched, science-rich plot, which holds everything together nicely.
The Audible narration is excellent and adds another dimension to the storytelling.
4. Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter — 50 Cent (Audible Version)
My Rating: 3/5
At first, I was entertained by 50 Cents’ narration, but I enjoyed it less as I got through the book. I felt 50 was petty in dissing other celebrities, even his own son, which I found unpleasing. Surely, he is entitled to his perspective on matters, but he speaks as though what he is saying is matter-of-fact rather than his opinion. Maybe this book would resonate better with those affiliated or familiar with hip-hop culture, but I am a person who is far removed. Don’t get me wrong, there are some entertaining stories and mindset gems, but the majority of it felt like he was inflating his ego while shitting on everybody else.
5. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell — Robert Dugoni (Kindle/Audible)
My Rating: 5/5
The coming-of-age story of Sam Hill, known as Sam “Hell” or “Devil Boy” as a child because he grew up with a condition called Ocular Albinism, making his pupils appear red.
The novel has a non-linear narrative in which the author jumps between Sam’s childhood and Sam as an Adult.
The story has several themes that many would relate to — I sure did. It’s a story about being different, feeling like an outcast, and being blind to one’s own greatness. It’s a story about losing faith in God and in humanity. But also, it’s a story about friendship and family, about finding purpose and meaning and love after seemingly losing all hope.
I related to Sam because, in many ways, I felt different than my peers growing up; I had a bully, just like Sam. I grew up in a culture rich with religious symbolism and superstition that failed to address my existential angst, just like Sam.
For me, this story is a reminder that an extraordinary life does not need to be one marked with the acts of heroes, like saving humanity from peril, but rather a life in which one simply chooses love over fear.
6. Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity — Justin Baldoni (Audible Version)
My Rating: 4.5/5
Justin has written a book that needed to be written. If you don’t know Justin, you may know him as the shirtless, hot guy on the TV show Jane the Virgin. Justin digs deep into the cultural expectations of what it means to be a man and how that leads many men into living a life that isn’t congruent with their authentic selves. He bares all in this vulnerable exploration of his own masculinity, talking about subjects many of us experience but feel ashamed opening up about, even with our closest friends.
I found Justin inspiring in the values he chooses to live by in leading a rich life abundant with love, giving his all to every role; as a son, a husband, a father, and a creative.
I removed half a star because I believe Justin could have accomplished what he set out to do with many less pages. Nonetheless, I think this would make an enjoyable and insightful listen on Audible (for women too), since the author himself narrates, and does so brilliantly.
7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life — Mark Manson
My Rating: 5/5
I try to stay away from mainstream self-help books, and thus, I didn’t give into the hype of this book years ago. However, when the Kindle version recently appeared on my recommendation list, I thought of giving it a chance. And I wasn’t disappointed.
The author does use profanity (as the title suggests), but to a worthy end. He suggests that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and we only have a limited amount of fucks to give, so we ought to ration those fucks if we wish to lead a happy and fulfilled life.
The author takes concepts of self-help and positive thinking and flips the mainstream narrative, making them more palatable for the general populous and doing so with the aid of interesting stories while sprinkling in some profanity for comedic effect.
8. The Energy Cure — by William Bengston, PhD (Audible Version)
My rating: 4/5
I have come to appreciate William Bengston and all that he contributed to the field of energy healing, more so as a researcher than a healer, despite having healed many cancer patients. This book does a great job unboxing aspects of William’s research, which surely points to some cause and effect, especially when working with cancer, but by no means does it unravel the mystery of energy healing. Nonetheless, William’s humble and eager spirit is inspiring in helping me understand the field and become excited about its implications in my personal life.
This book is not a guide to energy healing but rather an exposition of the scientific method used in William’s research and the hypothesis/conclusions drawn. William has an accompanying audio lecture called Hands-on Healing, which is a practical guide to learning his method.
9. Hands-on Healing, a Training Course on the Energy Cure — by William Bengston, PhD (Audible Version)
My Rating: 5/5
This book is the accompanying guide to Bengston’s book, the Energy Cure. He proposes a compelling approach to energy healing called “cycling.”
Cycling is a technique that requires moving through a list of mental images, starting slow, and then increasing the speed. Bengston emphasizes that cycling is a selfish process in that the images used should focus on the healer, representing the material possessions and experiences he wishes to have. This may sound counter-intuitive, but it makes sense when we consider the elevated energetic state we enter when we visualize and feel the positive emotions of that which we wish to manifest. The author believes that consciously trying to heal disrupts the flow of healing energy through the healer. Instead, he suggests the healer place his hands on the pain area (of the healer himself or the healee) and elevate his emotional state through cycling. Then, once proficient enough, the healer can recede the cycling to the background of their awareness and shift their focus to other things, like perhaps listening to upbeat music or having a casual conversation with the healee.
The author reports that many who practiced cycling, regardless of whether they provided hands-on healing, reported achieving many items on their cycling list and, as a result, having to update it continuously.
Since following Bengston’s teaching many months ago, I have pleasantly found I’ve manifested many of the items on my cycling list. So, in my personal experience, cycling does actually work.
10. Dune (Book 1), Dune Messiah (Book 2), Children of Dune (Book 3) — Frank Herbert (Kindle/Audible)
My Rating: 5/5
The Dune saga comprises six books and is a classic hailed by many as the best sci-fi work ever created. Over the years since the release of Dune in 1965, its popularity has oscillated, with the most recent spike after the release of Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 movie, Dune: Part 1 (an awesome adaptation, by the way).
At first, like many, I found Frank’s writing style very confusing, unintuitive, and off-putting, which is why I put Dune down for many months after reading a few pages. But then, when I picked it up again, I was enchanted, finding that the unusual and, at times, awkward prose made the alien universe of Dune more believable, drawing me so potently into its binds.
The story is set thousands of years into the future after an ancient war with robots, which led humans to ban any computer in the likeness of a human mind. This forced some humans to evolve into biological computers, psychic witches, and prescient space navigators, made possible with a psychoactive substance called Spice, found only in the deep deserts of the planet Dune.
I imagine that in the 60s, Islam and Arab culture were likely seen as strange and exotic, which is why Frank borrowed heavily from them in constructing the religious doctrine of Dune’s nomadic people, the Fremen. You’ll encounter many Arabic words like Ramadan, Hajj, and Mahdi, but all of which have been dialed down in the 2021 movie adaptation.
The Dune saga isn’t simply a fine example of world-building, but has at its core profound philosophical, religious, and ecological concepts that touch on real-life quandaries.
As a political and environmental activist, Frank weaves within the fabric of this work the following overarching plot point: Beware the dangers of blind faith in exalted leaders who act under the guise of religious virtue, and question authority and its motives to avoid a path of eminent suffering and destruction. As a consequence, the author flips the usual hero/savior narrative starting from the second book onwards, which has left many readers disheartened considering their love for Dune’s protagonist, Paul Atreides.
I particularly enjoyed reading the books while following the Audible narrator through the iPhone Kindle app.
11. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones — James Clear (Audible Version)
My Rating: 5/5
I appreciate books that are simple and get straight to the point — this is one of those books. It shares powerful insights into how we form habits and how to change them. Some of us may think that harnessing a stronger willpower is the key to creating positive habits and breaking bad ones, but that actually isn’t true. The author shares that willpower fluctuates and our habits are the function of our weakness moments. Instead, he uses aspects of behavioral psychology to engineer ways that will help us master our habits. For example, he shares the following process to create good habits:
- Make the good habit obvious: Design your environment to make the cues of good habits obvious and visible.
- Make it attractive: Pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
- Make it easy: Reduce friction and prime the environment so taking action becomes easier.
- Make it satisfying: Use reinforcement, give yourself immediate reward when completing your habit, such as checking your habit as complete on a habit tracker app.
To eliminate bad habits, the author suggests using the inverse of the above process: make the bad habit invisible, make it unattractive, make it difficult, make it unsatisfying.
This is just a taste of the many nuggets the author provides in this book. With an Amazon rating of 4.8-stars from more than 121 thousand reviewers, there is little doubt that this title will be a worthy read (or listen), especially as we embark on a new year.
12. Manifest Now — Idil Ahmed (Audible Version)
My rating: 4/5
I appreciate aspects of this book, but I believe it falls short of meeting its main objective: providing the fundamentals of manifestation and a practical guide to help make it happen.
Although Idil provides valuable information and positive mindsets to help in your conscious journey toward manifestation, I think her work lacks the depth that many experienced meditators may be seeking.
Also, one sticking point for me was the author’s emphasis on the power of positive affirmations in changing subconscious beliefs. I completely disagree with that, and although I think affirmations are powerful in shifting your mental state, I don’t think they penetrate deep enough to change your operating system. For example, if you believe that you are a failure and won’t amount to anything and continuously find evidence to back this belief, then proclaiming to yourself repeatedly that you are a success will do little to change how you feel about yourself. That said, I loved the positive affirmations for what they are — a mental tool — and made a habit of listening to the author’s long list of affirmations on my morning drives to work to charge me with positivity.
13. Talk to Strangers — Matt Dahlia, Darin Emre (Audible Version)
My Rating: 4/5
I have been following Yes Theory on YouTube for many years now. Therefore, found this book a beautiful homage, as Matt intended, to his friends at the channel as he moved on to embrace the unknowns in the next chapter of his life.
This book takes us on Matt’s journey from a struggling 21-year-old entrepreneur, washing dishes to make rent, to building one of the most successful YouTube channels, and all the beautiful friendships and synchronicities in between that made such a journey possible.
I knew that becoming successful takes much work, and it was nice to appreciate all the hard work behind the scenes that made building such a prolific channel possible.
Since following the Yes Theory journey since its inception in 2015, I can’t help but notice how Matt has grown into his own. Out of all the Yes Theory founders, Matt is the one that resonates with me the most. I see many of my struggles in his, which he shares with such awe-inspiring vulnerability, especially the Audible version he narrates.
This is Matt’s first book, so I think it’s normal to lack the elements to make it a 5-star book. It was an entertaining and inspiring listen, but I felt it lacked the substance to make it a full-fledged book and could have easily been split into a 3-episode podcast.
Thanks for reading my article. Consider joining my free weekly newsletter on Substack.
