Books

My 2023 List of Books and a Challenge

What I read last year — and the year before that

Since I set a personal goal to read 200 books a year, my life has been enriched, enhanced and forever changed.

I came to realize that reading and writing were foundational elements of what I love about myself. And while in that first year I came so close to that magical 200 number, over subsequent years I found less time to read, as I expanded into my time to write and lead others to find their seeds of what they love about themselves.

This list is significantly shorter than that first year I set the goal. But when I look at the list — it tells me I have immersed myself in some wonderful writing, been inspired, and had I not set any goal, I would not have read as much as I did. Setting goals makes the difference in doing or not doing.

Some of these books I have read multiple times, but they appear again because they were that good, and also because they were choices in our One Mind Book Club in the Garden of Neuro Institute.

This year, I hope to increase the number of books on the list once again. And also, I plan to write a few books of my own.

What did you read this year? Write your own post and tag me. I’m always interested in finding my next great read.

And here’s a reading challenge for you. Set a goal for how many books you’ll read this year. It does not have to be 200, but make it a stretch. Write a post, let us know what book you’ll start with — tag me — and let’s compare notes at the end of the year! I’ll be starting 2024 with Beyond Words by Carl Safina.

1. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
2. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
3. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari — essential for all humans
4. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari — his second book and equally engaging
5. Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky — Chomsky shines light on American Imperialism globally
6. Confluence by Cynthia Kurtz — new ways of viewing and new tools in examining human and natural systems’ confluence
7. Scenes from my Life by Michael K. Williams
8. Roald Dahl by Matthew Dennison — super boring about a privileged white guy
9. 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Klemp — well outlined
10. Playing Big by Tara Mohr — a highlight of the year for me
11. The Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams — third time reading this
12. Be Water My Friend by Shannon Lee — a highlight of the year for me
13. Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill — beautiful first hand account of Jackie written by her Secret Service agent
14. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk — essential reading for all humans, my third time read through
15. Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne — academic but worthwhile
16. I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell — what is it like to raise a child with life threatening allergies?
17. Getting it Wrong from the Beginning by Kieran Egan
18. Beasts by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson — Masson never disappoints when it comes to understanding non-human animals
19. Flourish by Martin Seligman
20. The Fran Leibowitz Reader by Fran Leibowitz — she always entertains me
21. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek — essential Sinek
22. Ultralearning by Scott Young — interesting perspective on full immersive learning
23. Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman — Goleman sets the bar
24. Sell with a Story by Paul Smith — somewhat diminishes the community of story telling
25. Never Too Late to Begin Again by Julia Cameron — always a good start, or restart
26. The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman — meh, I don’t know what all the fuss is about regarding her popularity
27. Bad Cree by Jessica Johns — beautiful imagery from this indigenous writer
28. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
29. The Fifth Agreement by don Miguel Ruiz — utterly insightful Toltec wisdom and a highlight of the year for me
30. 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene — has me questioning ethics
31. The Biggest Prison on Earth by Ilan Pappe — essential in understanding Israel-Palestine history
32. Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell — great for public speaking tips
33. Why We Meditate by Daniel Goleman and Tsoknyi Rinpoche — essential for meditators or non-meditators and a highlight of the year for me
34. The Disordered Mind by Eric R. Kandel — refreshing insights on mental disorders
35. The Littlest Weaver by Robin Hall — adorable children’s book gifted to me by the author, after she stayed here at my AirBnb
36. Easter Eggs and Matzo Balls by Medium writer friend Janie Emaus — adorable children’s book
37. The Advice Columnist by Janie Emaus — a sweet gift, about an out of work, out of date columnist who finds herself across time

Since I did not publish my 2022 list, here it is now.

1. Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by David Heath Justice
2. A Good Cry by Nikki Giovanni — my favorite poet
3. Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
4. We are Grateful, Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell — fun children’s book
5. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer — comprehensive
6. Last Standing Woman by Winona LaDuke — inspirational
7. Conquest by Andrea Smith — extremely powerful and important book
8. Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard — the master research work about how trees communicate
9. When Languages Die by K. David Harrison — necessary insights
10. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
11. How Boards Work by Dambisa Moyo
12. Noise by Daniel Kahneman — classic Kahneman
13. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates — inspirational
14. Woke, Inc. by Vivek Ramaswamy — thought provoking
15. Our Time is Now by Stacey Abrams — inspirational
16. What Happened to You? By Oprah Winfrey
17. Red Notice by Bill Browder — amazing real life story about business in Russia that reads like a fiction thriller
18. American Buffalo by David Mamet — Mamet, meh
19. Leading with Dignity by Donna Hicks — one of the most important leadership books I’ve ever read
20. The Project by Courtney Summers — fiction that reads like reality
21. All the Frequent Troubles of our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner — great read, real life history
22. Democracy by Condoleeza Rice — surprisingly not what I expected, much better
23. Recessional by David Mamet — read another Mamet just to make sure I really don’t like him. I don’t.
24. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue — beautifully written, emotional
25. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
26. Altered States by Paddy Chayefsky
27. Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby — painfully poignant
28. Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama by Bob Odenkirk — inside look at his career
29. Origin by Jennifer Raff
30. How Remarkable Women Lead by Joanna Barsh, Susie Cranston and Geoffrey Lewis
31. Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett — the most popular Stanford course ever in the school’s history, turned into a book for everyone
32. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig — fun fantasy fiction
33. The 1619 Project by Nilde Hannah-Jones
34. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

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More about the book journey —