1.10.2009

2008 Books...

I never was much of a reader, but for some reason after graduating college I started liking books.  At the beginning of 2008 I made a goal to read 4 books a month.  It was an ambitious goal but with a 70 minute train ride to work and another 70 minute train ride back home I thought I would challenge myself.  I didn't make it but I did manage to read 26 books.  Here is the list by subject:

Business 
The Four-Hour Work Week by  Timothy Ferriss
Saving the World at Work by Tim Sanders
Busted Budgets and Broken Buildings by Barry LePatners
Refabricating Architecture by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake
Building Green by  Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan

Financial
Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received by Donald Trump
Building Wealth One House at a Time by John W. Shaub
Economic Facts and Fallacies by  Thomas Sowelll
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth by Ric Edelman
Applied Economics by  Thomas Sowell

Autobiography
Miles Gone By by William F. Buckley, Jr.
Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza
My Grandfather’s Son by Clarence Thomas

Religious
A Theology of the Built Environment by T.J. Gorringe
The Divine Omission by Dallas Willard
The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian Mclaren
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias
Everything Must Change by Brian Mclaren

Fiction
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Politics
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shleas
The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi

Miscellaneous
A Field Guide to Buying Organic by Luddene Perry and Dan Schultz
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Each book I read was very enjoyable and worth the time (except Refabricating Architecture).  I did attempt to read Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility but just couldn't handle the personalities of the two sisters so I shelved it.  Last weekend Laura made me watch the movie and that was a waste of 2 hours and 16 minutes.  

I did not make any reading goals for 2009 but just ordered 5 or 6 that I want to read. Hopefully I can incorporate more fiction and politics(that is not meant to be a joke). One goal I have is to stop surfing the internet articles and blogs that react to the politics and events of the day.  I have stopped watching the political shows on the 24 hour news networks only to replace that time with the internet version.  This should free up more time to read.

If I had to pick a favorite it would be My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas.  Very inspirational.  One book I would recommend especially with the "economic crisis" is Amity Shleas The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression.  

3 comments:

@pril G said...

Great to see what you're reading & VERY interesting picks! Do you read books on recommendations of friends? Best seller lists? Pick up the most interesting cover in the book store? Do you purchase them or borrow them from the Library?

Lastly, there is something called Shelfari which appears in the side column of your blog listing the books you're currently reading along with the cover & author's name. Go to shelfari.com to get it (its free).

Kevin said...

Very interesting list. The only one I've read was Blink. I found it very interesting. My goal is to read books more critically.

Two questions. What did you think about The Four-Hour Work Week and Beyond Opinion? I've thought about reading the Four-Hour Work Week and I've listened to a lot of Ravi, but never read any of his books.

Kevin Cieslukowski said...

@pril, funny you ask cause I actually categorized the books by how I came across them.

I go to the local library to see their selection. I figure why pay for a book if you can read it for free. Especially if you don't agree with them right? As an aside I love the authors who chastise capitalism by selling books about anti-capitalism. I say to them, enjoy your dinner parties!

Other than that I pick authors that I like (Thomas Sowell) and authors that make me think (Brian Mclaren). A lot of books are recommended and some people just give me.

Here is a break down:

From the library - 7 books
Borrowed or given - 9 books
Books I bought - 10

10 of the books were recommended, 5 I stumbled upon at the store or library and 11 I wanted to read because of the subject or author.

Thanks for the tip on shelfari.

Kevin, I was skeptical about The Four-Hour Work Week and didn't want to buy/read it because I thought that the author was just using the title to scam people to sell books. So I just started reading it in the aisle. 30 pages later I figured I buy it.

It is worth the read but because of the nature of our work I do not think his ideas can apply to us. He says if you are efficient enough to get your work completed in 6 hours then why be in the office for 8? Then from that try to get completely away from the office and work from home or abroad. Let me know if you read it.

Ravi is awesome (and I tend not to speak in superlatives). Beyond Opinion is a collection of essays written by his colleagues, however it is still worth it - really good topics. Ravi writes a few of them and he introduces and concludes the book. I read another book of his titled Can Man LIve Without God? And I get his podcast on itunes.