Like most other’s I create new year’s resolutions, but unlike most I try to tackle big changes in my life. Sometimes the changes might be small, like stopping drinking coffee, and sometimes they are large; like this year’s.
2012 started out with our family’s Winter skiing getaway, which we drive 600+ miles to and from. So to kill time, I listened to “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” on the drive up and back. It was while on vacation, that I decided to set a goal to make this year I begin reading…for real. Using GoodReads.com (which I highly recommend) I created a goal of 35 books. Not too ambitious for the avid reader, but for someone who normally reads one book a year, it definitely was a goal.
Around May, I realized that I was on track to exceed my goal; so I rewarded myself with a Kindle Fire. This allowed me to expand my available books from just the thrift stores, to a couple of online libraries and the Amazon Lender’s Library.
I can definitively say that I’ve caught the reading bug. My problem now is just finding books… Follow me on Good Reads.
My Top 5 Books of the Year
#1 – The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Wow, is about all I can say. What a story and what story telling. I hope I’m a good guy.
#2 – Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
Easily the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year. It tells the amazing story of the 1996 deaths on Mt. Everest. So many things went wrong.
#3 – The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
What can you say? You’ve seen the speech, the book it that and so much more. I hope I can be half the man and father Randy was.
#4 – Ghost in the Wires, Kevin Mitnick
While probably not known outside of “geek” circles, Mitnick is a world-class hacker. This book walks through his life both online and off. You are not quite sure who to root for.
#5 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
I know it is corny, but the way this book tied the story into historical events and people was truly unique and enjoyable. You actually want to believe this is the actual history of the US and the civil war. With that said, the movie absolutely eff’n sucked.
All Books Read
- 2012-01-07 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
- 2012-01-15 – The 4 Hour Workweek
- 2012-01-20 – Millionaire Upgrade
- 2012-01-31 – Free: The Future of a Radical Price
- 2012-02-06 – Under the Banner of Heaven
- 2012-02-12 – Into Thin Air
- 2012-02-20 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- 2012-02-29 – The Hunger Games
- 2012-03-09 – A Stolen Life
- 2012-03-20 – Joe College
- 2012-03-27 – Catching Fire
- 2012-03-27 – Quiet: The Power of Introverts
- 2012-04-02 – Mockingjay
- 2012-04-10 – Assassination Vacation
- 2012-04-13 – Breaking Night
- 2012-04-18 – Busting Vegas
- 2012-04-24 – Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid…
- 2012-04-30 - The Accidental Billionaires
- 2012-05-08 – Ghost in the Wires
- 2012-05-13 – Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer
- 2012-05-21 – Where Men Win Glory
- 2012-05-27 – The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness
- 2012-06-12 – Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail
- 2012-06-21 – The Last Lecture
- 2012-06-27 – Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea
- 2012-07-05 – Born to Run
- 2012-07-11 – The Road
- 2012-07-20 – Escape
- 2012-07-27 – AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
- 2012-08-01 – The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of a Life Without Reservations
- 2012-08-07 – No Country for Old Men
- 2012-08-10 – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
- 2012-08-15 – Kitchen Confidential
- 2012-08-22 – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- 2012-08-29 – The Girl that Played with Fire
- 2012-09-08 – The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
- 2012-09-12 – Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
- 2012-09-29 – The Kindness of Strangers
- 2012-10-08 – Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
- 2012-10-17 – The Glass Castle
- 2012-10-31 – No Easy Day
- 2012-11-16 – The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost
- 2012-11-23 – License to Pawn
- 2012-12-05 – Full Body Burdon: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats
- 2012-12-11 – The Shawshank Redemption
- 2012-12-13 – Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains
- 2012-12-20 – Three Weeks with my Brother
- 2012-12-23 – 700 Sundays