Reading in 2017

2017 was a pretty monumental year for us. I got two new jobs - a full-time IT job and a currently-part-time Software Engineering job - and fulfilled the first Goal of my Computer Science dream by entering graduate school at Georgia Tech. At the risk of giving off that creepy evil mastermind vibe, I'm also physically (and emotionally?) the strongest I have ever been. My wife has been working hard at her HR job and has but a single remaining class to complete her MBA (so proud of her!). Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. We lost my grandfather's companion and close family friend Ann, we lost our cat Lazy of 20 years, and we lost our dog Spike of 14 years. They each had a big influence on my life and were devastating on my family. In spite of this, we have managed to juggle whatever life has thrown at us, and together my wife and I will take on the world!

Similar to 2015 and 2016, I made reading a priority resolution for the past year, aiming for 50 books towards my goal habit of 2+ books per week. Traditional "New Year's Resolutions" like diet, exercise, and stopping yourself from spending all your money on the complete One Piece manga collection, are all things that I shuffle into my "Goals" bucket and continue progressing one step in one goal at a time without regard for the time of year. Below you'll find all the books that I read this year without reservation (not including comics and textbooks, and including * re-read tomes). As per usual, the bold entries with links had the biggest impact on my life and I encourage anyone interested in the subject matter to check them out. In retrospect, I managed to beat my records from the previous two years, hitting approximately 94 books in a three year period (100 since 10/11/14), plus 2 that I'm in the middle of now. You'll notice that I had a huge head start in the middle of the year, but this is around the time I began focusing attention on school and actionizing books more than I was churning them out.

1. Getting Things Done (1/12/17)
2. Stranger in a Strange Land (1/31/17)
3. The Checklist Manifesto (2/4/17)
4. The Count of Monte Cristo (2/21/17)
5. Tao de Ching (3/2/17)
6. Patriot Games (3/17/17)
7. Awaken the Giant Within (3/25/17)
8. Dead Wake (3/25/17)
9. The Churchill Factor (4/3/17)
10. Einstein: His Life and Universe (4/18/17)
11. Catch-22 (4/28/17)
12. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (5/3/17)
13. We Learn Nothing (5/6/17)
14. Guns, Germs, and Steel (5/7/17)
15. Armada (5/11/17)
16. Super Freakonomics (5/15/17)
17. The God Delusion (5/24/17)
18. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (5/30/17)
19. Head First Java (5/31/17)
20. Casino Royale (6/9/17)
21. *1984 (6/23/17)
22. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (7/10/17)
23. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (7/12/17)
24. *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (7/18/17)
25. Superintelligence (7/25/17)
26. Modern Romance (7/27/17)
27. What If? (8/4/17)
28. Think Like a Freak (8/11/17)
29. Search Inside Yourself (8/20/17)
30. A Clash of Kings (10/9/17)
31. MONEY Master the Game by Tony Robbins (11/6/17)
32. The Intelligent Investor (11/6/17)
33. 人生がときめく片づけの魔法 (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Konmari) (12/13/17)
34. Currently reading: Brain Rules (Kindle)
35. Currently listening: A Storm of Swords (Audible)

This year I plan to continue reading, as I've now thoroughly ingrained the habit in addition to the propensity towards buying more books than I can possibly read in the same time period. But in 2018 I will try something a little different: a GAMING goal! That's right - video games, board games, card games... it doesn't matter, as long as it's an enjoyable game that challenges my problem-solving and critical thinking skills. For now I will aim for 30 games to include video games that I play and determine getting sufficient experience with (even if I don't 100% complete it), and any board games or card games that I learn how to plan from scratch enough to go back later to play or explain to someone else.

Happy New Year, and have a fun 2018!