On October 13th, I hit my yearly reading goal, finishing the 52nd book of 2023. I will not match my 2022 total of 84 books, but that milestone benefited from the three month lockdown in Shanghai, China where I live (the only good thing to come from that insane situation). One book per week is my jam. Totally doable, even with a very busy work schedule.
In my opinion, this should be the adult human’s reading homeostasis. One book per week, unless tackling something famously difficult like Ulysses, Infinite Jest or War and Peace, most adults could/should be reading one book per week.
But I realize many of you aren’t there yet, and that’s ok. Start with one book per month. This would put you 11 books head of the average American’s reading rate.*
*I recognize my ability to read this much—year in and year out—is due to my very privileged position in life. If you are living in poverty, a war zone, an abusive home or dealing with a chronic illness, handicap or addiction, my reading life probably looks quaint, impossible or just plain stupid. And I fully understand that.
But if you are reading this at all, you probably aren’t experiencing any of the above to a severe degree (or else you wouldn’t have the discretionary time or bandwidth to entertain the musings of a book nerd on the internet).
So, I will be directing this preamble to my average reader; no intention to imply this as prescription to every human on the planet.
Let's continue.
Far too many people stop reading after high school or university and this is a huge mistake. There are real scientific benefits to keeping a regular reading schedule. As ABC News reported in 2014:
“Neuroscientists at Emory University in Atlanta have determined that just reading a gripping novel makes changes in the way the brain connects with different circuits, and most importantly, those changes last for at least five days. They may not be permanent, but that at least suggests that the rewards from reading last longer than the act itself.”
I’m no scientist, but if you read daily then I assume you can hack the 5 day limit and get to keep all those new brain connections. Cool!
Reading also has numerous stress reducing benefits. Reading a physical book for 30-45 minutes has been shown to increase sleep quality. And increased sleep quality has been linked to Alzheimers prevention.
Studies point to poor sleep as a contributing factor to high levels of beta-amyloid in the brain. This protein creates amyloid plaques which are thought to be a major cause of Alzheimer’s.
The below is a gross over-simplification of a few studies I skimmed( so you don’t have to). Here’s the TL;DR:
Reading helps you sleep. Sleep cleans your brain of amyloid plaque. Less amyloid plaque gumming up your brain means a decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimers.
So… Start with one book per month, then once that feels totally normal increase to two per month. Find a routine that fits your life, but the ideal would be to spend at least 30 mins to 1 hour reading per day.
And yes, audio books count. So instead of listening to music on your commute or a gossipy podcast, get more literature into your life.
Ok… enough of my preaching inspiration, let’s get to this month’s list:
Holly by Stephen King
Stephen King is my hero; I just want to get that out in the open before I share my thoughts on his latest novel, Holly.
He was the writer who most captivated me as a kid, combining spooky, terrifying dread with deep character development and world building. I got totally lost in his books as a pre-teen and he’s probably the reason I’m a (moderately) twisted adult.
I remember… It must’ve been my eleventh or twelfth birthday and my paternal grandmother—truly the best grandparent any nerdy kid could ask for—bought me about ten Stephen King paperbacks.
She wrapped each book individually with enough tape at the corners and the seams to stop a bullet. But that was all part of the experience! Digging my fingers into the paper, struggling against the sticky tape, all in a desperate fight to free each title was fun and maddening all at the same time.
I remember her smile and her laughter as I “ooh’ed” and “aww’ed” over the cover art of each book, once I’d managed to free it from the wrapping paper bear trap.
She was so proud of how happy she made me—a great memory!
Even though I eventually branched out to other writers and genres, King will always hold a special place in my heart. This is why I try and read at least one of his books each year in an attempt to rekindle those feelings of wonder, excitement, surprise and terror he created for me in my youth.
Alas, Holly is not his strongest book, nor is the titular character all that interesting. But a so-so Stephen King book is still better than 90% of the stuff on the market, so I don’t mean to imply it wasn’t good. It was. Just not mind-blowing.
Holly Gibney has appeared in five other King novels and one short story. I haven’t read them all—only Finders Keepers—but I didn’t remember her from that, which gave me a hint about my feelings about her as a main character when I first picked this up. If I didn’t remember her, she must’ve not been that interesting, right?
The reason I took a chance on this book (besides the personal anecdote above) is because King’s previous book Fairytale landed in my DNF (Did Not Finish) pile after about 200 pages (212 to be precise). I might return to it, but… not feeling it, if I’m honest.
So, I needed Holly to hook me until “the end” so I could keep my yearly streak alive (after finishing—and LOVING—Billy Summers last year).
I’m happy to report that Holly is (just) good enough. If you take the 30,000 foot view, this book is a fairly straightforward serial killer story. But King being King, he has a few unique nuggets woven within to make for a fun, if not life-changing read.
There really is no mystery to the book, as we meet the killers on page 4, get confirmation of their insanity on page 6 and, well, at that point, we’re off to the races. This isn’t a whodunnit, but more of a whydunnit and a issomeonegonnastopemfromdoinit?
It’s gory in some spots and especially stomach turning during the finale at the murder house when we get a tour of what’s in the fridge. Disgusting!
I will say that this book works as a nifty metaphor for how the greed and entitlement of the Boomer Generation (which King himself is a member) has decimated the living standards and future prosperity of GenX, the Millennials and most recently GenZ; the serial killing senior citizen duo in this book are literally eating the future!
I’m not sure King intended this novel as an allegory, but given the economic and ecological armageddon that younger generations will have to deal with, I can’t help but make this connection.
Fun. Suspenseful. And possibly profound (if you squint).
World Without Mind by Franklin Foer
I have a love/hate relationship with technology and especially how it is used by social media companies and mainstream news organizations. In full transparency, I work for a tech company and love my devices like most everyone.
But I also feel addicted to them and that’s never a good thing. With all powerful algorithms and more recently AI tools, we are being bombarded by images, stories and soundbites that are designed to sway our opinions, our beliefs, our votes and most important to all these companies, our purchases.
Attention is being weaponized and soon, we won’t be able to decipher truth from fiction. Perhaps we’ve already lost this battle.
Franklin Fore is the former editor-in-chief of The New Republic magazine and currently a correspondent for The Atlantic. He is serious journalist and a trusted opinion concerning these matters (in my opinion).
What he lays out in this book is a frightening view of our current situation (and our possible future) if we allow these corporations to further erode our choice and our privacy.
He shares his own story of being ousted at The New Republic when a former tech-founder bought the company and there was a clash of ideologies. His is a cautionary tale about how these trillion dollar companies control our lives and out sanity.
A must read.
Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green
This was a surprise for me, as I usually read finance books to simply learn some facts that I can apply to a specific goal or problem I am wrestling with in my own life. However, Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green is not a simple step-by-step guide: it’s much, much more.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as the author wisely decided to skew the contents more toward wisdom and time-honored principles of the wealthy rather than trying to advocate a specific blueprint. Sure, there are definitely valuable takeaways, but there aren’t any spreadsheets to download or PDFs of the perfect portfolio to scrutinize.
Each chapter follows a specific famous investor, from Charlie Munger (who died at age 99 as I as writing this) to Mohnish Pabrai and elucidates their major philosophies and stories of how they “beat the street”; achieving returns well above the S&P 500 average over the course of their careers.
This book is jam packed with new ways of thinking about investing and the stock market, but it really is a manual to build a life of discipline and long-termism.
Very, very few people get rich quick and most of the investors profiled here attest to the efficacy of finding great, under-valued companies, buying as many shares as you can and then holding them for years and years, possible forever.
It sounds simple, but most people can’t stomach the volatility of the market and sell before they see any significant upside.
Richer, Wiser, Happier argues for a better way. Highly recommended.
The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest
I avoided this book for several years due to it being in every Bali-based, vegan, Instagram influencer’s feed for what seemed like several years. Not that there is anything wrong with Instagram or influencers, but for me, media saturation can turn me off to a product.
Usually, I am right to avoid the over-hyped. Take for example, a TV show that EVERYONE told me I’d love—Yellowstone. Well, I finally broke down from the peer pressure and watched it, and… I absolutely hated it!
I found it to be sloppy, stupid, mean-spirited and with very few characters worth caring about. But almost everyone I know LOVED it. Same reason I haven’t watched Breaking Bad… If so many people like it, it can’t be that good…
Anyhow, this book proved the above thesis wrong—I really enjoyed this. Every once in a while an author strikes straight to the heart of what you are dealing with. Obviously, I’ve never met the author, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t write this book for me. I was sitting in a restaurant, holding back tears, chapter by chapter, because she was just hitting me with wisdom and truth, page after page.
It’s basically about how we get in our own way and become “the mountain” we must climb before reaching our goals and achieve our dreams. I found it to be heartfelt and authentic and it really spoke to me. Good stuff!
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
I think I read this before, many years ago, but decided to read it again after seeing this on a few popular Bookstagramer’s Best Ever Book list.
It bothered me that I couldn’t remember anything about it, yet at the same time, have a confident certainty that I had, indeed, read this book in the distant past. This is strange for me. Of course, I don’t remember every detail of what I’ve consumed during my life-long addiction to reading, but I can usually remember if I read something or not.
Not so with The Alchemist; my brain was totally blank on its contents.
And I found it to be… Meh.
Sure, I love the message of finding your heart’s desire where you are, rather than traveling the world to seek meaning and fulfillment, but all in all, the book just felt stale to me.
Perhaps this is due to the numerous imitators over the years, what seems like hundreds of author trying to construct a very simple allegory set in some far off, mystical land, dispensing life lessons at every turn of the page. Who knows? But this one just fell flat for me.
Nothing against the author or the overall theme of the story—it is well written and structured—but I was expecting an emotional punch that never swung into my gut.
However, this is a nearly universally loved book, so, similar to the Yellowstone fans mentioned above, I’m sure the problem is mine and most people will thoroughly enjoy this.
That’s why there are millions and millions of books in the world—each one finds a different audience. This one just isn’t for me.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The O.G. of the self-help category, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a classic for a reason. Selling well over 40 million copies, this is a juggernaut of a book. Very few titles achieve such renown and become part of everyday culture.
The first time I read this book was pool-side at a Bali resort in 1997, nearly a decade after it was first published. I was going through a quarter life crisis and was trying to figure out how to be more disciplined and organized. Not exactly a beach read, but I committed to coming back from Southeast Asia a different person and The 7 Habits was going to be my jumpstart.
More than twenty-five years later, that amazing personal transformation is still a work in progress (no fault of Stephen Covey or the brilliance of The 7 Habits), but my appreciation for this book has only deepened.
If you are someone who struggles with priority setting, getting things done, stress, underachieving and under-living, then try The 7 Habits. It’s a well deserved classic of the genre and well worth your time.