Year in review 2018 of favorite books
At the beginning of this year, I set myself a reading challenge of 20 books. It was just a bit more than last year and I achieved it quite easily in the end. I read 21 books. I could have read much more, to be honest. So next year my goal is at least 30 books.
When I was younger, I used to say that my dream at some point in my life is to have a home with a rooftop terrace, a grand piano, and a library. I have come to realize that I might not have a grandiose physical library by the time I’ll have my own apartment. Luckily, I already have my favorite digital library Goodreads that I like to use.
In addition to good old books, this year I found podcasts — meaning that I found great podcasts and started listening to those a lot. I also found the convenience of audiobooks and started listening to those as well, although I enjoy reading more.
As I like to read other’s favorite book listings, and to keep track of things:
Here’s my top 10 books of 2018:
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Factfulness by Hans Rosling
- How the Internet Happened by Brian McCullough
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
- Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
- Brotopia by Emily Chang
- Clean Meat by Paul Shapiro
- Transforming Nokia by Risto Siilasmaa
- Reset by Ellen Pao
- Quiet by Susan Cain
Looking back to this list, I wonder where the fiction is. Last truly great fiction books I read were in 2017, sadly. There are also many startup/Internet/Silicon Valley related books due to my current interests tied to my work. 4/10 of these are by female authors, quite well.
Next year:
- My goal is to read at least 30 books, maybe even 50.
- I want to read more fiction and find great fiction.
- I want to read classics.
You can find me on Goodreads here.
