Impactful Reads of 2016

This year I read 27 books. I’ve pulled the most impactful ones to the top and included the full list (in order of date read) below. Happy reading in 2017!

Most Impactful Reads

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, 1974

I’d been wanting to read this book for ages. Pirsig’s blend of philosophy, memoir, and fiction — and most importantly his investigation into the concept of Quality — quite honestly blew my mind and caused me to hold the book to my face several times, whispering “I love this so much.” Plus it has road tripping in it.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015

This is not over-hyped. The precision and pointedness of the language is barbed, fearless, unequivocating, and opened my mind to the many illusions America holds at its core. I think this should be required reading for anyone trying to participate in conversations about race in America.

Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker, 1962

As close as one can safely draw parallels with Lolita (which is probably not safely), Baker uses sheer technical force to throw your understanding of the irregular ‘situation’ featured here off-key. There is a dizzying, breath-taking beauty in that and Baker’s characters.

Sex with Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan, 2016

It’s hard to find the right, objective words to describe a perfect memoir written by one of your closest friends, but that is what this is: a stunning, personal look into Jillian Keenan’s life through the lens of two of her greatest passions — spanking and Shakespeare — and the many-splendored pains and richnesses that one heart, or book, can hold.

Full list

• Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement
• The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
• Bird in a Cage by Frederic Dard
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The Tale of the Unknown Island by Jose Saramago
• The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Vegetarian by Han Kang
• I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
• Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonders by Lawrence Weschler
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• It’s Not Okay by Andi Dorfman
• All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
• Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker*
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig*
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Eternal Moment & Other Stories by E.M. Forster
• The Seven Ages by Louise Gluck
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl
• Red by John Logan
• Sex with Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan*
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates*
• Blind Descent by James M. Tabor
• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

You can read the rest of my ratings and full reviews on GoodReads.