I managed to read 1 more book in 2019 than I did in 2018 and I didn’t wait until May to write about them. I feel pretty good about that. But one book different is basically the margin of error with book you start in 1 year and end is the second. It’s interesting look at my GoodReads “My Year in Books”. They give a page count (which is a little strange given I usually listen to audio book, but it’s probably roughly accurate). I have an annual reading habit of about 15-20 books and about 7,000 to 10,000 pages.
An unscientific observation is that the years when that page count is high are the years I good hooked on some giant epic fantasy series.
2019 was a good year though, as usual I read some good books.
Non-Fiction
Politics: Looking back on the year I read a surprising about of political books (2 to 4 depending on how you count). I think the standout was “The New Right” by Michael Malice. I may not turn out to be the book that has the most influence on me and my ideas, but it has at least 2 things going for it. It is easy and fun to read and I had some great conversations as a result of reading it.
Theology: “Disruptive Witness” by Alan Nobel came highly recommended to me via my wife. It was great. So great in fact we’re going to spend 4 weeks reading and discussing it in my community group.
Fiction
Humor: I do not read many books you would find in the “humor” section of a book store or library, I guess I used to read more when I was younger, but it’s been a long time. I’m glad I read “Based on a True Story: A Memoir” by Norm Macdonald. He read the audio book too and it was great. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did, it was so funny.
Sci-Fi: This was the year of Neal Asher book for me. I read 8 of them. They were all pretty good. But if I had to pick out 1 “War Factory” was pretty good. It’s a whole lot of “so much crazy advanced technology it all feels like magic” sorts of books, which is maybe why I like them. I do bulk at some of Asher’s “cosmology” but, everything about these books is so far into fantasy, I can usually just enjoy the story.