About
Not every book is worthy of making it on my custom, dual-sided, Decade of Books™ bookshelf.
What if I read as many books each year as the year itself — 20 in 2020, 21 in 2021, and so on?
That's the heart of Decade of Books, an escalating personal challenge inspired by a renewed passion for reading and an increasing curiosity about many subjects.
I conceived of this endeavor in late 2020, so I actually did not make my initial goal of reading 20 books in year number one. I gave myself a pass under two conditions: I'd make up the deficit by the end of the decade, and I couldn't miss another milestone. But this project really isn't about book quantity. It's about a return to something I used to enjoy. It's definitely about learning. And there's a counter-culture aspect to it. While many are streaming the latest trending shows, I'm tucked away in my old man recliner with a physical book in hand.
I read printed books. I don't listen to audio books. I don't read digital books. I highlight favorite quotes and passages, manually type my highlights into a master document and then also copy/paste them in the Readwise app. A few of those highlights appear on this website. I'm not optimizing for efficiency with my process. That's intentional.
In prior decades, 95% of what I read was fiction.
Today, fiction is more of a palate cleanser.
You'll see plenty of self-helpy books on my list, although that's trending down. More and more I'm liking memoirs. I avoid most short stories, crime or detective novels, and Oprah-endorsed books. I still don't get poetry. I'm not a history buff. Overall, there is a wide variety of books on the list, but I acknowledge it could be wider.
You will disagree with my book rankings. You should. I disagree with them. I'm constantly second guessing them. How do you compare the Fonz's memoir vs. something by Orwell vs. a behind the scenes look at the grocery industry?
My informal book ranking criteria — a messy entanglement of vibes and rational evaluation: