2018 Reading List

My buddy Tom is pretty great. I could write thousands of words of adulation and it still would not scratch the surface in conveying how much he, and his ever-present better half Mrs. C, mean to me. He was my inspiration for starting this blog and continues to be a steadfast source of encouragement, along with occasional proof-reading, and a constant well of thoughts and ideas to pull from. He is a phenomenal writer and his ability to mirror his personality in his beautifully constructed sentences is unmatched – anywhere. I tell him frequently, more often than not when beers are involved, that he is quite the cunning linguist. This paragraph sounding more and more like a love letter or eulogy notwithstanding, I encourage all of you to head over to His Blog and follow his page, enjoy his words, and share with your friends. We can all benefit from more Tom in our lives.

With that said, I’m hoping that completely plagiarizing the concept of his piece, Turn The Page, will go unpunished and he and I can continue to spend an insane amount of time texting each other quotes and screen-grabs of pages we are enamored with, and even more hours on a barstool discussing our current reads. Sorry Tom. Thanks Tom. Let me grab you a beer on Ryan’s tab soon, okay?

So here is the plan. Like Tom, I have created a reading list of 20 books that I want to complete in 2018. A few of the books on the list are ones that I started and stopped -either once, or several times in the past – but want to finish once and for all. One book on the list I have already read. I read it in a single night back in June. I couldn’t put it down. I want to re-read it for two reasons: 1) I recommend it to anyone that I can, and 2) I want to be able to digest is slower, and experience in more detail – it really is that good. That book, for those of you who are curious is Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger. Also like Tom, I have decided to structure the reading list in alphabetical order by authors last name. This will prevent me from reading some in a flurry at the beginning of the year and ‘saving’ those that I am less enthusiastic about for later and possibly blowing up the whole project. Yeah, I know, but that’s how I operate. All of the books on the list are books that I have wanted to get to and just haven’t pulled the trigger on consuming for whatever reason. An initial calculation shows that these books total 6,810 pages which puts me at 19 pages per day in order to complete this list in 365 days. I stole this from Tom too, and albeit simple, I find it brilliant in making the whole thing seem less daunting, more encouraging, and fun!

I will do my best to start with number 1 and work my way sequentially through the list. Modifications may arise due to circumstances that do not fit nicely into my initial plans. Also, I’m a grown-ass adult. I can do what I please! Therefore, I reserve the right to make modifications if and when I deem appropriate. So, with that being said, I encourage you to enjoy as much Tom as you can. I’d also like to thank him for giving me the motivation to create this list and get excited about starting. Happy reading folks! I always want to know what you’re reading. Please come back and share with me as the year progresses. And now, the list:

1. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

2. A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up With George – Kelly Carlin

3. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho

4. Outliers: The Story of Success – Malcolm Gladwell

5. Home Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow – Yuval Noah Harari

6. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice In My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works — A True Story – Dan Harris

7. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason – Sam Harris

8. Ego is the Enemy – Ryan Holiday

9. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

10. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging – Sebastian Junger

11. Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terrance McKenna – Dennis McKenna

12. The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters – Thomas M. Nichols

13. Beautiful You – Chuck Palahniuk

14. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress – Steven Pinker

15. A Renegade History of the United States – Thaddeus Russell

16. Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means For Modern Relationships – Christopher Ryan

17. This is Not Fame: A “From What I Can Re-Memoir” – Doug Stanhope

18. I Can’t Breathe: A Killing On Bay Street – Matt Taibbi

19. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 – Hunter S. Thompson

20. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain