Tag: reading

2024 Reading Roundup

Books have brought me into worlds I wouldn’t otherwise know

This past year’s reading has brought me into worlds and cultures I wouldn’t otherwise know. I have visited Nazi Germany (three times), ancient Palestine, Soviet Russia, Revolutionary Russia, Cold War Europe, South Africa, Victorian Australia, Spanish colonization, Antarctica, even those spheres of oppression, depression, gene editing, scientific research, cosmology, and quantum physics.

These books have taught me more about myself and those around me. I have reveled in the wonders of my own body, and have gained insights into wellness, happiness, and better working and personal relationships.

These books have ignited my imagination through creative storytelling. I’ve entered several classic tales for the first time, and have revisited some inspiring old favorites.

These books have expanded my knowledge in a great many subjects: natural, geologic, and cultural history; economics, public policy, activism; exploitation, greed, commerce, philanthropy; psychology, volunteer organizing, and leadership in philosophical differences and changing cultures. And so much more!

My favorites and recommendations are noted with an asterisk. But here are my special mentions:

  • Most satisfying ending: Angel of Vengeance
  • Most surprising over what I thought I knew about it: Tarzan of the Apes
  • Most over my head: The Physics of Immortality
  • Most annoying: HHhH (author reports true things, then confesses he made them up)
  • Most wide-ranging scope: Saving the Redwoods
  • Most spiritually revealing: New Morning Mercies
  • Most enjoyable biography/memoir: Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story
  1. * Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany, Hans J. Massaquoi
  2. The Handbook for Health: 5 Essential Pillars for Optimized Wellness, Dr. Christopher Turnpaugh with Dr. Cynthia West
  3. The 6 Types of Working Genius: a Better Way to Understand Your Frustrations and Your Team, Patrick Lencioni
  4. * The Body: a Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson
  5. * Only One Year: How Joseph Stalin’s Daughter Broke Through the Iron Curtain, Svetlana Alliluyeva
  6. The Millionaires, Brad Meltzner
  7. Name All the Animals: a Memoir, Alison Smith
  8. * The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World’s Happiest People, Dan Buettner
  9. * The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race, Walter Isaacson
  10. * From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Vern
  11. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There, Aldo Leopold
  12. * Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
  13. * Inkspell, Cornelia Funke
  14. * Inkdeath, Cornelia Funke
  15. * The Noticer, Andy Andrews
  16. HHhH “Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich”, Laurent Binet
  17. Bethlehem, Karen Kelly
  18. Homecoming, Kate Morton
  19. The Trail, Robert Whitlow
  20. Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
  21. * The Last Days of Night, Graham Moore
  22. * Still Life With Crows, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  23. * Shackleton’s Stowaway, Victoria McKernan
  24. The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis
  25. White Fire, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  26. Three Sisters, Heather Morris
  27. * Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
  28. Murder in the Lincoln Bedroom, Elliot Roosevelt
  29. * The Scorpion’s Tail, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  30. The Leader’s Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing and Multiplying Leaders, John C. Maxwell
  31. Mayday, Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block
  32. * The Oath, Frank Peretti
  33. Community Recreation and Parks Handbook, Sue Landes
  34. Financing Municipal Recreation and Parks, Sue Landes
  35. Absolute Friends, John le Carré
  36. * The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede
  37. Humorous Stories and Sketches, Mark Twain
  38. Murders on Alcatraz, George DeVincenzi
  39. * Palisades Park, Alan Brennert
  40. Skin: Revenge is Beautiful, Ted Dekker
  41. * A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
  42. * Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughes
  43. Just Tell Them I Love Them: a Hospice Chaplain’s Invitation to Live Well, Helen Burke
  44. * Take This Cup, Bodie and Brock Thoene
  45. The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Michael D. Watkins
  46. * Saving the Redwoods: The Movement to Rescue a Wonder of the Natural World, Joseph H. Engbeck, Jr.
  47. * Eternal, Lisa Scottoline
  48. * Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story by Jack Benny and his daughter Joan
  49. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Roobinson
  50. * Healing Stones, Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn
  51. * Angel of Vengeance, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  52. The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead, Frank J. Tippler
  53. * New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional, Paul David Tripp

Reading Roundup 2023

The most impactful book to me in 2023 was one I wrote with my wife Carol and our youngest son. Stepping Stones: our pathfinding adventures with Asperger’s is our growth journey from accepting “that’s just Philip,” to obtaining a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, to learning how to cope and still succeed. From the distinct advantage of countless wayfinding steps more than 20 years in the making, we offer pragmatic guidance, self-help encouragement, and real reason for hope to all parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. tinyurl.com/4c6bxw4s

I try to read widely, for both intellectual development and entertainment. Not all my choices pertain directly to my work, or even my personal interests. Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, recommended to me by my physicist son, wasn’t one I’d have chosen on my own, but it did augment what I learned from the Oppenheimer film this year. Even fiction, when it represents a divergent point of view, can add to my useful stores of knowledge. Ilana’s Love, a book by my friend (which, despite the inference from its title is not a romance novel—a genre I usually do ignore!), furnished a thought-provoking perspective on relationships.

I re-read all 4,100 pages of the 7-volume Harry Potter series, (the first published 26 years ago!) enjoying many details and nuances not found in the films. J.K. Rowling is a master of originality, dialog, character development, and plot complexities.

Is it just me, or are subtitles are getting longer all the time? But then there’s John Grisham, whose obviously successful title formula is: “The __.” Nonetheless, the subtitles do help me better remember the content afterward.

The complete list of those I’ve read last year follows, but here are my personal citations for those I’ve found most captivating, memorable, or practical in the following categories:

Work-related: Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need
Biography: Leonardo da Vinci
History: The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush
Science: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Nonfiction: Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Business: Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s
Spiritual: Experiencing God Day by Day
Fiction: What Rose Forgot, and The Man Who Died Twice

  1. Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?, Philip Yancy
  2. Storytizing: What’s Next After Advertising? Bob Pearson
  3. The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush, Pierre Berton
  4. The Freedom of Self-Forgiveness: The Path to True Christian Joy, Timothy Keller
  5. A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks, Brad Edmundson
  6. Black Ice, Brad Thor
  7. The Case For Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection, Lee Strobel
  8. The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  9. Seeing Red, Sandra Brown
  10. Jerks at Work: How to Deal with People Problems and Problem People, Ken Lloyd
  11. Born a Yankee, Grace Carstens
  12. Missing Witness, Gordon Campbell
  13. Ilana’s Love, Laurel West
  14. Relic, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  15. Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read
  16. Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Nando Parrado with Vince Rause
  17. The Book of Lies, Brad Meltzner
  18. The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World, Ken Alder
  19. Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel
  20. Reliquary, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  21. What Rose Forgot, Nevada Barr
  22. Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s, Brad Edmundson
  23. The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzner
  24. Once Upon a Wardrobe, Patti Callahan
  25. Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan
  26. What’s Wrong With Me? A Journal of Emotional Healing in a Broken World, Royce Alan Alford
  27. Leonardo da Vinci, Wallter Isaacson
  28. Stepping Stones: Our pathfinding adventure with Asperger’s, Tim and Carol Herd with Philip Herd
  29. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, Ed Yong
  30. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, Henry Beston
  31. 13½, Nevada Barr
  32. Love Me, Garrison Keillor
  33. Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, Alex Wellerstein
  34. Address Unknown, Katherine Kressman Taylor
  35. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan
  36. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer
  37. The Judge’s List, John Grisham
  38. The Troop, Nick Cutter
  39. The Whistler, John Grisham
  40. The Reckoning, John Grisham
  41. What Was Rescued, Jane Bailey
  42. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
  43. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling
  44. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
  45. Molly’s Pilgrim, Barba Cohen
  46. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
  47. The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman
  48. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
  49. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
  50. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
  51. Getting Through the Tough Stuff: It’s Always Something, Charles Swindoll
  52. Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need, Todd Henry
  53. The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman
  54. Experiencing God Day by Day, Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

2022 Reading Roundup

I have a standing personal rule: Always Bring a Book!

Whenever I break it, I’m inevitably sorry.

Books are important to me: in them I find distilled wisdom, practical instruction, and engrossing entertainment. They customize my intellectual, psychological, and spiritual development; they build my technical and relational capabilities; they expand my leadership and service; they refresh my mind and spirit.

In 2022, my wife, son and I wrote a book about the challenges, lessons and adventures in raising our youngest son with Asperger’s Syndrome, which will be published this coming year.

I try to read widely. Not all my choices pertain directly to my job, or my personal interests. Invisible Women opened my eyes and mind to systemic male-based data bias. Even fiction, when it represents a divergent point of view, can add to my useful stores of knowledge. Case in point for this year: The Personal Librarian, based on the true story of a black woman passing as a white woman in the employ of J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s.

The complete list follows, but here are my personal citations for those I’ve found most captivating, memorable, or practical in the following categories:

Work-related: CEO Excellence; Critical Thinking; Extreme Ownership
Biography: Frederick Douglass; An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
History: The First Conspiracy: The Plot to Kill George Washington
Iconic/Classic: Travels with Charley in Search of America
Fiction: Where the Crawdads Sing; West With Giraffes; The Personal Librarian
Science: Humble Pi; Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds
Societal: Invisible Women; Untrustworthy
Thriller: Boar Island
Humor: The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach
Spiritual: The Hole in Our Gospel
by personal friends: Super Powers and Secrets; Crushed and Marred; Stand; People Connectors

  1. Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, Ed Catmull
  2. Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World, Matt Parker
  3. Super Powers and Secrets: A Year of Holidays, H. Kaeppel
  4. Crushed and Marred: A Year of Milestones, H. Kaepple
  5. Stand: A Year of Firsts, H. Kaeppel
  6. The Itty Bitty Book of Nonprofit Fundraising, Jayme Dingler
  7. The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected, Nik Ripken
  8. Golden Girl, Elin Hilderbrand
  9. Flashback, Nevada Barr
  10. Trees & Forests of America, Tim Palmer
  11. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, David W. Blight
  12. Sold on a Monday, Kristina McMorris
  13. The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns
  14. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character, Richard P. Feynman
  15. The Gift of Asperger’s: One Family’s Persevering Adventure of Hope, Humor, Insight and Inspiration, Tim Herd, Carol Herd, and Philip Herd
  16. A Time for Mercy, John Grisham
  17. Historic Acadia National Park: The Stories Behind One of America’s Great Treasures, Catherine Schmidt
  18. Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World, Ian Wright
  19. Girl Behind the Red Rope, Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker
  20. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age, W. Bernard Carlson
  21. The Escape Artist, Brad Melzner
  22. People Connectors: Elevating Communication for Educators, Terry Sumerlin
  23. The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, Brad Meltzner and Josh Mensch
  24. We Seven, by the Astronauts Themselves, Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, Slayton
  25. What Happened to the Bennetts, Lisa Scottoline
  26. The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach, Professor Peter Schickele
  27. Wait, What? And Life’s Other Essential Questions, James Ryan
  28. High Country, Nevada Barr
  29. Hard Truth, Nevada Barr
  30. Eight Days in May: The Final Collapse of the Third Reich, Volker Ullrich
  31. Endangered Species, Nevada Barr
  32. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Everything, Col. Chris Hadfield
  33. Blind Descent, Nevada Barr
  34. Immanuel’s Veins, Ted Dekker
  35. Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction – and Get it Published, Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato
  36. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, Caroline Criado Perez
  37. The Lost Key, Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison
  38. Burn, Ted Dekker and Erin Healy
  39. The Whole Town’s Talking, Fannie Flagg
  40. Acadia National Park, Bob Thayer
  41. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
  42. CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders From the Rest, Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra
  43. Burn, Nevada Barr
  44. The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard
  45. Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism, Temple Grandin
  46. Calling All Minds: How to Think and Create Like and Inventor, Temple Grandin
  47. The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, John Ortberg
  48. Boar Island, Nevada Barr
  49. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life, Richard Paul and Linda Elder
  50. The Rope, Nevada Barr
  51. A Man Called Ova, Fredrik Backman
  52. The Personal Librarian, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
  53. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
  54. Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community, Bonnie Kristian
  55. Send: Living a Life That Invites Others to Jesus, Heather Holleman and Ashley Holleman
  56. West With Giraffes, Lynda Rutledge
  57. Dr. Rick Will See You Now: A Guide to Unbecoming Your Parents, Dr. Rick
  58. Travels With Charley in Search of America, John Steinbeck
  59. The Business of Heaven, C.S. Lewis
  60. My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Exit mobile version
%%footer%%