I Read 130 Books This Year, These Are the 33 Best

At the start of the year, I set a goal to read 120 books. That sounds like a lot, and I suppose that it is, but it wasn’t difficult at all. 120 books a year breaks down to ten books a month, or just over 2 books a week. Not a problem at all.

Many people ask me how on earth I find the time to read so much. My answer is always the same: because I choose to. We all have a few spare hours in the day whether they be early in the morning, at lunch, waiting in line, sitting at our kids swim lessons or just before bed. It only takes 1-2 hours a day to read 120 books a year.

I like to give a theme to my year and my theme for 2015 was “Learn.” And learn I did. I set very few rules for what I would read. I wanted to learn anything and everything that I could. I generally don’t read fiction, but decided to read it this year. I’m so glad that I did because I grew in ways that I wasn’t expecting.

Even though I wish you would commit to reading as much as I did last year, I know that that is unlikely, so I pared down my list to the 33 books that received five star reviews from me. I decided to spare you my reviews since the list is so long. I hope this list helps you find some great new reads!

Non-Fiction

 Live From New York: The Complete Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers and Guests | Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller

Welcome to the Funnel: Proven Tactics to Turn Your Social and Content Marketing Up to 11 | Jason Miller

The Kindness of Strangers | Mike McIntyre

Buddha in Blue Jeans: An Extremely Short Simple Zen Guide to Sitting Quietly and Being Buddha | Tai Sheridan

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster | Jon Krakauer

Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free | Hector Tobar

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune | Bill Dedman

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History | Elizabeth Kolbert

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable | Seth Godin

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead | Brene’ Brown

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change | Stephen R. Covey

A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity | Nicholas D. Kristof

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide | Nicholas D. Kristof

Face the Music: A Life Exposed | Paul Stanley

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End | Atul Gawande

How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie

Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine | Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future | Ashlee Vance

My Fight / Your Fight | Ronda Rousey

The Omnivore’s Dilemma | Michael Pollan

Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times | Jennifer Worth

In Cold Blood | Truman Copote

The Everything Store | Brad Stone

Fiction

Departure | A.G. Riddle

Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) | Stephen King

Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn

The Girl on the Train | Paula Hawkins

All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr

Inside the O’Briens | Lisa Genova

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) | Laini Taylor

Orphan Train | Christina Baker Kline

Ready Player One | Ernest Cline

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) | Suzanne Collins

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[All books can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the links. I will receive a small commission when you use these links]

Photo by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash