My reading goals used to be overly ambitious, leaving me frustrated at year’s end. I’d inevitably read less than I planned. But this year, I focusse more on engaged and slow reading than meeting my quantiative reading goals. I engaged more deeply with my books, becoming more selective, particularly with non-fiction. The books I chose lingered long after the final page, largely because they addressed questions that have become increasingly pressing as I navigate the, shall we say, defining stage of mid-life. These questions have shaken me up, prompting a re-evaluation of my priorities and preferences.

This new approach meant I was quick to abandon books that didn’t resonate. I think that 10-15 books were left unfinished after reading just a small portion of them. Some, mostly non-fiction, weren’t inherently bad in terms of content, but they felt better suited to a blog post or essay rather than a full-length book. A quick glance at the chapter titles and blurbs revealed the core message, and if the writing didn’t elevate that message, I saw no reason to continue when a bookshelf full of carefully chosen books awaited their turn.

The abandoned books weren’t necessarily poor reads; they simply failed to capture my attention. Some examples include:

  • Same As Ever: A Guide To What Never Changes by Morgan Housel
  • Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach To Success by Adam Grant
  • Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
  • Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg
  • Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
  • Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Interestingly, all these books are from authors whose previous work I’ve enjoyed, which is why they made it onto my list. They also fall, broadly speaking, into the self-help category, although Oliver Burkeman might object to this label. His book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking dissected popular self-help advice and challenged readers to think beyond conventional notions of success and achievement.

So, what kind of books did engage me this year? The books that forced me to pause, close the cover, and truly contemplate their message. These books provided new contexts for existing questions and raised new ones altogether. Travis Rieder’s Catastrophe Ethics: How To Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices felt like an internal dialogue, prompting me to revisit my lifestyle choices and my individual response to climate change. It was the slowest read of the year, as I frequently stopped to examine familiar questions articulated in new and challenging ways, unraveling and reweaving the threads of my understanding.

Another book that demanded careful perusal of each chapter was Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Haidt masterfully lays the groundwork, providing ample context before addressing the central question presented in the title. His approach is both edifying and illuminating. I was motivated to read it this year by the New York Times review of this book (I had a couple of other books with similar themes on my list), and I am glad that I did. Both Catastrophe Ethics and The Righteous Mind are now my go-to recommendations. The former provides guidance on individual action in the face of the climate crisis, while the latter tackles the billion-dollar question of why political and religious divides persist. In fact, every non-fiction book I finished this year is well worth your time.

While my fiction reading is typically dominated by crime fiction, this year I delved into more literary fiction and explored new authors. Two standouts were Sophie Ward’s Love and Other Thought Experiments and Durian Sukegawa’s Sweet Bean Paste. Though vastly different, both offered a delightful reading experience. The former is a philosophical exploration of “thought experiments” that transcends genre, while the latter is a poignant tale about the meaning of life and how to live it fully. The philosophy backgrounds of both authors shine through in their writing.

Non-fiction 

  • Wanting – The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis
  • How Religion Evolved by Robin Dunbar
  • How to Know a Person- The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks
  • Catastrophe Ethics – How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices by Travis Rieder
  • The Righteous Mind- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

Fiction

  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey
  • Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa
  • Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
  • Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward
  • Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz
  • The Edge by David Baldacci
  • The Secret by Lee Child
  • The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
  • To Die For by David Baldacci