Nov 10

I Love Books

I read a lot of books. Seriously. I haven’t always liked reading, but the older I get the more I love to read.

My goal for this year has been to read 25 books. I’m almost there, but still have quite a few pages to flip before the end of the year. To date, I’ve completed 18 books, I’m in currently in the process of reading 3 more and have 4 waiting on deck. I think I have a pretty good chance to reach 25 because I have a trip to India coming up in early December, so I’ll have plenty of time on the plane to read.

I have read more books this year than ever before. I usually read a handful of books each year, so I’m not sure what the reason for the spike has been this year. About mid-year, I realized I had already read quite a few and decided to see if I could set a goal and reach 20. I’ve since upped that goal to 25.

The more I read, the more it makes me want to read. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t ever want to be without a book or a stack of books that I’m currently reading. Some of the books I read are for keeping up with design industry trends like Don’t Make Me Think and Transcending CSS. I also like to read books about war like The Shark Mutiny and Warrior Soul. The type of book I like to read the most, I’ve found out recently, are the books that change the way I think about the world — The Kite Runner, Same Kind of Different As Me, and Divine Nobodies.

The amazing thing is that I used to really not enjoy reading. As a kid and in high school and in college, I didn’t like to read at all. Maybe I was too busy playing Pacman, Tecmo Bowl and EA Sports NHL Hockey ‘94 (best ever). Now I read for pure enjoyment — and not just magazines and books about sports.

Who knew reading could be so fun?

What good books are you reading? I’m open to suggestions for what I should put on my list for 2009.

Comments are closed for this article.

7 Responses to “I Love Books”

guest gravatar
Travis Isaacs
November 10th, 2008

My wife ribs me - she says that I read ‘manuals’ (like Transcending CSS) and not ‘books.’

guest gravatar
Tanner Christensen
November 10th, 2008

What a great goal, good luck reaching it!

I’m currently reading You, Inc. by Harry Beckwith and Christine Cliford Beckwith. I highly recommend it to everyone, because it’s full of inspirational (and motivational) insights.

guest gravatar
Matt Donovan
November 10th, 2008

That’s a fantastic goal. I’m working on liking reading. It still feels like drudgery until I get into the thick of a good book.

If you like books that focus on perspective and change the way you think about the world, I definitely recommend Bodies in Motion and At Rest.

guest gravatar
Matthew Pennell
November 11th, 2008

I use All Consuming to track my book consumption over the year. Last year I managed 44 books (although a lot of that was down to reviewing tech books for Digital Web); I’m only up to 25 so far this year, which I blame on George R.R. Martin’s series of enormously thick fantasy novels.

I recommend anything that shows up in Top 100 lists - they might be cliche, but they’re in those lists for a reason. :)

guest gravatar
Andy
November 11th, 2008

That’s awesome. You’ve exposed my own weak reading habits though. I used to read a lot. I still love books, but now I seem to start books but not finish them :( You’ve inspired me to stack a few books by the sofa (the new one…thanks) and grab one instead of watching silly stuff on TV.

guest gravatar
AJ
November 11th, 2008

I’m reading Sarah Vowell’s newest, The Wordy Shipmates. Nobody writes about America the way she does.

guest gravatar
Richh
December 19th, 2008

If you’ve never read “Carter Beats the Devil” by Glen David Gold you should definitely add that to your list - one of the best books I’ve ever read, if not the best. And I’ve read plenty ;)