My 2023 Reading List

This week's newsletter is a little different from the rest. As we near the end of 2023 I wanted to reflect on my favorite readings of the year.

Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I believe that so much can be gained from reading. Improved cognition, better attention span, greater depth of knowledge, enjoyment, and more. It is one of life’s cheapest and available methods for improving your status in life. With thousands of years of history, life lessons, and perspectives put in print for us to learn from.

I embarked on a goal to read more books in 2023 than ever. As we wind down the year, here are 10 of my favorites that I wanted to share. In no particular order.

Maybe you'll find something to add to your 2024 list in here.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

This book was recommended to me by my brother and it did not disappoint. It is a journey of self-discovery and teaching that following your heart and pursuing your path will lead you to the treasure of your life. Opening yourself to the signs of the world and pursuing your life with passion. It is fit for all ages and has many anecdotes that everyone can take a lesson or two from here.

"Every day was there to be lived or to mark one’s departure from this world." (Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist)

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

This book may be the most quotable book that I read this year. Rick Rubin beautifully articulates the creative and artistic process that he sees, not only in himself but in those that he works with. Describing the eternal nature of creativity and how all creation is a source for new creation, almost like it’s a living breathing thing. He offers insights and frameworks for all to take away and use to lead more creative lives.

"Look for what you notice but no one else sees." (Rick Rubin, The Creative Act)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I raved about this book when I finished it, and even rented the film adaptation on Amazon Prime shortly thereafter. The Little Prince is a tale for all ages, one that has stood the test of time, and surely will continue to do so. It beautifully captures what happens to us when we forget what it is to be young, and to use our imaginations, getting caught up in the constant rigors of adulthood. (Similar to last week’s newsletter). This book is fast and easy to read, and anyone of all ages should pick up a copy for themselves. A book you can read through in a sitting and one that will be on my annual reread list surely.

"Goodbye,” said the fox. “Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes" (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

A little bit of a shift from the lightheartedness of the first three recommendations. Man’s Search for Meaning is the written account of psychologist and holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. Viktor Frankl reflects on his time in several concentration camps and how despite the brutality, death, and flagrant disregard for human life, he and others were still able to find hope, and meaning in living. If those who endured the Holocaust can find meaning in the suffering they endured, surely we can do the same for the trials and tribulations we face in our own lives.

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way." (Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning)

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

I’m obsessed with finance and money (hence my profession) and I loved Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money. He distills down concepts of finance and investing to very simple, and easy-to-understand stories. He bypasses the dogma and convoluted nature of finance into daily actionable concepts. A book that can help anyone on their personal finance journey.

"There is no reason to risk what you have and need for what you don’t have and don’t need." (Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money)

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

In Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe unravels the mystery surrounding the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in December of 1927, in Northern Ireland. At the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland and the growing violence of the I.R.A. (Irish Republican Army), the I.R.A. took to “disappearing” (abducting and murdering) people whom they determined were loyalists to the British Monarchy. The story of Jean McConville unravels magnificently, and there are still mysteries left unknown today. A true story, with many characters still alive and free today having had to face no accountability for the sins of the past.

“Outrage is conditioned not by the nature of the atrocity but by the affiliation of the victim and the perpetrator” (Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing)

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

I am forever and always interested in taking care of my health. One thing that I’ve come to believe in is the major importance of a proper diet, something that unfortunately is sorely lacking in our modern society. Michael Pollan’s book on food is the simplest and most intuitive breakdown of food that I have read yet. He lays out his case plainly, without overbearing the reader with complicated details. He has a straightforward case and one that doesn’t demand we all fit in the same box.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy." (Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food)

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

I reread this book in 2023 and found it even more insightful than my first go-around. Four thousand weeks is the average amount of weeks that any of us has on this earth. Oliver Burkeman, once an obsessive productivity junkie discusses how realizing that becoming ever more productive actually often makes us wind up with less time. Discovering this led him to accept that time isn’t something to be controlled. Rather it is something that should be accepted, an acknowledgment that we can’t get everything done, and that that is okay. He describes coming to terms with his realization and his subsequent journey to more happiness, joy, and contentment with his appropriately productive life.

“One can waste years this way, systematically postponing precisely the things one cares about the most.”

In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

I took away many lessons from this tale by Nathaniel Philbrick. The book recounts the true story of the whaling ship Essex that sailed out to sea and was attacked by a monstrous sperm whale, capsizing the boat, and sealing a doomed fate for most of the sailors on board. The true story was ultimately the inspiration for the famous Moby Dick novel that came out X years later by. The book has lessons on the wonder of nature, the unpredictability of life, and the risks of hubris.

"“Alas, alas, the day that I came a-whaling. For what profiteth a man if he gain the whole world but in the meantime starveth to death?”" (Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea)

The Wastelands by Stephen King

The Wastelands is the third novel in Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series. The journey tracks our heroes through The Wastelands to their eventual meeting with Blaine the Monorail. A dystopian futuristic setting in which our heroes have to confront the choices of the past, with choices in the present. From the moment I picked this one up, I couldn’t put it down. King had me hooked from start to finish, and I am eager to move on to the 4th novel.

“You haven't finished the key, but not because you are afraid to finish. You're afraid of finding you can't finish. You're afraid to go down to where the stones stand, but not because you're afraid of what may come once you enter the circle. You're afraid of what may not come. You're not afraid of the great world, Eddie, but of the small one inside yourself.”

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As always, thank you for reading, I hope you have a great week.

Gratefully Yours,

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