52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2023

By Dennis Kennedy on January 3, 2023

For many years, I’ve enjoyed reading the posts of several bloggers who are trying to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I’ve also wanted to find a good way for me to keep track of the books I’ve read. And it gives me a good reading target to shoot for.

Last year, I read 80 books, exceeding my goal by quite a bit. Or, more accurately, I listed 80 books that I read. I don’t list books that might reveal certain things I might (or might not) be working on.

In the previous year, the total number was 68.

I again found that I was starting and abandoning quite a few books. And I’m reading more audiobooks than ever before

You will also notice that I’ve been attempting to read the entire catalog of books of certain authors of detective stories. If you forced me to pick my top books for 2022 (in alphabetical order) that I’d recommend, I’d probably list:

Advice for Future Corpses, Sallie Tisdale

Arriving Today, Christopher Mims

Butler to the World, Oliver Bullough

Hiding in Plain Sight, Sarah Kendzior

Origin, Jennifer Raff

Pretty Good House, Dan Kolbert

River of Gods, Candice Millard

Termination Shock, Neal Stephenson

The Genesis Machine, Amy Webb

The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman

The Wizard and the Prophet, Charles C. Mann

Work Clean, Dan Charnas

I’m doing the same thing in 2023. My approach is the same as in previous years – I’ll simply update this post from time to time from time to time throughout the year as I finish books.

I’ve enjoyed doing this challenge every year and hope you find the list useful. And I encourage you to take the challenge yourself.

I welcome your recommendations of good books I might read this year.

As Bill Taylor says, “Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?”

Challenging yourself to read 52 books is probably a good way to start to answer that question.

December

92. Malice, Keigo, Higashino
91. The True Believer, Eric Hoffer
90. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, Rashid Khalidi
89. Influence, Robert Cialdini
88. The Fund, Rob Copeland
87. Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
86. Nuts & Bolts, Roma Agrawal

November

85. Same as Ever, Morgan Housel
84. How Big Things Get Done, Bent Flycbjerg and Dan Gardner
83. Box 88, Charles Cumming
82. Unmasking AI, Joy Buolamwini
81. Grim Paradise, Rod Sadler
80. Breaking Through, Katalin Kariko
79. Every Man for Himself and God Against All, Werner Herzog
78. Emperor of Rome, Mary Beard
77. Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Again), Sly Stone

October

76. Halloween Party, Agatha Christie
75. Building a Second Brain, Tiago Forte
74. Our Fragile Moment, Michael Mann
73. Your Face Belongs to Us, Kashmir Hill
72. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, Nathan Thrall
71. Talking to My Angels, Melissa Etheridge
70. Exiles, Jane Harper
69. Bridge, Lauren Beukes
68. No Country for Eight-spot Butterflies, Julian Aguon

September

67. Ann Cleeves, The Raging Storm
66. The Longmire Defense, Craig Johnson
65. The Last Politician, Franklin Foer
64. Football Done Right, Michael Lombardi
63. The President’s Wife, Tracey Emerson Wood
62. Gambler, Billy Walters
61. The Life We Chose, Matt Birkbeck

August

60. Like, Literally, Dude, Valerie Fridland
59. The Collector, Daniel Silva
58. The Measure of Our Age, M.T. Connolly
57. Spider Woman’s Daughter, Anne Hillerman
56. Kings of Their Own Ocean, Karen Pinchin
55. The Detective Up Late, Adrian McKinty
54. Travelers to Unimaginable Lands, Dasha Kiper
53. Getting Things Done, David Allen
52. Under the Eye of Power, Colin Dickey

July

51. The Bitter Past, Bruce Brogos
50. Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott Shapiro
49. Learnings from the Long View, Peter Schwartz
48. The Right Call, Sally Jenkins
47. Birchers, Matthew Dallek
46. The Paris Agent, Kelly Rimmer
45. The Smart Mission, Edward Hoffman, et al
44. How Data Happened, Chris Wiggins and Matthew Jones
43. The Big Break, Ben Terris
42. Mastery, George Leonard
41. A Lifetime Reading Plan, Clifton Fadiman
40. Prepared, Mike Glover
39. The Death of Expertise, Tom Nichols
38. When the Heavens Went on Sale, Ashlee Vance

June

37. What an Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman
36. A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Burton Malkiel
35. My Father’s Brain, Sandeep Jauhar
34. Saving Time, Jenny Odell
33. The Magistrate, Brian Klingborg
32. Excellent Advice for Living, Kevin Kelly

May

31. Pathogenesis, Jonathan Kennedy
30. Titanium Noir, Nick Harkaway
29. The Great Displacement, Jake Bittle
28. Standing in the Shadows, Peter Robinson
27. The Earth Transformed, Peter Frankopan

April

26. Culture, Martin Puchner
25. Trust the Plan, Will Sommer
24. Off the Edge, Kelly Weill
23. Empress of the Nile, Lynne Olson
22. Range, David Epstein
21. The Declassification Engine, Matthew Connelly
20. Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, Deborah Cohen

March

19. Empireland, Stahnam Sanghera
18. A Hacker’s Mind, Bruce Schneier
17. Figuring It Out, Charles D. Ellis
16. Mind Your Mindset, Michael Hyatt and Megan Hyatt Miller
15. The Devil’s Element, Dan Egan
14. Mark Reese, Moshe Feldenkrais: A Life in Movement
13. Black Ball, Theresa Runstedtler
12. Untold Power, Rebecca Boggs Roberts
11. Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin
10. Keep It Moving, Twyla Tharp
9. Deceptions, Anna Porter
8. Tracers in the Dark, Andy Greenberg

February

7. The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz
6. My Darkest Prayer, S.A. Cosby

January

5. The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett
4. Artificial Intelligence, Melanie Mitchell
3. Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities
2. American Midnight, Adam Hochschild
1. The Wolf Age, Tore Skeie

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

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