Notes From My Journal
I was not much of a reader as a child
I preferred to spend my time outdoors, playing. In my teens, I kept very busy building things, playing sports, and starting clubs and businesses. But not reading.
I don’t believe I had read more than a half-dozen books by the time I entered college. Since I was determined at that point to be an A-student, I had to read. A lot. So, I began a lifelong journey of reading as much as I could bear.
That meant a weekly consumption of dozens of articles and essays, multiple textbook chapters, and at least one full book.
Had I been a fast reader, it would have been easy. But because I had undiagnosed (at the time) dyslexia and OCD, it was an effort. I had to teach myself how to read efficiently. And I did.
These days, I read at least 1,000 essays each year, 10 times as many briefs on subjects of interest, and a book a month, or 50 books a year.
I’ve never had a system for selecting books to read. Some come from reviews. Some are award winners (The Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Awards – but not Pulitzer or Nobel). Some are follow-ups on favorite authors. Some are classics I failed to read when I was younger. A few come from friends and colleagues. And the rest by randomly picking out books from my libraries.
For 2022, I thought I’d try something different: preselect 38 books (50 minus the 12 book club selections = 38). And read those.
I spent a day last week reviewing about a dozen “Best Books of 2021” lists, including The New York Times, Literary Hub, Good Reads, The New Yorker, and Esquire magazine.
From that group of more than 100, I found 30 that seemed promising, which I’ve listed below. (I left the descriptions pretty much as I found them.)