In 2018, I initiated a plan to not read any of my "default" authors (white heterosexual males, which were by far the bulk of my reading library). I called this "Don't read white (males) after Labor Day." So up through Labor Day this year, I was specifically focusing on reading minority or female authors. During that period, I'm listing what I can tell of the identity of the author. (If you're paying attention, then you'll be able to tell this means that once I hit Labor Day in 2019, I only got through 4 books for the remainder of the year. It was a busy fall!)
- Becoming by Michelle Obama (African-American female)
- Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (African-American male)
- Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (African-American male)
- Children of Bone and Blood by Tomi Adeyemi (Nigerian female)
- The Soul of Yellow Folks by Wesley Yang (Korean-American male)
- Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Somali-born Dutch-American female)
- Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Somali-born Dutch-American female)
- Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Somali-born Dutch-American female)
- Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World by Michele Gelfand (female)
- Radical: My Journey Out of Islamist Extremism by Maajid Nawaz (British Muslim)
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Report On the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election (Vol I & II) by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III
- Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (female)
- Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt (female)
- A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, Book 1) by V.E. Schwab (female)
- A Gathering of Shadows(Shades of Magic, Book 2) by V.E. Schwab (female)
- Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi (female)
- The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer
- A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, Book 3) by V.E. Schwab
- Call Me God: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper Investigation by Jim Clemente, Tim Clemente, and Peter McDonnell
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
Breakdown
Format:
And for anyone who is interested in looking into the past to see some of my previous book lists...
Prior to 2008, I didn't keep a precise running record of the books that I read.
Format:
- Audiobooks: 15
- Electronic: 1
- Kindle: 1
- Dead tree books: 5
Subjects:
- Total Fiction: 9
- Science Fiction: 2
- Fantasy: 7
- Non-Fiction: 12
- Science: 2
- Psychology: 1
- Technology: 1
- Religion: 3
- History: 11
- Politics: 10
- Business/Economics: 2
- Philosophy: 3
These numbers don't quite match up, because some books cover multiple areas, and so I've included them in all relevant categories. So, for example, a book on free will would fall in both Psychology and Philosophy (and possibly even Religion) categories. And a book on Politics might drift enough into the realm of Philosophy (or vice versa) that I count them as both, or both might explore enough historical groundwork that I feel the need to include it as a History book.
Similarly, some books I read using Whispersynch-for-Voice to jump between the Amazon Kindle and Audible audiobook versions of the books, so they got double-counted in the format section if I read them in both formats. I've also included The Great Courses audios that I listen to through Audible.com. Though not actually books, I figure that a 10+ hour course on a subject contains about the same informational content, if not presented structurally in quite the same way as it would take in a written book.
The HistorySimilarly, some books I read using Whispersynch-for-Voice to jump between the Amazon Kindle and Audible audiobook versions of the books, so they got double-counted in the format section if I read them in both formats. I've also included The Great Courses audios that I listen to through Audible.com. Though not actually books, I figure that a 10+ hour course on a subject contains about the same informational content, if not presented structurally in quite the same way as it would take in a written book.
Podcasts
In addition to listening to audiobooks, my intake of thinking consists enough of podcasts that it seems worth including them as a category. Here are the podcasts that I have listened to in 2018 on a fairly regular basis:- Writing Excuses
- You Are Not So Smart
- Waking Up Podcast with Sam Harris
- History of Philosophy
- History of Africana Philosophy
- The Glenn Show
- Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria
- Very Bad Wizards
- What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law
- The Lawfare Podcast
- The Cyberlaw Podcast
- Rational Security
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
- Today, Explained
- The Weeds
- The Phil Ferguson Show
- Hidden Brain
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind
And for anyone who is interested in looking into the past to see some of my previous book lists...
Prior to 2008, I didn't keep a precise running record of the books that I read.
