2015 was the first year that I had a New Year’s Eve resolution to do: to read more books. I’m used to read a lot of blog posts and articles online but I wasn’t reading much outside of it (and most of what I was reading was strictly related to Rails and Front end anyway), so I set a goal of 12 books, technical or not, for 2015.

I’ve got it Close Enough™ - 10 books in 12 months, and half way through the eleventh one. I focused on fiction and YA titles, for a necessary break from consuming only technical content over the last years.

Here is what I have been reading over this year:

📚 Notes of a Dirty Old Man and Women, by Charles Bukowski

📘 Chasers of the Light by Tyler Knott Gregson

A lightweight and lovely collection of poems. There isn’t much to be said about Tyler’s work that would capture the feelings that his work might invoke in the reader.

His Tumblr and Instagram feeds are an never ending source of more poems and haikus that can be a poignant escapade from the routine of cat vines and food pictures.

📚 The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska, by John Green

John Green does an amazing job writing YA fiction that transcends the teenage settings of their stories with deep insights and positivism that some “coming of age” stories lack so much. If you believe it might be too cheesy for ya, it might still be worth a read.

The movie adaptations for The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns are true to their source material

Also, John’s (and Hank’s, his brother) YouTube channel is awesome.

📘 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkien

I’ve watched the movies a bazilion times, but the LoTR books have been sitting on my bookstand for a few years now - Tolkien ain’t easy for the ones with short attention spams.

📘 Show Your Work!, by Austin Kleon

Austin’s first book, Steal Like an Artist, was a great eye opener on creative process for non creative-ish people, and Show Your Work feels like a sequel that talks about exposing and promoting your work and process. Perfect for saving yourself from the boredom of a 2 hours flight or similar.

📘 If You Feel Too Much, by Jamie Tworkowski

TWLOHA’s origin is a great story of love and hope from 2006, but what I find the most amazing is how that story is still alive through the organization and Jamie’s story, and we have a glimpse of his life and heart throughout the book, the ups and downs, the good and the hard moments.

📘 Open, by Craig Gross & Adam Palmer

Open took me more than an year to chew and finish it up. The takes a complete tour on addressing accountability, the inner values of openness and the how-tos to be a part of an accountability group and so on. Even if you don’t intent to go all the way on the path that Craig suggests, the book is a pint of renewed honesty that you might find it handy.

The unfinished eleventh entry to the list is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, a great book on the introversion/extrovesion subject, packed with interesting stories and research data.

2016

I plan to maintain the 12 books goal for next year. Pushing it to 15 or 20 would be foolish and I doubt that I can upgrade my reading habits so much, but I hope that I can hit the 12 books goal instead of getting so close like this year.