I Read a lot in 2023, Here's My List

Check out the books that crossed my path in 2023

At the end of the year, for the last 9 years, I have made it a habit to post the books that had my attention. I don’t quite remember why I started this tradition, but it’s been fun to share with friends, family, and associates. Usually people respond with their list, which then gives me a bunch of books I can purchase despite my ever growing que of unread books. As we close out 2023, I thought I would move this tradition from the mean streets of Facebook to my actual Substack.

The last two years of reading have been interesting to say the least. If you go just by the books I read through the Kindle app, you’ll find an uncomfortable amount of time committed to Japanese Lite Novels. My physical library looks like a battlefield of purchased and unread books, and despite a large enough que of literature in physical and digital form, I also opened an audible account, so when I’m not trying to read books, I’m also “listening” to them as well. Before you get too “impressed” please know that I have probably listened to 7 books to completion (out of a possible 30) on audible, and have more incomplete reads than I am comfortable to share.

Have no fear, I’n not here to beat myself up. A lesson from therapy I try to be mindful of is to “find kindness” kindness for myself, so that I can give it to others. I don’t read to achieve some type of goal, I do it because I love it. It’s a gift that I give to myself, time afforded to do something that makes me feel good. What I find interesting about this is that before video games, unlimited access to streaming “The office”, and the joys of caffeine, books were the vehicle I used to escape and explore; I have come full circle. However before I was able to rediscover my love of reading, I had to lose it, and lose it. I did. Life got busy, and much more digitally focused, soon I found myself reading fewer and fewer books. I justified this shift by blaming work and anything else that gave me space to not feel bad about it. Then the worldwide shutdown of 2020 happened.

With nothing to do but panic about a virus, doom scroll on twitter, and walk up and down my sprawling 500 square foot NYC apartment, I rediscovered my love for both literature and music. Since then, I have been back on my literary Bullshit. 2023 was a banner year for reading. In the days that passed, I did a lot less reading for learning, and growing, instead finding a nice reprieve from the stressors of the world through lite novels like “Sword Art Online, Jobless Reincarnation”, and pirated magically discovered copies of “Chivalry of a failed Knight.” I think the biggest literary surprise of 2023 was how much I could see myself in 16-year old Japanese protagonist, starting new lives after being reincarnated against their will.

Don’t worry, my reading list wasn’t all escape, I did a lot of learning and growing as well. 2022 was a difficult year, 2023 started off with many challenges as well. When the world felt confusing, I looked to my favorite authors, and some new ones to make sense of what was going on. I also tapped into the writing of respected leaders who could support me as I figured out the type of leader/man I wanted to be. I think this list will reflect all of the chaos, escape, love, and confusion that defined the last 12 months of my life. If you want to add to the fun, drop a list of the books you read, or at least your favorites from the last year in the comments. We still have a few more days left in the year, and I haven’t made enough impulse purchases to be overcome with guilt.

Audio Books: (Bolded means completed)

1. “My Grandmothers Hands”- Resmaa Menakem

2. “Selected Works of Audre Lorde”- Audre Lorde, Edited by Roxane Gay

3. “White Evangelical Racism”- Anthea Butler

4. “Sword Art Online 9”- Reki Kawahara

5. “The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded”- Michael Watkins

6. “Solo Leveling, Vol 1”- Chugong, Hye Young Im, J. Torres

7. “Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition”- im Scott

8. “Holding the Calm”- Hesha Abrams

9. “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy” -Richard Rumelt

10. “Good to Great”- Jim Collins

11. “Sword Art Online 7”- Reki Kawahara

12. “Sword Art Online 6” - Reki Kawahara

13. “Tell me How long the Trains Been Gone”- James Baldwin

14. “The Making of Asian America”- Erika Lee

15. “Sword Art Online 5: Phantom Bullet”- Reki Kawahara

Kindle Books: (The Bolded are Completed)

1. “Kobe Bryant and the Mamba Mentality”- Kobe Bryant

2. “Sword Art Online Progressive books 1-8”- Reki Kawahara

3. “Plot Basics”- Paul Tomlins

4. “Jobless Reincarnation Books 1-11”- Rifujin Na Magonote

5. “Blood in the Garden”- Chris Herrings

6. “Black Power, The Politics of Liberation”- Kwame Ture & Charles V. Hamilton.

7. “The Measure”- Nikki Erlick

8. “A Promised Land”- Barack Obama

9. “Animorphs, Book 11”- K.A. Applegate

10. “HBR Guide to making Every Meeting Matter”- Harvard Business Review.

11. “Chivalry of a Failed Knight Books 1-5 ( Lite Novel)”- Riku Misora

12. “HItting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick” -Zora Neal Hurston"

13. “Give my Love to the Savages”- Chris Stuck

14. “A History of Pan-Afriican Revolt” - C.L.R. James

15. “My Voice”- Angie Martinez

16. “The Hemmings Of Monticello, An American Family”- Annette Gordon-Reed

Physical Copies: The Bolded Books are Completed.

1. “High Tolerance: The Intoxicating World of Alcohol Marketing”- Ella Parlor

2. “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love”- Valarie Kaur

3. “Be The Revolution: How Occupy Wall Street and the Bernie Sanders Movement Reshaped American Politics”- Jay Ponti

4. “The Equity Mindset: Designing Human Spaces Through Journeys, Reflections and Practices”- Ike, Ifeomasinachi

5. “Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America” - Michael Harriot

6. “Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion”- Krishnamurthy, Sowmya

7. “The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood”- Tommy J. Curry

8. “Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists”- by Kimberley A. Bobo (Author), Steve Max (Author), Kim Bobo (Author), Jackie Kendall (Author), Midwest Academy (Author)

9. “Managing Multiple Projects: How Project Managers Can Balance Priorities, Manage Expectations and Increase Productivity”- Elizabeth Harrin

10. “Ready Player 2”- Ernest Cline

11. “Ready Player 1”- Ernest Cline

12. “Battle Cry: Waging and Winning the War Within”-Jason Wilson

13. “Adrian Mole Diaries, Weapons of Mass Destruction”- Sue Townsend