I Read 73 Books in 2018

Last year I read 73 books in full.

The previous year I read 72 and did numerous posts detailing that, spread over five parts. You can find them here:

• I Read 72 Books in 2017
• Business, Financial and Self-Help Books
• Health, Nature, Shamanism and Science Books
• How to Read 72 Books Per Year
• Reading Plan Final Analysis

This year, I don’t plan to go into as much detail, but I figured it was worth visiting the same concept in one large post.

To start with, here is the complete list of books I read in 2018.

The List of 73 Books

1. The Star Principle by Richard Koch
2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
3. The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neustaedter
4. The Ra Principle (The Law of One Book One) by Ra
5. Birth Chemistry Workbook
6. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
7. The Essential Gnostic Gospels
8. Anything is Possible! by Joe Vitale
9. Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
10. Creative Imagination by Christopher Hills
11. Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee by Stan Lee and George Mair
12. The Healing Wisdom of Africa by Malidoma Patrice Some
13. Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer by Gregg Braden
14. Bottleneck Breakthrough by Joshua Long
15. Cuffed, Tied and Satisfied by Jaiya
16. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
17. The 80/20 Manager by Richard Koch
18. Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
19. Warburton’s Winning System by Greg Warburton
20. 16X by Richard Koch
21. Real Magic by Dean Radin
22. Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottmann
23. Persuader by Lee Child
24. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
25. The Natural Laws of Business by Richard Koch
26. Renegade Beauty by Nadine Artemis
27. The Terror by Dan Simmons
28. Killing Floor by Lee Child
29. 60 Minute CFO by David A. Duryee
30. The Gulag Archipelago [Abridged] by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
31. Remote Viewing Secrets by Joseph McMoneagle
32. Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
33. Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman
34. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
35. Taoist Sexual Meditation by Bruce Francis
36. Selected Works of Cicero
37. Measure What Works by John Doerr
38. The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland
39. Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker
40. The Everything Store by Brad Stone
41. Creative Conflict by Christopher Hills
42. A Brief Tour of Higher Consciousness by Itzhak Bentov
43. Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
44. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
45. Superconnect by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood
46. The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
47. Leonardo’s Notebooks edited by H. Anna Suh
48. The Outsider by Stephen King
49. Synchronicity by Allan Combs and Mark Holland
50. Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. Buckminster Fuller
51. Your First CFO by Pam Prior
52. Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse
53. On Writing by Stephen King
54. Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
55. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
56. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
57. Clock Work by Mike Michalowicz
58. How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
59. Reinventing Medicine by Larry Dossey
60. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
61. Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot by Chic Cicero & Sandra Tabatha Cicero
62. Superhuman You by Iron Tamer Dave Whitley
63. The San Lorenzo Valley by Lisa Robinson
64. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
65. Iron John by Robert Bly
66. Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig
67. Neuromancer by William Gibson
68. Five Wishes by Gay Hendricks
69. Giftology by John Ruhlin
70. Synchronicity: The Art of Coincidence, Choice and Unlocking You Mind by Dr. Kirby Surprise
71. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
72. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink
73. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Plans from Start of 2018

It’s interesting to reflect on my predictions and plans around reading I made at the start of 2018.

1. More fiction. Check! While I only did 5 out of 72 in 2017, this year I read 11 out of 73. (And that’s not counting the Norse myths either.) More than doubled my fiction ratio. And I’m definitely enjoying it. Of all I read I always have at least one fiction book in progress, and lately more than one.
2. More diverse reading covering a wider-range of topics. Check! I wouldn’t even hope to categorize these books like I did last year. There’s still many of the familiar categories but some completely new areas of exploration. And that includes some very eclectic titles in there.
3. More biographies. Not really. There’s a few in there but about as much as previously. It did not turn out to be a major theme this year.
4. More re-reading. Not really, there was only a few in there.
5. More on strength and fitness. Check! Not included in the list because I didn’t finish it was The Super Athletes by David Willoughby. I read 400 pages or so of this monstrous tome but didn’t finish it. Still, this book gave me some big ideas and affected my training for the better. More on that in a bit.
6. Books on parenting. Check! I love to learn so why wouldn’t I spend some time doing so in this extremely important area?

On the note of having a baby, my time was impacted but I was able to read more than last year. In fact, I kind of made that my goal to beat out what I did previously. You can see I’m very goal oriented by hitting 73 with last year was 72. Helps to have a plan and a goal!

Not bad, hit four of the six things very well, without really thinking about them since writing them down last year.

Next, I’ll highlight a few books that top the bunch in a variety of ways.

Most Impactful Books in 2018

I Ching by Hilary Barrett

This isn’t mentioned on the list as it’s not a book you “read.” Instead I’ve been using it almost daily by consulting the oracle. (I started with the older version, the translation by Wilheim and Baynes, with Jung’s interesting foreword, but found this version more user friendly.) I’m finding this is a very useful practice that helps me answer big questions. And in that way it’s related to the next book.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Another habit that has been added to my morning routine is the ‘Morning Pages’ as described in this book. Can’t say I’ve done most of the work from this book, but this one thing has been huge for me. I start off my morning pages with some of the results from the I Ching reading and then go from there.

Super Athletes by David Willoughby

Again, not a book I finished but one that has impacted my training. While it was a dream that got me started doing bent presses and getups again, I think it was reading this that caused the dream! I’ve also been practicing the chin hang which I had never even seen previously as a result of this book. Several other ideas for future training too.

Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman

Joey is a fellow Maverick1000 member, but that’s not why it’s on this list. This was my favorite, most impactful business book of the year. After reading this I was revamping our entire prospect and customer campaigns this year as well as several other recent changes in Lost Empire Herbs. More changes to come that have still been in the planning and development stages.

Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottmann

Although most of this book would come into play beyond the age of one, so wasn’t immediately applicable in that regard, I realized I needed to start practicing. This way I would be able to act in an emotionally intelligent way when the time comes. I have largely been practicing with my wife, but also kids besides my daughter when I’m around them.

Most Eye Opening Books

The Gulag Archipelago [Abridged] by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Turned onto this by listening to Jordan Peterson, having never heard of it before. I picked up the Abridged version as I felt that was plenty long enough. Wow! The descriptions of what went on in the Soviet gulags were incredible. It further left me reflecting on why we don’t think of Stalin as badly as we do of Hitler…when after all he was responsible for far more death. And also left me a bit worried that I don’t think society has learned it’s history lessons.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I don’t think he would think of it as a health book, but I do. This is the best thing I’ve seen that clearly shows where food comes from. That will give you a feel for industrial food, organic food, beyond organic food, foraged and hunted food. I feel like the reason we have 10,000 different diets is our fractured relationship to food. We moderns don’t know where it comes from. This book shows you clearly the different types of food out there.

Real Magic by Dean Radin

Parapsychology researcher Dean Radin comes to the conclusion the psi research, paranormal research, and all the other names it’s been called in the past hundred years or so, is simply different terminology for what people before called magic. I like this frame of reference and you can see that this sparked some new interest in the direction of some of the books I read.

Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly

The subject of masculinity is a subject I plan to explore much more in depth in 2019 (already have started). This includes writing about it. While I’ve read some other great books on the topic, this one is really, really good. It takes the myth of Iron John (one I had not even come across before) and shows how it maps to the masculine psyche.

Best Fiction

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Hard to pick but I have to go with The Terror. Dan Simmons is an amazing writer. I started with his sci-fi, the Hyperion series which is also amazing. What I am amazed with is Dan is able to write across many different fields. Here, historical fiction with a twist. While I thought the AMC series on TV was decent, it just couldn’t do justice to the coldness that the book made me feel, the wussiness I felt compared to these sailors and so much more.

Most Over My Head

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

Not something that can be read quickly, which is how I read most of it. Nietzsche tends to use long sentences, like 30 to 50 words long, so grasping what he is actually saying is tough to do. I’m guessing I may revisit this in a couple decades and get more out of it.

Reading Plans for 2019

I realized with doing this list, keeping track of books in this way, it was “forcing” me to finish books I wouldn’t otherwise have finished. Not so great. To read a book cover to cover is great…if the book is worth reading cover to cover. Not all of them are.

I will be “speed reading” a number of books were I skim and dip in as things look interesting. This may end up being most of a book, or even just sections. And I will be keeping this as a list of books speed read as such separate from the list of books fully read to see what happens.

This plan is already underway as we’re a month into 2019. Doing so I figure my list will be even bigger next year.

Questions about any of these books? How I read so much? Use the comments section below.