I managed to accomplish the only resolution that I made last January—to read more books in 2005 than I did in 2004. Given my love of reading and how much of it that I do, the number wasn’t as high as I expected it to be: I read a grand total of 45 books. In 2003 the total was 41, and in 2004 it was 42.
I could easily have read double that number if it weren’t for other factors: a busy semester at college, moving, and then job-searching for the past four months (I would feel like a slacker if I read during the day when there were more important things to tend to). To tell the truth, I wouldn’t have reached my reading goal if it weren’t for all the books I read in December, which had the largest total all year—10! (Thanks to the fact that the job-hunt is done for now, and I subsequently spend less time online. Reading for at least an hour every morning and evening during the commute to/from work is also playing a big part.)
The number is also deceptive because I read newspapers, magazines, and tons of online articles—not to mention portions of multiple books and journals while doing research this past spring semester. Whenever I come across an interesting book (on TV, in a magazine, on the internet, or through another person’s recommendation), I always make a note of it right away because I know I’m likely to forget about it otherwise. Since I like reading nonfiction, most of the time it’s easy for me to tell that I’ll like something just by reading the title.
I worked hard on the following list—like last year, I decided to arrange the books by category rather than the order in which they were read. The ones that I liked best either have a short description, or I starred (**) them. This means that they come highly recommended; please feel free to follow the book’s link for more information.
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