My Year in Books - 2016

(Image from pixabay.com)

I read fewer books than last year and the year before. This is a good thing though as I planned for this, having introduced some more activities (other than work) into my schedule which included more walking, amateur image editing, scrips, blogging, mindfulness meditation. True balance is difficult but a good attempt was made.

I chose to be selective in my reading, though I still read quite a few books on impulse. I also decided to rate books more carefully rather than based on how I feel at the end of the read. I might read fewer books next year with more scrutiny on quality.

The stand-out books of the year for me have been:

1. The Power of Myth – Joseph Campbell
2. The Presence Process – Michael Brown
3. Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
4. Making Time – Steve Taylor

Each of these had great new insight, learning and were thought provoking. While all of these are non-fiction, I did read a fair amount of fiction as well. The new fiction authors I read this year were Rick Yancey, Alison Moore, Nadeem Aslam, Paula Hawkings, Sophie Kinsella, M.J. Arlidge, Ravi Subramanian, Louise Bagshawe. I found Louise Bagshawe's books very good to relax with – the stories move very fast and have strong characters. Her books somehow took the place of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series this year which used to serve a similar purpose for me.

The other good books which I read this year and worth a mention are:

• Originals – Adam Grant
• Pop goes the Weasel & Eeny Meeny – M.J. Arlidge
• The Vital Question – Nick Lane
• The Devil you Know, Desire, Sparkles, Toll Poppies – Louise Bagshawe
• The Sialkot Saga – Ashwin Sanghi
• Man's Eternal Quest - Parahamsa Yogananda 
• Kundalini - Om Swami
• When Breath becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
• What If – Randall Munroe
• Top Business Psychology Models – Stefan Cantore

As always I found that books and reading provided me with a fresh new outlook in many aspects of life. Do books do that to you?

Goodreads link: My year in books 2016