At the beginning of 2022 I found myself on a work call with my boss, bright eyed and excited to chat. The previous year he had read 52 books, a huge number to me, and I had wanted to match him. I’ve always loved reading, but I never committed myself to that many books before. It had to be easily accomplishable, I thought to myself. Little did I know how wrong I was. “I’m totally going to hit 52 this year”, I said aloud with The Stand - complete and uncut edition, a 1152 page behemoth by Stephen King, sitting open on my reading desk. I ended 2022 reading 18 books (6,467 pages) and determined to eventually hit 52. After reading 33 (12,497 pages) last year, I finally hit 52 (16,709 pages) this year.

Out of those 52, here is my top 10:

10. The World of Carbon

Author: Isaac Asimov
First Published: 1958
Pages: 158
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Goodreads: Link

It’s easy to become paralyzed by the idea of blaming oneself for not intuitively understanding something. “I’m better at english, it’s how my brain works.”, you might convince yourself of and I get it – this rubbish thinking previously held me back. Now, I think a fundamental element of learning is the information (or teacher) is able to meet the student where the student is. Asimov accentuates the effectiveness of this in The World of Carbon. He meets the reader where they are, exposing complex subjects as simple ideas that are easy to follow. The book is brief – 158 pages – and jam packed with knowledge on the biology of carbon and its place in everyday items. Speaking of jam, did you know that carbon is an essential element in pectin, the saccharide that provides jellies and jams its structure?

9. Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad
First Published: 1899
Pages: 188
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Conrad exposes the madness and rawness of human nature in Heart of Darkness. The consequences of unchecked power and the wickedness of greed are displayed through the reactions of humans being stripped of everything they have. Human beings have unfathomable levels of evil.

8. String Theory

Author: David Foster Wallace
First Published: 2014
Pages: 138
Amazon: Link
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Phenomenal writers are magicians to me. Communicating many diverse ideas artistically and with unequivocal clarity is my own version of the dark arts, for it is the distribution of ideas that drive change a la Common Sense. David Foster Wallace (DFW) is someone I’ve mentally categorized as one of these talented folk. String Theory is strictly about tennis but there’s so much value packed in the book that discusses talent, drive, adolescence, and math amongst other topics. The depiction of the intricacies of tennis reminds me of attending my first professional hockey game, where the tenets of being an expert at something are mind blowing. As far as I’m concerned, the praise for DFW is warranted and I’m excited to read more of what he has written.

7. Light in August

Author: William Faulkner
First Published: 1932
Pages: 507
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Goodreads: Link

Light in August by Faulkner goes deep and wide in its settings and subjects, packed with tension, and told through different perspectives. One of my signals for whether or not a piece is highly regarded to me is re-consumption value. In other words, can I consume the content again and extract something else or more out of it? I feel strongly about this one due to both the content and Faulkner’s writing style. After starting As I Lay Dying, it’s becoming clear to me that Faulkner, for better or worse, uses opaqueness as a stylistic choice. I’m looking forward to picking it up again in the future.

6. Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell
First Published: 1945
Pages: 141
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How groups form and interact has always fascinated me, organizational psychology deeply interests me. I had an acute inkling of suspicion about what Animal Farm would discuss and unlike 1984, Animal Farm surpassed my expectations. I’ve come to loathe my own naive ambitions, thinking that my leadership won’t fall victim to the follies of the past; when I’m a leader, I won’t make the same mistakes as my predecessors. Animal Farm puts this fantasy front and center and showcases the inevitability of tension between groups of power, the failure for any one administration to serve all and not become infatuated by the idea of control. That the only release of this tension is a revolution. That revolution spawns after repeated emotional tragedies.

5. Catch-22

Author: Joseph Heller
First Published: 1961
Pages: 453
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Many times, satire in literature is not the easiest for me to immediately recognize. During my read of Candide by Voltaire this year (a book riddled with satire), I was constantly scratching my head, begging for the last page. Catch-22 was the exact opposite experience. Every page I was laughing at the mockery of war and the artificial seriousness that permeates bureaucratic organizations. I’ve since relaxed my own being after reading because what’s the point of being pent up over fictional barriers?

4. The Kreutzer Sonata

Author: Leo Tolstoy
First Published: 1889
Pages: 128
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Goodreads: Link

I’ve spent so little time with Russian literature, but have had such wonderful experiences. Let my eventual disappointment continue for a little while longer because The Kruetzer Sonata is exceptional. A key part of enjoying fiction content for me is tension. The longer the audience can wait for the “so what?” the better, There’s so much tension in this story I thought I was going to explode. And then came the climax and I actually disintegrated. For no reason particular to the plot, I was itching to begin learning violin or piano. I listened to Beethovan’s rendition on repeat the morning before my wedding. Again, not related to the plot, but because the progression and variable cadence of the musical piece are so transformative and moving.

3. The Trees

Author: Percival Everett
First Published: 2021
Pages: 301
Amazon: Link
Goodreads: Link

Dead simple language, a powerful narrative message, and frequently humorous, The Trees is a chilling story that’s based on real events in Money, Mississippi. I had never heard of Percival Everett until I picked this up, but after reading and placing two of his books in this year’s top 3, consider me a devout follower. After understanding Percival more through wikipedia entries and interviews on Youtube, it’s clear why his books are impactful. They’re well-researched ideas told in story format that weaves humor, irony, and core elements of human nature into an indivisible thread. For the subject of this book, which I won’t reveal because it spoils the book, Everett said that he had an entire section of his home library dedicated to the subject. That’s dedication to craftsmanship that I can’t ignore.

2. John Adams

Author: David McCullough
First Published: 2001
Pages: 751
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Goodreads: Link

I read 6 U.S. presidential biographies (one for each U.S. president 1-6), including an Aaron Burr biography, this year as part of a personal quest to educate myself more on the United States. It was hard for me to shut up to my wife about Mr. Adams as I was progressing through John Adams by David McCullough. There’s so much I appreciate about McCullough’s writing and the second president, but I’ll identify my two most favorites of Adams: 1. His strong relationship with his wife Abigail and 2. His persistence to never give up and his unrelenting thirst for understanding. I came away from reading about Adams having the thought that I wanted to be just like him. Minus the teeth falling out, of course. If I can leave a legacy that is a quarter of Adams’, I’ll be satisfied.

1. James

Author: Percival Everett
First Published: 2024
Pages: 303
Amazon: Link
Goodreads: Link

I read The Trees before James so while I didn’t know what James was going to be about (I don’t read spoilers or descriptions of content), I had high expectations because I know what Everett is capable of. Even still, I was blown away. Like The Trees, James is easy to read. What separates the two is that James contains an impactful message on nearly every page. Every bit along the book’s journey makes you think, laugh, cry, or all of the above. My eyes were gorilla glued; I dreaded putting it down. The pièce de résistance that solidified James as my number one came after finishing the book while I was watching an interview of Percival with Seth Meyers and Seth says, “I know at one point, it actually occurred to you that a book like this might get banned and that you were excited about that” to which Percival responds by saying “…as soon as somebody tells other people about this book, then the people who ban books might do this, because they don’t read”. A thunderous chest pound ensued. That’s my guy.