Reading List 2023
I read a tweet by Lex Friedman about his reading list and was inspired to make one. I am not sure what was so controversial about his reading list but people were dunking on it and calling it a high-schooler read. Despite the criticism, I was inspired by Friedman's goal to read one book per week, which I think is quite admirable. Personally, as a former lit student, I would consider one book per week to be on the low side, as I was used to reading several books per week and writing reviews for them before the weekend. Obviously now, I want to enjoy reading and not be pressured to write essays and be analytical to it but some intellectual stimuli won’t do no harm.
For now, this list will only be up to May, just like Lex’s list. I will be updating them as soon as I reach May and getting back to this list. You can also read with me if you fancy the book that I suggested. Some of the list here are the books that I have read and own a physical copy of. While some are something new to me and it’s going to be my first time. Wish me luck so that I can find the paperback of them!
- Week of Jan 2 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
- Week of Jan 9 The Art of Thinking Clearly Rolf Dobelli
- Week of Jan 16 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
- Week of Jan 23 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
- Week of Jan 30 Twilight John W Campbell
- Week of Feb 6 Fatherland Robert Harris
- Week of Feb 13 The Origin of Species Charles Darwin
- Week of Feb 20 From Russia With Blood Heidi Blake
- Week of Feb 27 The Color of Purple Alice Walker
- Week of March 6 The Essentials Kafka Franz Kafka
- Week of March 13 The War of The Worlds H. G. Wells
- Week of March 20 Utopia Thomas More
- Week of March 27 Youngblood by Matt Gallagher
- Week of Apr 3 Frankenstein in Baghdad Ahmed Saadawi
- Week of Apr 10 Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman
- Week of Apr 17 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
- Week of Apr 24 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
- Week of May 1 The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene
- Week of May 8 The Archaeology of Knowledge Michel Foucault
- Week of May 15 Anarchy, State, and Utopia Robert Nozick
- Week of May 22 Capitalism and Freedom Milton Friedman
- Week of May 29 The Midnight Library Matt Haig
I think there is value in re-reading a book, as it allows us to learn new things and see the material from a different perspective as we grow and change. I know, it can be challenging to find time to read regularly, especially for busy individuals or those who travel frequently. Since I plan to stay more this year and not travel sporadically, I reckon it’s the best year to feed my brain some knowledge. I also want to read more philosophy, history and archeology books which I will put around June-August. At the same time, some survivalism and homesteading books are on the horizon too. Oh yeah, don’t forget that Hive Book Club is hosting a contest too that you can participate here Tell us about the best book that you read in 2022.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
I also want to try it, but it's quite impossible due to my lack of time. Anyway, I also want to do this challenge but only bi-weekly. I have one pending book reading, three books that I haven't read yet in my shelf, and three books on the ship (my pending to ship in Lazada) 😂
Bi-weekly is pretty ideal if you don't have much time. You can sett aside 20-25 daily to read. While it seems like that is a lot of commitment, honestly, it's not that much. I use pomodoro timer and it changes the way I see time and getting more things done 😁. What books are you getting?
Dunking on someone's reading is an unpleasant thing to do. I'm away to give Lex some support next.
I wish you all the best with your reading schedule (the 175 pages a day to read War & Peace in a week will be a tough do).
Ah yes, War and peace was a challenging read. I read them back in Highschool and it took me two months. It's something I am going to re-read to see if I have different takeaway from it. I think Lex's choices were fine. It was mostly classic and I also read 80% of it. I have to agree with him that some of them are great to re-read again, like Siddharta by Herman Hesse. Do you have any reading goal this year?
I can't help but wonder how Lex is gonna read Dune in one week. I guess he means one of the books haha! I also wish him luck with reading The Brothers Karamazov in a single week.
Some interesting titles on your list :^)
P.S. I also used to read several books a week but that wat mainly as a kid and in my teens ( late 80s up till late 90s ) when there was hardly any screen time and my attention wasn't as fragmented as it is nowadays.
Happy New Year!
It took me two weeks to read Dune part 1 and it's not my favorite. Though, I watched the movie and it was pretty intriguing. I only wish it was played by different actors then I would probably like it. I remember a friend of mine read that book in a single week for a paper but he isn't Lex, so I suppose, he reads day and night to finish that paper 🤣.
My attention span is getting better since I don't have discord on my phone. I only have them on my laptop and since then, I have a lot of time to either read something or watch something. Happy New year @vincentnijman ! I hope this year will bring more abundance for you.
I guess you didn't the watch 1980s Dune by David Lynch? I read the three books, took me months and watched all movies and mini series. The movies and series are intriguing but don't come close to the world described in the book. It's not an easy read though.
Happy new year to you too!
Get ready for an incredible journey because it is a wonderful book that starts out like a scientific book, then turns into a romance novel, and then tells what two completely different worlds and people's perspectives can lead to. The first time I read it, I got halfway through and then went back to the beginning 🤣 Because I realized how many details I missed and I read it more carefully.
You will have a lot of fun🤗🤗👏👏
I spent an hour today reading them and halfway through. I actually picked the book because a month ago, I saw a pod called EctoLife, which could generate 30000 babies a year. In that story itself, they create around 11000-ish for some 😂 while citing that tropical countries produce more babies yet with disadvantages. I want to be reminded what could go wrong/right when we're stop using parents to produce babies. If you want to check uot what that is, here's a good one https://scienceandstuff.com/ectolife-artificial-wombs/. The challenge would be on May especially The 48 Laws of Power, I heard some of my friends had difficulty reading it and it took time.
Dang, good luck with A Brave New World. It's one I've tried to get through a few times and I find it very difficult to read and enjoy. It's slow, at times super weird, and while I can get the point that they're going for Huxley's delivery is so meandering!
One day I may finish it, and I wish you good luck as the concept behind it is super relatable today in some ways... but yikes. Writing style has changed a lot since Huxley's days and gods does it show lol.
I actually enjoyed it because these days it's the topic I am curious about as I mentioned in another comment, that kind of technology is about to exist, it's something called Ectolife which will produce babies in pods. I find that kind of society is weird but at the same time, it's not far off from what we have today. There's rising people into non-monogamous relationship, people calling each other alpha, beta, gamma, sigma😂 and defining certain set of characteristic to them. I am not sure what percentage kids read these days but these type of books should be something they read, perhaps either as cautionary tale or maybe it inspired them more to build something of that society? that would be sick though, in a bad way😅. Thanks for checking this out. Are you planning to have some list this year?
You obviously are the original hive bibliophile 😅
I also stumbled on Lex's post through you and the criticism he got was surprising. Firstly there was the argument that he only read books by men, and secondly was that it was a highschool students list. I mean, when did it become a crime to have a taste, and genre preference.
Anyways, your list is very diverse and extensive, I have seen a couple of piece I will steal 😅. Once I go to the book store later this month.
For this month I want to read 4 books, one each week at least.
The naval Ravikant almanac (which you saw already) 😅
Atomic Habits
One of us is lying
And
All quiet at the western front
Then I can move on to some new picks from your selections. I already saved it 😅
Of the books you mention I have read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, one of the best in its genre without a doubt. Also War and Peace by Leon Tolstoy.
It is a good list to select some and start reading this 2023. Greetings and good year.
I hope you have a good year too! I love Fahrenheit 451 and it's going to be my 5th time reading the book. I think that it just resonates a lot with the current society and how I view things. I know that reading is probably a dying art but I am trying my best to foster it. Anyhow, do you have some personal list?
That's quite a list! Some of those might be a bit of a challenge to get through in only one week, though. Best of luck!
Indeed! I got a few warning esp on May and War and Peace, they are not an easy read and it's time to take up on the challenge 😄
Hi there, just passing by to remind you that you once told on a post I made that you wanted to write also, so dont forget to write a story or two while you read, it would be great for your creativity, bye <3