Every year, I publish my reading list on this site (or one of my other blogs). My target is one book a week, or 52 books a year. I’ve reached my target several times, but in 2009, I only managed to read 35 books.
What’s been happening over the years is that I’ve gradually moved to ebooks. For 2009, I only read 1 (one!) book on paper. Reading ebooks is so much more convenient for me, and I can do it anywhere and any time.
When I got my iPhone, one of the first things I tried to figure out was how to read ebooks on it. You have to realise that just two years ago, reading on the iPhone wasn’t as easy as it is today. No Stanza, Kindle app, or even apps on the phone!
However, I have been having less and less time lately, especially with increasing pace and responsibility at work. Now I find that it’s much more convenient for me to slot in a few minutes of “reading” during my commute. Yes, after years of listening to Audible ads on podcasts, I’ve finally succumbed and I’ve started listening to audiobooks. I know that there are people who don’t consider audiobooks “reading”, but I get just as much information and enjoyment as the “traditional” way.
I find that I can get quite a lot done while I’m commuting to work – at least an hour’s worth each day. Of course, I listen to the audiobooks on my iPhone, so there’s very little change in my setup. No new gear needed.
The downside? Audiobooks tend to be more expensive than ebooks. We need an Amazon Kindle Store of audiobooks at least in terms of the $10 standard price for most books. Guess who owns Audible? Amazon.
Here’s the reading (and listening) list for 2009 :
1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 20090102 (Audio Book)
2. Hell’s Faire by John Ringo 20090110
3. Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves 20090114
4. I Remember the future by Michael A Burnstein 20090127
5. Tokyo Zero by Marc Horne 20090202
6. The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross 20090310
7. UR by Stephen King 20090311
8. Who Moved My Blackberry? by Lucy Kellaway 20090312
9. Halting State by Charles Stross 20090324
10. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
11. The Unforgiving Minute by Craig Mullaney
12. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher 20090505
13. The Ghost by Robert Harris
14. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher 20090523
15. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher 20090530
16. Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi 20090609
17. Death Masks by Jim Butcher 20090617
18. The Strain (Kindle Edition) by Chuck Hogan, Guillermo Del Toro 20090708
19. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher 20090716
20. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher 20090727
21. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher 20090812
22. Small Favor by Jim Butcher 20090824
23. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher 20090829
24. Daggerspell by Katherine Kerr 20090908
25. Daemon by Daniel Suarez
26. Darkspell by Katherine Kerr 20091010
27. The Taqwacores by Muhammad Michael Knight 20091021
28. Heat Wave by Richard Castle
29. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck 20091101
30. Superfreakonomics by Levitt & Dubbner 20091120
31. Under The Dome by Stephen King
32. The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman (dead tree)
33. What the dog saw by Malcolm Gladwell
34. World War Z by Max Brooks (audio)
35. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (audio) 20091231