Books read in 2016

So December flew by.  Ridiculously fast.  And suddenly as if without warning January is here.  Oh, dreaded January.  I won’t even sugar-coat it.  I really hate this month.  Doesn’t seem to matter what I do, it’s just not a month I care for.

Here in Utah it is frio.  That’s Spanish for insanely cold.  I think it’s like 2 degrees outside right now.

On to the point of this post.  I inadvertently really stepped up my reading game in 2016.  I read.  A lot (for me anyway).  It wasn’t really anything intentional–no goals on how many books I was going to read.  I just really needed to read.  So I did.

Thought I’d share some of those books with all of you.

This image has the screen covers of all the books (the ones I could remember–I think I got them all) that I read this year.

Fifty-two books.  It’s almost like I planned it.  But I really didn’t.  Just ended up working out to be a book a week.  Some I read in a few days.  Some took me several weeks.  Chasing the Scream was a hard book for me to get through, but I’m so glad I stuck with it.  It’s a book about the war on drugs and it definitely has me pensive about the drug war and it’s ineffectiveness.  If someone you love suffers from a drug or alcohol addiction, I highly recommend that book.  It’s controversial but he has some good, valid points.  Food for thought.

I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I’m sometimes reading up to 5 or 6 different books at a time.  Just depends on my mood to decide which one I’ll read on which day.  Does anyone else do that?

In 2015 I read a TON of business type books (and really liked the book Will it Fly this year).  This past year I laid off the business books and did more easy pleasure reading.  I’m drawn to memoirs, historical fiction, or anything based on “truth” (that’s in quotations cause we all know memoirs are based on memory–not necessarily truth–but they’re still really, really good).  I also read a few more novels this year than I usually do.

I like almost all of these books.  A lot of really really good ones.

There were just a few I wouldn’t recommend to a friend (Room being one of them–I really did NOT like that book).  And I didn’t include any books I quit reading (there were probably 5 or 6 of those).  I’ll give a book about 100 pages and if I’m not in to it, I’ll quit.  I’m fine being a book quitter.

Some of my favorites in no particular order.

1. Shoe Dog.  This is a memoir by the creator of Nike.  I didn’t know any backstory to Nike so I was completely fascinated by this book.  Seriously SO good.  I was already a fan of Nike–I’m an even bigger fan now.  It’s amazing it has become the company it has become.
2. The Sound of Gravel.  One of very few books in my life that I honestly couldn’t put down.  I read this in one day (which is crazy fast for me–I’m not a fast reader).  This is a memoir of a woman who was born in to a polygamist family.  It’s crazy!  And riveting.
3. The Orphan Keeper and A long way home (now made into a movie called Lion) are both eerily similar and both super interesting.  One is a novel (based on a true story) and one is a memoir.  Both are about young boys who have a family but end up in orphanages and get adopted in another country.  Then as adults they track down their families in India.
4. A Man Called Ove.  I actually bought this book a few years ago and tried a few different times to read it and couldn’t get in to it.  Sometimes I think it’s just timing.  I tried again this year and ended up LOVING this book.  Love love love.
5. For the Love.  I’ll read ANYthing Jen Hatmaker writes.  She’s easily one of my favorite authors.  I really wish she was my neighbor.  We’d get along.
6. The Magnolia Story.  I’d never heard of Chip and JoAnna Gaines or their show Fixer Upper when I started reading this.  I loved their story, their personalities and now I’m a huge fan!

Those would probably be the books I’d recommend first.  But there were SO many good ones this year!

Right now I’m reading “My Grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry” and “QB: My life behind the spiral” (Steve Young’s memoir) as well as “Dot com secrets”.

What good books did YOU read this year (or any year for that matter)?  I’m always looking for good books.

If you want some more book recommendations, check out these thirteen books that inspire better, more meaningful living.    Or you can read more book related posts in the Worth Reading section.  I also post about books I read on Instagram.