My original goal was to read a book every two weeks and I was able to complete 29 books in 2015 with a bulk of my reading not starting until May 2015.  I guess it really pays to have a 3 hour commute a day.  I consumed the books in number of different way —

1. Reading via Kindle App on my iPad Mini or iPhone 6 Plus
2. Listening/Reading via Kindle App WhisperSync
3. Listening via Amazon Audible App on my iPhone 6 Plus
4. Listening via my Amazon Echo

Amazon WhisperSync was really a step up in terms of my ability to consume more content.  It was so nice to be able to switch between listening, reading or a combination thereof depending on where I was.  Additionally, I found that I could listen to a book at 1.5x to 2x the reading speed while still being able to absorb the content — effectively at 1/2 the audio book time.  Sure, it was as if the chipmunks were reading to me but whatever.

I generally gravitated towards business, leadership, autobiographies or science fiction books.  It seems that I ended up more on the non-fiction side of things but I did my best to alternate between genres.

Ok, let’s talk about some of my favorites — below are my top 5 non-fiction.

1. The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson — Generally speaking, I enjoy Walter Isaacson’s writing and I totally enjoyed this book from the historical computer science perspective.
2. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone — This was a fun read because I’m such a big fan of the entire Amazon ecosystem and I’m intrigued by Jeff Bezos’s larger than life character.
3. Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen — Who doesn’t like Jim Collins books?  I’m sure its desired reading for any MBA student.  Very data driven and full of insight.
4. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene — this was somewhat of an “evil” book, full of devious techniques to wield power based on history.  But you have to take it with a grain of salt just like anything else.
5. The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Stafford — I enjoyed the storytelling writing of this book.  Different from other books on the topic, very enjoyable and full of insight.

Below are my top 4 fiction:

1. Ready Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline — simply loved this book.  So many great references from my generation.  It will be impossible for them to make it a movie effectively.
2. The Martian by Andy Weir — I read this book before the movie came out and the book is 1000x better than the movie.  The inner dialog of the main character in the book is so fun.
3. Wool by Hugh Howey — Post apocalyptic storytelling with very fun twists and turns.
4. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel — Similar to above but the character development really stood out for me.  Not sure why I gravitate towards there “world is ending” books.

Below is my complete list of books in the order that I read them:

• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
• Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson
• Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry by David Robertson and Bill Breen
• Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World by Marc Goodman
• Wool by Hugh Howey
• The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover
• Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
• The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin
• A User’s Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty by Dave Goldberg
• Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson
• Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lost Stars by Claudia Gray and Phil Noto
• Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
• Ready Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• The Wide Lens: What Successful Innovators See That Others Miss by Ron Adner
• The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Stafford
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by P Lencioni
• Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen
• The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
• The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change) by Clayton M. Christensen
• Startupland: How Three Guys Risked Everything to Turn an Idea into a Global Business by Mikkel Svane, Carlye Adler
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries by Peter Sims

My goal is get over 40 for 2016 so please send me some good book recommendations!  I’d love to hear them!