My List of Books to Read in 2017

Alright then, here's my list of life-changing, world-changing books that I plan to read in 2017. Or at least, starting in 2017. If I read 53 pages a day for 365 days, I'd be able to finish the first 57 books in 2017. The last three would take a bit longer. As I mentioned in the last blog, not sure I can read 53 pages a day... so we'll start with 20-30 and see how far I get.

I do plan to blog daily about the reading that I'm doing. The list is also open to modification, most likely due to additions. I also have a rather odd tendency (at least my friends think it's odd) to read multiple books at the same time. I'll try not to do that here as the blog might get a bit disjointed!

As for the order of books... kind of random although I am trying to ease into this gently. I chose Freedom Writers Diary to start because (a) I saw the movie recently and (b) I am going to be writing about my reading and thought this book was somehow appropriate for this purpose.

Looking over the list... I have read a few books before:

• Little Prince - always a good re-read.
• 1984 - I think I read that in high school but, as with most books I read in high school, don't think I really got the depth of the book!
• Brave New World - same as 1984 - read it in high school
• Diary of a Young Girl - you guessed it, read it in high school
• The Alchemist - like the Little Prince - always a good re-read

Any other suggestions out there? Let me know and I'll see about adding them to the list. As I said, this might turn into a multi-year project!

	Title	Author		Year	Pages
1	Freedom Writers Diary	Erin	Gruwell	1999	316
2	The Little Prince	Antoine	de Saint-Exupery	1943	83
3	Nineteen Eighty Four (1984)	George	Orwell	1949	328
4	Demand the Impossible	Bill	Ayers	2016	150
5	Silent Spring	Rachel	Carson	1962	378
6	The Second Sex	Simone	de Beauvoir	1949	746
7	Brave New World	Aldous	Huxley	1932	268
8	Deep Work	Cal	Newport	2016	296
9	Ways of Seeing	John	Berger	1972	176
10	Non-Violent Resistance	Mahatma	Gandhi	1961	432
11	Walden	Henry David	Thoreau	1854	352
12	The Sane Society	Erich	Fromm	2003	384
13	Brief History of Time	Stephen	Hawking	1987	212
14	Here Comes Everybody	Clay	Shirky	2008	336
15	Guerilla Warfare	Che	Guevara	1960	440
16	I am Nujood	Nujood	Ali	2009	188
17	The True Believer	Erich	Hoffer	2010	240
18	Hiroshima	John	Hersey	1946	152
19	The Earth Has a Soul	C.G.	Jung	2002	248
20	Steal this Book	Abbie	Hoffman	1971	352
21	Shake Hands with the Devil	Romeo	Dallaire	2003	562
22	Orientalism	Edward	Said	1978	395
23	Qur'an			650	604
24	Mohammed Code	Howard	Bloom	2013	342
25	General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money	John Maynard	Keynes	1935	403
26	Das Kapital	Karl	Marx	1867	356
27	Sand County Almanac	Aldo	Leopold	1949	269
28	Rights of Man	Thomas	Paine	1791	229
29	The Man Who Fed the World	Leon	Hesser	2006	263
30	Deep Green Resistance	Derrick	Jensen	2011	520
31	The Sixth Extinction	Elizabeth	Kolbert	2014	319
32	A Vindication of the Rights of Women	Mary	Wollstonecraft	1790	352
33	The Feminine Mystique	Betty	Friedan	1963	592
34	Communist Manifesto	Karl	Marx	1848	288
35	I am Malala	Malala	Yousafzai	2012	327
36	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Harriet Beecher	Stowe	1852	438
37	Autobiography of Malcolm X	Malcolm	X	1965	466
38	The Jungle	Upton	Sinclair	1905	335
39	The Alchemist	Paulo	Coelho	1988	197
40	The Story of my Experiments with Truth	Mahatma	Gandhi	1940	560
41	Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee	Dee	Brown	1970	509
42	The Art of War	Sun	Tzu	-450	273
43	The Republic	Plato		-380	416
44	Tao te Ching	Lao	Tzu	-300	160
45	Critique of Pure Reason	Immanuel	Kant	1781	796
46	Mein Kampf	Adolf	Hitler	1925	384
47	Fascism - What It is and How to Fight it	Leon	Trotsky	1944	47
48	Diary of a Young Girl	Anne	Frank	1947	283
49	Night	Elie	Wiesel	1958	120
50	Survival in Auschwitz	Primo	Levi	1958	187
51	Imagined Communities	Benedict	Anderson	1983	240
52	Adios America	Ann	Coulter	2015	392
53	Tibetan Book of the Dead		Padmasambhava	700	592
54	The Meaning of Relativity	Albert	Einstein	1922	176
55	Lifelong Activist	Hillary	Rettig	2006	399
56	Eating Animals	Jonathan	Safran Foer	2009	341
57	Tattoos on the Heart	Gregory	Boyle	2009	240
			Total Pages		19449
			Pages/Day for 1 Year		53.2849
58	Rise and Fall of the Third Reich	William	Shirer	1960	1614
59	Don Quixote	Miguel	Cervantes	1605	1023
60	War and Peace	Leo	Tolstoy	1865	1392

My 2016 List of Books

Most of my books from 2016 came from the local library - 49 of them. Given that most books nowadays cost on the order of $15-20, I figure I saved about $750-1000 by getting my reading material from the library. Bonus!!

Most of the books I read fall under three categories: productivity, organization, saving money. I am always looking for new and different ways to increase my productivity. Of course, I do admit that my main hindrance to being more productive is plain and simple procrastination, In which case, Nike's motto of "Just Do It" is probably the only productivity advice I need but... I do like to read those types of books. Books on organization always inspire me to declutter, to let go of things that no longer serve me. And the Saving Money books always inspire me to take a look at our finances and see if there are ways in which we can streamline things or save a bit more money. These books are fairly "mindless" for me... and are generally very enjoyable reads.

My 2017 list is going to look very different. I may, therefore, stitch some of my "favourite" style of books into the mix - just to lighten things up again.

The Longest Kill

Harrison, Craig

Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper

Mitic, Jody

Shortcut through Therapy: Ten Principles of Growth-Oriented, Contented Living

Carlson, Richard

Eat that Frog

Tracy, Brian

Solving the procrastination puzzle : a concise guide to strategies for change Pychyl, Timothy A How to succeed in 12 months : creating the life you love. Star-Leonard, Serena Switch : how to change things when change is hard Heath, Chip Big magic : creative living beyond fear Gilbert, Elizabeth The smart guide to getting things done Davidson, Jeffrey P. Nonviolent communication : a language of life Rosenberg, Marshall B. Live your life for half the price Hunt, Mary The heart of social change : how to make a difference in your world Rosenberg, Marshall B. Touching the void Simpson, Joe. Thrifty living Phillips, Barty. We can work it out : resolving conflicts peacefully and powerfully Rosenberg, Marshall B. The art of non-conformity : set your own rules, live the life you want, and change the world Guillebeau, Chris. The happiness of pursuit : finding the quest that will bring purpose to your life Guillebeau, Chris. Die empty : unleash your best work every day Henry, Todd. Escape from cubicle nation : from corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur Slim, Pamela. The total money makeover : a proven plan for financial fitness Ramsey, Dave. Money talks : when to say yes and how to say no Vaz-Oxlade, Gail E. Living Fiscally fit: 1000 ways to get out of debt and build financial wealth Hunt, Mary A Woman in Berlin Anonymous Focus : the hidden driver of excellence Goleman, Daniel. Rework Fried, Jason. Manage your time to reduce your stress : a handbook for the overworked, overscheduled and overwhelmed Emmett, Rita. The productivity project : accomplishing more by managing your time, attention, and energy better Bailey, Chris Getting past the pain between us : healing and reconciliation without compromise Rosenberg, Marshall B. The behavior gap : simple ways to stop doing dumb things with money Richards, Carl Decisive : how to make better choices in life and work Heath, Chip. The modern couple's money guide : 7 smart steps to building wealth together Scorgie, Lesley-Anne Stuffocation : living more with less Wallman, James Happy city : transforming our lives through urban design Montgomery, Charles Millionaire teacher : the nine rules of wealth you should have learned in school Hallam, Andrew. Quiet : the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking Cain, Susan. Scrum : the art of doing twice the work in half the time Sutherland, Jeffrey Victor. Bridget Jones's diary Fielding, Helen Amusing ourselves to death : public discourse in the age of show business Postman, Neil. The willpower instinct : how self-control works, why it matters, and what you can do to get more of it McGonigal, Kelly. Think like a freak Levitt, Steven D Remote : office not required Fried, Jason. Unfinished business : women men work family Slaughter, Anne-Marie Not buying it : my year without shopping Levine, Judith The art of thinking clearly Dobelli, Rolf The one-page financial plan : a simple way to be smart about your money Richards, Carl The simple path to wealth : your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life Collins, JL One year to an organized life Leeds, Regina. One year to an organized financial life Leeds, Regina. Getting things done : the art of stress-free productivity Allen, David Better than new : lessons I've learned from saving old homes (and how they saved me) Curtis, Nicole A real life : restoring what matters : family, good friends, and a true community Maté, Ferenc Designing your life : how to build a well-lived, joyful life Burnett, William Unstuck : how to get out of your money rut and start living the life you want Mizgala, Karin. The art of possibility Zander, Rosamund Stone

Education of a Scientist

Most people would consider me well-educated. After all, I have a Bachelor of Science, a doctorate in Paleontology and a Masters of Divinity. By all standards, I am in that small elite of highly educated folk. Yet, I recognized this past year, that my education is rather limited. I've got the science and theology areas covered pretty well, but there are some huge gaps in my knowledge and education.

This came home to me as I watched Donald Trump make a run for the presidency and win. I could see the similarities between his rhetoric and that of a crazy madman from 1930s Germany. I even heard a rumour that Donald Trump had Mein Kampf on his nightstand table. Now, turns out that rumour isn't true. Trump actually kept a book of Hitler's speeches (My New Order) in his nightstand, not Mein Kampf. Still... the fact that Trump was so appealing to a huge number of Americans perplexed and continues to perplex me. Are they all crazy? Have they lost their collective minds? What has happened to democracy? Has Social Media and Reality TV turned politics into Entertainment. Is feminism going backwards? What will happen when the President of the United States is a climate-change denier? So many questions.

I realized through this process that my education in many of these matters is woefully inadequate. Like many of us, I rely on Facebook and the news sites for my information. Possibly not the most accurate, broad-ranging or complete news sources in the world. So... there was a hunger to learn more.

At the same time, I have been looking for an Annual Challenge to whet my writing skills this coming year (2017). A few years back, I tackled reading the bible in a year. I handled that quite nicely - reading 4.5 pages of the bible each day and blogging about it. It was a challenge and yet doable.

With these two ideas swirling through my head - a yearning for more knowledge and a craving for an annual challenge, I have a plan for 2017. I researched "world-changing books" and after looking at many lists, created my own list of books that have made a difference in the world. It's a rather broad-ranging list and includes a few heavy-weights like Don Quixote and War & Peace. After drawing up an Excel spreadsheet with page numbers for all of the books (60 or so)... I realized that I might have to make this a multi-year project. Right now, I've pushed the heavy weights to the bottom of the list. The remainder is still well over 20,000 pages and... even reading 50+ pages a day, I'm not sure I can get all of them done in a year. For the first month then, I will aim for 20-30 pages a day (with a daily blog) and see how I do. I know that some books will flow quicker than others. Maybe I'll do 50 pages of the Little Prince and only 10 pages of Mein Kampf.

Next up... the List of Books to Expand my Education. Stay tuned.