My 2006 Reading List

Books read in 2006. Book title, author, and date completed. This list is a work in progress.

1. The Meaning Of It All by Richard Feynman 1-4-06

2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein 1-31-06

3. Everyday Life in Ancient Rome by Lionel Casson 2-7-06

4. Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku 2-20-06

5. The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil 3-4-06 (mind-blowing)

6. The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt 3-17-06

7. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 3-27-06

8. Radical Evolution by Joel Garreau 4-2-06

9. The Laws of Money by Suze Orman 4-6-06

10. Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy 4-14-06

11. Edison: Inventing the Century by Neil Baldwin 4-23-06

12. Executive Orders by Tom Clancy 5-20-06

13. Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy 6-26-06

14. The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawking 8-4-06

15. Trail Mix by Louis Lamour 8-6-06

16. The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy 8-9-06

17. The Truth by Al Franken 8-17-06

18. Henry Ford: The Wayward Capitalist by Carol Gelderman 8-28-06

19. The End of Fossil Energy by John G. Howe 9-17-06

20. The End of Evolution by Peter Ward 9-21-06

21. Nanofuture: What’s Next for Nanotechnology by J. Storrs Hall 10-4-06 (very good)

22. Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh 10-20-06

23. In the Line of Fire by Pervez Musharraf 10-27-06

24. The Adsense Code by Joel Comm 11-2-06

25. The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham 11-6-06

26. Forge of Heaven by C.J. Cherryh 11-12-06

27. Never Complain, Never Explain (Henry Ford II) by Victor Lasky 11-18-06

28. Riding for the Brand by Jim Whitt 11-20-06

29. Isaac Newton by James Gleick 11-25-06

30. Traipsing into Evolution by Jonathan Witt 11-28-06

31. The Rookie Manager by Joseph T. Straub 12-7-06

32. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell 12-12-06

33. Peak Oil Prep by Mick Winters 12-15-06

34. An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore 12-18-06

My 2005 Favorites

Favorite Authors

My favorite authors in 2005 were Alastair Reynolds and Jared Diamond.

Top 6 Books

Why Top 6? Because I couldn't narrow it to 5:





Thought-Provokers

Here were the books that I found the most thought-provoking, and they would also round out my Top 10:



Garbage

Here, by far, was the worst book that I read in 2005:

My 2005 Reading List

Book title, author, and date the book was finished.

1. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis 1-06-05

2. American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman 1-10-05

3. Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer 1-13-05

4. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 1-27-05

5. Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax) by Robert J. Sawyer 1-31-05

6. Beggars in Spain (Beggars Trilogy) by Nancy Kress 2-3-05

7. Beggars Ride (Beggars Trilogy) by Nancy Kress 2-9-05

8. Sims by F. Paul Wilson 2-15-05

9. Churchill: A Biography by Roy Jenkins 3-2-05

10. Beggars And Choosers (Beggars Trilogy) by Nancy Kress 3-4-05

11. Gateway by Frederik Pohl 3-6-05

12. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds 3-23-05

13. DNA: The Secret of Life by Andrew Berry and James Watson 4-6-05

14. Early Europe: Mysteries in Stone (Lost Civilizations) 4-16-05

15. Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen Gould 4-18-05

16. Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds 5-3-05

17. Double Helix by Nancy Werlin 5-4-05

18. The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond 5-12-05

19. Humans by Robert J. Sawyer 5-16-05

20. Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer 5-19-05

21. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan 5-25-05

22. Timescape by Gregory Benford 5-29-05

23. Vitals by Greg Bear 6-3-05

24. Visions by Michio Kaku 6-10-05

25. Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future by Gardner Dozois 6-19-05

26. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond 7-9-05

27. Darwin’s Children by Greg Bear 7-14-05

28. Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds 7-26-05

29. Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds 8-2-05

30. YOU: The Owner’s Manual by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz 8-5-05

31. The Borderlands of Science by Michael Shermer 8-13-05

32. Ilium by Dan Simmons 8-15-05

33. Olympos by Dan Simmons 8-20-05

34. Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan 8-23-05

35. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer 8-28-05

36. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke 8-31-05

37. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon 9-4-05

38. The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler 9-10-05

39. Twilight in the Desert by Matthew R. Simmons 9-23-05

40. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson 10-03-05

41. Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh 11-6-05

42. Stalking Trophy Mule Deer by Walt Prothero 11-16-05

43. What Remains to be Discovered by John Maddox 12-5-05

44. The Coming Global Superstorm by Whitley Strieber 12-9-05

45. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 12-12-05

46. Saving Your Brain by Jeff Victoroff 12-20-05

47. Cholesterol Cures by Richard Trubo 12-23-05

48. The Player of Games by Iain Banks 12-27-05

Introduction

I love to read, and I am almost always working my way through a book. I read while eating, walking on the treadmill, even while watching TV. People who see me reading a lot have asked me from time to time how many books I read each year. I had heard of people who maintain reading lists, but I had never done so. So, starting in 2005, I decided to record every book that I read.

I averaged almost a book a week in 2005. My pace slowed in 2006 as I started my R-Squared Energy Blog, and did a lot of writing for The Oil Drum and various other websites. However, I am still averaging over 2 books a month in 2006.

What do I read? Mostly science fiction, or books on science. I am also pretty fond of biographies, and this year I finally started reading Tom Clancy. Usually I check books out from the library, but every now and then I will join a science fiction book club and load up on books.

Anyway, I thought I would share my book list, and update it every time I finish a book. I will post my reading list starting in 2005, give my favorites from 2005, and then put up 2006. If you have a recommendation based on any of the books on my list, I would love to hear it.