http://mimiandeunice.com/2011/07/13/book-burning/ I like to read books, particularly good fast-paced crime fiction. And this year I found plenty of great new thrillers and got the top-up to a few long-running series. And yet when I survey the books I read there is more non-fiction that I’d predicted. Hooray for subliminal learning from easy-read non-fiction. I don’t want to give you a list. Nor do you care what order I read them in. What you really really want to know is, “is the book worth reading?” Incidentally I rarely persist with boring or difficult to read books. Not since I left school have I been forced to read books end-to-end that I’ve no interest in. So you can take it that all the books here I considered interesting and a good read except for the unfinished ones. Books I Learned Something From by Humble, Molesky and O’Reilly taught me about innovation in a simple writing style. Lean Enterprise by @swardley taught me about Wardley maps and value-chain mapping. Content is also on his excellent . Future *is* Predictable blog by Ashlee Vance introduced me to pure-play electric cars being the future (now a believer), space exploration and incredible entrepreneurial attitude. Perhaps a partisan biography but inspirational nonetheless. Elon Musk by Schlender and Tetzeli is an easier to read and more analytical biography of Steve Jobs than the official one. Becoming Steve Jobs by Damien Lewis, true story about continuation of the SAS in and after WWII against apparently insurmountable obstacles. Nazi Hunters by Dominic Frisby helped me understand why Satoshi Yakamoto created the first cryptocurrency, where it has gone since and introduced blockchain (blockchain is a paradigm shift invention for software). Now I want to know more. Bitcoin the Future of Money? New Books that were Unputdownable Pause your current book and go read these. They are that good. 5 book series by Michael Morley. Spree Trilogy by Sarah Pinborough is a dark alternative history and future. I loved it. The Dog-Faced Gods series 1–2 by Darren and Marcus Wearmouth for a post-apocolytpic future. Second Activation series 1–3 by James Carol. Jefferson Winter by Peter Swanson has so many twists. The Kind Worth Killing by Andy Weir if you haven’t seen the film (I haven’t since I’ve got the book) is great if you can handle the early science. Thanks to @djmcglade for the early recommendation. The Martian by Richard Porter made me laugh lots and is essential for all Top Gear fans. And on that Bombshell The series by CJ Samson is a lovely historical crime drama. I read 1–4 this year, all were filled with intrigue and great historical detail about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. Shardlake Latest-in-the-Series Books that I Cannot Miss The latest from Lee Child is the 20th. The stories have largely run out of steam but still remains a fast-paced but formulaic ripping yarn. Reacher novel My favourite crime series (Charlie Parter by John Connolly) didn’t disappoint in with semi-supernatural semi-religious undertones that darken the story to go with the suspense. A Song of Shadows Two more Ben Hope thrillers and from Scott Mariani is a easy-to-read light thriller. 10th 11th Toilet Reading These were all super easy-to-read crime thrillers, continues in another easy-to-read thriller from Stephen Leather. Dan Shepherd Sean Dillon and . 1 2 Sadly these must have made only a light impression on me a few years ago given it took nearly half of the books to remember I had already read the Victor the Assassin series and from Tom Hunt. 1 2 Books I Started But Didn’t Finish (because I got distracted by something shinier) , Frederic Laloux. Plan to go back to this. Reinventing Organisations by Damien Boyd. Bored with this. As the Crow Flies by C L Taylor. Bored with this. The Lie . Bored with this. The Good Girl . Might go back to this since I have the other 2 books waiting. The Bloomsday Dead . Don’t buy this, it’s just a list of fintech startups. Bye Bye Banks Given that I don’t make lists this retrospective saunter through my book reading from 2015 would not have been possible without kindle so thanks Amazon. Books I Will be Reading Next I’m starting 2016 with four non-fiction books. This cannot last. because Dominic’s Bitcoin book was so good. Life after the State , it’s apparently epic. Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind , technical detail about bitcoin and blockchain. Mastering Bitcoin , to start to understand a little bit about China with Xaoimi. Little Rice
