In 2015, I came up a little short of my goal to read 36 books, 33 of which were supposed to come off of my 2015 reading list. I managed to get through 25, which was down from my 2014 number of 27 books read.

For this year, I’ve decided to set a slightly less aggressive goal of reading 30 books. It’s still above my high mark of 27 books in one year, but I figured I should set the bar high and see if I can get there.

I’ve put together a list of 25 books that I’d like to complete this year. I didn’t chose all 30, as I’m sure that a few will jump the queue as the year progresses. For example, 8 books jumped the queue in 2015, and 8 also jumped the queue in 2014.

Here are the criteria I used to put together my list of 25:

• Recommendations from trusted sources like family, friends, blogs I follow, and other sources that have provided strong past recommendations get the highest priority.
• Authors who I know and like get moved up the list.
• I’d like to continue reading classic sci-fi works and well known sci-fi authors.
• I added a few health related books to my list this year as I look to continue my efforts to eat better and healthier.
• There are few business books, but they are primarily of the narrative or story type. I’m not a big fan of autobiographical business books unless they come highly recommended.
• There are a couple of learning and motivational books. These tend to be hit and miss, but I still like to read a couple of these a year in order to continue learning and growing.
• I’ve tried to steer clear of book series and trilogies as I like to sample as many different authors and story types as I can. However, it’s hard to do these days as the trilogy is a very popular format, so I’m sure one or two book series will end up on the list this year.
• I rolled over a number of books that I wasn’t able to complete from last year’s list.

With that out of the way, here’s this year’s list:

1. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – David Shafer (completed – review posted)
2. The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion (completed – review posted)
3. Nuts – Kevin and Jackie Frieberg (completed – review posted)
4. Beacon 23 – Hugh Howey (completed – review posted)
5. Wheat Belly – William Davis (completed – review posted)
6. The Forge of God – Greg Baer (completed – review posted)
7. Grain Brain – David Perlmutter (completed – review posted)
8. Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany (completed – review posted)
9. Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life – Nora Gedgaudas (completed – review posted)
10. Q – Ben Mezrich (completed – review posted)
11. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz (completed – review posted)
12. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov (completed – review posted)
13. High Output Management – Andrew S. Grove (completed – review posted)
14. The Gift – Dave Donovan (completed – review posted)
15. No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet – Molly Knight Raskin (completed – review posted)
16. Pines – Blake Crouch (completed – review posted)
17. UX Strategy: How to Devise Innovative Digital Products that People Want – Jamie Levy (completed – review posted)
18. Leviathan Wakes – James S.A. Corey (completed – review posted)
19. The Big Short – Michael Lewis (completed – review posted)
20. Half Way Home – Hugh Howey (completed – review posted)
21. The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness – Jeff Olsen (completed – review posted)
22. Rocket Fuel – Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters (completed – review posted)
23. The Belial Stone – R.D. Brady
24. Startup Growth Engines: Case Studies of How Today’s Most Successful Startups Unlock Extraordinary Growth – Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown
25. The Three-Body Problem – Liu Cixin

If there are any good books that I left on my list, leave them in the comments. I have at least 5 spots open for “queue-jumpers”. Thanks!