leftovers - the 2018 december rereading list

It’s a little early to look down the road at 2019 but sometimes I’m like that kid who writes next year’s Christmas list on the back of the wrapping paper from that year’s gifts. So, here’s my current shortlist for next December, a list I’ll expand out over the course of this year before I whittle it down to the seven or eight I’ll eventually reread.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
The New New Thing by Michael Lewis
Lost In Translation by Ella Frances Sanders
The Illustrated Book of Sayings by Ella Frances Sanders
Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

Sum by David Eagleman

Anam Cara by John O'Donohue

You might be wondering, reader – why share this list now when we all know I’ll write another post in December about which books I picked out? Why not wait until I know which books I’ll reread, then write about those?

Well, I think in some ways the rereading shortlist is an unofficial representation of my favorite books. I get asked questions about my favorite books from time to time so I figured it couldn't hurt to prepare a form of an answer. I recognized that in order to fully prepare, I would need to think beyond just the books I might reread this December. So, I went back through my reading list from 2011 through 2016 and pulled out any book that I might consider on my shortlist for the best book I've ever read.

Here's what resulted:

Tenth of December by George Saunders
Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham
First and Last Notebooks by Simone Weil
The Game by Ken Dryden
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Wasted by Marya Hornbacher
The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
Rework by Jason Fried
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Religion For Atheists by Alain de Botton
Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
Fallen Leaves by Will Durant
On Writing by Stephen King
Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Bluets by Maggie Nelson

And of course, last but not least - Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli...

I don't have any intention of doing more with this list - if anything, I'll just add to it, perhaps by doing an annual look back at my reading list from two calendar years prior. But in the meantime, reader, if you are looking for a book or two to get yourself through the rest of this winter, I highly recommend having a look at this list and giving something a try.

Happy reading,

Tim