Books Read 2023 (and the 9 best)

I read 3 of my all-time favorite books again this year: Ego is the Enemy & The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

Out of the rest of the books I read this year, these were my 9 favorites:

1. How To be a Stoic by Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca

Made up of a few chapters from 3 of my favorite books on Stoicism—Enchiridion, On the Shortness of Life, and Meditations—this book helped me come to a breakthrough during a frustrating time. Commit once and for all.

2. Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami

I didn’t realize how much I got from this book until—no surprise—I went back through it to take notes. Murakami lays out his writing career: how and why he got started, what’s worth caring about, how he gets ideas for his novels, how he writes his novels, and how he balances life and writing. I took so many notes and lessons from this book. If you’re a writer, read this book.

3. The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield

A 365, one-page-a-day guide to take you from step one of your project to, and through, the finish line. (I read it straight through—no way was I waiting a year to get to the end.) It’s a distillation of the best of his books, podcasts, newsletters, blogs, workshops, interviews, stories, and emails, sprinkled with new writing as well. Steven Pressfield is so straightforward and self-deprecating that it can be easy to miss how deep and spiritual his message is. If you do any kind of creative work, you’ll want to read this.

4. How to Think More Effectively by The School of Life & Alain de Botton

A short book with 15 ideas on how to think better. Great stuff in there. A favorite: change the word envy to admire.

5. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

I was hesitant to read this because I wasn’t sure how transparent it would be. But then I saw that Isaacson referred to Musk as a man-child, and I dove right in. Wow…this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It made me see Musk in a new light. It’s a long book but with the pictures at the beginning of each short chapter, you’ll fly through it. Add to that the interpersonal and multinational drama, plots, subplots, lessons, and inside looks at the day-to-day of Elon Musk, and you get an incredibly hard book to put down.

6. Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

I chanced upon this book in a used bookstore and wow. I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard of this book before. It’s a gem of writing advice from the master himself.

7. Lessons From an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life by Mark Matousek

I had a revelation of sorts while reading this. Specifically, the part on Transcendentalism. Matousek describes Transcendentalism as a spiritual rebellion against religious establishments with hierarchical, sexist natures. A way to have a more direct relationship with God. Transcendentalism, he writes, is a way to have a more direct relationship with God. It “teaches that spiritual intermediaries are unnecessary for maintaining a close connection with God.” Wow. I finally have a name for something I’ve long felt but could not put into words, and I’m eager to learn more. I’m very grateful to have found this book.

8. Going Infinite by Michael Lewis

This was the first Michael Lewis book I’ve read, and I’ve since bought a few more. This dude is hilarious. In Going Infinite, he tells the story of the aloof, bankrupt FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Lewis’s descriptions of Sam are gold. For instance, when Sam was placed on house arrest, his parents bought a guard dog from Germany that could kill on command. The only people who knew the command were his parents. Sam didn’t care to know because he didn’t care to know much about anything that didn’t directly affect him or his business. Lewis writes, “It would be very Sam Bankman-Fried-like to be killed by his own guard dog.” This book was a pleasure to read.

9. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson

It’s incredible how calm, with literal bombs dropping all around them, these people were. Their calm inspired my own; while in the thralls of this book, I distinctly remember an absence in my chest instead of the tension that would typically sprout and bloom at the sight of an “urgent” email. The best thing that I got from this book though was in the Sources and Acknowledgments section at the end. Larson tells us why he decided to add another book about Winston Churchill to the public collection, what he was curious about himself, and how he made this Churchill book different from all the rest.

Full list:

The Reckoning by John Grisham

Rick Rubin: In the Studio by Jake Brown

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

Govt Cheese by Steven Pressfield

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks

Talking To Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell

Painting As a Pastime by Winston Churchill

The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell