Here are the books I read in 2015, with some statistics below. I neglected to do this last year, which was disappointing. Here is my 2013 list. I got this idea completely from Robin. Here is her 2014 list [Update 12/26/16: And Robin’s 2015 list.]
The table is arranged by the order in which I read the books.
| The Last Firewall | William Hertling |
|---|---|
| How We Got to Now | Steven Johnson |
| The Innovators | Walter Isaacson |
| Breakfast of Champions | Kurt Vonnegut |
| The Windup Girl | Paolo Bacigalupi |
| Measuring Up | Daniel M Koretz |
| The Language of Food | Dan Jurafsky |
| Wool | Hugh Howey |
| The Turing Exception | William Hertling |
| Sphere | Michael Crichton |
| Good Omens | Neil Gaiman |
| Seveneves: A Novel | Neal Stephenson |
| Neuromancer | William Gibson |
| The Martian | Andy Weir |
| Armada | Ernest Cline |
| Old Man's War | John Scalzi |
| The Fold | Peter Clines |
| Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel |
| We, the Drowned | Carsten Jensen |
| American Gods | Neil Gaiman |
| Modern Romance | Aziz Ansari |
| The New York Nobody Knows | William B. Helmreich |
| The Little Drummer Girl: A Novel | Le Carre |
Statistics/Notes
- In 2015, I read 23 books, for an average reading time of 15.9 days per book.
- Of the 23 books, 17 (74%) were fiction.
- Of the 17 fiction books, 5 (29%) can be classified as dystopian stories. I wonder if this is more a reflection of the overall zeitgeist, or just my own reading interests. While I’m none too happy about the current state of politics and policy, I consider myself an optimist at heart.
- During 2015, I read 2 of the 4 books in William Hertling’s amazing Avogaro series, about an A.I singularity in the not too distant future. The books are engaging and well thought out. Hertling knows his technology, and doesn’t try to create a completely ridiculous/far flung singularity. Rather, the cause of the singularity is subtle and seems within reason, and the far-reaching consequences are profound and well thought out. I mention this for 2 reasons:
- Read his books! He’s fun, his books are cheap and he deserves a lot more readers.
- This is a good insight into how capricious the publishing industry is. I think Hertling is just as good as an Ernest Cline or Peter Clines, he just hasn’t been “discovered” yet.