2016 Reading Review

In 2016, I read 52 books, a mix of fiction and non-fiction, essay collections and fairly thick tomes. As in years past the books covered a range of topics, though this year's list was heavy on Ferrante, military history, and the science of whisk(e)y. I tend to read more than one book at the same time because doing so allows writers on different topics to interact in my head in ways that would not otherwise happen.

I used Goodreads to keep track of my reading again this year (linked below). If you're interested in my notes on some of the better books, check out my account and see the "2016 Reading List." And as a summary, here are the 10 best books I read last year:

1. The Neapolitan Novels (Elena Ferrante)

2. The Only Rule Is It Has to Work (Ben Lindberg and Sam Miller)

3. Proof: The Science of Booze (Adam Rogers)

4. Scarcity (Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir)

5. Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis)

6. Days of Abandonment (Elena Ferrante)

7. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel (Anthony Doerr)

8. The Game (Jon Pessah)

9. Empire of Cotton: A Global History (Sven Beckert)

10. Superforecasting (Dan Gardner, Philip Tetlock)