Reading List

*I don’t keep this updated anymore, but you can find my book recommendations at Tolstoy Therapy.*

My ratings: 5 – Incredible, ask me to talk about the book and I’ll fill your afternoon. 4 – I’ve probably recommended this to one or two people already. 3 – Worth a read, but not particularly life-changing. 2 – More bad than good. 1 – Utterly and painfully terrible. Just to say, this page contains affiliate links.

Read in 2020

Read in 2019

Read in 2018

Read in 2017

1. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats – Jan-Philipp Sendker (4.25) | Amazon
2. How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) – Jessica Hagy (4.25) | Amazon
3. Books for Living – Will Schwalbe (4.00) | Amazon
4. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well – Meik Wiking (3.75) | Amazon
5. Elephant Moon – John Sweeney (4.00) | Amazon
6. The North Water – Ian McGuire (4.50) | Amazon
7. See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work – Lois P. Frankel (3.75) | Amazon
8. ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology – Stacy Sims (3.75) | Amazon
9. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less – Greg McKeown (4.00) | Amazon
10. The Art of War – Sun Tzu (4.00) | Amazon
11. The Road to Character – David Brooks (3.75) | Amazon
12. Ego is the Enemy – Ryan Holiday (4.25) | Amazon
13. A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey – Chrissie Wellington (3.75) | Amazon
14. The Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga – Sylvain Tesson (3.75) | Amazon
15. True North: Travels in Arctic Europe – Gavin Francis (3.25) | Amazon
16. The Course of Love – Alain de Botton (3.50) | Amazon
17. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times – Pema Chödrön (3.00) | Amazon
18. Night Sky With Exit Wounds – Ocean Vuong (3.75) | Amazon
19. Career of Evil – Robert Galbraith (3.50) | Amazon
20. Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel – Rolf Potts (4.00) | Amazon
21. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World – Haemin Sunim (4.00) | Amazon
22. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative – Austin Kleon (4.50) | Amazon
23. What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength – Scott Carney (4.00) | Amazon
24. The Signature of All Things – Elizabeth Gilbert (3.75) | Amazon
25. The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land In Between – Hisham Matar (4.00) | Amazon
26. Queen of the Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell – Georgina Howell (4.25) | Amazon
27. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life – Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (3.50) | Amazon
28. Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur (3.75) | Amazon
29. How to Love – Thich Nhat Hanh (4.50) | Amazon
30. Mind of a Survivor: What the Wild Has Taught Me about Survival and Success – Megan Hine (4.25) | Amazon
31. Set Free: A Life-Changing Journey from Banking to Buddhism in Bhutan – Emma Slade (3.75) | Amazon
32. How to Relax – Thich Nhat Hanh (3.75) | Amazon
33. Wind, Sand and Stars – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (4.50, re-read) | Amazon
34. All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr (4.50) | Amazon
35. A Whole Life – Robert Seethaler (4.50) | Amazon
36. The Sun and Her Flowers – Rupi Kaur (3.75) | Amazon
37. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4.25) | Amazon
38. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World – Tim Ferriss (4.25) | Amazon
39. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone – Brené Brown (3.50) | Amazon
40. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! – Richard Feynman (4.50) | Amazon
41. Awaken The Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Life – Tony Robbins (4.75) | Amazon

Read in 2016

1. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World – Cal Newport (4.5) | Amazon
2. Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur – Derek Sivers (5.0) | Amazon
3. The Four-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life – Tim Ferriss (3.5)
4. A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale (4.0) | Amazon
5. Gratitude – Oliver Sacks (5.0) | Amazon
6. A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson (4.0) | Amazon
7. Bodies of Light – Sarah Moss (4.25) | Amazon
8. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi (5.0) this book is incredible… read it! | Amazon
9. Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break – Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall (4.0) | Amazon
10. Modern Romance – Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg (4.5) | Amazon
11. Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office – Lois P. Frankel (4.0) | Amazon
12. Aeneid Book VI: A New Verse Translation – Seamus Heaney (4.0) | Amazon
13. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End – Atul Gawande (4.0) | Amazon
14. The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country – Helen Russell (3.75) | Amazon
15. #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness – Gary Vaynerchuck (4.0) | Amazon
16. Content Machine: Use Content Marketing to Build a 7-Figure Business with Zero Advertising – Dan Norris (4.0) | Amazon
17. Business for Punks: Break All The Rules – The BrewDog Way – James Watt (4.0) | Amazon
18. Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising – Ryan Holiday (3.25) | Amazon
19. We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4.0) | Amazon
20. Land of the Midnight Sun: My Arctic Adventures – Alexander Armstrong (4.0) | Amazon
21. The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure – Caroline Paul (4.25) | Amazon
22. Brave Enough – Cheryl Strayed (4.25) | Amazon
23. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed (4.0) | Amazon
24. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar – Cheryl Strayed (4.25) | Amazon
25. #LifeChanger: They did it, so now you can too – Chris Ward (3) | Amazon
26. Life in the Slow Lane: A Patient Quest for Adventure by Dave Cornthwaite (3.75) | Amazon
27. Welcome to the Funnel: Proven Tactics to Turn Your Social and Content Marketing up to 11 – Jason Miller (3.75) | Amazon
28. The Girl in the Spider’s Web – David Lagercrantz (4.25) | Amazon
29. #GIRLBOSS – Sophia Amoruso (3.5) | Amazon
30. The Obstacle is the Way – Ryan Holiday (4.25) | Amazon
31. Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate – Cynthia Kim (3.5)| Amazon
32. On the Move – Oliver Sacks (4.0) | Amazon
33. Gut: the inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ – Giulia Enders (4.0) | Amazon
34. The Kind Worth Killing – Peter Swanson (3.0) | Amazon
35. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future – Ashlee Vance (3.5) | Amazon
36. West with the Night – Beryl Markham (4.0) | Amazon
37. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami (3.5 ) | Amazon
38. Transfer of Power – Vince Flynn (3.5) | Amazon
39. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results – Gary Keller and Jay Papasan (4.5) | Amazon
40. Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet – Jesse Itzler (3.5) | Amazon
41. A Well-tempered Heart – Jan-Philipp Sendker (4.25) | Amazon
42. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever – Michael Bungay Stanier (3.0) | Amazon
43. On Becoming Fearless…in Love, Work, and Life – Arianna Huffington (3.5) | Amazon
44. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert (4.0)| Amazon
45. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers – Tim Ferriss (4.5) | Amazon
46. Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) – Chade-Meng Tan (4.0) | Amazon
47. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why – Laurence Gonzales (3.5) | Amazon

Read in 2015

1. A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
2. A Wild Sheep Chase – Haruki Murakami
3. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage – Haruki Murakami
4. South of the Border, West of the Sun – Haruki Murakami
5. Everything I Never Told You – Celene Ng
6. Life and Other Near-Death Experiences – Camille Pagán
7. Adventures in Human Being – Gavin Francis
8. Do Story – Bobette Buster
9. The Reason I Jump – Naoki Higashida
10. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work – Mason Currey
11. Flight to Arras – Antoine de Saint-Exupèry
12. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
13. The Places That Scare You – Pema Chödrön
14. Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson
15. Nora Webster – Colm Tóibín
16. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
17. Niebla – Miguel de Unamuno
18. The Little Friend – Donna Tartt
19. The Lover’s Dictionary: A Love Story in 185 Definitions – David Levithan
20. Amongst Women – John McGahern
21. The Hedgehog and the Fox – Isiah Berlin
22. Understanding Tolstoy – Andrew D. Kaufman
23. Focus – Jürgen Wolff
24. The Art of Being Brilliant – Andy Cope
25. Thrive – Arianna Huffington
26. Everybody Writes – Ann Handley
27. Manage Your Day-to-Day – Jocelyn Glei
28. Leave Your Mark – Aliza Licht
29. The Start-up of You – Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
30. Developing Talents – Temple Grandin
31. Marketing: A Love Story: How to Matter to Your Customers – Bernadette Jiwa
32. Camino de perfección – Pío Baroja
33. El trovador – Antonio García Gutiérrez
34. Don Juan Tenorio – Jose Zorrilla
35. Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino – Duque de Rivas
36. Los amantes de Teruel – Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch

Read in 2014

1. The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories – Marina Keegan
2. The South – Colm Tóibín
3. Brooklyn – Colm Tóibín
4. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler
5. Shadow of a Gunman – Seán O’Casey
6. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce (re-read)
7. The Collected Poems – W. B. Yeats
8. A Brief Guide to World Domination – Chris Guillebeau
9. The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simsion
10. Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It – Gabriel Wyner
11. Dead Poets Society – N. H. Kleinbaum
12. I Am Pilgrim – Terry Hayes
13. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything – Joshua Foer
14. A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
15. Poems That Make Grown Men Cry – Anthony and Ben Holden
16. The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith
17. The Cossacks – Leo Tolstoy
18. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
19. Hacking Your Education – Dale J. Stephens
20. Perfect – Joyce, Rachel
21. Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction – Oatley, Keith
22. Hadji Murad – Tolstoy, Leo
23. The Grace of Crows – Shawn, Tracy
24. Resurrection – Tolstoy, Leo
25. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) – Rowling, J.K.
26. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden – Jonasson, Jonas
27. The Almost Nearly Perfect People – Booth, Michael
28. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons – King, Stephen
29. A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire #3, Part 2 of 2) – Martin, George R.R.
30. A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3 part 1) – Martin, George R.R.
31. In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed – Honoré, Carl
32. Maximize Your Potential: Grow Your Expertise, Take Bold Risks & Build an Incredible Career – Glei, Jocelyn K.
33. A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2) – Martin, George R.R.
34. The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases – Doyle, Arthur Conan
35. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes – Konnikova, Maria
36. Wind, Sand and Stars – Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
37. The Fry Chronicles – Fry, Stephen
38. The Girl with All the Gifts – Carey, M.R.
39. The Goldfinch – Tartt, Donna
40. The Rosie Project – Simsion, Graeme
41. The Luminaries – Catton, Eleanor
42. The 4-Hour Work Week – Ferriss, Timothy
43. Names for the Sea – Moss, Sarah
44. A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul – Tolstoy, Leo