Summer is almost over and we are 2/3 of the way through 2017. I am curious what you have been reading and studying so far this year and what is in your stack of books to read. In the past almost all my reading was non-fiction. I would plough through 3 or 4 fiction books over Christmas and New Years and a couple over the summer and the rest of the year I only read non-fiction. Last year we gave up cable in June and I stopped watching television. As a result I read more books in a single year than ever before. The Fiction / Non-Fiction the split in 2016 was about 50 /50. The first part of this year it was about 2/3 fiction and 1/3 non-fiction. The past month the tide is turning back and I have been consuming more non-fiction. Here are some of the book I have read so far:
Non-Fiction
- How We Learn
- Fit First Responders
- Oh The Places You’ll Go
- The 5 Second Rule
- Peak
- Rules For a Knight
- Reinvent Yourself
- Officer Up
- The First 20 Minutes
- The Leadership Challenge
- The Art of Mental Training
- Bulletproof Spirit
- Armor Yourself
- Two Brain Business: Grow Your Gym
- Two Brain Business: 2.0
- Psyched
- Mindshift
I am also taking the online course Learning How to Learn through Coursera and have been getting into meditation using the app 10% Happier.
Fiction: I anxiously awaited the new releases from Michael Connelly, Brad Thor and Barry Eisler and read them as soon as the came out. In the last 18 months I have read all the ‘stand alone’ books by Harlan Coben (my new favourite author) and a number from his Myron Bolitar series. His stand alone books are excellent. I really enjoyed Black and White by Wes Albers, unfortunately it seems to have been his one and only book. As a result of a recommendation from one of the blog readers I started reading a number of books by Robert Crais. I have also read and enjoyed books by Adam Mitzner, Joseph Finder and Vince Flynn.
What’s Next?
I am currently reading The Plant Paradox. Near the top of the ever growing stack of ‘to read’ books are:
- 10% Happier
- Total Focus
- A Mind for Numbers
- Excellent Sheep
- One Mission
- A Soldier First
- Winning a Gunfight
- Change the Culture, Change the Game
- Mindfulness for Beginners
So, what about you? I would love to hear about what you have been reading, studying and learning. Send me an e-mail at winningmind@mac.com and I will share some of the book recommendations with the other Excellence in Training blog readers.
Take care.
Brian Willis
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