The Ten Most Impactful Books I’ve Read in the Last Twelve Months

On July 20th, 2020 I finished the book Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. Although I loved it and learned a lot, I was mostly frustrated with myself. It wasn’t a long book – 245 pages – but it had taken me over seven months to read – 221 days to be exact, which is a measly average of 1.1 pages a day. What was going on?

I believed in reading books, I always had a book in progress, but I had just gotten out of the discipline of setting aside time to read. I was so annoyed with myself that after finishing Never Split the Difference, I made a new commitment. I would read regularly, everyday, as part of my morning routine. And if I couldn’t read in the morning, I would take my book with me and read wherever I could.

Now, just over five years later, if my records are right, I’ve completed 136 books since finishing Never Split the Difference. I’m happy to say I’m still committed. The plan is working.

Why do I read? I think the ultimate reason is that I’m constantly searching for more clues on how to be more effective in everything I do. I want to make sense of this world around me, the past before me, and I want to be able to have ideas about what’s coming. I want to better understand people – including myself. And I want to be a stable provider for my family, a good husband, and a good father. I’m inspired by those before me and around me that have figured some things out, solved a few puzzles, and I want to learn from them.

Because of the difference that reading has made in my life, I decided I would share some of my favorite books with you. The purpose of this upcoming series is twofold. First, I want to inspire you to become a reader and to build a reading habit of your own. The second reason is somewhat selfish, I admit. I want to review the books I’ve read so I can better remember the concepts, cement them into my brain, and apply them to my life.

But where do I start? There are so many books that have made an impact on me that I’d love to share, but I have to start somewhere. So, in order to narrow it down, I’m going to give reports on the ten books I’ve read in the last twelve months that have made the biggest impact me.

Here they are. As I post each review, I’ll link them up here. If there’s no link, it’s because I haven’t published the review yet. I’ll be posting 1-3 reviews each week until I finish.