I thought I’d write a summary post from my 2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge. I really liked the way my blogger pal Jack Vinson summarized his efforts.

In 2010, I read exactly 52 books.

A few observations about that.

Things got kind of busy for me at the end of the year, so once I had the 52 in hand, I slacked off a bit. I also hit a string of books toward the end of the year, that I didn’t finish. One of the biggest changes I’ve made in my reading habits over the past few years is walking away from books I don’t enjoy. I used to just plow through them no matter what.

My public library closed for renovations and moved to a temporary location. I haven’t been there yet, which resulted in a limited opportunity to grab new books that appealed to me from the library. I’m also starting read more frequently on my Kindle. Also, I read a good number of summaries of business books from my GetAbstract subscription. I don’t count those on this list, but they take away time I might have spent reading books.

The great result of doing this 52 books in 52 weeks list on my blog for several years is that publishers occasionally email me to see if I’d like review copies of books. Would I ever! I’m always happy to get those requests.

They did a good job of targeting me this year because some of my favorite books were review copies. I don’t always write reviews of the books, but I try to mention the ones I like on my blog, Twitter or elsewhere. Examples of those include: Michelle Golden’s excellent Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms, Clifford Nass’s thought-provoking The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, Marc Lauritsen’s ground-breaking Lawyer’s Guide to Working Smarter, and a special thrill for a fan of spy thrillers like me, Eric Van Lustbader’s Last Snow.

My favorite book of the year: Patti Smith’s Just Kids, which, coincidentally or not, was a National Book Award winner.

My favorite reader experience was reading William Gibson’s Zero History, attending his St. Louis reading with my daughter, chatting with him briefly and getting my copies of Zero History and Neuromancer autographed.

I’d like to mention more – it was a good reading year.

Here’s the full list. I’ll be posting about my 2011 list soon. I encourage you to take on the 52 book challenge.

December

52. Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms, Michelle Golden
51. What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People, Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins
50. Million Dollar Speaking, Alan Weiss
49. Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Donella Meadows

November

48. Awareness Through Movement, Moshe Feldenkrais
47. The 39 Steps, John Buchan
46. Seven Days in May, Fletcher Knebel and Charles Bailey

October

45. Beyond Code, Rajesh Setty
44. The Pale Criminal, Philip Kerr

September

43. March Violets, Philip Kerr
42. Zero History,William Gibson
41. The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, Clifford Nass
40. The Shape of Things to Come, Greil Marcus

August

39. The Good Son, Michael Gruber
38. The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, Barbara Strauch
37. Priceless, WIlliam Poundstone
36. Intelligence, Susan Hasler

July

35. The Nearest Exit, Olen Steinhauer
34. The Rembrandt Affair, Daniel Silva
33. The Bourne Objective, Eric Van Lustbader
32. The Cabal, David Hagberg
31. Doors Open, Ian Rankin
30. Patton, Montgomery, Rommel, Terry Brighton
29. A Quiet Flame, Philip Kerr

June
28. The One from the Other. Philip Kerr
27. The Tears of Autumn, Charles McCarry
26. The War That Killed Achilles, Caroline Alexander
25. Mariposa, Greg Bear
24. The Bell Ringers, Henry Porter
23. Point Omega, Don DeLillo

May
22. Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend, Bill Russell and Alan Steinberg
21. Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age, Kurt Beyer
20. Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock, Henry Adams
19. Talking about Detective Fiction, P.D. James
18. The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons

April
17. WordPress for Dummies, Lisa Sabin-Wilson
16. The Wayfinders, Wade Davis
15. The Midnight House, Alex Berenson

March
14. Light at the Edge of the Word, Wade Davis
13. The Department of Mad Scientists, Michael Belfiore
12. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood

February
11. Burned, David Hagberg
10. Last Snow, Eric Van Lustbader
9. Lawyer’s Guide to Working Smarter, Marc Lauritsen

January
8. Unclutter Your Life in One Week, Erin Doland
7. The Guide for Inclusive Leaders, Joerg Schmitz and Nancy Curl
6.Can You Hear Me Now?, Kate Peters
5. Just Kids, Patti Smith
4. Freedom, Daniel Suarez
3. Trust Agents, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
2. Vicious Circles, Otto Penzler
1. Whole Earth Discipline, Stewart Brand

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

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