I’ve always enjoyed reading. Like most nerdy kids, it started at a young age. I was engrossed in fantasy novels like Harry Potter and Magic: The Gathering, each more captivating than the next. I must have read 10+ advanced novels a year during elementary school. My best friend, Luke, even had his own “library” from which we both “checked out” books (note: it was just an Excel spreadsheet to track his dozens of books. Also, sorry for the mention, Luke). And like many of my eager-eyed peers, I considered the Scholastic Book Fair day at school to effectively be a second Hanukkah; it was that awesome.
Comparable to many in today’s digital generations, however, reading soon took a backseat to video games, the school internet, and social media. While I generally did all of my required class readings, I can hardly remember touching a piece of literature out of preference during high school (then again, high was a weird time for just about everyone, so maybe I’ll give myself a bye here). Maybe it was the angst-filled teenager in me, but I felt like reading for pleasure was no longer fulfilling for me.
And then I read Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, and that changed.
The book was an assigned summer reading prior to starting my undergraduate program at Arizona State University’s honor’s college (Barrett). I received the book in the mail one June afternoon, and fully expecting this to be my first real test of college, I diligently began reading (spoiler: no one else read it). This was the first non-fiction book that captivated me. I couldn’t stop reading. I couldn’t stop talking about the anecdotes and research and everything that made this piece of work masterful. Learning about one of the book’s key concepts, the relative age effect, even gave me a leg-up in my interviews with the United States Soccer Federation as that was one of the scouting department’s focuses – identifying and promoting physically underdeveloped yet technically brilliant players. Ask any of my friends what my number one book recommendation is, and they’ll likely say Outliers.
Since then, I’ve read a myriad of books that have allowed me to think differently or laugh or just enjoy a fascinating story. While my reading patterns have admittedly been erratic in the last few years (sometimes FIFA really is life), I’ve been able to read at least five books per year since college. Notably, here are a few favorites: The Fountainhead, The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong, The Little Prince, The 4-Hour Workweek, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Animal Farm, The Circle, Modern Romance, and so many others I can’t immediately recall. Finding the right book can be a daunting challenge, but, if you do, the juice is always worth the squeeze.
Now, to the point of this post: my 2019 (and beyond) reading list. I’ve filtered down to a (rather ambitious) list of 19 books that I’d like to read in 2019. While my initial resolution was to read six books this year, I’m already 25% of the way there; why not up the ante? Each book has a brief description of my rationale for adding it to this list. Additionally, I’ve prioritized all nineteen and labeled each book by three categories: career (C), life (L), and fun/novel (F). Last, this is an ever-evolving list, so let me know your thoughts and if you have any recommendations. Enjoy!
(C) The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer's Next Superstars (Sebastian Abbot): Considering my former job as a coordinator at U.S. Soccer working in youth development and talent identification, this was the first book on my list. I already finished this book and highly recommend it.
(L) Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win (Jocko Willink): If you work for the Navy SEALs, this is apparently a must read. I’m disappointed I haven’t finished it ten times over by now.
(L) The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck (Mark Manson): The title is great, and the reviews are right on par. I’m always keen to gain insights into how I can change my mindset for the better by focusing on only what genuinely matters.
(L) Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers (Tim Ferriss): Across his three components of health, wealth, and wisdom, I want to absorb as many nuggets of knowledge as I can. Ferriss also wrote The 4-Hour Workweek, one of my all-time recommendations.
(C) The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance (David Epstein): My career is largely focused on optimizing and sustaining athletic performance, and Epstein’s take it considered one of the best.
(L) How to Run a Government: So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Don't Go Crazy (Michael Barber): I heard about this book at a conference recently and was my interest was piqued. Have done little research on the book, but feel like there are some valuable lessons here. Oh, and did I mention I work in the government sector?
(F) Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury): An all-time classic that has been on my reading list for far too long.
(C) Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science (Fergus Connolly): See #5. Plus I’ve met Fergus, and he’s a great person who regularly consults on behalf of the Navy SEALs.
(L) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Yuval Noah Harari): My friend, Matthew Martinez, recommended this one, and his recommendations are usually top notch. Also, this book has already come up about five times in Tools of Titans, so there must be some value!
(L) The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds (Michael Lewis): From the author of Moneyball and The Big Short. Very interested to read this one.
(F) Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand): An all-time classic that continues to appear on lists of must-read influential novels. Rand also wrote The Fountainhead, one of my favorites. This will be a long read at ~1100 pages.
(F) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams): An all-time classic that seems like a really fun book. I don’t remember the movie at all, so it’ll all be new to me.
(L) A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking): I want to read this before watching any Hawking documentaries. This will be an ideal starting point.
(F) Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut): An all-time classic.
(C) Prove It! How to Create a High-Performance Culture and Measurable Success (Stacey Barr): Whether it be a high performance department within a sports team or a Fortune 100 company, this books seems to cover it all. Heard of this one at a conference and jotted it down.
(L) Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman): Matt and I were supposed to read this last year, and I didn’t even start. He wasn’t thoroughly impressed, but I’ll give it a go. If it’s even half as good as Outliers, it will be time well spent.
(C) The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - but Some Don't (Nate Silver): I’ve skimmed this book but never read it cover to cover. 2019 seems like a good year to do that.
(C) The Playmaker's Advantage: How to Raise Your Mental Game to the Next Level (Leonard Zaichkowsky): Funny enough, I won this book at a conference in San Francisco a few months ago (Sports Biometrics Conference). Mental performance is a key area that is still much underserviced in sport and the tactical space, so I’m curious what his findings are.
(L) Educated: A Memoir (Tara Westover): Another recommendation from Matt. He said this one was extremely powerful. Then he started asking me strange questions about my SAT scores and what not. Weird dude.
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