Another year is over, and it is time to look back and review my reading habit. Last year my goal was to read 40 books. Not because I was anywhere near to reach that number in 2022, but because I happen to turn forty (years) in 2023, and I thought it would be an interesting challenge.

Now, I’m going to be honest and upfront: I did not achieve the goal of 40 books. Not even close. I ended up reading just 25 books. Meaning 25 new books. Re-reading books, blogs, and articles are not counted.

According to Goodreads, I read 9,661 pages, although I would take that with a grain of salt, and that the average book length was 386 pages. Again, grain of salt.

Looking back at last year’s post I see that I had not finished Barack Obamas brick of a book, “A Promised Land”, and this still rings true. Maybe this year I will be able to pick it up and finish it.

Of the 25 books that I did manage to finish, I would like to mention the following five that I really enjoyed reading, in no particular order.

How to Kill Your Family – by Bella Mackie

A sharp and witty book about killing family members. It sounds bad, but it is not. It is funny, sharp and witty. Highly recommended.

The Book Thief – by Markus Zusak

This book is unusual in that it is narrated by death. It tells a captivating story about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany and the following war. She also learns to read and steels a few books along the way.

Spare – by Prince Harry

Prince Harry tells his story about how it was like growing up in the royal family, sometimes referred to as “the firm”, and how ruthless the British media can be. He writes honest, as far as I can tell. In the end, as we know, he chose to leave the royal family to create and protect his own family.

Doom Guy: Life in First Person – by John Romero

Co-founder of Id Software, the company that created games such as Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and most notably Doom and Quake, writes about his childhood years and how that formed him, and follows up with how work as affected his personal life, and how his personal life has affected his work.

Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman – by Richard P. Feynman

This is a book with anecdotes from Mr. Feynman life, the Nobel prize winning physicist. Reading these stories, you would never have guessed that this guy worked on the Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb) during the war. He is one witty person.