Every Book I Read In 2016

When I graduated from business school in 2010, I finally had a bit more free time and I decided that I would dedicate much of that time to reading and writing.

In the nearly seven years since, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of sticking to that plan. On the writing side, I’ve penned eight books, launched this very blog, and have written for a variety of sites, several of which I read religiously long before I ever contributed anything for them.

Regarding reading, I’ve managed to not only replenish my library after having sold off most of it, but I’ve become a much more actively engaged with the things I read, even distributing a newsletter reviewing and rating everything I read that month.

THE BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2016

Earlier today, I sent out my third annual best of the year rankings, which lists my top three favorite books (in bold below), along with a few honorable mentions, each from the worlds of both fiction and non-fiction. You can read that here. But it’s also nice to take a moment and look back at everything I’ve read in the past twelve months, so below is a list of every book I consumed in 2016 along with the ranking I gave it (out of 5). For more detail, you can can read my summary of each work through my newsletter archive.

FICTION

Afterworlds (2014) by Scott Westerfeld – 2.5

The Big Sleep (1939) by Raymond Chandler – 4

This Is Where I Leave You (2009) by Jonathan Tropper – 4.5

The Girl with All the Gifts (2014) by M.R. Carey – 4

The Whites (2015) by Harry Brandt [writing as Richard Price] – 2.5

Everything I Never Told You (2014) by Celeste Ng – 4.5

The Tumor [Kindle Single] (2015) by John Grisham – 1

South on Highland (2015) by Liana Maeby – 3.5

Beat the Reaper (2009) by Josh Bazell – 4

The Life We Bury (2014) by Allen Eskens – 2

The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London (1903) – 4.5

Billy Bathgate (1989) by E.L. Doctorow – 2

The Power of the Dog (2005) by Don Winslow – 5

The Cartel (2015) by Don Winslow – 5

Four Past Midnight (1990) by Stephen King – 3

End of Watch (2016) by Stephen King – 3.5

Infamy (2016) by Robert K. Tanenbaum – 2

The Candidate (2016) by Lis Wiehl – 2

Partners [Kindle Single] (2016) by John Grisham – 3

Witness to a Trial [Kindle Single] (2016) by John Grisham – 3

The Whistler (2016) by John Grisham – 2

NON-FICTION

Unpacking My Library (2011) by Leah Price [editor] – 3.5

Creativity, Inc. (2014) by Ed Catmull – 4.5

The Lost City of Z (2009) by David Grann – 4

Between the World and Me (2015) by Ta-Nehisi Coates – 5

Growth Hacker Marketing (2014) by Ryan Holiday – 4

Sapiens (2015) by Yuval Noah Harai – 4.5 [should’ve been a 5]

Not a Game (2015) by Kent Babb – 4

The Art of Seduction (2001) by Robert Greene – 3

Public Enemy (2015) by Tim Grierson – 4

But What If We’re Wrong? (2016) by Chuck Klosterman – 4

Ego Is the Enemy (4.5) by Ryan Holiday – 4.5

Average Is Over (2013) by Tyler Cowen – 3

How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) by Dale Carnegie – 4

Duel with the Devil (2013) by Paul Collins – 4

The Black Swan (2007) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – 4

Based on a True Story (2016) by Norm Macdonald – 4

Man’s Search for Meaning (1946) by Viktor Frankl – 4.5

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (2016) by Amy Schumer – 3.5

When Breath Becomes Air (2016) by Paul Kalanithi – 4.5

Showtime (2014) by Jeff Pearlman – 4.5

Total Recall (2012) by Arnold Schwarzenegger – 4

Drinking: A Love Story (1996) by Caroline Knapp – 4

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Batman – The New 52 complete run (2011 – 2015) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

Dark Night: A True Batman Story (2016) by Paul Dini & Eduardo Risso

Luthor (2005) Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo

Batman: Hush (2002 – 2003) by Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee

Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) by Ed Brubaker & Doug Mahnke

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989) by Grant Morrison & Dave McKean

As always, if you have any book suggestions, feel free to drop me a line in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.

Enjoy the holidays!

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Christopher Pierznik’s eight books are available in paperback and Kindle. His work has appeared on XXL, Cuepoint, Business Insider, The Cauldron, Medium, Hip Hop Golden Age,and many more. Subscribe to his monthly reading review newsletter or follow him on Facebook or Twitter.