Philanthropy magazine published my 3,300-word feature on public-sector pension reform in its Winter 2014 issue. I focus on a Houston foundation set up by a young billionaire couple.
Read it here: Solving the $2 Trillion Problem.
2013 audiobook recommendations
The 24 audiobooks I read in 2013 fall into five categories: fiction (9), history (7), economics (3), contemporary non-fiction (3) and personal improvement (2).
Before 2013, I hadn’t listened to much fiction. I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected. Great narrators help.
My top fiction recommendations from 2013 are Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray and Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. I recommend them for two very different reasons.
I loved the story and characters in Vanity Fair, while Gulliver’s Travels is a thought-provoking commentary on humanity.
My top history recommendation is The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross. It tells the story of 20th century classical music. I found it fascinating and enjoyed following along with the online audio guide.
I really enjoy the Oxford History of the United States and listened to two consecutive volumes last year. I would give the edge to What Hath God Wrought? by Daniel Walker Howe because I really enjoy that somewhat-neglected period of American history from just after Jefferson through the Mexican-American War.
Honorable mention goes to Che Guevara by Jon Lee Anderson. If you want to know Che, read this book.
I also read Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, but I found it somewhat difficult as an audiobook. I hope to someday revisit this one in print.
If you want to learn more about economics, Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt is hard to beat. It is simple and short. It’s more conceptual than mathematical, so it is very accessible.
An honorable mention to How Markets Fail by John Cassidy. Although I disagree with some of his analysis and prescriptions, Cassidy raises important challenges and provides useful context about the history of economic thought.
I highly recommend Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You especially for people who want career advice. To get a taste for Newport, start with this New York Times op-ed. I read the op-ed and immediately knew I wanted to read the book. If you are open to being convinced after reading the op-ed, I highly recommend the book.
Overall, my top recommendations from 2013 are Vanity Fair, The Rest is Noise and So Good They Can’t Ignore You.
2013 audiobook reading
Last year, I listened to 24 audiobooks.
I listened for 320 hours and read an average of 52 minutes per day. (Some people may object to using the word “read” but I think they can be used interchangeably.)
I love Audible. In the past, I have done some listening using free library platforms. The hassle got to me and interfered with how often I listened.
The breaking point for me was settling in to paint the bathroom and have my audiobook disintegrate mid-sentence.
Since joining Audible I have discovered the thrill of impulse shopping, something I couldn’t really relate to before.
Here is the list of books I read last year, by month of completion.
January
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (although I read most of it in 2012)
February
Righteous Indignation by Andrew Breitbart
March
Empire of Liberty by Gordon S. Wood (part of the Oxford History of the United States)
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Courting Disaster by Marc A. Thiessen
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
April
What Hath God Wrought? by Daniel Walker Howe (part of the Oxford History of the United States)
How Markets Fail by John Cassidy
May
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
July
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
August
Indian Summer by Alex von Tunzelmann
The New Yorker Festival – Advocacy Journalism panel
September
Meltdown by Thomas E. Woods
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
November
Che Guevara by Jon Lee Anderson
The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
December
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (I inadvertently bought an abridged version because it was on sale)
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
In June and October, I didn’t finish any books. However, I was still reading.
Can I write a book in less than six months?
I want to write and publish a book while I am still 30. My goal is reachable, I hope, because authors today don’t need to write non-fiction books of 60,000 or more words, at least not every time.
I am hoping to write a short book – probably about 30,000 words or 100 pages – with a focus on the Kindle edition. When I finish writing I will decide whether to publish a paperback edition, too.
For now, my focus is on expanding this site and writing my book.
Bookless and 30
I had hoped to write my first book by the time I turned 30. Well, I am 30 and still bookless.
Although I failed to meet that goal – not to mention my abysmal performance on NaNoWriMo 2013 – I think I can write and publish a short non-fiction ebook before June.
I just read Your First 1,000 Copies by Tim Grahl so I started this website to share stories about writing and to get to know my future readers in advance.
Developing…