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Jonny
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14DEC2025 | Sunday Shares

Writing

I’m reinvesting in my blog, because writing is something I greatly enjoy, or as the saying goes, I don’t “[I] Don’t like to write, but like having written.” One thing that I’ve usually been pretty consistent on is summarizing the books I read each year. Here I am in December 2025, summarizing my 2024 reads before doing it all over again for 2025. But I couldn’t let it escape me, so here it is:

Books of 2024

Watch

Listen

  • Song: “Summer Years” by Death Cab for Cutie (Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube)
    • I never listened to them growing up, but I’ve “rediscovered” them and have really enjoyed their music!
  • Song: “Aquamarine” by Addison Rae (Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube)
  • Podcast: #648 James Clear, Atomic Habits — Simple Strategies for Building (and Breaking) Habits, Questions for Personal Mastery and Growth, Tactics for Writing and Launching a Mega-Bestseller, Finding Leverage, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
    • His book, Atomic Habits, is on my list of books I like re-reading every year. This podcast is so fun in terms of identifying systems, building personal goals, and I took so many notes. It sparked a lot of creativity.

Play

  • Unflip—Easily done in your mobile browser, a friend turned me onto this game. I’ve made it to level 36. See if you can catch up to me!
  • LinkedIn’s Puzzle Games—I’ve been really surprised, but I’ve greatly enjoyed LinkedIn’s daily bite-sized games. Each takes between 20 seconds and 3 minutes to solve, and they’re free (unlike NYT games)

Ponder

Idea: Excerpt from my textbook, Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology (Version 10.0) by John Gallaugher:

“Others point out that the creative destruction, a term coined by early twentieth-century economist Joseph Schumpeter, has always been a tenet of capitalism: It’s not firms that compete doing the same thing as a dominant firm that will unseat it, it is the innovator that offers a fundamentally new product or new innovation delivered in such a way that marks a decisive quality or cost break from previous industrial output. Even firms that have seemed to dominate markets with tech products.”

Quote: “Do not disturb yourself by imagining your whole life at once.” ~Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).

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Jonny
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Books of 2024

2024 totaled to 53 books. To be clear, I’m less concerned about remembering everything; I love the cross-pollination of ideas much more. I’m going for quantity and listening at ~2.5X speed. The more ideas I gather from different disciplines, the more I draw parallels from seemingly unrelated fields. This is my sweet spot.

I’ve divided up all the books I read this year by the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page. Let me know if you want any of the notes I took for a particular book, and I’ll post it and share a hyperlink.

5 Stars: Loved It (24 books)

Non-Fiction

  • War by Bob Woodward
  • Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
  • Grant by Ron Chernow
    • Re-read: This is my second time listening to this book. It’s by far my favorite biography. I’m adding it to my list of annual listens.
  • Company Command by John G. Meyer Jr.
  • It’s Okay to Be the Boss by Bruce Tulgan
  • The Final Mission of Extortion 17 by Ed Darack
    • Extortion 17 is a Colorado Chinook that was shot down in Afghanistan. Our facility is named after CW5 Dave Carter, and many of the quotes come from people I know personally.
  • Prepared by Mike Glover
  • The Story of the Winged S by Igor Sikorsky
  • The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker
    • Re-read: One of my favorite business and leadership books
  • Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
  • Mixed Plate by Jo Koy
    • This is the first biography of a comedian I’ve listened to and liked. I’m on the hunt for more!
  • Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
    • Re-read: This is on my list of annual re-reads
  • Romney by McKay Coppins
  • Year of No Garbage by Eve O. Schaub

Fiction

  • The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan
    • I started the audiobooks after loving the Prime Video series!
  • The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, #2) by Robert Jordan
  • Fractal Noise (Fractalverse, #0) by Christopher Paolini
    • Prequel novella to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, and the audiobook adds an extra layer of distress because of the rhythmic thumping (key part of the storyline)
  • To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse, #1) by Christopher Paolini
    • I loved Eragon, and Paolini dips his toe in scifi and doesn’t disappoint. I’m not usually big on audiobook over physical reading for fiction, but the voice actress—Jennifer Hale—does a phenomenal job in this book.
  • Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage by Tom DeFalco, Mark Bagley, David Michelinie, Terry Kavanagh, and J.M. DeMatteis 
    • Artists: Sal Buscema, Ron Lim, Tom Lyle, and Alex Saviuk
  • Thanos Rising by Joshua Williamson
    • Artists: Riley Rossmo, Tony S. Daniel, Jesús Merino, Fernando Pasarín, Robson Rocha, Howard Porter, Giuseppe Cafaro, Christian Duce, Rob Williams, and Tim Seeley
  • Batman: Under the Red Hood by Judd Winick
    • Artists: Doug Mahnke and various others not credited
  • Teen Titans (Book One) by Geoff Johns
    • Artists: Mike McKone, Kevin Conrad, Norm Rapmund, Tom Grummett, and Marlo Alquiza
  • Strange Planet (Strange Planet #1) by Nathan W. Pyle
  • Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #1) by R.A. Salvatore

4 Stars: Liked It (13 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Stephen R. Covey, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
    • Re-read
  • At War with Ourselves by H.R. McMaster
  • The Light of Battle by Michel Paradis
  • When the Killer Man Comes by Paul Martinez and George Galdorisi
  • I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
  • Exit Interview by Kristi Coulter
  • Don’t Start a Side Hustle! by Brian Page

Fiction

  • X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong by Greg Pak
    • Artist: Greg Land
  • Justice League vs. Suicide Squad by Joshua Williamson, Rob Williams, and Tim Seeley
    • Artists: Jason Fabok, Riley Rossmo, Tony S. Daniel, Jesús Merino, Fernando Pasarín, Robson Rocha, Howard Porter, Giuseppe Cafaro, Christian Duce, Rob Williams, Tim Seeley
  • Murtagh (The Inheritance Cycle, #5) by Christopher Paolini
  • The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaësia (Volume 1: Eragon) by Christopher Paolini
  • Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Batman: Killing Time by Tom King
    • Artists: David Marquez, Alejandro Sánchez, Kael Ngu, Alex Garner, Peach Momoko, Carlos D’Anda, Ivan Tao, Ben Oliver, Greg Smallwood

3 Stars: It Was Okay (9 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Collaborating with the Enemy by Adam Kahane
  • Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
    • I actually thought this was a different book (same title), so I was a little disappointed
  • Hal Moore by Mike Guardia
  • Build the Life You Want by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
  • Behind the Seams by Dolly Parton, Holly George-Warren, and Rebecca Seaver
  • Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
  • Turnaround Time by Oscar Munoz and Brian DeSplinter

Fiction

  • The Two Swords (Forgotten Realms: Hunter’s Blades, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #16) by R.A. Salvatore
  • The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

2 Stars: Disliked It (7 books)

Non-Fiction

  • For Love of Country by Tulsi Gabbard
  • Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
    • I’ve heard Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is much better
  • Dad’s Maybe Book by Tim O’Brien
  • The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
  • You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

Fiction

  • Avengers vs. Thanos by Jim Starlin with Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, Scott Edelman, and Steve Gerber
    • Artists: Bob Brown, Don Heck, Bob Brown, Mike Zeck, and John Buscema
  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
    • This book is split into 3 parts. I really liked how thought-provoking Parts I and II were (although they were sometimes slow), and I have never been given so much whiplash by a book than the jump to Part III. It ruined the book for me.

1 Star: Hated It (0 book)

N/A

Put On Pause or Quit

N/A

Analysis

Here are the stats on the books I read this year. Next year, I hope to compare how that data has changed over the past few years as I started collecting it. Here’s my Google Sheet.

The categories I tracked were Format, Rating, Female Author, and Person of Color (POC) Author.

I’m merely curious about the format, and I’ve definitely shifted away from paper books over the years.

For rating, the goal is to read better since there are too many to even get to the best books in a lifetime. I’m not sure how to reconcile that with books that I didn’t enjoy yet changed my perspective on something.

For female and POC authors, I want to break away from the monotony of reading only white, male authors. That’s not to say one is better than the other, but diversity is to be applauded, and I am neither female nor a person of color. By reading from their perspectives, I can “level up” my thinking by taking on someone else’s viewpoint. POC authors is super difficult to gauge, however, and my data is skewed because this is entirely judged based off of looks and their Wikipedia page. Still, it’s better than nothing.

2024 Format
2024 Female
2024 Rating
2024 POC

Follow Me on GoodReads:

Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book lists (read shelf)
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Jonny
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Books of 2023

This year totaled 56 books. To be clear, I’m less concerned about remembering everything; I love the cross-pollination of ideas much more. I’m going for quantity and listening at ~2.5X speed. The more ideas I gather from different disciplines, the more I draw parallels from seemingly unrelated fields. This is my sweet spot.

I’ve divided up all the books I read this year by the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page. Let me know if you want any of the notes I took for a particular book, and I’ll post it and share a hyperlink.

5 Stars: Loved It (17 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
  • Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
  • At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof
  • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
  • The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  • Soldier Secretary by Christopher C. Miller
  • Sea Stories by William H. McRaven
  • Life Undercover by Amaryllis Fox
  • Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
  • Scars and Stripes by Tim Kennedy
  • Build by Tony Fadell
  • The Art of Clear Thinking by Hasard Lee
  • See, Solve, Scale by Danny Warshay
  • Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
  • The Power of Stillness by Jacob Z. Hess, Carrie L. Skarda, Kyle D. Anderson, and Ty R. Mansfield
  • Die with Zero by Bill Perkins

Fiction

  • Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1) by James S.A. Corey

4 Stars: Liked It (16 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
  • You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham
  • When to Jump by Mike Lewis
  • Outdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven Rinella
  • Come Fly The World by Julia Cooke
  • The Opposite of Woe by John Hickenlooper
  • Make Life Beautiful by Syd & Shea McGee
  • Crisis of Command by Stuart Scheller
  • Venture Deals by Brad Feld
  • Gun Barons by John Bainbridge, Jr.
  • Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
  • Building by Mark Ellison
  • Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel

Fiction

  • Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart, Vol. 1: Riri Williams by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Stefano Caselli (Illustrator), and Marte Garcia (Illustrator)
  • Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation by Jody Houser (Writer), Emilio Laiso (Artist), Paolo Villanelli (Artist), and Rachelle Rosenberg (Artist)

3 Stars: It Was Okay (15 books)

Non-Fiction

  • The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
  • Rage Against the Minivan by Kristen Howerton
  • I Didn’t Do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore
  • What If Love Is the Point? by Carlos & Alexa PenaVega
  • Inferno by Joe Pappalardo
  • Leadership by Henry Kissinger
  • The Hiltons by J. Randy Taraborrelli
  • The Next Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
  • The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
  • The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti
  • Mended Wings by Colin P. Cahoon
  • Confessions of a Recovering Engineer by Charles L. Marohn, Jr.
  • The Things We Make by Bill Hammack
  • The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Fiction

  • Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection by Frank Miller (Writer), Todd McFarlane (Writer), Doug Moench (Writer), Alan Grant (Writer), Chuck Dixon (Writer), and Klaus Janson (Illustrator)

2 Stars: Disliked It (7 books)

Non-Fiction

  • The Revolutionary by Stacy Schiff
  • David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
  • Adventures in Opting Out by Cait Flanders
  • The Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman
  • Balkan Ghosts by Robert D. Kaplan

Fiction

  • The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1) by Cixin Liu
  • The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Vol. 1: Brawl in the Family by Gerry Conway (Writer) and Ryan Stegman (Illustrator)

1 Star: Hated It (1 book)

Non-Fiction

  • Business Adventures by John Brooks

Fiction

  • N/A

Put On Pause or Quit

Non-Fiction

  • N/A

Fiction

  • N/A

Analysis

Here are the stats on the books I read this year. Next year, I hope to compare how that data has changed over the past few years as I started collecting it. Here’s my Google Sheet.

The categories I tracked were Format, Rating, Female Author, and Person of Color (POC) Author.

I’m merely curious about the format, and I’ve definitely shifted away from paper books over the years.

For rating, the goal is to read better since there are too many to even get to the best books in a lifetime. I’m not sure how to reconcile that with books that I didn’t enjoy yet changed my perspective on something.

For female and POC authors, I want to break away from the monotony of reading only white, male authors. That’s not to say one is better than the other, but diversity is to be applauded, and I am neither female nor a person of color. By reading from their perspectives, I can “level up” my thinking by taking on someone else’s viewpoint. POC authors is super difficult to gauge, however, and my data is skewed because this is entirely judged based off of looks and their Wikipedia page. Still, it’s better than nothing.

Blog-Format
Blog-Female-Author
Blog-Rating
Blog-POC-Author

GoodReads

Follow me on GoodReads to see me hit next year’s goal!:
Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book lists (read shelf)

2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jonny has read 4 books toward his goal of 52 books.
hide
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Jonny
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Books of 2022

This year totaled 65 books. To be clear, I’m less concerned about remembering everything; I love the cross-pollination of ideas much more. I’m going for quantity and listening at ~2.5X speed. The more ideas I gather from different disciplines, the more I draw parallels from seemingly unrelated fields. This is my sweet spot.

I’ve divided up all the books I read this year by the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page. Let me know if you want any of the notes I took for a particular book, and I’ll post it and share a hyperlink.

5 Stars: Loved It (24 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks
  • The Book of Mormon
  • It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by Colin Powell
  • Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut by Nicholas Schmidle
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
  • The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel by Kati Marton
  • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant
  • Master Your Time, Master Your Life: The Breakthrough System to Get More Results, Faster, in Every Area of Your Life by Brian Tracy
  • Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
  • Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondō
  • Tough: My Journey to True Power by Terry Crews
  • About Face: Odyssey Of An American Warrior by COL (ret.) David H. Hackworth
  • Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by Tim Higgins
  • A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times by Mark T. Esper
  • Everyday Millionaires: How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth—And How You Can Too by Chris Hogan
  • The First 100 Days of Platoon Leadership Handbook: Lessons and Best Practices by U.S. Department of the Army
  • Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
  • My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi
  • Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions by Andres Lares
  • Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual by Jocko Willink

Fiction

  • Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb
  • Daredevil: Yellow by Jeph Loeb
  • From the Dead (Moon Knight, #1) by Warren Ellis
  • Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
    • Note: I have really enjoyed reading short stories

4 Stars: Liked It (21 books)

Non-Fiction

  • The Lego Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination by Jens Andersen
  • The Folly and the Glory: America, Russia, and Political Warfare 1945–2020 by Tim Weiner
  • The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock
  • Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau
  • Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor by Anna Qu
  • The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder
  • The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion by Eliot Brown
  • The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild
  • The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova
  • Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood by Donovan Campbell
  • Topgun: An American Story by Dan Pedersen
  • Disney’s Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow
  • Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior by Ric Prado
  • The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price
  • Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Plan for the World by Timothy J. Keller
  • Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire by Brad Stone

Fiction

  • Shadowland by Andy Diggle
  • Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd
  • D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire
    • Note: I’m not sure if I should capture myths as fiction or non-fiction
  • Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, vol. 1: Aphra by Kieron Gillen
  • Iron Man, Vol. 5: Rings of the Mandarin by Kieron Gillen

3 Stars: It Was Okay (14 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys by Joe Coulombe
  • Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld
  • Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA by Marc E. Polymeropoulos
  • The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower by Michael Pillsbury
  • Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie
  • The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
  • There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century by Fiona Hill
  • The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
  • The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry
  • First SEALs: The Untold Story of the Forging of America’s Most Elite Unit by Patrick K. O’Donnell
  • The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time to Do Everything Better by Thatcher Wine

Fiction

  • Freedom™ (Daemon #2) by Daniel Suarez
  • The Lone Drow (Forgotten Realms: Hunter’s Blades, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #15) by R.A. Salvatore

2 Stars: Disliked It (5 books)

Non-Fiction

  • Leadership in War: Essential Lessons from Those Who Made History by Andrew Roberts
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Fiction

  • The Thousand Orcs (Forgotten Realms: Hunter’s Blades, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #14) by R.A. Salvatore
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1) by Robert M. Pirsig
  • Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Director’s Cut by Jhonen Vásquez

1 Star: Hated It (1 book)

Non-Fiction

  • N/A

Fiction

  • Infinity (Avengers, #4) by Jonathan Hickman

Put On Pause or Quit

Non-Fiction

  • A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes, #1) by Jin Yong
  • Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Fiction

  • N/A

Analysis

Here are the stats on the books I read this year. Next year, I hope to compare how that data has changed over the past few years as I started collecting it. Here’s my Google Sheet.

The categories I tracked were Format, Rating, Female Author, and Person of Color (POC) Author.

I’m merely curious about the format, and I’ve definitely shifted away from paper books over the years.

For rating, the goal is to read better since there are too many to even get to the best books in a lifetime. I’m not sure how to reconcile that with books that I didn’t enjoy yet changed my perspective on something.

For female and POC authors, I want to break away from the monotony of reading only white, male authors. That’s not to say one is better than the other, but diversity is to be applauded, and I am neither female nor a person of color. By reading from their perspectives, I can “level up” my thinking by taking on someone else’s viewpoint.

2022_Books_Format
2022_Books_Rating
2022_Books_Female
2022_Books_POC

GoodReads

Follow me on GoodReads to see me hit next year’s goal!:
Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book lists (read shelf)

2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jonny has read 4 books toward his goal of 52 books.
hide
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Jonny
, , , ,

Books of 2021

I’ve previously used and stuck with the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page. Here are all the books I read or listened to in 2021!

5 Stars: Loved It

Non-Fiction

  • The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians by David M. Rubenstein
  • Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan
  • Billion Dollar Brand Club: The Rebel Startups Disrupting Industry Empires by Lawrence Ingrassia
  • Get Out of Your Own Way: A Skeptic’s Guide to Growth and Fulfillment by Dave Hollis
  • Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World by Patrick Q. Mason
  • The Magnolia Story by Chip Gaines
  • Dare to Fly by Martha McSally
  • The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon
  • Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster
  • The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
  • Grant by Ron Chernow
  • Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
  • Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis

Fiction

  • Forever Home by Jenna Ayoub
  • Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle, #4) by Christopher Paolini
  • Brisingr (The Inheritance Cycle, #3) by Christopher Paolini
  • Eldest (The Inheritance Cycle, #2) by Christopher Paolini
  • Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1) by Christopher Paolini
  • Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by Ernest Cline
  • Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey by Brian Michael Bendis
  • Star Wars: Thrawn by Jody Houser
  • House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

4 Stars: Liked It

Non-Fiction

  • Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown
  • Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
  • Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
  • Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability by David Owen
  • Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
  • Hidden Figures by Margot Leet Shetterly
  • Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic by Esther Perel
  • Titan by Ron Chernow

Fiction

  • Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson
  • Star Wars: Darth Maul by Cullen Bunn
  • FF by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
  • Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
  • Spawn Origins, Volume 1 by Todd McFarlane

3 Stars: It Was Okay

Non-Fiction

  • Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski PhD and Amelia Nagoski DMA
  • The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
  • A Patriot’s Calling: My Life as an F-16 Fighter Pilot by Dan Rooney
  • The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
  • Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg
  • Kill Chain: Drones and The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn
  • Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division by Jimmy Blackmon

Fiction

  • Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin by Tim Siedell
  • Judge Dredd: The Cape and Cowl Crimes by John Wagner
  • Star Wars, Vol. 2: Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon by Jason Aaron
  • Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron
  • Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth by Dan Slott
  • Black Widow: The Name of the Rose (Black Widow (Black Widow (2010)) by Marjorie M. Liu
  • Spawn Origins, Volume 6 by Todd McFarlane
  • Road of the Patriarch (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #3) by R.A. Salvatore
  • Promise of the Witch King (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #2) by R.A. Salvatore
  • Once an Eagle by Anton Meyer

2 Stars: Disliked It

Non-Fiction

  • N/A

Fiction

  • Justice League, Vol. 1: The Extinction Machines by Bryan Hitch
  • Teen Titans, Vol. 1: Damian Knows Best by Benjamin Percy
  • Spider-Man & The X-Men by Elliott Kalan
  • 52, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns
  • FF, Volume 2 by Jonathan Hickman

1 Star: Hated It

Non-Fiction

  • Ungodly Soul Ties: How to identify and Break Them (Spiritual Warfare Book 4) by Nellie Odhuno-Shani
    • Note: I actually enjoyed quite a bit of the book, but she started peddling blatantly false information

Fiction

  • Batman, Incorporated by Grant Morrison

Put On Pause or Quit

Non-Fiction

  • What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz

Fiction

  • 1984 by George Orwell

2021 in Data

To continue last year’s simple data analysis of the types of books I read, I used a Google Sheet to review whether or not I’m branching out in my reading or staying the same. I’d say I’m largely keeping to my known genres of fantasy and sci-fi for fiction and self-help and (auto)biography for non-fiction.

Unfortunately, my go-to types of books tend to lean white and male. Please make recommendations for female and people-of-color authors and books you enjoy or books from another genre!

Book_Rating
Book_Format
Book_Female
Book_POC

Rating—My sum of 5-star and 4-star books decreased by 15%. I’m not sure if I should care or not. Part of me wants to only be reading good books, but at the same time, I value diverse perspectives, and I strayed out of my comfort zone in some aspects. Interesting to note, but I’m not hung up on it.

Format—I read way more comics this year, which I really enjoy. I’m glad to be getting back into a medium that meant a lot to me growing up. I hope to tie reading more comics to drawing more, too. My total percentage of physical reading (paper + digital) excluding comics decreased by 3.3%. Not bad.

Reading physical, non-fiction books reinvigorate me when I’m not in school already reading a bunch. Flight school is over, but I still feel compelled to study every day to keep up on it. My non-fiction reading suffers, but audio is still booming! I prefer reading hardcover paper books for fiction and Kindle for non-fiction (easier to take notes).

Female Author—My percentage of female authors increased by 4%, which is great. I didn’t consciously try to improve this as much as I thought I would, so I’m glad it increased, but I definitely need to find more female authors I love reading.

POC Author—I’m not sure if this is a good metric to track or not, because I find myself googling the author and having to make somewhat of a snap-judgement based on their Wikipedia picture. It also dawned on me that I members of other religions or of the LGBTQ community aren’t included. Maybe I just need to change this to “different from me” if the point is to get a variety of perspectives? I dunno. This one’s hard to track and find accurate information on. Two examples came to mind:

  • Esther Perel is a Jewish woman from Eastern Europe. Her parents survived the Holocaust. Does person of color just mean not of European descent? Under that definition, she wouldn’t qualify, but she still brings such a different worldview to the table.
  • G. Willow Wilson is an American convert to Islam. That is definitely a unique perspective, but wouldn’t be a POC.

Feedback is always welcome. Again, I’d love some recommendations for female and people-of-color authors.

If you use Goodreads, give me a follow:

Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Jonny has
completed his goal of reading
52 books in
2021!
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2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Jonny has
read 9 books toward
his goal of
52 books.
hide

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Books of 2020

Ratings

I’ve divided up all the books I read this year by the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page.

Note: I only included subtitles where necessary for clarification.

5 Stars: Loved It

Non-Fiction

  • Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss
  • Deep Work by Cal Newport
  • Cribsheet by Emily Oster
  • The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
  • Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
  • Grant by Ron Chernow
  • The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
  • Washington by Ron Chernow
  • Inside the President’s Helicopter by Gene Boyer
  • Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
  • The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
  • Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis
  • The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
  • Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday
  • Antarctic Tears by Aaron Linsday
  • Range by David Epstein
  • The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller
  • I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Fiction

  • Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
  • Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

4 Stars: Liked It

Non-Fiction

  • Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
  • Moroni’s Guide to Surviving Turbulent Times by John Bytheway
  • The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, & Jim Huling
  • The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
    • Note: I’d like to re-read this one
  • Prepared by Diane Tavenner
  • Hughes by Richard Hack
  • The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
  • Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  • Educated by Tara Westover
  • Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham

Fiction

  • Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore
  • Spawn Origins, Volume 1 by Todd McFarlane
  • Hellboy, Volume 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola
  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

3 Stars: It Was Okay

Non-Fiction

  • Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
  • Pale Horse by Jimmy Blackmon
  • Kill Chain by Andrew Cockburn
  • Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson
  • Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
    • Note: I hated the tone of his voice (i.e. prideful) throughout the book, but I actually, to his creditt, think about the book’s principles all the time
  • The Like Switch by Jack Schafer
  • Getting Things Done by David Allen
  • Good to Great by James Collins

Fiction

  • Spawn Origins, Volume 6 by Todd McFarlane
  • Deathstroke, Volume 1: The Professional by Christopher Priest
  • Sword of God by Chris Kuzneski

2 Stars: Disliked It

Non-Fiction

  • A History of the United States in Five Crashes by Scott Nations

Fiction

  • N/A

1 Star: Hated It

Non-Fiction

  • N/A

Fiction

  • Dune by Frank Herbert

Put On Pause or Quit

Non-Fiction

  • Instructions for British Servicemen in Germany, 1944 by Library Bodleian
  • The Box by Marc Levinson

Fiction

  • N/A

Analysis

This year, I also paid attention to the types of books I was reading. The first step was data. I created a Google Sheet and plotted the data I felt were relevant, such as the gender of the author and whether or not the author was a minority. I hope to diversify my reading a bit more than the typical successful white male authors in business I gravitate toward. That has been at least one of the blessings of the 2020 chaos—an added attention on the benefits of diversity, inclusion, and equality.

So first, I go some data. Now I can readjust. Please make recommendations for female and people-of-color authors and books you enjoy!

I also realized that my list of authors I’d read anything by is entirely white dudes. I want to fix that.

Book Format
Female Author
Book Rating
Female Author

2020 Goal

      2020 Reading Challenge

          2020 Reading Challenge

        Jonny has

             read 50 books toward

             his goal of

             52 books.

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        50 of 52 (96%)

          view books

2021 Goal

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Jonny has
read 0 books toward
his goal of
52 books.
hide

 

Feedback is always welcome. Again, I’d love some recommendations for female and people-of-color authors.

If you use Goodreads, give me a follow:

Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)

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Sunday Shares | 24MAY2020

This week I finally started flight school! Looking forward to getting going. It went zero-to-sixty in no time at all! 😅

I came across the idea of a “production vs. consumption ratio” this week. While I’m not entirely sure production should be larger than consumption, I think that tying consumption to production is a necessary framework so that action is affiliated with learning. So I want to try emphasizing production each week. It’s a new idea to me, so cut me some slack, but from now on, I want to focus on what I’ve made to share with you each week.

Production

Website

  • I finally made my website secure! It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. Note: This Sunday Shares is rolling out on Monday because the website was giving me grief…
  • My Book Notes page is up and running again after some issues. I’ve fixed the page and added a new book to it (mentioned below).

Consumption

Read

Article: Mission Specialist One by Melvin Leavitt

This article is about Don Lind, a Latter-day Saint astronaut, speaking about his experience. It’s sprinkled with spirituality, but his journey is truly incredible. For one, he was on the next Apollo mission to the moon before NASA canceled it. Man, can you even imagine? Wild.

Book: Inside the President’s Helicopter by LTC Gene T. Boyer and Jackie Boor

This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read lately. Back when the Army and the Marines shared the duty of flying for the President, pilot LTC Gene Boyer served under several administrations (LBJ, Nixon, and Ford). It was both a motivating book as a flight school student and a unique take on former presidents. Visit my Book Notes page for more details and quotes.

Watch

Video: How Easy Is It To Program a KAISU Welding Robot? (YouTube)

My buddy’s the handsome blonde speaking throughout the video 😘 Their company is rad! They specialize in robots, but they also whipped up a new ventilator unaffected by supply chain issues on short notice.

Video: SpaceX Returns Americans to the ISS on Wednesday!

Sure, we’ve had Americans traveling to and from the International Space Station regularly since the Space Shuttle retired, but the reason this is a big deal is that we’ve been buying seats on the Russian Soyuz rocket. An American company—SpaceX—is flying private astronauts to the ISS on Wednesday, and you should tune in! This is going to be truly amazing. Watch it live on Wednesday on SpaceX’s launch site (no pun intended) at 4:33 PM Eastern.

Listen

I’ve expanded a bit to broaden my taste in music. I’m looking to feature a new artist each week so that I go searching for new music each week rather than just waiting for my favorite artists to release new songs.

Song: “Power” by Ellie Goulding (Spotify | YouTube)

Every once in awhile, I’ll come across a song that I can listen to on repeat for seemingly forever. I’m then able to add it to my Mindless Study playlist, which is unique in that I normally can’t study to words with lyrics. After a while, though, certain songs fade into the background. This one’s now on that list, and I’ve been loving it!

Artist: I See Stars (Spotify | YouTube)

Per Thomas Frank’s (@TomFrankly) recommendation, I finally checked out I See Stars. They didn’t disappoint! I love electronic-y metal and rock (Breathe Carolina, for example), so this fits into my routine music selection nicely. Their album, Treehouse (Spotify), is what I’ve been enjoying.

Podcast: Superspreaders | Pandemic Economics (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher)

This is one of the most insightful, data-driven discussions on how to open the economy I’ve heard. They utilize cell phone data and in-store observations to categorize both industries and specific businesses based on the likelihood of spreading the virus.

Tool

I came across Bookcision through an article by The Digital Reader. I was looking for a way to export my Kindle notes to archive in Evernote and post to the Book Notes page on my site. It highlights how terrible Amazon is at UI/UX.

This wasn’t initially an issue for me, but I recently listened to Maria Popova’s interview with Tim Ferriss where she laments:

Honestly, I feel that problem has not been solved at all in any kind of practical way. So, the way that I do it is basically a bunch of hacks using existing technologies. Perhaps, I’m just unaware, but I don’t think there’s anybody designing tools today for people who do serious heavy reading. There just isn’t anything that I know.

So, what I do is I highlight in the Kindle app in the iPad, and then
Amazon has this function that you can, basically, see your Kindle
notes and highlights on the desktop or on your computer. I go to
those. I copy them from that page, and I paste them into an
Evernote file to have all of my notes in a specific book in one
place.

Sometimes, I would also take a screen grab of a specific iPad
Kindle page with my highlighted passage, and then email that
screen grab into my Evernote email because Evernote has, as you
know, optical character recognition. So, when I search within it,
Copyright © 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.
it’s also gonna search the text in that image. I don’t have to wait
until I finish the book and explore all my notes.

Also, the formatting is kind of shitty on the Kindle notes on the
desktop where you can see all your notes. So, if you copy them,
they paste them to Evernote with this really weird formatting. So,
it tabulates each next notes indented to the right. So, it’s cascading,
the long cascading thing that shifts more and more to the right of
the page and move down.

Ponder

Idea: Will we move away from a salary tied to cost of living, now that so many companies are going remote?

Quote: 

(Feel free to download and/or share)

As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).

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Jonny’s Books of 2019

What follows is a compilation of all the books I read or listened to last year. I’ve only included subtitles where necessary for clarification. You can also find me on GoodReads at here:
Jonny's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)

5-Stars Loved it

Non-Fiction

  • Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
  • The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
  • Engineering Jobology 101 by Eric Wardell
  • Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus
  • Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
  • Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey
  • The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
  • Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
  • Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
  • The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss
  • The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester
  • Skunk Works by Ben Rich
  • The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
  • Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
  • Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske
  • Every Tool’s a Hammer by Adam Savage
  • Call Sign Chaos by Jim Mattis
  • Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki
  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
  • The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore

Fiction

  • Daemon by Daniel Suarez
  • Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
  • The Road to Vengeance by Judson Roberts
  • Sea of Swords by R.A. Salvatore

4-Stars Liked it

Non-Fiction

  • Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
  • SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
  • Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
  • Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
  • Find Your Why by Simon Sinek
  • Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
  • The Reinventors by Jason Jennings
  • Make Your Bed by William McRaven
  • The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
  • The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
  • Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen
  • Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
  • She Comes First by Ian Kerner
  • Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub
  • Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D by David Kushner
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear
  • Grit by Angela Duckworth
  • Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
  • Loonshots by Safi Bahcall

Fiction

  • The Spine of the World by R.A. Salvatore
  • Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter by Kelly Thompson
  • Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain by Chelsea Cain
  • Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons by Patrick Rothfuss

3-Stars It was okay

Non-Fiction

  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
  • He Comes Next by Ian Kerner
  • The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
  • Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie

Fiction

  • Use of Force by Brad Thor
  • Deadpool: Back in Black by Cullen Bunn
  • Mockingbird, Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda by Chelsea Cain

2-Stars Disliked it

Non-Fiction

  • Foundation by Isaac Asimov (quit early)
  • Leaders by Stanley McChrystal (quit early)
  • Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler (quit early)

Fiction

N/A

1-Star Hated It

N/A

Put on Pause

  • Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto
  • Energy Civilization by Douglas Reynolds 
  • The Campfire Chronicles by Michael Ayoub
  • Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Note: I only included subtitles where necessary for clarification.

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[Weekly Finds] Privacy, Airbnb, Storage Business, Econ Degree, Quitting a Book, Cult of Musk

Facebook and Privacy

I’ve always been kinda weary of Facebook. I recently read this article—”Get your loved ones off Facebook.“—, and now I’m even more paranoid.

I really don’t use Facebook all that much anymore.I haven’t had the app on my phone for years now. The only reason I still have it is to maintain connections with those who aren’t followers on other platforms (I’m all about Twitter)—mostly older folks and Germans.

In fact, the only two selling points on Facebook for me are: (1) Groups, and (2) Marketplace. I maintain contact with people through Groups, and Marketplace takes away the mystery of a sketchy meet-up on Craigslist.

Interview with Co-Founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia

I don’t like having two references to Tim Ferriss in the same post (or two posts in a row, for that matter), but this is the most fun I’ve had with a podcast in a long time! Tim Ferriss’s Interview with Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb (YouTube, Apple Podcasts) is hilarious and his journey is fascinating and tenacious.

Hibernate Storage

My friend and I are starting a business! We’re launching in April after a year’s worth of work after winning $6,300 from the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge hosted by Boise State University’s College of Innovation + Design. Check out our website: hibernatestorage.com. We’d love any feedback you have for us! Share in the comments below!

Opportunity Cost: An Econ Degree

Ironically, I had a major opportunity cost analysis in my life pop up: do I pursue a B.S. Economics or stick with the minor. It all arose when I met with my advisor. I petitioned to have my Engineering Economics and Management course count for both my ME and econ tracks. She approved and mentioned that I was only a few classes away from a bachelor’s. Well, I love economics, and I double-majored for a majority of my academic career. Turns out, though, that I was seven classes away from graduation. That’s not close; that’s an entire semester (and a 21-credit semester at that…)!

In talking with Shalene, I decided against it. I’d love to, but I have a good internship for the summer where I’ll get to spend time with my family, and I know I’ll eventually get an MBA, so the material will be picked up down the road.

It was, nonetheless, an extremely difficult decision.

Quitting a Book

I’ve long struggled with quitting a book once I’ve started it. It sits on my shelf staring back at me, taking up headspace until I finish it. I had my first brush with this when Shalene bought me a book from the middle of a series one Christmas. It took a lot out of me to say I was done!

I’ve thought about this a lot ever since stumbling across a GoodReads tweet:

I actually really liked this suggested framework:

It wasn’t until I came across Episode 97 (Apple Podcasts) of The Tim Ferriss Show where Naval Ravikant (CEO of AngelList; @Naval) that something really stuck: we have so little time that it’s much easier to treat a book like a blog post. If you skim the blog post and move on, you don’t feel guilty. Why do any differently with a book. If it has the information you want/need, great! If not, move on.

 

Musketeers

So I have this idea. How do I articulate to people that I’m an Elon Musk cultist?

Feature Photo: Dayne Topkin