Want to know one of the habits of the most successful people in the world?

Reading!

That’s because books leave clues to how other people find success.

If you want to be more successful, if you want to start a new project here in midlife, start reading. With hundreds of thousands of books published every year, you can find something on just about any subject matter you wish to learn more about. (Of course, reading should be for fun once in a while too! ? )

This is my third year creating my reading lists. If you want even more ideas for great books, take a look at my last two lists too.

What I’m Reading 2020

What I’m Reading 2019

What’s your preference: audiobooks or reading books? (Even that could be split into hard cover or paperback vs ebooks.) While I think audiobooks are great for people on the move, I’m a believer in sitting down with a physical book and reading it. There’s something almost meditative about the process.

Between physical books and ebooks, I’m torn.

I love physical books because I can mark them up, highlight my favorite parts, write notes to myself on sticky notes and attach them to the appropriate pages.

With ebooks, I can highlight and make notes too. The best thing about ebooks is I can load them up on my iPad and take an entire library with me anywhere I go.

No matter which type of material you enjoy, the important thing is to read. Fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, biographies, books for fun, books to learn, self help, and pure entertainment. If you want this year to be better than last, make a commitment now to read.

Here’s what I’m reading now:

March

Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam
The Secret Life of Pronouns by James Pennebaker

February

This Chair Rocks by Ashton Applewhite
The Middle Finger Project by Ash Ambirge
That Summer In Sicily by Marlena De Blasi
A Time For Mercy by John Grisham

January

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Fascinate by Sally Hogshead
*Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
The Choice by Dr Edith Eva Eger

*Every year, my local community hosts a Read event. They select a book and in January, hand out hundreds of copies in the community to those who want to participate. We have the month of January to read the book, and in February, a couple dozen classes are planned to help dive deeper into the context of the content. Professors from local universities give talks. Presenters even create art activities for families with young children. It’s a great way to learn as a community. The highlight is a talk by the author, which I’m really looking forward to this year. Caste has been an eye-opening read, and I’m looking forward to growing as a person throughout the next month of learning.

What should I read? Have a suggestion? Have a list I should check out? Let me know.