I like to collect things and I like to read so here is a collection of the titles of the books I have read since 2002 (when I first started keeping this list). I’d recommend keeping such a list to anyone who likes to read – it’s interesting to look back and see how many books I read each year, what I read and when, etc. The list is in reverse chronological order and will grow with each new title that I read. * symbols indicate particularly recommended titles. Letters in brackets () denote a title chosen alphabetically from James Mustich ‘1001 Books To Read Before You Die’.
33: Show Your Work! [Austin Kleon] (re-read)
——AUGUST
32: Meditations for Mortals [Oliver Burkeman] (audiobook) (re-read)
31: Steal Like An Artist [Austin Kleon] (re-read)
30: Extra Focus [Jesse J. Anderson]
29: The Old Man and the Sea [Ernest Hemingway]
28: Tiny Habit [B.J.Fogg] (audiobook)
27: The Impossible Dead [Ian Rankin]
26: The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management [Hyrum W. Smith]
——JULY
25: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1861
24: *Four Thousand Weeks [Oliver Burkeman]
23: *A Whole Life [Robert Seethaleer]
22: Swallows and Amazons [Arthur Ransome] (R) (audiobook)
——JUNE
21: Wild Courage [Jenny Wood]
20: Revelation [C.J. Sansom]
19: The Mountain Is You [Brianna Wiest]
18: The Thief Lord [Cornelia Funke]
——MAY
17: The Productivity Diet [Mike Vardy]
16: Tiny Experiments [Anne Laure Le Cunff]
15: The Stories of Ray Bradbury [Ray Bradbury]
——APR
14: The Call of the Wild [Jack London]
13: Deep [James Nestor]
12: Liminal Thinking [Dave Gray] (audiobook)
11: Voluntary Simplicity [Duane Elgin]
10: The Ink Black Heart [Robert Galbraith]
09: The Language of the Spirit [Jan Swafford]
08: Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
07: Now It All Makes Sense [Alex Partridge] (audiobook)
——MAR
06: The Wisdom of Groundhog Day [Paul Hannam]
05: The Mind of a Bee [Lars Chittka]
04: xGenius: Expected Goals and the Science of Winning Football Matches [James Tippett]
——FEB
03: Free To Focus [Michael Hyatt] (audiobook)
02: Atomic Habits [James Clear]
01: Orbital [Samantha Harvey]
——JAN
2025 ↑
66: Local [Alastair Humphreys]
65: The Daily Stoic [Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman] – daily throughout 2024]
64: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1860
63: The Payback [Simon Kernick]
62: Slow Horses [Mick Herron]
61: *How To Live On 24 Hours A Day [Arnold Bennett]
60: The Brave Habit [Todd Henry] (audiobook)
——DEC
59: Sword of Kings [Bernard Cornwell]
58: Jung’s Map of the Soul [Murray Stein]
57: #NOW [Max McKeown]
56: *The Alchemist [Paulo Coelho] (audiobook)
55: Time Surfing [Paul Loomans]
——NOV
54: You Are Here [David Nicholls]
53: Eugene Onegin [Alexander Pushkin] (P)
52: Rooney (Classic Football Heroes) [Matt and Tom Oldfield]
51: Right Thing, Right Now [Ryan Holiday] (audiobook)
50: *Meditations for Mortals [Oliver Burkeman]
49: Extraordinary People [Peter May]
48: Hyperefficient [Mithu Storoni]
47: At Swim-Two-Birds [Flann O’Brien] (O)
——OCT
46: Hyperfocus [Chris Bailey]
45: Be Not Afraid Of Life [John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle]
44: The Satsuma Complex [Bob Mortimer]
——SEP
43: The Fortune of the Seventh Stone [Petrus Ursem]
42: The Birth of Tragedy [Friedrich Nieztsche] (N)
41: The Bullet That Missed [Richard Osman]
40: The Puzzler [A.J. Jacobs]
——AUG
39: The Midnight Library [Matt Haig]
38: One Corpse Too Many [Ellis Peters]
37: The Potter’s Field [Andrea Camilleri]
36: *A System For Writing [Bob Dotot]
35: The Gates of Rome (Emperor 1) [Conn Iggulden]
34: In Search of the Dark Ages [Michael Wood] (audiobook)
33: A Good Life [Mark Rowlands]
——JUL
32: The Art of Possibility [Rosamund and Benjamin Zander]
31: *Henry at Work [John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle]
30: The Crossing Places [Elly Griffiths]
——JUN
29: *The Notebook – A History of Thinking on Paper [Roland Allen]
28: The House At Pooh Corner [A.A. Milne] (M)
27: Winnie The Pooh [A.A. Milne] (M)
26: Victory [Julian Stockwin]
25: The Burnout Society [Byung-Chul Han]
24: Slow Productivity [Cal Newport]
23: The Library of Babel [Jorge Luis Borges]
——MAY
22: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold [John le Carre] (L)
21: Million Dollar Weekend [Noah Kagan] (audiobook)
20: That Glimpse of Truth – 100 of the Finest Short Stories Ever Written [chosen by David Miller]
19: *Humanly Possible [Sarah Bakewell]
18: The Unbearable Lightness of Being [Milan Kundera] (K)
17: Be Useful: Seven Tools For Life [Arnold Schwarzenegger] (audiobook)
——APR
16: Goodbye to Berlin [Christopher Isherwood] (I)
15: Novelist as a Vocation [Haruki Murakami]
14: Dubliners [James Joyce] (J)
13: How To Be Happy Dammit [Karin Salmansohn]
——MAR
12: Radically Condensed Instructions for Being Just As You Are [J. Jennifer Matthews]
11: The Wild Silence [Raynor Winn]
10: Mr Norris Changes Trains [Christopher Isherwood] (I)
09: Deeper Mindfulness [Mark Williams and Danny Penman]
08: Firewall [Henning Mankell]
07: The 12 Week Year [Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington] (audiobook)
——-FEB
06: Feel Good Productivity [Ali Abdaal]
05: Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui [Karen Kingston]
04: Truly, Madly – The Alan Rickman Diaries [edited by Alan Taylor]
03: Stillness Is The Key [Ryan Holiday] (audiobook)
02: The Bigger Picture [Petrus Ursem]
01: The Maltese Falcon [Dashiell Hammett] (H)
——-JAN
2024 ↑
46: The Daily Creative [Todd Henry] – daily reading
45: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1859
44: The Little Virtues [Natalia Ginzburg] (G)
43: Flying Colours [C.S. Forester]
42: What Matters Most [James Hollis]
41: *The Count of Monte Cristo [Alexandre Dumas]
——
40: The French Lieutenant’s Woman [John Fowles] (F)
39: Finite and Infinite Games [James P. Carse]
38: Range [David Epstein] (audiobook)
37: The Fry Chronicles [Stephen Fry]
——
36: Sharpe’s Siege [Bernard Cornwell]
35: Four Quartets [T.S. Eliot] (audiobook) (E)
36: The Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse 1545-1980 [chosen by D.J. Enright]
33: Awe [Dacher Keltner] (audiobook)
——
32: The Complaints [Ian Rankin]
31: *The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife [James Hollis]
30: Running Up That Hill [Vassos Alexander]
29: *The Electricity of Every Living Thing [Katherine May]
——
28: The Way of the Hermit [Ken Smith with Will Millard] (audiobook)
27: Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain [Lisa Feldman Barratt]
26: Sovereign [CJ Sansom]
25: *Wintering [Katherine May]
24: Lives of the Stoics [Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman]
——
23: Come Up For Air [Nick Sonnenberg]
22: The Good Drinker [Adrian Chiles] (audiobook)
——
21: The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens] – daily reading (D)
20: The Man Who Died Twice [Richard Osman]
19: Inside Your Mind [Stephen Fry] (audiobook)
18: Histories of Nations [edited by Peter Furtado] – daily reading
17: Written [Bec Evans and Chris Smith]
16: Off The Clock [Laura Vanderkam] (audiobook)
——
15: Life Is Hard – How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way [Kieran Setiya]
14: Troubled Blood [Robert Galbraith]
13: Following Through [Steve Levinson and Pete Greider] (audiobook)
——
12: The Hidden Pleasures of Life [Theodore Zedlin]
11: It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now [Barbara Sher] (audiobook)
10: The Odyssey [Homer] – daily reading
——
09: Mythos [Stephen Fry]
08: A Short History of England [Simon Jenkins] (audiobook)
07: Beyond the Wand [Tom Felton] (audiobook)
——
06: What Works [Tara McMullin] (audiobook)
05: The Last 10 Seconds [Simon Kernick]
——
04: Never Finished [David Goggins] (audiobook)
03: The Iliad [Homer] – daily reading
02: War of the Wolf [Bernard Cornwell]
01: Think Your Way To Success [Mark Rhodes] (audiobook)
2023 ↑
49: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1858
48: Discipline is Destiny [Ryan Holiday] (audiobook)
47: Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway [Susan Jeffers]
46: Work Clean [Dan Charnas]
——
45: Tranquil By Tuesday [Laura Vanderkam] (audiobook)
44: One: My Autobiography [Peter Schmeichel]
43: Drive to Distraction [Edward Hallowell and John Ratey] (audiobook)
——
42: Siddhartha [Herman Hesse]
41: Full Catastrophe Living [Jon Kabat-Zinn] (audiobook)
40: A Morbid Taste for Bones [Ellis Peters]
39: *The Wisdom of Groundhog Day [Paul Hannan]
38: The Meditations [Marcus Aurelius, rendered by Sam Torode] – daily reading
37: A Simpler Life [The School of Life] (audiobook)
——
36: *If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him? [Sheldon Kopp]
35: Building A Second Brain [Tiago Forte] (audiobook)
34: Around The World In Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
33: I Didn’t Do The Thing Today: On Letting Go Of Productivity Guilt [Madeleine Dore] (audiobook)
——
32: Emil and the Detectives [Erich Kastner]
31: The Last Act of Love [Cathy Rentzenbrink]
30: *Glucose Revolution: The life-changing power of balancing your blood sugar [Jessie Inchauspe] (audiobook)
29: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll] (C)
28: Dark Fire [C J Samson]
27: Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life [John Kaag] (audiobook)
——
26: The Thirty-Nine Steps [John Buchan] (B)
25: Everyone Can Write [Brian Astbury]
24: Skellig [David Almond] (A)
——
23: World War II: Battle by Battle [Nikolai Bogdanovic] – daily reading
22: A Sting in the Tale [Dave Goulson]
21: Target [Simon Kernick]
20: A Short History of Europe [Simon Jenkins] (audiobook)
——
19: Write It All Down [Cathy Rentzenbrink]
18: The Track of Sand [Andrea Camilleri]
17: The Expected Goals Philosophy [James Tippett]
——
16: Spark! [Dr John R Ratey and Eric Hagerman]
15: Russia [Martin Sixsmith] (audiobook)
14: *Dissolution [C J Samson]
13: Conqueror [Conn Iggulden]
——
12: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before [Dr Julie Smith] (audiobook)
11: *Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life [Anne Lamott]
10: Breath [James Nestor] (audiobook)
——
09: The Men Who United the States [Simon Winchester]
08: Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds [Bill Bailey] – daily reading
07: Just Ignore Him [Alan Davies] (audiobook)
——
06: Waiting for the Weekend [Witold Rybczynski]
05: The Manual: A Philosopher’s Guide to Life [Epictetus, rendered by Sam Torode] – daily reading
04: Midlife [Kieran Setiya] (audiobook)
03: Why Meditate? Because it Works [Jillian Lavender]
02: Four Thousand Weeks [Oliver Burkeman] (audiobook)
01: Standing In Another Man’s Grave [Ian Rankin]
2022 ↑
41: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1857
40: Henry David Thoreau – A Year of Quotes [Laura Dawson Walls] – daily reading
39: Time and the Art of Living [Robert Grudin] – daily reading
38: Grimm Tales for Young and Old [Philip Pullman]
37: The Shepherd’s Life [James Rebanks]
——
36: Deadline [Simon Kernick]
35: Bird Therapy [Joe Harkness]
34: *Rendezvous with Rama [Arthur C. Clarke] (audiobook)
——
33: *Courage is Calling [Ryan Holiday] (audiobook)
32: Sharpe’s Regiment [Bernard Cornwell]
31: The Coaching Habit [Michael Bungay Stanier] (audiobook)
30: Aesop’s Fables – daily reading
29: And Away… [Bob Mortimer] (audiobook)
28: Teach Yourself To Live [C.G.L. Du Cann]
27: The Upper World [Femi Fadugba]
——
26: Start [Jon Acuff] (audiobook)
25: Lethal White [Robert Galbraith]
24: The Consolations of Philosophy [Alain de Botton] (audiobook)
23: ** Four Thousand Weeks [Oliver Burkeman]
22: One Wild Song [Paul Heiney] (audiobook)
——
21: Stoner [John Williams]
——
20: ** Midlife: A Philosophical Guide [Kieran Setiya]
19: The Thursday Murder Club [Richard Osman]
18: Invasion [Julian Stockwin]
——
17: How To Take Smart Notes [Sonke Ahrens]
16: Timekeepers: How The World Became Obsessed With Time [Simon Garfield]
15: Effortless [Greg McKeown]
——
14: Flashman and the Tiger [George MacDonald Fraser]
——
13: ** Rest – Why You Get More Done When You Work Less [Alex Soojung-Kim Pang]
12: Tools of Titans [Tim Ferriss] (read over several years)
11: One Step Behind [Henning Mankell]
——
10: Order from Chaos [Jaclyn Paul]
9: Sky Burial [Xinran] (X but not in the book!)
8: The Day of the Triffids [John Wyndham] ( W)
——
7: * The Drummer and the Great Mountain [Michael Joseph Ferguson]
6: The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse [Charlie Mackesy]
5: Slaughterhouse Five [Kurt Vonnegut] (V)
4: The Maples Stories [John Updike] (U)
——
3: Yes To Life In Spite Of Everything [Viktor Frankl]
2: Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method For Stopping Chronic Pain [Pete Egoscue with Roger Gittines]
1: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Island [Mark Twain] (T)
2021 ↑
56: A Calendar of Wisdom [Leo Tolstoy] – daily reading
55: The Journal 1837-1861 [Henry David Thoreau] – daily reading of entries from 1856
54: Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson] (S)
53: A Judgement in Stone [Ruth Rendell] (R)
52: Hiking with Nietzsche [John Kaag]
——
51: * Cry, the Beloved Country [Alan Paton] (P)
50: The Motivation Code [Todd Henry with Rod Penner, Todd Hall and Joshua Miller]
——
49: Spitfire [John Nichol]
48: * 1984 [George Orwell]
——
47: * Breath [James Nestor]
46: Huntingtower [John Buchan]
——
45: To Sunset and Beyond [Alec Lea]
44: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush [Eric Newby] (N)
43: A Year in Provence [Peter Mayle] (M)
——
42: Ongoingness: The End of a Diary [Sarah Manguso]
41: A Ship of the Line (Hornblower) [C.S. Forester]
40: The Wizard of Earthsea [Ursula K. Le Guin] (L)
39: The Perfect Stranger [P.J. Kavanagh] (K)
38: The Rise Of The Ultra Runners [Adharanand Finn]
——
37: The Wombles [Elisabeth Beresford]
36: * The Phantom Tollbooth [Norton Juster] (J)
35: * The Diet Myth [Tim Spector]
34: The Remains of the Day [Kazuo Ishiguro] (I)
33: * Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life [John Kaag]
32: * Time and the Art of Living [Robert Grudin]
——
31: The Inner Life of Animals [Peter Wohlleben]
30: The All Of It [Jeanette Haien] (H)
29: Lord of the Flies [William Golding] (G)
28: Walking Away [Simon Armitage]
27: The Great Gatsby [F. Scott Fitzgerald] (F)
——
26: * American Philosophy – A Love Story [John Kaag]
25: The Immense Journey [Loren Eiseley] (E)
24: Don’t Stop Me Now [Vassos Alexander]
23: The Gilded Fly [Edmund Crispin]
22: Blood Orange [Harriet Tyce]
21: Upstream [Dan Heath] (audiobook)
20: Thinking On My Feet [Kate Humble]
——
19: Asterix the Gaul [Goscinny and Uderzo]
18: * The Doorstep Mile [Alastair Humphreys]
17: Ravenspur [Conn Iggulden]
16: * Ender’s Game [Orson Scott Card] (audiobook)
——
15: Lessons in Stoicism [John Sellars]
14: How Proust Can Change Your Life [Alain De Botton] (audiobook) (D)
13: Start Finishing: How To Go From Idea To Done [Charlie Gilkey]
12: A Month In The Country [J.L. Carr] (C)
11: The Body: A Guide for Occupants [Bill Bryson] (audiobook)
10: The Art of War [Sun Tzu]
9: Tuck Everlasting [Natalie Babbitt] (B)
8: Fingers in the Sparkle Jar [Chris Packham]
7: Desert Solitaire [Edward Abbey] (A)
——
6: The 3-Day Effect [Florence Williams] (audiobook)
5: The War of Art [Steven Pressfield] (audiobook)
4: The Wings of The Sphinx [Andrea Camilleri]
3: Essentialism [Greg McKeown] (audiobook)
2: First Man In [Anthony Middleton]
1: Digital Fortress [Dan Brown]
2020 ↑
Exit Music [Ian Rankin]
Stress-Proof: The Scientific Solution to Protect Your Brain and Body – And Be More Resilient Every Day (audiobook) [Mithu Storoni]
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor [Donald Robertson]
Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment (audiobook) [Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas]
The Amber Spyglass (audiobook) [Philip Pullman]
Career of Evil [Robert Galbraith]
The School of Life: An Emotional Education (audiobook) [edited by Alain de Botton]
Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life [Edith Hall]
Your Pace Or Mine? [Lisa Jackson]
On The Map – Why The World Looks The Way It Does [Simon Garfield]
The Subtle Knife (audiobook) [Philip Pullman]
Goodbye, Things [Fumio Sasaki]
Strange Shores [Arnaldur Indridason]
Footnotes: How Running Makes Us Human [Vybarr Cregan-Reid]
12 Rules For Life (audiobook) [Jordan Peterson]
The Flame Bearer [Bernard Cornwell]
How To Think [Alan Jacobs]
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (audiobook) [Stephen R. Covey]
* Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days [James Wallman]
Foundation [Isaac Asimov]
Keep Going [Austin Kleon]
Severed [Simon Kernick]
Digital Minimalism [Cal Newport]
A Philosophy of Walking [Frederic Gros]
Finish (audiobook) [Jon Acuff]
Sharpe’s Honour Bernard Cornwell]
Ready For Anything (audiobook) [David Allen]
Treachery [Julian Stockwin]
The Ultimate Jim Rohn Library (audiobook) [Jim Rohn]
2019 ↑
The Daily Stoic [Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman] – daily throughout 2018
The Fifth Woman [Henning Mankell]
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing (audiobook) [Daniel Pink]
*Hyperfocus [Chris Bailey]
So Long And Thanks For All The Fish [Douglas Adams]
The Bullet Journal Method [Ryder Carroll]
Make Time: How To Focus On What Matters Every Day (audiobook) [Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky]
*The Salt Path [Raynor Winn]
Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way To Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones (audiobook) [James Clear]
Life, the Universe and Everything [Douglas Adams]
*Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There (audiobook) [Rutger Bregman]
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [Douglas Adams]
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe [Douglas Adams]
Start Now, Get Perfect Later (audiobook) [Rob Moore]
Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well [Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen]
The Fourth Turning: An America Prophecy (audiobook) [William Strauss and Neil Howe]
One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way [Robert Maurer]
Deep Work: Roles For Focused Success in a Distracted World (audiobook) [Cal Newport]
The Art of Taking Action: Lessons From Japanese Psychology [Gregg Krech]
*Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams (audiobook) [Matthew Walker]
This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor [Adam Kay]
Relentless [Simon Kernick]
The Happy Return (Hornblower) [C.S. Forester]
Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ (audiobook) [Giulia Enders]
The Hidden Life of Trees [Peter Wohlleben]
Bloodline [Conn Iggulden]
Getting Things Done (audiobook) [David Allen]
Willpower Does’t Work [Benjamin Hardy]
Unsubscribe [Jocelyn Glei]
The Silkworm [Robert Galbraith]
The Four Tendencies [Gretchen Rubin]
August Heat [Andrea Camilleri]
Northern Lights (audiobook) [Philip Pullman]
The Naming of the Dead [Ian Rankin]
2018 ↑
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Parts One and Two [Stephen R. Covey]
How To Be A Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living [Massimo Pigliucci]
Ego Is The Enemy (audiobook) [Ryan Holiday]
The Truce [Primo Levi]
If This Is A Man [Primo Levi]
The Great Courses: Outsmart Yourself, Brain-Based Strategies to a Better You (audiobook) [Peter Vishton]
Flashman on the March [George MacDonald Fraser]
Essentialism (audiobook) [Greg McKeown]
On The Road [Jack Kerouac]
On the Shortness of Life [Seneca]
The Obstacle Is The Way (audiobook) [Ryan Holiday]
The Philosopher and the Wolf [Mark Rowlands]
Out Of Your Mind (audiobook) [Alan Watts]
Warriors of the Storm [Bernard Cornwell]
The Achievement Habit [Bernard Roth]
The Snow Goose – a story of Dunkirk [Paul Gallico]
**The Case Against Sugar [Gary Taubes]
Make Your Bed [General William H. McRaven]
Black Skies [Arnaldur Indridason]
Self Discipline (audiobook) [Jennifer Alison]
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying [Marie Kondo]
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (audiobook) [Angela Duckworth]
The Path: A New Way to Think About Everything [Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh]
This is Happening (audiobook) [Rohan Gunatillake]
Sharpe’s Enemy [Bernard Cornwell]
The Happiness Advantage (audiobook) [Shawn Achor]
The Dance of the Possible [Scott Berkun]
Smarter, Faster, Better [Charles Duhigg]
Pacific [Simon Winchester]
The Big Leap (audiobook) [Gay Hendricks]
Nowhere Near First [Cory Reese]
A Good Day To Die [Simon Kernick]
*The Tao of Running [Gary Dudney]
The Admiral’s Daughter [Julian Stockwin]
2017 ↑
*How to Have a Good Day [Caroline Webb]
**Running with the Pack [Mark Rowlands]
Once Upon a Time in the West… Country [Tony Hawks]
Sidetracked [Henning Mankell]
Better than Before [Gretchen Rubin]
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child [J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [Roald Dahl]
The Road [Cormac McCarthy]
The Cuckoo’s Calling [Robert Galbraith]
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win [Jocko Willink and Leif Babin]
Primal Endurance [Mark Sissons]
*Eat and Run [Scott Jurek with Steve Friedman]
Mindset [Carol Dweck]
Think Like A Freak [Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner]
Drive [Dan Pink]
Hornblower and the Atropos [C.S. Forester]
Mo Farah: Twin Ambitions – My Autobiography [Mo Farah with T.J Andrews]
Running with the Mind of Meditation [Sakyong Mipham]
Wars Of The Roses: Trinity [Conn Iggulden]
The Coaching Habit [Michael Bungay Stanier]
Autobiography [Morrissey]
The Paper Moon [Andrea Camilleri]
Fleshmarket Close [Ian Rankin]
*Deep Work [Cal Newport]
2016 ↑
Black Box Thinking [Matthew Syed]
Flashman and the Dragon [George MacDonald Fraser]
*The Wisdom of Insecurity [Alan W. Watts]
Michael Rosen’s Sad Book [Michael Rosen]
*Being Mortal [Atul Gawande]
The Empty Throne [Bernard Cornwell]
Luggy: The Autobiography of Paul Sturrock [Paul Sturrock and Bill Richards]
Everything Will Work Out in the Long Run [Dave Urwin]
Keep On Running [Phil Hewitt]
Colourless Tzukuru Tazaki and His Years Of Pilgrimage [Haruki Murakami]
Run Or Die [Kilian Jornet]
Take The Stairs [Rory Vaden]
The Most Good You Can Do [Peter Singer]
*Into The Wild [John Krakauer]
Outrage [Arnaldur Indridason]
*Born To Run [Christopher McDougall]
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy [William B. Irvine]
Affeton [Keith Dyer]
The Man Who Wanted To Be Happy [Laurent Gounelle]
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics [Jonathan Wilson]
Sharpe’s Sword [Bernard Cornwell]
Buddhism Plain and Simple [Steve Hagan]
The Snow Leopard [Peter Matthiessen]
A Little History of Philosophy [Nigel Warburton]
The Crossroads of Should and Must [Elle Luna]
The Antidote: Happiness for people who can’t stand positive thinking [Oliver Burkeman]
Make Your Mark [Jocelyn Glei (editor)]
The Crime Trade [Simon Kernick]
*How to Live: A Life Of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer [Sarah Bakewell]
18 Minutes [Peter Bregman]
*Running Free [Richard Askwith]
Steal Like An Artist [Austin Kleon]
Command [Julian Stockwin]
*Stuffocation [James Wallman]
The Man Who Smiled [Henning Mankell]
Hornblower and the Hotspur [C.S. Forester]
2015 ↑
Why We Run – A Story of Obsession [Robin Harvie]
Wars Of The Roses: Stormbird [Conn Iggulden]
The Sketchnote Handbook [Mike Rohde]
The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters [Mark Henderson]
The Patience of The Spider [Andrea Camilleri]
*The First 20 Minutes [Gretchen Reynolds]
The Pagan Lord [Bernard Cornwell]
The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Programme to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness [Dr Steve Peters]
*What I Talk About When I Talk About Running [Haruki Murakami]
Running [Ronnie O’Sullivan]
A Question of Blood [Ian Rankin]
The Power of Habit [Charles Duhigg]
Flashman and the Angel of The Lord [George MacDonald Fraser]
Emotional Intelligence [Daniel Goleman]
*Show Your Work [Austin Kleon]
*Steal Like An Artist [Austin Kleon]
Hypothermia [Arnaldur Indridason]
Sharpe’s Company [Bernard Cornwell]
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry [Rachel Joyce]
*Maximize Your Potential [Jocelyn Glei (editor)]
*Manage Your Day-To-Day [Jocelyn Glei (editor)]
The Murder Exchange [Simon Kernick]
Tenacious [Julian Stockwin]
2014 ↑
Empire of Silver [Conn Iggulden]
Wherever You Go, There You Are [Jon Kabat-Zinn]
The Compassionate Mind [Paul Gilbert]
Rounding The Mark [Andrea Camilleri]
The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football Is Wrong [Chris Anderson and David Sally]
1396 [Bernard Cornwell]
Lieutenant Hornblower [C.S. Forester]
Getting Things Done [David Allen]
Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world [Mark Williams and Danny Penman]
Resurrection Men [Ian Rankin]
Thinking, Fast and Slow [Daniel Kahneman]
The Fort [Bernard Cornwell]
Just My Type [Simon Garfield]
Watchman [Ian Rankin]
The Music Instinct [Philip Ball]
The White Lioness [Henning Mankell]
I Am The Secret Footballer [Anonymous]
The Business of Dying [Simon Kernick]
2013 ↑
*Alex’s Adventures in Numberland [Alex Bellos]
Animal Farm [George Orwell]
Brain Rules [John Medina]
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest [Stieg Larsson]
Critical Mass [Philip Ball]
Arctic Chill [Arnaldur Indridason]
A Life Too Short [Ronald Reng]
The Logic of Life [Tim Harford]
Sharpe’s Battle [Bernard Cornwell]
Bounce [Matthew Syed]
Quarterdeck [Julian Stockwin]
The Scent of the Night [Andrea Camilleri]
Death of Kings [Bernard Cornwell]
Atlantic: A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories [Simon Winchester]
Getting Things Done [David Allen]
The Hanging Garden [Ian Rankin]
Flashman in the Great Game [George MacDonald Fraser]
Sleep: A Very Short Introduction [Stephen W. Lockley and Russell G. Fraser]
*The Procrastination Equation [Dr Piers Steel]
Bones of the Hills [Conn Iggulden]
Switch: How to Change Things when Change Is Hard [Chip and Dan Heath]
The Dance of Air and Sea [A.H. Taylor]
Mr Midshipman Hornblower [C.S. Forester]
Tickling the English [Dara O Briain]
2012 ↑
The Dogs of Riga [Henning Mankell]
Coming Back To Me [Marcus Trescothick]
Turtles, Termites and Traffic Jams: Explorations in Massively Parallel Microworlds [Mitchel Resnick]
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]
The Information [James Gleick]
The Girl Who Played With Fire [Stieg Larsson]
Mutiny [Julian Stockwin]
* [Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi]
The Excursion to Tindari [Andrea Camilleri]
Great Tales from English History: The Battle of the Boyne to DNA [Robert Lacey]
The Draining Lake [Arnaldur Indridason]
Sharpe’s Fury [Bernard Cornwell]
Flotsametrics and the Floating World [Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano]
You’ll Win Nothing With Kids: Fathers, Sons and Football [Jim White]
Black and Blue [Ian Rankin]
2011 ↑
Flashman at the Charge [George MacDonald Fraser]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Stieg Larsson]
Super Freakonomics [Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner]
Faceless Killers [Henning Mankell]
Let It Bleed [Ian Rankin]
The Burning Land [Bernard Cornwell]
The Wavewatcher’s Companion [Gavin Prettor-Pinney]
Great Tales from English History: Chaucer to the Glorious Revolution [Robert Lacey]
The Voice of the Violin [Andrea Camilleri]
Outliers [Malcolm Gladwell]
Blue at the Mizzen [Patrick O’Brian]
Lords of the Bow [Conn Iggledun]
:59 Seconds: Think a little, Change a lot [Richard Wiseman]
Faster [James Gleick]
Voices [Arnaldur Indridason]
*The Checklist Manifesto [Atul Gawande]
Mortal Causes [Ian Rankin]
Seaflower [Julian Stockwin]
The Tipping Point [Malcolm Gladwell]
Azincourt [Bernard Cornwell]
2010 ↑
Buy-ology [Martin Lindstrom]
A Brief History of the Circumnavigators [Derek Wilson]
On Giants’ Shoulders [Melvyn Bragg]
Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain [Chris Stringer]
The World According to Bertie [Alexander McCall Smith]
Peter Shilton’s Nearly Men [Paul Roberts]
How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered The World [Francis Wheen]
Fighter Boys [Patrick Bishop]
Flashman and the Redskins [George MacDonald Fraser]
The Damned United [David Peace]
*Great Tales from English History: Cheddar Man to the Peasants Revolt [Robert Lacey]
The Snack Thief [Andrea Camilleri]
Problem Solving 101 [Ken Watanabe]
The Best A Man Can Get [John O’Farrell]
Sharpe’s Escape [Bernard Cornwell]
*Better: A Surgeon’s Notes On Performance [Atul Gawande]
A Spot of Bother [Mark Haddon]
Cricket, Lovely Cricket? [Lawrence Booth]
*Bad Science [Ben Goldacre]
*Wolf of the Plains [Conn Iggledun]
Silence of the Grave [Arnaldur Indridason]
What Sport Tells Us About Life [Ed Smith]
Viking: King’s Man [Tim Severin]
Blink [Malcolm Gladwell]
The Falls [Ian Rankin]
*In Defense of Food [Michael Pollan]
A Piano in the Pyrenees [Tony Hawks]
*The Hot Topic [Gabrielle Walker and Sir David King]
The Hundred Days [Patrick O’Brian]
Collapse [Jared Diamond]
Provided You Don’t Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough [Duncan Hamilton]
2009 ↑
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2nd time) [Douglas Adams]
*An Ocean of Air [Gabrielle Walker]
Tainted Blood [Arnaldur Indridason]
White Gold [Giles Milton]
Set In Darkness [Ian Rankin]
Artemis [Julian Stockwin]
*The Back of the Napkin [Dan Roam]
The Universe – A Biography [John Gribbin]
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding [Al Ries and Laura Ries]
The Terracotta Dog [Andrea Camilleri]
Geek Speak [Graham Tattersall]
Sword Song [Bernard Cornwell]
Love Over Scotland [Alexander McCall Smith]
The Undercover Economist [Tim Harford]
Flash for Freedom [George MacDonald Fraser]
*A Bad Birdwatcher’s Companion [Simon Barnes]
The Bad Birdwatchers Guide [Simon Barnes]
May Contain Nuts [John O’Farrell]
Taming the Atom: The Emergence of the Visible Microworld [Hans Christian von Baeyer]
Viking: Sworn Brother [Tim Severin]
*Freakonomics [Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner]
Sharpe’s Gold [Bernard Cornwell]
Quirkology [Richard Wiseman]
2008 ↑
History of the World in Six Glasses [Tom Standage]
Dead Souls [Ian Rankin]
The Meaning of Sport [Simon Barnes]
Ollie [Ian Holloway]
The Yellow Admiral [Patrick O’Brian]
A Measure of All Things [Ian Whitelaw]
The Flood [Ian Rankin]
*The Weather Makers [Tim Flannery]
*Maths Minus Fear [Lawrence Potter]
Viking: Odinn’s Child [Tim Severin]
Fermat’s Last Theorem [Simon Singh]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [J.K. Rowling]
The Shape of Water [Andrea Camillera]
Kydd [Julian Stockwin]
Expresso Tales [Alexander McCall Smith]
The Silent Landscape [Richard Corfield]
The Surgeon of Crowthorne [Simon Winchester]
Flashman and the Mountain of Light [George MacDonald Fraser]
Under the Weather [Tom Fort]
The Lords of the North [Bernard Cornwell]
Skeleton Key [Anthony Horowitz]
Nature’s Numbers [Ian Stewart]
The Periodic Kingdom [Peter Atkins]
Have I Got Views For You [Boris Johnson]
The Science of The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy [Michael Hanlon]
The Black Book [Ian Rankin]
Four Elements: Water, Air, Fire, Earth [Rebecca Rupp]
Gentlemen and Players [Joanne Harris]
2007 ↑
My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes [Gary Imlach]
Sharpe’s Eagle [Bernard Cornwell]
*The Longest Crawl [Ian Marchant]
Point Blanc [Anthony Horowitz]
*The Cloud-Spotter’s Guide [Gavin Pretor-Pinney]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Thirteenth – The End [Lemony Snicket]
The Commodore [Patrick O’Brian]
A Crack in the Edge of the World [Simon Winchester]
The Science of Everyday Life [Jay Ingram]
Flashman’s Lady [George MacDonald Fraser]
Stormbreaker [Anthony Horowitz]
*Penguins Stopped Play [Harry Thompson]
Return of the Timewaster Letters [Robin Cooper]
The Pale Horseman [Bernard Cornwell]
Happiness – Lessons from a New Science [Richard Layard]
Strip Jack [Ian Rankin]
A Death Divided [Clare Francis]
Outposts [Simon Winchester]
A Good Hanging and Other Stories [Ian Rankin]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Twelfth – The Penultimate Peril [Lemony Snicket]
The Wine-Dark Sea [Patrick O’Brian]
*The Timewaster Letters [Robin Cooper]
Saturday [Ian McEwan]
The Planets [Dava Sobel]
44 Scotland Street [Alexander McCall Smith]
Give Me Time [The Mind Gym]
The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]
2006 ↑
Addicted [Tony Adams]
Tooth and Nail [Ian Rankin]
Royal Flash [George MacDonald Fraser]
A Walk in the Woods [Bill Bryson]
Sharpe’s Havoc [Bernard Cornwell]
Hide and Seek [Ian Rankin]
The Last English King [Julian Rathbone]
*Big Bang [Simon Singh]
The Age of Scurvy [Stephen R. Bown]
The World According to Clarkson [Jeremy Clarkson]
Knots and Crosses [Ian Rankin]
The Dice Man [Luke Rhinehart]
The Last Kingdom [Bernard Cornwell]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [J.K. Rowling]
Philosophy in 30 Days [Dominique Janicaud]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2nd time) [J.K. Rowling]
Artemis Fowl [Eoin Colfer]
Flashman [George MacDonald Fraser]
The Great Arc [John Keay]
Clarissa Oakes [Patrick O’Brian]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Eleventh – The Grim Grotto [Lemony Snicket]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Tenth – The Slippery Slope [Lemony Snicket]
Krakatoa – The Day the World Exploded [Simon Winchester]
My Journey – The First Ten Years [Paul Wotton]
Sharpe’s Rifles [Bernard Cornwell]
The Riddle and The Knight [Giles Milton]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Ninth – The Carnivorous Carnival [Lemony Snicket]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Eighth – The Hostile Hospital [Lemony Snicket]
Neither Here Nor There [Bill Bryson]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Seventh – The Vile Village [Lemony Snicket]
The Science of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials [Mary and John Gribbin]
The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1: The Field Guide [Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black]
The Meaning of Everything [Simon Winchester]
The Nutmeg of Consolation [Patrick O’Brian]
2005 ↑
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Sixth – The Ersatz Elevator [Lemony Snicket]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Fifth – The Austere Academy [Lemony Snicket]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Fourth – The Miserable Mill [Lemony Snicket]
Sharpe’s Prey [Bernard Cornwell]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Third – The Wide Window [Lemony Snicket]
To Be A Pilgrim [Graham Coughlan]
The Valley of Fear [Arthur Conan Doyle]
The Snapper [Roddy Doyle]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the Second – The Reptile Room [Lemony Snicket]
The Hobbit (3rd time) [J.R.R. Tolkien[
The Thirteen Gun Salute [Patrick O’Brian]
The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
Heretic [Bernard Cornwell]
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [C.S. Lewis]
The Magician’s Nephew [C.S. Lewis]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2nd time) [J.K. Rowling]
*A Short History of Nearly Everything [Bill Bryson]
Sharpe’s Trafalgar [Bernard Cornwell]
The First World War [Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson]
The Letter of Marque [Patrick O’Brian]
The Sign of Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
A Study in Scarlet [Arthur Conan Doyle]
The Remorseful Day [Colin Dexter]
Sharpe’s Fortress [Bernard Cornwell]
Do Not Pass Go [Tim Moore]
The Reverse of the Medal [Patrick O’Brian]
One-Hit Wonderland [Tony Hawks]
The Daughter’s of Cain [Colin Dexter]
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time [Mark Haddon]
Sharpe’s Triumph [Bernard Cornwell]
The Road to McCarthy [Pete McCarthy]
Eats, Shoots and Leaves [Lynne Truss]
2004 ↑
The Far Side of the World [Patrick O’Brian]
Sharpe’s Tiger [Bernard Cornwell]
The Way Through The Woods [Colin Dexter]
The Island of Lost Maps [Miles Harvey]
Vagabond [Bernard Cornwell]
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis [Tony Hawks]
An Unfortunate Series of Events, Book the First – The Bad Beginning [Lemony Snicket]
Treason’s Harbour [Patrick O’Brian]
Samurai William [Giles Milton]
Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix [J.K. Rowling]
The Ionian Mission [Patrick O’Brian]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2nd time) [J.K. Rowling]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2nd time) [J.K. Rowling]
The Luck Factor [Richard Wiseman]
How to be Good [Nick Hornby]
Parkinson on Football [Michael Parkinson]
Plymouth – A New History [Crispin Gill]
2003↑
The Goalkeeper’s Revenge [Bill Naughton]
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
The Hobbit (2nd time) [J.R.R. Tolkien]
The Surgeon’s Mate [Patrick O’Brian]
Paul Sturrock’s Championship Diary [Paul Sturrock and Richard Cowdery]
Ethel and Ernest [Raymond Briggs]
The Universe in a Nutshell [Stephen Hawking]
Henry Winstanley and the Eddystone Lighthouse [Adam Hart-Davis and Emily Troscianko]
*The Amber Spyglass [Phillip Pullman]
*The Subtle Knife [Phillip Pullman]
Harlequin [Bernard Cornwell]
A New Kind of Science (Chapters 1-8) [Stephen Wolfram]
Big Chief Elizabeth [Giles Milton]
Head First [Tony Buzan]
McCarthy’s Bar [Pete McCarthy]
How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper [O.M. Day]
*Northern Lights [Phillip Pullman]
A Beginner’s Guide to Scientific Method [Stephen Carey]
The Fortunes of War [Patrick O’Brian]
The One Minute Manager [Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson]
*The Map that Changed the World [Simon Winchester]
The Jewel that was Ours [Colin Dexter]
In the Heart of the Sea [Nathaniel Philbrick]
The Lord of the Rings [J.R.R. Tolkien]
2002↑
Tim O'Hare 