100 Book Challenge

January3

In 2010, I took part in the 100 book challenge (pic) I found somewhere online, and I’ve decided to continue it every year. This is a great idea to encourage reading, and after doing it for a year, I figured it was a good one to do every year. Plus, I like posting the little mini-reviews so I can quickly go back and recommend a few books to friends who also love sci-fi, fantasy, business, etc. I also chart the ratio of fun to serious books here.

Totals
2023 – 102 Books – click here for the list/reviews.
2022 – 101 Books – click here for the list/reviews.
2021 – 108 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2020 – 193 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2019 – 149 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2018 – 170 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2017 – 157 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2016 – 112 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2015 – 141 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2014 – 101 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2013 – 137 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2012 – 146 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2011 – 131 Books – Click here for the list/reviews.
2010 – 111 Books – Click here for mini reviews and a list.

For 2024, my goal is to read 100+ books.

January 2024

1. The Last Devil to Die – This is the last book that is out for the Thursday Murder Club Mystery. It was fantastic, as always. It has some truly heartbreaking moments I didn’t see coming. The characters are a lot of fun.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The 7 books in the Sean Duffy Series by Adrian McKinty (starting with The Cold Cold Ground). These are set in Northern Ireland over the years, with the focus being Sean, who is a Catholic detective. These are FANTASTIC and some of the best detective fiction I’ve read since Bosch. Love them, and some of my favorites of the year so far! Great ending as well.

9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – This is one of the most recommended books on Shepherd, and I have heard great things. It was beautifully written and really moving. But, I wouldn’t say it is one of my favorite books of the year. It is a beautiful story, but it is almost like several snapshots of different people and very light on an overarching plot. It is like a picture of a moment in time split over a group of people. Otherwise light on story or character arcs. I am very curious to understand why people love this book and what other books they like. It seems like a real divide and I am curious how I can break this down by book DNA.

10. Infernum by Jayson Adams – This was a really fun book about a future where humans and AI live as separate groups and a race to find a super weapon. The characters were interesting, and it was heavy on the science. That said I am not sure this qualifies as hard sci-fi…

11. Wounded Tirgris: A Journey through The Cradle of Civilization by Leon McCarron – This was a great book about Leon and and his team trying to travel the length of the Tirgris river from Turkey through to Iraq. The story was a heavy mix of Isis, history, and environmental damage. I learned a lot, and it was a pretty amazing journey.

February 2024

12. The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes – Terry wrote “I am Pilgrim,” which is one of my favorite books I read in 2023 and a fantastic spy/military thriller. I was looking forward to this sequel. The first 75% are stunning, I love his writing and the way he interweaves chapter together. Then at 75% the story goes INSANE into some weird science-fiction bit but not good sci-fi. It was super disappointing and such a weird way to end it. He could have cut the book shorter and ended it properly. The ending just didn’t fit.

13. Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo – A crazy sci-fi / fantasy story about a doorway to another world opening on earth and the race to stop it. I would give this a B- as it was kinda fun, but not enough to pull me in. The characters were a bit light and I get tired of some of the gun bullshit people throw in these books. Fun read but not for me.

14. Crusade (book 1 of the Starfire series) by David Weber – This was a cool sci-fi military thriller where a new species emerges to attack humans, and they have to fight back very quickly to undo the damage. The writing is well done, and the military description are decent. I got a bit lost in one scene and wish the characters had a bit more flesh on them. There are 6 more in the series but I didn’t love this enough to buy those.

15. Blackout by Marc Elsberg – This was a fun thriller about the electrical grid going down in a terrorism attack. It was a good beach read, but not much in terms of characters, and a bit choppy. Super interesting premise though.

 

 

 

 

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10 Comments to

“100 Book Challenge”

  1. Avatar February 24th, 2010 at 5:38 am bwb’s blog » Blog Archive » Japan Rocks! Says:

    […] has given me a lot of time to read, I’ve read 9 books in the last 3 to 4 days, reviews here! Just fun reads which is nice, almost like I’m at the […]


  2. Avatar March 13th, 2010 at 2:31 pm bwb’s blog » Blog Archive » Updated My Book List Says:

    […] now up to 26 books on my 100 books in 2010 challenge! Short reviews next to them, not sure how helpful but it should be pretty easy to see which are […]


  3. Avatar March 17th, 2010 at 7:46 am Jeremy Says:

    I commend you Ben. One book a month is a stretch for me. I have read a few of those. The Bill Bryson book “A Brief History…” is one of my all time favorites.


  4. Avatar March 18th, 2010 at 7:10 pm bwb Says:

    We will see how far I get! I read fast luckily but its still really hard, its a lot of books.

    Ya I was so impressed, I wish we had read that in high school.


  5. Avatar February 27th, 2011 at 10:50 pm bwb’s blog » Blog Archive » Miami Says:

    […] read 4 books and I highly recommend this book that talks about factory girls in China and was just an amazing […]


  6. Avatar October 30th, 2011 at 4:21 pm bwb’s blog » Blog Archive » Good Vacation! Says:

    […] I went snorkeling every day, swam for hours, and just read under a nice awning right on the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen (mostly because I think the water is an amazing color). Plus enjoyed some rum, got a zillion new freckles, rented a jeep for a few days and drove all around the island to try other beaches, sampled a lot of french bakeries, ate a lot of fish, etc. And I read 21 books while on break, so I’ve hit my goal for this year with having read 124 books so far! […]


  7. Avatar November 8th, 2011 at 8:58 am April Johnson Says:

    ben, you should add the travel books Chuck Thompson wrote to you list to read, i think you’d like them. the only 2 i’ve read are: “to hellholes and back”, and “smile while you’re lying”.


  8. Avatar November 8th, 2011 at 11:00 am bwb Says:

    Added to my amazon wish list! what are those two about and where does he visit?


  9. Avatar October 4th, 2015 at 12:17 pm bwb's blog » Blog Archive Reading – Fun Versus Serious… - bwb's blog (digital nomad) Says:

    […] I read a lot, and I was curious if the ratio of fun versus serious books changed per year or remained roughly the same. I classified fun as anything I read that is fantasy, sci fi, travel, thrillers, ie, beach books. I classified serious as anything that was business, history, biography, etc. […]


  10. Avatar January 1st, 2016 at 8:27 am bwb's blog » Blog Archive » 2015 Book Summary Says:

    […] 2010 I’ve taken part in a yearly challenge to read 100 books, and I met my goal for 2015 with 141 books. I almost broke my all time record of 146 books from […]


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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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