This year, I completed 22 books, started but abandoned two, and re-read portions of one. Bolded books were my favorites of the year.
- The Traveller’s Tree, A Journey Through the Caribbean Islands, Patrick Leigh Fermor, 11 JAN 2022 - an old travel account of the Carribbean with some interesting glimpses into history and culture.
- American Moonshot, John F Kennedy and the great space race, Douglas Brinkley, 24 JAN 2022
- Punished by Rewards, the Trouble with … Bribes, Alfie Kohn, [abandoned] - seemed too much of a critique of other theories rather than an exploration of his own.
- Bleak House, Charles Dickens, [abandoned] - ended up packing this away during a move and never got back to it.
- Building Products for the Enterprise, [re-read]
- The Great Bridge, the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn bridge, David McCullough, 27 MAR 2022
- Your Medical Mind, how to decide what is right for you, Jerome Groopman MD & Pamela Hartzbad MD, 13 APR 2022 - I had higher hopes for this one. It was full of anecodtes but I was left wanting for more of a framework to pull it all together
- At the End of Ceres Street, a chef’s salute to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 12 APR 2022
- Economists at War, How a Handful of Economists Helped Win and Lose the World Wars, Alan Bollard, 25 APR 2022 - was left wanting more
- Leonardo Da Vinci, Walter Isaacson, 17 MAY 2022 - I enjoyed learning more about Da Vinci, but Walter Isaacson inserts himself too much into the biography.
- George Washington dealmaker-in-Chief, the story of how the father of our country unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit in America, Cyrus A Ansary, 23 MAY 2022 - This didn't really live up to the title. It was more just a Washington biography of a certain time period without showing said "unleashing"
- The Code Breaker, Jenner Doudna Gene Editing and the Future if the Human Race, Walter Isaacson, 09 JUN 2022 - again, Issacson inserts himself too much into his books.
- I Thought it was Just Me (But it Isn’t), Brené Brown, 21 JUN 2022
- The House of Rothschild, Money’s Prophets 1798 - 1848, Niall Ferguson, 12 AUG 2022 - I finished this, but it was not gripping in the way that House of Morgan or Titan was. I'm not planning on reading the additional volumes.
- The White Mountain, Rediscovering Mount Washington’s Hidden Culture, Dan Szczesny, 17 AUG 2022 - I'm hoping to climb Mt Washington this summer
- The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman, 25 AUG 2022 - Historical fiction about the impressionist painter Camile Pissaro set in St Thomas. enjoyable read, esp imagining the St Thomas of old.
- Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing, 10 SEP 2022 - I knew that this was an expedition, but learned that I didn't truly know the story. Great read and amazing story of human perseverance.
- Imagine a City, a Pilot’s Journey Across the Urban World, Mark Vanhoenacker, 04 OCT 2022 - Mark's first book, Skyfaring, is one of my absolute favorites. This one didn't live up to my heightened expectations.
- Conquering The Pacific, An unknown mariner and the final great voyage of the age of discovery, Andres Resendez, 15 OCT 2022
- The fish that ate the whale, the life and times of America’s banana king, Rich Cohen, 22 OCT 2022 - founder led companies vs. MBA led companies
- Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr, 30 OCT 2022 - fantastic novel.
- Legacy, What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life, James Kerr, 18 NOV 2022 - I found this lacked actual substance. Felt powerful to read but it's mostly empty calories.
- The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals, FranklinCovey, 16 NOV 2022 - leading and lagging measures; powerful way to think about execution and goals.
- Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow, 23 DEC 2022 - I love the musical (said everyone), and so finally dove into the full story. Slow in the middle, but still a great read.
- Hard Landing, the epic contest for power and profits that plunged the airlines into chaos, Thomas Petzinger, Jr, 28 DEC 2022 - fun book looking at the airlines from deregulation until the mid 1990s
Jacob Flanders is the President of Flybridge VI, a strategy consultancy focusing on data at the intersection of health care and life sciences. He is currently incubating his next company.