I have loved reading books ever since I was a kid. Both my parents had been avid readers all through their formative years and they used to gift me books every time I scored good grades in school. I moved to a bigger school in sixth grade and as luck would have it, my principal was a voracious reader who made sure to stock up the library with an amazing collection of books on various subjects. I would race through my lunch and run to the library to spend the rest of my 30-minute lunch hour reading.

As I got older, I noticed that I have not been able to read with the same intensity that I had in my childhood. I feel that it is a combination of two factors - the amount of time in my day available to read and distractions - especially involving mobile phones. I have amassed a decent collection of books - hard copies, Kindle editiions, and audiobooks over the years. I love reading books on history and fiction novels dealing with espionage or war or geopolitics.

For the past few years, I have set a target for myself to read 26 books in a year. Why 26? 26 books a year is equivalent to reading a book every two weeks, which in my opinion, is a decent amount of time to spend reading. I started keeping track of the books I was reading in 2017. I hate it when people make pencil/pen marks in their books and I avoid doing the same. I do not have extensive notes on the books I read, but I do highlight my books in Kindle copiously and use Readwise to export these highlights to Notion.

I also listen to a lot of audiobooks. An Audible subscription gives you one book credit every month and I use it judiciously. One thing that helps with this habit is the driving involved to pick up/drop off my wife to/from her work. Also, I listen a lot during long roadtrips after my wife falls asleep in the car.

I have not been able to meet the 26-book goal since I started tracking the books I was reading. Here are the stats,

2017 - 9 books
2018 - 3 books
2019 - 22 books
2020 - 12 books
2021 - 2 books
2022 - 3 books
2023 - 12 books

This number includes both technical and non-technical books. 2024 was the year that I was able to meet the target. As of today, I have read 26 books, meeting my goals with 2 more months to go before the end of the year. I’m sure that I will be able to read more than 30 books by December.

These are the books I read this year,

Here are brief descriptions for each book:

  1. Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett - A WWII espionage thriller about a Nazi spy in Britain with critical information that could change the war’s outcome.

  2. At Risk by Stella Rimington - A counter-terrorism thriller following an MI5 agent working to prevent a potential attack on British soil.

  3. Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI’s Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise - A real-life account of FBI agent Robert Hanssen’s betrayal of the U.S. to the Soviet Union over two decades.

  4. Moscow X: A Novel by David McCloskey - A geopolitical thriller set in contemporary Russia, dealing with espionage and intrigue at the highest levels of government.

  5. 11/22/63 by Stephen King - A time-travel adventure where a teacher attempts to prevent the assassination of JFK.

  6. Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World by Joby Warrick - An account of Syria’s civil war, chemical weapons, and America’s attempts to contain them.

  7. The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton - A philosophical thriller about an undercover detective in a surreal anarchist group.

  8. The Ipcress File by Len Deighton - A spy novel featuring a British agent entangled in a brainwashing conspiracy during the Cold War.

  9. Escape to Nowhere by Amar Bhushan - A story of an Indian intelligence officer hunting down a spy within his own agency.

  10. Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed by Sandra V. Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille - The inside story of the CIA’s pursuit of Aldrich Ames, a mole who betrayed the U.S. to Russia.

  11. The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth - A journalist uncovers a secret organization of former Nazis in post-WWII Germany.

  12. Final Bearing - Hunter Killer Series #1 by Wallace and Keith - A submarine thriller following a deadly covert mission.

  13. The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth - An ex-soldier goes undercover as a Taliban prisoner to infiltrate a terrorist network.

  14. Deep Undercover by Jack Barsky - A memoir of a former KGB spy’s life in America and eventual defection.

  15. Arabian Storm - Hunter Killer Series by Wallace and Keith - A high-stakes thriller of naval warfare and geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.

  16. Berlin Game by Len Deighton - A British intelligence agent must track down a traitor in East Berlin during the Cold War.

  17. Slow Horses by Mick Herron - A group of failed MI5 agents, exiled to dull tasks, become involved in a high-profile kidnapping case.

  18. The Zero Cost Mission/The Wily Agent by Amar Bhushan - An Indian intelligence officer recounts a zero-cost operation.

  19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - A classic mystery about a missing Indian gemstone and the intrigue surrounding its recovery.

  20. The Fellowship of the Ring - The first book in Tolkien’s fantasy series, following Frodo and the Fellowship’s quest to destroy a powerful ring.

  21. The Two Towers - The Fellowship faces new challenges as they continue their journey to thwart the dark lord Sauron.

  22. The Return of the King - The epic conclusion of the journey to destroy the One Ring and the battle for Middle-earth.

  23. Kim by Rudyard Kipling - A young boy in British-occupied India becomes entangled in espionage during the Great Game between Russia and Britain.

  24. The Night Manager by John le Carré - An ex-soldier turned hotel manager goes against a dangerous arms dealer.

  25. The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel - A look at how people think about and manage money.

  26. Manhunt by Peter Bergen - The true story of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden.

I am currently reading the following books,

  1. Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems by Martin Kleppmann - I have been trying to read this classic for a while now.

  2. Database Internals: A Deep Dive into How Distributed Data Systems Work by Alex Petrov.

  3. Implementing Service Level Objectives: A Practical Guide to SLIs, SLOs, and Error Budgets by Alex Hidalgo

  4. Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence by by Charity Majors, Liz Fong-Jones, and George Miranda

  5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

  6. Crucial Conversations - Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler - This book comes highly recommended by Callie Buruchara. Callie is a senior software engineer and I love listening to her podcast “Majority of Work”.

  7. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.

Reading has always been a source of inspiration, learning, and adventure for me, whether I’m delving into historical thrillers, unraveling mysteries, or diving into technical literature. This year has been particularly fulfilling, reaching my reading goal with books that challenged and entertained me. I’m excited to finish the year strong with my current reads and look forward to discovering new perspectives, stories, and insights in the months ahead. Here’s to more good books, great journeys, and the power of words to expand our horizons!