Book Ponder

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The 5 Books I Read in January 2024

Published by

Gonzalo Gomez

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January was a good reading month for me, I came out of the gates quickly and was spending lots of hours reading on my breaks at work and in my free time at home.  Midway through the month, I realized the mistake of doing two “rereads” simultaneously and that I needed some fresh books to keep me going.  Reading two nonfiction books helped keep the motivation going and I ended up finishing the month off strong.  Here are the books I read in January.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

  • Walden by David Henry Thoreau
  • Published: August 9, 1854
  • Pages: 352
  • Rating: 5/5 (First Read) 4/5 (Second Read)
  • Read: December 4, 2023 – January 4, 2024

This was my second time reading Walden and sadly it fell off the list of books I will always continue to revisit.  While I still consider it a great book and highly recommend it, I didn’t receive any new insights on my second pass through and that’s okay because I gained plenty of value from it on my first read.  This is why I continue to recommend it.  When the desire for peace and solitude strikes again, I’ll revisit my notes on this book instead of reading the entire thing again. 

Walden shows the value of disconnecting from everything and being alone to think clearly and regain perspective on what the important things in life are.  I would strongly encourage you to read it if you are feeling overwhelmed with too much to do in life and not enough time. 

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

This year I vowed to tackle some of the classics off my TBR and Robinson Crusoe was a great choice, it was a fun and easy read.  The pacing was good, and it made you truly feel what it would be like to be abandoned on a remote island.  Daniel Defoe does an excellent job showing us the importance and value of being alone while also displaying the necessity of human interaction.  In the end, we are still social beings.

Blood in the Garden by Chris Herring

The 1990s was a different era of basketball that became defense-oriented and one of the most successful teams of that era were the New York Knicks.  Even though they didn’t win an NBA Championship the 90s Knicks made the NBA Finals twice and were the most successful Knicks teams in the last 40 years.  Blood in the Garden shows the complexity of managing big egos and different personalities on a basketball team.  Starting from ownership to a legendary head coach, to a player that was sought to be the savior of New York, these Knicks teams had big shoes to fill.  Even though they came up short, they still bring back fond memories of a great team and a great era to NBA fans everywhere.  I strongly recommend this read to any sports fan or someone curious to see what the NBA was back in the 90s. 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I have no idea how A Man Called Ove ended up on my bookshelves or how it ended up on my to-read list but someone must have recommended it to me at some point and I am glad they did.  I don’t read too many fiction books nowadays outside of the classics and some of my trusted authors.  I was in a rut with new books, so I decided to try a light read.  This book did a great job at that and tells the story of “Ove”, the ultimate “get off my lawn” old guy.  After his wife’s passing, he believes he has no reason to keep living but the most unexpected circumstances keep giving him reasons to hang around a little longer.  I strongly recommend this one for anyone in search of a good read or something to pick up if you need to find meaning in your life. 

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren

This was my second time reading “How to Read a Book” and I still believe it is the gold standard of books for anyone who wants to take reading or self-education seriously.  I was curious how this book would hold up from my first read in 2019 because back then I almost felt like I wasn’t ready for it but these past 4 years I’ve made tremendous progress in my reading.  The biggest takeaway that I got was that different books or reading materials require different kinds of reading, depending on what they are, and that sometimes the same work will require different kinds of reading depending on the part.  The second takeaway was that we need to be reading things that challenge us or else we will never improve.  Keep an eye out for my “Lessons Learned” post on this book where I will take a deeper look at the lessons we can gain from this book.  Strongly recommend it if you want to take reading seriously moving forward. 

Keep on Reading

I am glad I got a good start to my reading goals this year, and I continue to find tips and tricks to keep the fire burning and reading entertaining.  Most of my nonfiction reads will have a longer “Lessons Learned” post linked to it.  Usually, I post them a few weeks or months after I read the book, so if the link isn’t there yet, keep an eye out for it in the future.  Thanks again for reading and continue to crush your 2024 reading goals.  

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