Marcus Kazmierczak

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Reading List 2020

A look back at what I read in 2021, split into fiction and non-fiction books. You can see my previous years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

For 2020, I ended up reading 28 books, this marks my third year in a row going over my goal of 25 books a year. This works out to about a book every two weeks, not a bad pace if you aren't reading George R.R. Martin tomes.

Movies

I co-host the Reel DMC movie podcast, give it a listen, our recent Hunt for Red October episode is one of our best yet. Here are the books I read based on movies we covered in the podcast.

Princess Bride

Princess Bride

William Goldman
★★★★★
A wonderful story written well. There is only a little more in the book than the movie, but still worth reading to spend more time in Florin with old friends.
Nothing Lasts Forever

Nothing Lasts Forever

Roderick Thorp
★★★
Inspiration for Die Hard, but far from a straight adaptation. The main story is close, but characters and motivations are quite different. Enjoyable to read, but maybe gets a bonus star since the movie is so good.
Dune

Dune

Frank Herbert
★★★★★
A masterpiece!

Revolutionary War

Blame Hamilton. After watching and listening to the musical (my kids love the music and have no qualms about listening to the same thing over-and-over-and-over again), I became interested in the Revolutionary War. I was curious and realized my lack of knowledge beyond the big picture of the American Revolutionary War.

1776

1776

David McCullough
★★★★
A fantastic deep dive into the year 1776, following Washington and the rebel armies initial battles with the British, beginning the war.
Chains

Chains

Laurie Halse Anderson
★★★★★
A wonderful, and heart breaking story, of a slave girl during the revolutionary war. What I imagine to be an accurate historical fiction and I'm glad I read after 1776, the book covers many of the same events from a different perspective.

Auto

My pandemic gift was an old British sports car, a 1960 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, might as well social distance in style. This inspired reading two auto books.

It Came With Oil - An adventure into the art of British car repair

It Came With Oil - An adventure into the art of British car repair

Alan Cowan
★★★★
A great read, Alan Cowan is a great story teller and the book is a fun adventure into the world of British car repair.
How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer

How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer

Adrian Newey
★★★★
If you like Formula 1 racing from 1980's to now, this is a great read. A nice mix of Newey's life and F1 design and history.

Writing

The Process of Education

The Process of Education

Jerome S. Bruner
★★★★
Reading about writing and instructional design led me to this book. It is a good short read talking about educational theory.
Writing to Learn: How to Write-—And Think—Clearly about Any Subject at All

Writing to Learn: How to Write-—And Think—Clearly about Any Subject at All

William Zinsser
★★★★
The book discusses the importance of writing as a means of learning, the first half is better than the second. However, if you're looking for a book to improve your writing read Zinsser's On Writing Well
Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience

Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience

Michael J. Metts
★★★★
A really good book talking about the importance of writing and user interface. Worth reading for anyone involved in creating a product.
Revising Prose

Revising Prose

Richard A. Lanham
★★★
This was ok, it covers many of the same topics in other writing books. I did not get much new out of it. As stated above, Zinsser's On Writing Well is my top writing recommendation.
Spring Training

Spring Training

William Zinsser
★★★★
I read this getting ready for baseball season. It is an enjoyable light read. Recommended as an example of good writing.

Non-Fiction

The Parameters of our Cage

The Parameters of our Cage

C. Fausto Cabrera & Alec Soth
★★★★★
One of my favorites of the year. A wonderful glimpse into the correspondence between Soth and Fauso and the friendship they form.
Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley

Anna Wiener
★★★★
I typically dislike reading about the tech industry since they tend to glamorize or distort; but Wiener does a nice job telling a familiar story from a fresh point of view.
Working

Working

Robert A. Caro
★★★★★
The writing is excellent, but what I really enjoyed about this book was discovering the dedication Robert Caro has to his craft. His curiosity and willingness to do the work comes out — from his commitment to research, to his compassion to tell well-rounded stories.
Indistractable

Indistractable

Nir Eyal
★★
Meh. I got the book free from work and it has good advice and suggestions but feels like could be a couple of blog posts.
What if?

What if?

Randall Munroe
★★★★★
From the creator of XKCD, wonderful answers to absurd questions.
Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History

Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History

Heinrich Eduard Jacob
★★
This was not the book I was looking for, the focus is more history than bread and no cohesive flow except times in history bread and grain are mentioned.

Fiction

Recursion

Recursion

Blake Crouch
★★
A little too clever. Plus it suffers from the time travel risk of the ability to change things making everything that happens inconsequential. It loses impact — like a death in a magical world that can bring the dead back to life.
Mexican Gothic

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia
★★★★
Enjoyable ghost story set in 1950's Mexico.
In the Dark

In the Dark

Loreth Anne White
★★★★
A fun summer read, an enjoyable mystery and whodunit. I was looking for a light read and it was free on Prime. I was pleasantly surprised.
Neuromancer

Neuromancer

William Gibson
★★
Painfully obnoxious.
Seveneves

Seveneves

Neal Stephenson
★★★
Is it a political story about creating a society from scratch? Is it a survival story about logistics and planning? Or is it a science book about orbital physics—really, do we need so much on orbital physics?
The Time Machine

The Time Machine

H.G. Wells
★★★★
A classic science fiction story.
Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King
★★★
I really like the continuation of the Shining story. Doctor Sleep has a bit too much setup, it took a while to really get going, but once it does it is enjoyable.
The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas
★★★★
Really great book. A fresh viewpoint and story looking at racism and violence in America.
Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes
★★★★★
I hadn't read Flowers for Algernon since high school, and probably only read the bare minimum of what was required back then. It's a classic, a great book that still holds up today.
The Peace War

The Peace War

Vernor Vinge
★★★★
A good science fiction book, that is the basis of my team's name at work: Tinker.

Next

I'm starting 2021 reading the J.R.R. Tolkien series again, I think this is my 3rd time through. I've already finished the Hobbit and started on the Fellowship of the Ring.