For the last few years, I’ve kept a note of books read, and here’s the 2013 list below (with previous years included as well for comparison). Twenty-three isn’t bad I suppose, though it’s been nice in the past to get over thirty. The risk as my friend H pointed out to me today is that you risk reading books to the finish, even if they’re not very good, just to be able to add them to a list.

A good mix of reads. As ever, I’m torn between wanting to be widely read across a broad range of areas and wanting to dive in deep. It would be good to read more Christian books I think. It has been fun setting up a book club with friends here, which has pushed me to read more.

This was the year I started using a Kindle after leaving Abidjan with two suitcases, one carrying little more than heavy, physical books. I’ve quickly become a fan, and my Kindle is now overloaded with a portable collection of (mostly unread) books. It’s almost always with me, and it’s cool to have the Bible, the Quran, the classics of Russian literature and the complete essays of Montaigne in my bag for almost zero cost and minimal carrying weight. I’ve got into the habit of buying books that I’d always half-remembered meaning to read, which means (I think) that it’ll be read at some point in the future.

I think ‘Ghana Must Go’, would get my vote as the stand-out personal read of the year.

2013

1. Hotel Africa, by Pascal Zachary
2. Four hour working week, by Tim Ferris
3. Wolf hall, by Hilary Mantel
4. Burqalicious, by Becky Wicks
5. Dubai Dreams, by Raymond Barrett
6. Dubai – the story of the world’s fastest city, by Jim Krane
7. The politics of aid, by John Holmes
8. Bring up the bodies, by Hilary Mantel
9. How Proust can change your life, by Alain de Botton
10. Choose Yourself, by James Altucher
11. The Ringtone and the Drum, by Mark Weston
12. And the Mountains Echoed, by Khalid Hossein
13. Africa, by Richard Dowden
14. Driving over lemons, by Chris Stewart
15. Ghana Must Go, by Taiye Selasi
16. Five star billionaire, by Tash Aw
17. A Letter concerning religious toleration, by John Locke
18. See No Evil, by Robert Baer
19. White Mischief, by James Fox
20. Quiet: The power of introverts, by Susan Cain
21. The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Frederic Engels
22. Zanzibar Chest, by Aidan Hartley
23. Chasing Chaos, by Jessica Alexander

2012 (target = 35)

1. Practical DV filmmaking, by Russell Evans
2. Writing for pleasure and profit, by Michel Legat
3. The Origins of Aids, by Jacques Pepin
4. Notre Abidjan, by Henriette Diabate et al
5. Une Passion Interompue, by Yehni Djidji
6. East and West: Understanding the rise of China, by Y J Choi
7. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
8. 1493, by Charles Mann
9. Understanding the Bible, by John Stott

2011 (target = 35)

1. Hudson Taylor biography
2. BBC Editorial Guidelines
3. Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre
4. Jeffrey Archer; Stranger than fiction, by Michael Crick
5. Chocolate Nations, by Orla Ryan
6. The Masculine Mandate, by Richard Philips
7. The Wretched of the Earth, by Franz Fanon
8. Karl Marx, by Francis Wheen
9. Counterfeit gods, by Tim Keller
10. The Master of Petersburg, by J. M. Coetzee
11. How Soccer Explains the World, by Franklin Foer
12. Double Cross, by James Patterson
13. The Trouble with Africa, by Robert Calderisi
14. Motty’s Diary – a year in the life, by John Motson
15. The Wretched of the Earth, by Franz Fanon
16. Hacks, by Christopher S. Wren
17. God save the team, by Eddy Brimson
18. La Loi relative a la presse, by Legis-ci
19. Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
20. Making War in Cote d’Ivoire, by Mike McGovern
21. The Ghost of Che Guevara, by Jason Webb
22. A Good Man in Africa, by William Boyd
23. Jaguars and Electric Eels, by Alexandar von Humboldt
24. Ghosts and other plays, by Henrik Ibsen
25. The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
26. New African Fashion, by Helen Jennings
27. The Age of the Infovore, by Tyler Cowen
28. Meme au paradis on pleure quelquefois, by Maurice Bandaman

2010 (target = 35)

1. Les Fracades d’Ebintou, Amadou Koné
2. The Glory of Christ, Peter Lewis
3. The World is what it is: authorised bio of V.S. Naipaul, Patrick French
4. Pour une Refondation de la Filiere, Isidore S. Allah
5. Cote d’Ivoire : Batir la paix sur la democratie et la prosperite, L. Gbagbo
6. Across the Empty Quarter, Wilfred Thesiger
7. Aya de Yopougon, vol 4
8. Bitter Chocolate, Carol Off
9. Damp Squid, Jeremy Butterfield
10. The View from the Foothills, Chris Mullin
11. Oxford Book of Essays
12. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
13. The Insider, Piers Morgan
14. Tropical Gangsters, Robert Kiltgaard
15. Show me the magic, Travels round Benin by taxi, Annie Caulfield
16. Radical Discipleship, John Stott
17. A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh
18. Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton
19. Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
20. The Great Divergence, Pomerand
21. The lady and the unicorn, Tracey Chevalier
22. Elephants, Lions and Eagles, Filippo Maria Ricci
23. A Thousand Splendid Suns, K. Hossein
24. Notes from Canada’s Young Activists
25. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Ernest Hemingway
26. Industry and Empire, Eric Hobsbawm
27. Alassane Ouattara – Une Vie singulaire, Cisse Bacongo
28. The Customs of the Kingdom of India, Marco Polo
29. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
30. Travels in Mauritania
31. The Cobra’s Heart, Ryzard Kapuscinskis
32. Promiscuities, Naomi Wolf

2009 (target = 30-50)

1. The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier
2. Sold as a Slave, Olaudah Equiano
3. Breaking news, Martin Fletcher
4. The Meaning of Things, A. C. Grayling
5. Intimate Issues
6. Money, Martin Amis
7. Communism, Richard Pipes
8. Foreign to Familiar, S. Lanier
9. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, A. M. Smith
10. La Vie de Pahé, Pahé
11. La Vie de Pahé II, Pahé
12. The Other, Kapuscinski
13. On Being a Photographer, Bill Ayers and David
14. Devoir des Mesonges, Fauston Toha
15. Atonement, Ian McEwan
16. Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s stone, J. K. Rowling
17. Scaling the Secular City, J. P. Moreland
18. Negreries, Venance Konan
19. Making History, Stephen Fry
20. La Richesse Appauvrie, Zokou Gogoua
21. The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis
22. Fighting Fat, Fighting Fit, Janette Marshall
23. Petit Futé Cote d’Ivoire, Elodie V
24. Modern Manners, P. J. O’Rouke
25. Dreams of my Father, Barack Obama
26. To the Holy Shrines, Sir Richard Burton
27. Ma part des verities, Charles Blé Goudé
28. D’un stad a l’autre, Chalres Blé Goudé
29. Dreams from my father, Barack Obama
30. La Jalousie qui detruit, Harold Kalleymeyn

2008 (target was a book every fortnight = 26)

1. Brazzaville Charms, Cassie Knight
2. Travels with Herodotus, Ryzard Kapuscinski
3. Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
4. Aya de Yopougon, vol. 1
5. Aya de Yopougon, vol. 2
6. A Year in the Merde, Stephen Clarke
7. Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. The Africans, David Young
9. The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin
10. Waiting for the Barbarians, J. M. Coetzee
11. Confessions of a Philosopher, Bryan Magee
12. The Sand Café, Neil MacFarquhar
13. Generation X, Douglas Copeland
14. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
15. Hustling is not a crime, John Chernoff
16. Hard Times, Charles Dickens
17. Aya de Yopougon, vol. 3
18. Becoming a stringer
19. The CEO of the sofa, P. J. O’Rouke
20. Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
21. According to Queeny, B. Bettybridge
22. Robert et Catapila, Venance Konan
23. Bridge-building, Alistair McGrath
24. Travels in eastern Russia, Checkov
25. Provided you don’t Kiss me, Duncan Hamilton
26. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson