by Nancy Jundi

When I began 2018, I didn’t have a goal to read 100 books in a year, only a goal to read more. I’d finally given into the idea of audio books, which seemed incomprehensible only months before. As an English major, journalist and sister of an actual librarian, I thought listening to a book was blasphemy.

Truth be told, I read more hard copy books this year than I had in years prior because the audio books had got me in the habit of reading more. I no longer treated it as a precious thing – something that needed to be done in a cozy sweater, free of distraction with my cup of tea in hand. Now, I listened to books while I washed dishes, walked the dogs, or sat in traffic. I kept a hard copy book in the car for trips to the dog park or waiting in lines.

It really wasn’t until August that I realized I had a shot at reading 100 books in a year – and again, let’s be clear, reading more is what’s important. If you’re not reading ANY books, even committing to ONE book in a year is a huge deal. Pew Research suggests that America hasn’t abandoned reading as much as previous reports had had shown in the early 2000’s. The Atlantic broke down the demographics of reading habits across age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds, but in reality, reading is wildly accessible to everyone, it just never seems convenient.

Before I breakout the 100 books I read this year, I want to encourage you to check out your local library. Maybe I’m spoiled here in Los Angeles, but the L.A. Public Library (LAPL) gives an uncanny amount of access to books, audio books, streaming content like movies and music, as well as The New York Times and other periodicals. It’s even a WAY cheaper and more convenient copy center with free access to computers/internet, free scanning and 25cents per page printing. It’s a magical wonderland of access and efficiency.

My year of 100 books began on a road trip from San Jose back to Los Angeles. I’d heard so much about Tiffany Haddish’s book, The Last Black Unicorn and knew I had several hours of driving coming up, so I used that oft promoted free credit from Audible to download it. Which then came with a 3 month reduced rate subscription to Audible – meaning I would get to pick a new book each month for only $4.95. I could also purchase discounted audio books for being a member. Truth – I listened to Haddish’s book 3 more times after January. Her story is both side splitting hilarious and profoundly moving. She accompanied me and friends on two more road trips and I will always be grateful for how rich and impactful she made those drives, as well as sparking an audio book addiction in several of us – an expensive habit that lead us straight into the arms of our local libraries.

What followed was a very wide net of interests and fascinations. Books are truly the greatest ticket around the world that any of us can ever buy. This year has been more vibrant and fulfilling because of these reads. Top 10 and Big Skips after the 100 books I read in 2018.

  1. The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
  2. 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
  3. Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller
  4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
  5. Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure
  6. Presence by Amy Cuddy
  7. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
  8. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
  9. One More Thing by B.J. Novak
  10. Radical Candor by Kim Scott
  11. God Is Disappointed in You by Shannon Wheeler, Mark Russell
  12. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
  13. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
  14. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal, PhD
  15. Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik
  16. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
  17. Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
  18. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
  19. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
  20. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
  21. Girl Walks into a Bar by Rachel Dratch
  22. The Prayers of Jane Austen by Jane Austen
  23. Hunger by Roxane Gay
  24. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling
  25. A Short Guide to a Long Life by David B. Agus MD
  26. Your Inner Critic Is a Big Jerk by Danielle Krysa
  27. Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions by James E. Ryan
  28. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
  29. Wired for Dating by Stan Tatkin PsyD MFT
  30. Tattoos on the Heart by Father Gregory Boyle
  31. Live from New York by Tom Shales, James Andrew Miller
  32. Love Does by Bob Goff
  33. Scary Close by Bob Goff, Donald Miller
  34. The Road to Character by David Brooks
  35. Radical by David Platt
  36. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
  37. The Audrey Hepburn Treasures by Ellen Erwin, Jessica Z. Diamond
  38. The Body Book by Cameron Diaz
  39. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
  40. Superhuman by Habit by Tynan
  41. Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty by Diane Keaton
  42. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  43. The 8 Laws of Corporate America by Robert Greene
  44. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  45. Freud’s Last Session by Mark St. Germain
  46. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  47. Brief interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
  48. Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon
  49. On Tennis by David Foster Wallace
  50. My Abandonment by Peter Rock
  51. Troublemaker by Leah Remini
  52. I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt
  53. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
  54. Better by Atul Gawande
  55. Transparency by Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James O’Toole
  56. Walking by Henry David Thoreau
  57. We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
  58. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
  59. This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips
  60. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  61. In His Own Words by David Foster Wallace
  62. Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace
  63. Complications by Atul Gawande
  64. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullaly, Nick Offerman
  65. The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
  66. Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
  67. Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
  68. Holidays on Ice David Sedaris
  69. Barbara Bush by Barbara Bush
  70. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
  71. Focus by Daniel Goleman
  72. The Upside of Stress by Kelly McConigal
  73. Oil by Vaclav Smil
  74. Fame: The Hijacking of Reality by Justine Bateman
  75. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
  76. The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber
  77. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
  78. What If? by Randall Munroe
  79. The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani
  80. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
  81. Gumption by Nick Offerman
  82. Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
  83. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
  84. I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
  85. Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler
  86. Training the Brain by Richard Davidson, Daniel Goleman
  87. Lady Susan by Jane Austen
  88. If You Ask Me by Betty White
  89. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
  90. The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss
  91. Sartre in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
  92. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
  93. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  94. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
  95. The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
  96. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
  97. Here We Go Again by Betty White
  98. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  99. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely
  100. The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Top 10 Reads of 2018

1. Becoming by Michelle Obama

No top 10 list this year will be missing Mrs. Obama’s memoir. It’s a significant read across many realms, from biography to history, parenting to politics, grace under fire to battling oneself. It’s hard to put down, even though it’s one of the years most lengthy reads. Every page mattered. Every story left an impression. This was a love letter we all needed.

2. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

This was a brilliant, albeit teeny tiny find amidst so many “best of” lists. The story takes place inside of a 60 second elevator ride as a young man travels from his home to the lobby en route to kill someone. He’s visited by someone on each floor / elevator stop and it’s an incredible portrait of the enormity of gang violence and generational chains. It’s an absolutely riveting piece of work. All American Boys was also on my list, rounding out the year, and it was absolutely riveting. Jason Reynolds is a force.

3. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Appalachia is a far and wide swath of America that few of us truly understand. I went to college in its foothills and always found the towns and people both strangely familiar and unsettling. J.D. Vance grew up there and went on to an Ivy League education, returning later to enter politics and work with towns to improve their lives. With a raging opioid epidemic, poverty in every home and abysmal matriculation rates, Vance explores both the history of the region while dissecting what and how they can have a future – as individuals and as communities.


4. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

It does my heart good knowing that both a film version and his follow up will be out in 2019, but since finishing Born a Crime, I’ve thought of it – either a story or his jarring candor and transparency – every single day. He was and is a part of history. He was and is an indelible part of America and Africa’s collective stories while walking out the very personal meaning of each every day. The son of Patricia is just beginning to tap into what he has to say and do in this world… His impact, already so big, seems like it’s but a whisper of the roar yet to come.

5. Live from New York by Tom Shales, James Andrew Miller

This is a long, long, very long read that takes you through 40 years worth of history. Not just of SNL, but the changing tides of a post war America (literally 6most after the end of the Vietnam War) and how we navigated everything from news cycles to larger than life fame coming into our living rooms each week. So long as I live, I’ll be enamored with all that Lorne Michaels has built and this book was a fine tooth comb look at the how his cornerstone was laid, as well as how it’s maintained it’s place through so much change within and just outside the walls of studio 8H.

6. The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

She might be best known for her films or stand up, but thank God this woman wrote this book. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this connected to someone I don’t know – a fellow foster kid with a dad who wasn’t there and a mom who wasn’t “all there” while still finding the comedy and silver lining in it all. She has a magic in her stories. As Dolly Parton would say, “laughter through tears is my favorite emotion”and this book delivers in every chapter.

7. Superhuman by Habit by Tynan

The title does not fail – Tynan, who sleeps only 15min every four hours to optimize his productivity, is not just an author or consultant, but has mastered just about every art of simplicity that one can achieve. His habits have given him razor sharp focus, a freedom from “things” and a business that centers upon his strengths and joys. I revisit this book often for inspiration on everything from writing to fitness, portfolio management and managing billable hours.

8. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Much like When Breath Becomes Air, the new CEO of Amazon Health (and the author of one of my all time favorite books, The Checklist Manifesto) has written a transparent look at how the body, mind and soul interact – all from the perspective of a surgeon. When confronting end of life, we’re often very clear on what has made our lives fulfilling or lacking and how the care we receive well before and leading up to those final days can make all the difference.

9. Oil by Vaclav Smil

We – or maybe it’s just me – are disturbingly under-educated on how tightly woven oil is into the every day fabric of our lives. Both the cost of it and the removal of it (both from the earth to use and the eradication of it from our lives) is deafening. This book is meant to be an introduction into the complex world of oil and while I believe it was as paired down linguistically, mathematically and as easy on the engineering as it could be, it was still an undertaking that I may read again before (pardon the pun) drilling into further. 

10. I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt

While it makes sense that most people will focus on the years big mystery thriller, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, it was the older mob based thriller that really captured me. Charles Brandt spent years interviewing Frank Sheeran in prison and in hospice in an effort to recount the rise and fall of the mob – and to uncover the truth of Jimmy Hoffa’s death. With Martin Scorsese bringing Pacino, DeNiro and Pesci back together for the film, you’ll be hearing a lot more about this story in 2019.

Big Skips

Honestly, I’m pretty diligent with researching the books I commit to and also draw heavily upon recommendations, so it was rare when I didn’t connect with a read, but it did happen a handful of times.

1. Fame: The Hijacking of Reality by Justine Bateman

This was an entirely odd and angry dissertation on how uncomfortable Bateman felt during her years in the spotlight and then the subsequent sense of both entitlement and rejection when she no longer had the lights focused on her. She swears a lot in place of real emotion and opts for criticism of her fans over the promised dissection of the psyche behind those attracted to fame. It was a short read, but a disappointment when I realized it was a bait and switch. For as much as she claimed this wasn’t an autobiography, it’s hard to paint it in any other light.

2. Radical Candor by Kim Scott

This will likely get me into the most heated debates, but I couldn’t get behind how many of her stories came from someone else. If I wanted to learn from Sheryl Sandberg, I would read Sheryl Sandberg’s books. Being that the subtitle of the book was “how to be a kick ass boss without losing your humanity” I found it somewhat disturbing that the only real stories she offered about being a boss were those in which she had to let people go or how she failed to manage them with better intention and clarity.

3. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Simsion wrote a follow up to his wildly funny and well thought out The Rosie Project, which I loved. Both books center around main character with Aspergers and navigating life with what can be an all consuming syndrome that impacts everything from how one cooks to social interactions. The latter is the focus of the books as our lead courts Rosie in the original book and (SPOILER ALERT), has a baby with her in the follow up. This one fell flat – maybe intentionally – as it read largely like slapstick and unnecessary plot twists in a reach for either laughs or just a bigger page count.

4. Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty by Diane Keaton

This felt largely like a phoned in version of obligation to meet a publishers quota. There wasn’t much gleaned from either her personal stories of motherhood and managing priorities, nor from the professional stories of working with anyone – I’d suspect those were all covered in any previous books she’d written. Largely this was an odd look at how she ran errands and the fuss made over how she dresses.

5. Brief interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

Understandably, there may be a gasp or two seeing David Foster Wallace listed on any “skip” list, but this was the book that finally put me over the edge into full blown sadness for him and what he never had during his life. A real, true sounding board – someone who knew him, saw him, flaws and all, who neither wanted nor needed anything from him and just sat with him in those dark moments. Someone who would encourage him back toward the light. I’m fully aware that there is darkness in us all, but there was a depth to DFW’s that few of us could say we’ve similarly traveled to or through. For as keenly aware of the human condition as he was, and for as breathlessly fervent in conveying it all back to us, what he lacked was the human part of the condition. He was isolated – first as a loner who didn’t easily make friends and then as a celebrity of sorts who had predetermined gazes upon him. This book was a collection of too many awful stories and the insides of thoughts I don’t think benefit anyone. I don’t regret revisiting DFW’s works this year (as I debated whether or not to finally pick up Infinite Jest), but I do find myself incredibly thankful for no longer identifying with his work.

Looking back on my top 10, I seem to be as enamored with American stories, as I’d long suspected (Ken Burns documentaries can do that to a gal), so if you have any international stories you think I should check out, please send them my way (especially any in French – I’m getting quite good!).

Actually, any books you loved, I’m eager to hear – and add to my list! At the rate of 8 books a month, I’ll repeat this feat again next year, but again – reading MORE is simply the goal. I hope you’ll make the time this year, too. Whether it’s one book or 100, it’s time I find myself very grateful for having given to books.