Top 10 Books of 2017

It’s a little late, but you readers are a patient bunch. Actually, some of you really aren’t. You all can thank the dozen or so people who’ve been consistently harping on me to give up the ghost and share my Top 10 Books of 2017.

2017 was a down year for me in terms of reading, I only stocked 70ish books into my brain pan this year. For the sake of comparison, in 2014, 2015, and 2016 I somehow squeezed in over 120 books each year.

That’s a lot of words. I might have a problem.

In years past, I’ve given most my time and attention over to reading genre fiction (strange, I know.) This year was slightly different. I still read quite a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy, but I also dove real hard into personal development/business/finance books.

What can I say, I’m a sucker for personal development.

Okay, so enough beating around the bush. Let’s get to it.

10) I Will Teach You To Be Rich – Ramit Sethi

Yeah, as I stated in the blog post 4 Ways to Take Control of Your Life, this is one of the most click-baity titles I’ve ever seen. I’m sure it’ll turn a lot of people off, as it wreaks of a ‘get rich quick’ salesman, but I assure you, it’s most definitely not that. It is, in fact, a fantastic book on personal finance which I would recommend to anybody (and most everybody) interested in learning more on the subject of investing, saving, and accruing wealth. Of all the books I’ve read on this topic (and I have read aloooot) this is right up there alongside The Richest Man in Babylon and Think And Grow Rich in terms of usefulness and practicality.

9) Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and Principles of Screenwriting – Robert McKee

Doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring author or if you’ve already developed a calloused liver, Robert McKee probably has a thing or two he can teach you about telling a story. Story primarily talks about storytelling as it pertains to screenwriting, but a good story is a good story regardless of format, and there’s a lot of amazing information to take away from this book.

8) Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel Pink

This book is a deep dive into basic human motivation. What motivates you to do the things you do? The answer might surprise you. If you’re even remotely interested in human psychology, interpersonal relationships, or getting the most out of yourself, coworkers, employees, children, (or any human really), then you should definitely grab this book.

7) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert Cialdini

This is the go-to book on the subject of persuasion and I find it synergizes very well when read in conjunction with Drive by Daniel Pink and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. People might glance at the title of a book like this and think there’s something seedy going on, but truly, it’s not like that. This book is not so much about how you can manipulate others, but about the basic tenants of behavioral psychology that affect us all. By being cognizant of these tenants, we can be more better guarded against unscrupulous scoundrels (or just pushy salesman).

6) Kafka On the Shore – Haruki Murakami

He’s a legend for a reason. Murakami writes the sort of psychadelic infused stories that make almost zero sense. Despite their near incomprehensibility, they are beautiful and majestic and somehow wonderful. Highly recommend to anybody looking to journey into the depth of their psyche and stare in the gaping maw of their own abyss. Or at least that’s how Murakami’s stories always make me feel. Your mileage may vary.

5) Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruis Zafon

This is the most beautifully written book I read of 2017, by far. The language (despite having been translated, I believe) is phenomenal. If you enjoy historical period pieces that weave a tapestry of mystery, intrigue, and (just a smidge) of fantasy, then you’re really going to enjoy this one.

4) Angel City Blues – Jeff Edwards

This book hits all my favorite genre buttons. A slightly future-flung noir styled detective mystery set within the confines of a gritty, cyberpunk world. This story reminds me so much of Altered Carbon, and that is never a bad thing. Admittedly, this book will not appeal to everybody, but if you’ve enjoyed any of my books (especially Time Heist or Mind Breach) you’ll probably like this one quite a lot.

3) Deep Work – Cal Newport

Distinguishing between what qualifies as deep versus shallow work is one of the more important skills I acquired in 2017. Productivity often equates to busyness, but when you learn to sert your focus on deep work (and drown out all the meaningless shallow tasks) you’ll find yourself channeling a sort of productivity that leads directly to increased effectiveness. Highly recommend this book to anybody looking to increase the general quality of their work. I wrote a blog post on this how you can leverage the concept of deep work to increase the effectiveness of your morning routine. Check it out here: https://www.anthonyvicino.com/win-morning-win-day-create-wi…/

2) Oathbringer – Brandon Sanderson

The long awaited, and incredibly anticipated, third volume of Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive. The world Sanderson has created throughout this series is nothing short of astonishing. This series will go down as a modern masterpiece. Truly. The depth and breadth of characters alone (not to mention the thoroughness of the crafted world) are hard to fully articulate. I’ve listened to all three books in The Stormlight Archive on audiobook and I would highly recommend to this anybody interested in consuming this series. The performance of Kate Reading and Michael Kramer deserve an award. Don’t miss out on this series.

1) The Line of Polity – Neal Asher

This is the first book I’ve read in quite sometime that made me simply sit back and go: Wow. This book is so jam packed full of interesting concepts and technology that I was taking nearly as many notes as I was reading. Now, this is not to suggest this book is perfect. It’s not. I find the characters somewhat bland, but that is more than off-set, in my eye, by the sheer vast creativity of the whole thing. Highly recommended for anybody wanting to luxuriate in future flung techno-wizardry.

[box] Now before you boogie on out of here, Dear Reader. Do me a favor and drop down to the comments and share a couple of your favorite reads from 2017. I’m always looking to toss a bit more kindling on the TBR pile.[/box]