My 2014-2015 Reading List - Third Quarter

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Here it is, hot of the press. The last F2P post of 2014. And it's my year-to-date completed reading list, which now includes an additional three months of books. That's 49 so far in this second year of reading and 116 in total since becoming truly free to pursue.

As mentioned in July and again in October, I posted my reading list from the first year away from my corporate job in April 2013 and it received so much interest that I've started to publish a quarterly tally. So here's Q3 of my second year with my nose constantly in one book or another.

As an aside: If you want to get a sense of the insights I've gained from becoming an avid reader, you may want to check out this post.

The books below represent the full list of what piqued my interest sufficiently to read cover to cover. If they become favourites, then I'll eventually add them to my recommendations.*

My focus this year has been to add more fiction--which I've been lousy at doing because I keep starting them and not finishing them, read in my native tongue (French) and keep reading in the areas of philosophy, psychology, finance, economics, writing/presenting, entrepreneurship, travel hacking, technology and health. So far, I've managed to cover all except for travel hacking, which somehow I've lost interest in for the time being, given I don't expect to travel as much in the coming year. I've also read some reference books in preparation for trips I took this past summer: the World Domination Summit in July, an African Safari in August and FinCon14 in New Orleans in September.

A number of the books on my "been there, done that, read the book" list so far this year were recommended by Chris Guillebeau, Eric Barker, J. Money, Mr. Grump, The Escape Artist, and Flannel Guy ROI. As mentioned before, I also become aware of potential selections from sources such as Ted, documentaries available on Netflix and "further reading" ideas from within the non-fiction volumes I manage to digest. I do also appreciate the suggestions I receive from my beloved local library. Any way of narrowing down the myriad of reading options available is always helpful. 

I also had the pleasure of reviewing the book Gold Diggers and Deadbeat Dads by Valerie Rind in this latest quarter. I met Valerie in New Orleans this year and look forward to reading her next book on the topic, which she's already hard at work on.

So here's, my updated completed reading list** for the past nine months:

April:

May:

 June:

July:

August:

September:

In October, I managed to read a little fiction and it surprised me. Super Sad True Love Story is actually a financial text! Well, not really, but it really did make me think about what the world would be like if we all had our net worth printed on our foreheads and were constantly judged for how we spend money. I also did a significant amount of research on the philosophy behind The Matrix trilogy for the White Rabbit published in August. 

October:

In November, money and purpose seemed to be the overall theme. I guess my mind turned to maximizing how we use our money and our time to get the most we can out of our every day. Reading-wise it was a great month. Not because of the number of books but because of the quality of my selections. I was quite pleased with nearly each one of these books. Sorry Suze, you're at the bottom of that list. At the top? Definitely Essentialism. I've recommended that book to many people. It's applicable on both the personal and professional level and its contents might surprise you. I love books that really make me think.

November:

December was disappointing. The books that made the list below, were good, but I had a number of fiction and non-fiction false starts. There were painful reading experiences that I quickly refused to allow to continue, but they kept happening. It was like my very own Groundhog Day experience. Ugh! I really don't get how some authors manage to get published via traditional means. Some books out there are pure garbage...even some that receive decent reviews. Go figure...

December:

I can say that some of the books from November and December have inspired some posts you will see popping up in the New Year. I look forward to sharing these insights with you sooner than later.

What's up next? You may have noticed the relatively recent addition of a "Currently Reading" and "Just Finished" section in the F2P blog sidebar. That's the best way to see where I'm headed next. A word of caution though, some of my "Currently Reading" end up being trashed in favour of better selections. I'd suggest going with "Just Finished" instead. Always a better bet.

What about you? Anything in the list above you loved? Hated? Any recommendations you might have that I can add to my never-ending future reading list or that would help other visitors decide what to read next? And, if you have any questions about the titles above, drop me a line or leave a comment and I'll be sure to respond.

*As mentioned in my previous update, my recommendations list does need to be updated and a number of books from this year will undoubtedly make the list.

**The list above contains affiliate links to amazon.com. Purchases made via these links help support the F2P blog. It doesn't cost you anything and helps cover ongoing expenses associated with maintaining this blog. Thank you for your support. 

***This one is a children's book, but the pictures are spectacular. A delight to read.