The Best Books I Read This Year (By Category)
A Friday Filter bonus newsletter
Some of the books I read this year completely blew me away—so much so that I couldn’t not write a bonus newsletter this month to share them with you.
These books really are portable magic. (I, of course, added them to my favorite books of all time list too, which you can check out here.)
So here they are, the best of the best books I read this year. Enjoy!
Philosophy
Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
The Obstacle is the Way Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition by Ryan Holiday
Letters on Ethics: To Lucilius (The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca) by Seneca
The Gospel in Brief by Leo Tolstoy
A Confession by Leo Tolstoy
The Daily Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau
Writing & Creativity
Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
What It Is by Lynda Barry
Narrative Nonfiction
The Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen
Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Memoir
Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller
Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
High School by Tegan and Sara Quin
A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston
Biography
Truman by David McCullough
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
History
The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton
Misc.
The Daily Dad by Ryan Holiday
Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
Supplies
I’ve been using and loving Zequenz A5 blank notebooks for my morning pages. The paper is so smooth, and InkJoy Gel .07mm pens glide across it like butter.
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Holidays!
By the way, the regular Friday Filter will still be sent out this month as usual.
As always, thank you for reading. I greatly appreciate it.
See you soon,
Emily