I’ve had this bookshelf page on my site for a couple of years. A place to keep track of what I’m reading from year to year. Recently, I took some time to rethink and rename the “buckets” I draw from—in an attempt to be more intentional on how I read.
- Business: This is for me to keep myself up-to-date on what’s required to run a business.
- Communication: Writing, presenting, messaging—clear communication will just grow more essential as technology evolves.
- Craft: About processes and tactics around the work—more about the how rather than the why.
- Design: It’s important for me to keep a fresh design perspective. Both in how to think strategically but also in execution.
- Engineering: I like to evolve my software engineering skills and therefore should read frequently from this bucket.
- Fiction: I had a period where I read almost exclusively fiction. Especially sci-fi. It’s an area I will indulge if I don’t watch myself. Now I keep it to one fiction per two nonfiction’s.
- German: To keep my skills relevant and accessible, I find it important to continue reading books in German on a yearly basis.
- Health: Exercise, diet, and physical well-being.
- Mindfulness: This area is on spirituality—on doing the inner work required. Whenever there’s too much chatter in my head I know it’s time to pick another book from this bucket.
- People: Mainly biographies, but also other types of stories from people. I enjoy learning from others.
- Reasoning: Mostly philosophy. These are books that shape my thinking and strategy. It’s been a very important area for me over the years.
- Technology: Not so much about the actual implementation but rather the role that technology has in society. What’s the future like?
- Worldview: Since I rarely read newspapers nowadays, these are the books I get my worldview from.
Splitting up my reading based on the areas that are important to me makes it easier to pick up new books. Normally I’ve just grabbed whatever looked most interesting. Now I should check which bucket needs balance. I keep matching lists on Amazon to make the whole process simpler, and one book per bucket each year sounds like a nice target.