My 2026 Reading List

My 2026 Reading List

For the past several years, my goal has been to read at least one book a week for 52 weeks. I read the Bible every day. I have spent the last year in the book of Numbers (in Hebrew) and phrasing out 1 Corinthians. In the coming year, I plan to continue in Numbers and Deuteronomy, and I will begin detailed work in 2 Corinthians.

I practice three types of reading.

(~50%) Reading for the forest -- very broad reading to get a big picture of the book. I familiarize myself with the table of contents, the introduction, the conclusion, headings, subheadings, and perhaps the conclusion of each chapter.

(~30%) Reading for the trees -- this type of reading is more nuanced and would require rereading book chapters, intros, conclusions, and references. This would also include very light highlights, annotations, and some comments.

(~20%) Reading for the bark -- the most detailed reading possible, with detailed and heavy notes, annotations, comments, and analysis. I reserve this reading for highly technical and challenging works, commentaries on the Bible, and the Bible itself.

*books I reread every year or every other year

GENERAL THEOLOGY

Desiring God by John Piper*

The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur*

Knowing God by J.I. Packer*

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

The Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson

Union with Christ by J. Todd Billings

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall

The Divine Life by Richard Baxter

The Christian's Great Interest by William Guthrie

The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal

A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge

BIBLICAL STUDY AND CRITICISM

Deuteronomy by Daniel Block (NIV Application Commentary)

Deuteronomy by Eugene Merrill (New American Commentary)

Deuteronomy by J.G. McConville (Apollos Old Testament Commentary)

2 Corinthians by David Garland (New American Commentary)

2 Corinthians by Murray Harris (New International Greek Testament Commentary)

PARENTING AND FAMILY

The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley*

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch

The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber

Everyday Talk by John Younts

PRODUCTIVITY

Deep Work by Cal Newport*

The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

Indistractable by Nir Eyal

LEARNING

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Peak by Anders Ericsson

Range by David Epstein

A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley

PERSONAL FINANCE/INVESTING

The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins*

Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robbins*

Retirement Calculator by Jason Parker*

Sound Retirement Planning by Jason Parker*

Financial Statements by Thomas Ittelson

The Interpretation of Financial Statements by Benjamin Graham

How to Read a Financial Report by Tage Tracy

The New Retirementality by Mitch Anthony

The One-Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards

The White Coat Investor by James Dahle

Work Optional by Tanja Hester

Enough by John Bogle

The Little Book of Valuation by Aswath Damodaran

Invested by Danielle Town and Phil Town

Concentrated Investing by Allen Benello

BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie*

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins*

Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin

Poor Charlie's Almanack by Charles Munger

The Decision Book by Mikael Krogerus

Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg

The Great Mental Models Volume 1 by Shane Parrish

Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet

The Outsiders by William Thorndike

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

High Output Management by Andy Grove

Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

MISCELLANEOUS/GENERAL INTEREST/SCIENCE

The Body by Bill Bryson

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

Caesar's Last Breath by Sam Kean

Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon

The Physics of Everyday Things by James Kakalios

Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski

The Double Helix by James Watson

PHYSICS/MATH/GENERAL SCIENCE

(Continuing in 2026 with my self-directed study in math and physics. I've been following this guide for Math and this one for Physics)

Khan Academy Math -- Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations

Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus Thompson

Calculus by Michael Spivak

Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler

The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman

Introduction to Classical Mechanics by David Morin

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