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It’s that time of year when I recap progress on my reading goals as tracked on Goodreads. I had set a goal of only 50 books last year because I was writing my own book (more on that later) but ended up with 75 anyway, so my 2022 goal was back to my standard 75 books. Despite an amazingly busy year with the Lincoln Group of DC (including emceeing a grand celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in May), a return to traveling, and tons of events associated with the release of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius in September, I still managed to pass my goal – the final total is 85 books in 2022.

As usual, most of the books I read were nonfiction, although just barely. This year I read 31 fiction books. I’ve been reading a lot of fiction in recent years, in part to broaden my horizons, but also in part because there are two mini-libraries along a route I sometimes walk for exercise. I’ve taken to carrying a paperback book or two with me on those walks so I can trade mine for whatever someone else left behind. Because the process is inherently uncertain, the books I walk away with are routinely ones I wouldn’t have thought about specifically seeking. I also pulled at least two books off of Barack Obama’s 2022 reading list because they 1) sounded intriguing, and 2) were topics or authors I otherwise may not have heard about. I’m also open to recommendations from people I know. And then there are old classics I read again on a whim (or for the first time). Newer books I liked included Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake, Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility, and Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. My first book of the year was The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. I liked it so much that when I found his earlier book, A Gentleman in Moscow, in the mini-library, I snatched it up and read half the book while sitting in the waiting room on jury duty. I also read two older books by Frederik Bachman when they surreptitiously became available because I had enjoyed A Man Called Ove so much. I liked My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry well enough, and while Britt-Marie Was Here was also good, it was less so. I liked Stephen King’s Billy Summers because it came well-recommended even though I normally don’t read King’s books. Under the category of “classics” I read Flowers for Algernon, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Billy Budd, Galapagos (by Vonnegut), and Things Fall Apart. And because virtually everyone else on the planet was apparently reading it, I read Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry, which actually lived up to its hype (and not just because I’m biased towards scientists).

Not surprisingly, a large proportion of my nonfiction reading was about Abraham Lincoln despite the fact that I wasn’t on the Abraham Lincoln Institute book award committee in 2022. I counted 22 Lincoln books for the year, although I could arguably add a few more that are “sorta-Lincoln” in the sense they talk about slavery or were about Frederick Douglas or some other issue that relates to issues Lincoln dealt with. Unfortunately, some of those issues have not gone away.

The biggest, bestest, most spectacular Lincoln book of the year was, of course, my own book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. Even though I wrote it and read it, edited it, and read it a few more times, I don’t count my own books as “read” until I actually have the published hard copy in my hand. So, I read my own book when it came out in September. In fact, I’ve read it a few times over again since then to refresh my memory of details as I give interviews and presentations. Based on feedback I’ve received from readers, and my own unbiased opinion (okay, slightly biased opinion), it’s actually quite good. If you’ve read it, please leave a review on Goodreads and especially on Amazon.

The other Lincoln books run the range from well-known Lincoln scholars like Harold Holzer (The Lincoln Image), Michael Burlingame (An American Marriage), Jonathan W. White (A House Built by Slaves), Allen Guelzo (Robert E. Lee). Famous authors writing on Lincoln this year included Jon Meacham (And There Was Light) and John Avlon (Lincoln and the Fight for Peace). Two nice surprises this year were Carole Adrienne’s Healing a Divided Nation (about Civil War medicine) and Roger Lowenstein’s Ways and Means (a surprisingly entertaining look at how the war was financed). I also dug up two old books that were interesting: graphic artist Bernhardt Wall’s Following Abraham Lincoln and a rare copy of James E. Myers’s The Astonishing Saber Duel of Abraham Lincoln. Then there was James A. Percoco’s Summers with Lincoln. There were two other very special books. One was a reprinting/reimagining of an 1858 notebook Lincoln sent to a fellow politician with newspaper clips of his controversial political positions on equal rights, rediscovered by publisher/author Ross Heller and published as by Abraham Lincoln: His 1858 Time Capsule. The other was not really about Lincoln but was written by a fellow long-time Lincoln Group of DC member named Daniel R. Smith, whose father (who sired Dan at the age of 70 in 1932) was born into slavery in 1863. The book, Son of a Slave, is a fascinating look both at the residual effects of slavery and the Jim Crow/Civil Rights eras, but an insightful memoir at a Black man’s life in a largely white world. Dan passed away just before the book was released, so I had his widow sign it to me on his behalf.

Other nonfiction books included memoirs/biographies such as Maus I&II, Crying in H Mart, and The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. I read Maus because of the book banning controversy earlier in the year after realizing I had never read it. Crying in H Mart gave me some insight into being Asian in America. The Samuel Adams book was hot this year, but I read it also because, despite growing up in the birthplace of the American Revolution, I realized I didn’t know that much about one its biggest protagonists. I was less impressed with the book then most people, but I did gain a better appreciation for earthshattering events that happened in my own backyard.

There was a smattering of science books during the year, including my brother’s new book, Earth Day, Every Day by Don Kent, a compilation of essays brimming with key facts, strategies, and solutions regarding our shared environmental and health challenges. He also released Leadership Practices for Healthy Lands: Building the Capacity to Sustain Our Valuable Lands and Waters, an updated and expanded third edition of a book I read last year (I’ll read the new edition in early 2023). Other science-related books include The Treeline, a mega-hyped book I found lacking but others liked. To me the interesting parts were weighed down by cumbersome prose. I liked Sentient by Jackie Higgins a bit more. Then there were books on ADHD and how the mind works.

I read poetry! Those who know me understand that I struggle with reading poetry. The standard rhyme flows well but the meaning often gets lost in the cadence. The more complicated structures confuse my easily distracted brain. That said, I was so impressed with Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem that I bought her book. Some of her poems I really liked, many made me think, and others I just totally didn’t get. All in all, however, a plus.

And finally, there were the books I liked that don’t fit neatly into any category. Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed is a magnificent and insightful look at how race is taught in America, both directly and systemically. Everyone should read this book, whether you are white or black or whatever. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown takes an intimate look at the American men who rowed to victory in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It’s a wonderful deep dive into the training and thinking of a group of largely unknowns who made history the same year Jesse Owens was proving white supremacy was a fallacy. I also liked The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham, which digs into the inspiration for Dostoevsky’s writing of Crime and Punishment. As the title might suggest to some, it involves Dostoevsky’s own trials and tribulations and a serial killer (yes, you read that correctly). Another fascinating book was The Science of Abolition: How Slaveholders Became the Enemy of Progress by Eric Herschthal. He takes a look at how abolitionists as well as slavery proponents used science (and pseudoscience) to bolster their positions. The book relates well to the “Science of Slavery” chapter in my own book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius.

You can see the full list of books by following my Goodreads site.

As with last year, I write this with the big ball sparkling above Times Square ready to be counted down at midnight. While it’s warm, it’s also raining, much as it was last year. So, it’s time to decide what my reading goal will be for 2023. I don’t know if I’ll be on the ALI book award committee this coming year, and I don’t know if I’ll get a new book contract in 2023 (although I do expect to get one, plus publish two POD specialty books on Amazon). I do know that the first half of the year is already booked pretty well already with presentations, interviews, and whatnot associated with Lincoln: The Fire of Genius and my role as president of the Lincoln Group of DC will keep me busy. I also have at least one travel event already booked, plus a road trip I’ll do in April, with the expectation there will be one or two more trips added during the year.

Given all this, and needing a goal to push me, it seems fitting and proper to keep my reading goal for 2023 at 75 books. That gives me a challenging goal to shoot for, but also one reasonable enough that I could pass it while leaving me time (really!) for all the other commitments. My hope is to continue to broaden my reading to include other historical figures and time periods besides Lincoln, but Lincoln will always be at the forefront.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius is available for purchase at all bookseller outlets. Limited signed copies are available here. The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. If you read the book, please leave a review and/or rating.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.