Selected Poems   Galway Kinnell
Kinnell died this week, so I wanted to read some more of his poems. This is a very good early selection. “The Avenue Bearing the Initial of Christ into the New World” is an excellent example of his skill. I really enjoyed these poems. Much better than I remembered.

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World Steven Johnson
Another very informative and interesting book by Johnson. The title is an accurate description. As usual, learned a lot about Victorian London, the history of the specific instance, and the development of science. Really enjoyed it, very profitable.

Personal   Lee Child
I’ve read all of Child’s Reacher books, and, unfortunately, this is my least favorite. The crisp, clean prose and quick action that have made all the others so entertaining are absent here. Use of the first person narrative serves only to wash out all the other characters, as well. Too bad. Disappointing.

A Woman Alone & Other Plays   Dario Fo
Plays and stories by the 1997 Nobel Prize winner. Really enjoyed the left political point-of-view, especially the “Tales of the Resistance” and “More Stories”. Wish I had encountered him earlier. Very good.

Kaddish for a Child Not Born   Imre Kertész
Powerful novel about a writer recounting his struggles to be able to live emotionally after surviving Auschwitz. Very well written and translated in a sort of stream-of-consciousness. By the 2002 Nobel Prize winner.

The Invention of Air: A Story Of Science, Faith, Revolution, And The Birth Of America   Steven Johnson
Interesting and informative history of Joseph Priestley’s influence in chemistry, religion, and politics, especially among the founders of the United States. Very well written. Especially interesting sidebars on the nature of intellectual progress and new paradigms. Really liked it.

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think   Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier
Disappointing discussion of the growing influence of the “science” of big data. Distressing that it was not about knowledge and understanding, but about statistics with applications for and about business only. Deeply concerned by their promotion of “inexactitude” and the rule of statistical analysis.

It Can’t Happen Here   Sinclair Lewis
Engaging novel about the ascendance and implementation of a totalitarian government in the United States in 1936. Unfortunately, plausible for now as well. Lewis won the Nobel Prize in 1930.

The City Under the Skin   Geoff Nicholson
Entertaining and off-beat novel about women who are being randomly grabbed, tattooed, and then let go. The mystery brings together an ex-con trying to go straight, a cartographer, and one of the women. Nice prose and a good story, though kind of a weak ending. Enjoyed it.

The Hunting Gun   Inoue Yasushi
1947 Japanese novel that consists of three letters written to a man by three women he loves who are, in different ways, abandoning him. Emotionally bleak.

The Liar’s Wife   Mary Gordon
Four well accomplished novellas. For some reason, they didn’t have the power for me of Spending and her other collections of exquisite novellas, but very good. Liked Fine Art the best.

One Summer: America, 1927   Bill Bryson
Entertaining popular history of the many interesting events that occurred in the summer of 1927 in the U.S., such as Lindbergh’s flight, the Yankee’s, a notorious murder case and others. Worth it, but not profound.

The Golden Boat: Selected Poems   Rabindranath Tagore
A much better selection of Tagore’s poetry, in a translation by an actual poet. His 1913 Nobel Prize makes a lot more sense reading these, accomplished, sometimes almost formalist, poems.

The Half-Finished Heaven: The Best Poems of Tomas Tranströmer   Tomas Tranströmer
A collection of the 2011 Nobel Prize winner’s poems. Quite good, but I agree with Robert Frost that poetry is what is lost in translation. Glad the prize awards poets. Enjoyed this overview of his work.