Minds, Brains, and Science   John Searle
Intelligent discussion of philosophical problems such as mind-body, whether digital computers can, or ever will be able to, think, and whether human will is free. An interesting suggestion about mind-body, and though he basically punts on whether humans have free will, he characterizes the issue very well. Good book, glad I finally read it.

To Give and To Have and Other Poems   Salvatore Quasimodo
A collection of poems from Quasimodo’s whole career. I don’t know if it was me, but none of these poems seemed that good. They weren’t bad, but they were all kind of ordinary, and a little stiff. Surprising to me that he won the 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Final Silence   Stuart Neville
Very entertaining, though emotionally difficult, thriller about murders in Belfast. Nicely written, well plotted, and believable. Liked the characters, each of whom has a very difficult personal issue to deal with while trying to solve the case. Very good.

Light And Shadows: Selected Poems and Prose of Juan Ramon Jimenez   Juan Ramon Jimenez
Poems and sections from Jimenez’s well-known Platero and I. I found all the poetry to be simplistic and clumsy; since the translations are by multiple poets, can’t really blame the translation. The prose selections were just simplistic. Too bad. He won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature.

A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems   Octovio Paz
A collection of Paz’s poetry from much of his career. As he writes at the end of the long title poem:
     “the poem
      is air that sculpts itself and dissolves,”
That was my experience reading them. Won the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Sovereign Sun: Selected Poems   Odysseus Elytis
Beautiful poems by the winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Literature. Beautiful imagery, nice rhythm, credit to the translator Kimon Friar. Really enjoyed them, would have been glad I read them even if they weren’t part of my reading project.

Uncaged   John Sandford and Michelle Cook
Fast-paced, entertaining action thriller about teenagers taking on an evil corporation that tortures animals and people. Pretty fun, but for a teen audience. And, it ends right in the middle of the action, sequel isn’t out until October. Like I said, quick and kind of fun.

Why Evolution is True   Jerry A. Coyne
Excellent overview of all the evidence for evolution by natural selection, sexual selection, and genetic drift. Much the same as Dawkins’ book, well-written, completely convincing, good detail and reasoning. Thought the last sections of the last chapter “Evolution Redux”, was kind of lame. Really liked it and learned a lot.

The Selected Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert   Jaroslav Seifert
Collection of poetry and autobiographical writings by the winner of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature. Perfect example proving Frost’s statement that poetry is what is lost in translation, the poems, at least in this translation, are clunky and lifeless. Too bad.

Euphoria   Lily King
Beautiful, tragic, sad novel about a love triangle between anthropologists studying primitive tribes in New Guinea in the 1930s. Based on Margaret Mead’s life. Beautiful, light prose, dual points of view, excellent characterizations. Couldn’t put it down. Lovely.

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors   Nicholas Wade
Fascinating study of what genetics can tell us about human origins. Traces in detail physiological, cultural, linguistic, and social development from the earliest human ancestors to the present. Very well written and organized. Very informative, interesting, and convincing. Loved it.

Friends, You Drank Some Darkness: Three Swedish Poets   Robert Bly, trans. and ed.
Collection of representative poems by Harry Martinson who won the 1974 Nobel Prize for Literature. Enjoyed them. Glad Bly has translated so many Swedish poets, and glad I read them.

Selected Stories   Alice Munro
Long stories that explore in detail the intricacies of the female psyche and heart. Beautiful prose. Good job evoking time and place. Won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, thus my interest.

The Storm and Other Things   Eugenio Montale
I liked Montale’s Mottetti so much I read this 1956 collection as well. While I agree with Frost that “poetry is what is lost in translation”, I really liked the images and crafting of these poems. I understand why he won a Nobel prize in Literature.

Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe   George Dyson
Well-written, well-organized, brilliantly researched intellectual history of the creation of the computing machine produced by John von Neumann’s team at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1948. The last three chapters actually changed the way I see the world. Loved this book, didn’t want it to end.

Mottetti: Poems of Love   Eugenio Montale
Twenty interrelated love poems that together form a whole, written between 1934 and 1939. Beautiful, though sometimes obscure, images and language. Like them a lot. By the 1975 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.