The Rosie Effect   Graeme Simsion
Disappointing sequel that bogs down in lying and uncomfortable situations rather than the humor and affection that made The Rosie Project so good. The ending was sweet, but it was difficult getting there. Too Bad

How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe   Thomas Cahill
Title is complete misinformation, only very little at the end is about the Irish preservation of classical knowledge. Whole book is about Catholicism and Irish ancient texts. Uninteresting and irritating waste of my time. Hated it.

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage   Haruki Murakami
Novel about a 36-year-old Tokyo man who travels through his past, and to several places, to come to terms with his life, especially something that happened to him 16 years previously. As usual, beautifully written. I really like Murakami. Another good one.

A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing   Lawrence Krauss
Interesting and informative description of how the big bang could occur, and how it created our universe and what it is like. Really interested in Feynman’s explanation of how particles pop into and out of existence. All this stuff is contrary to our limited experience, but it does make sense eventually.

A Walk with Tom Jefferson   Philip Levine
Levine died on February 14, so I re-read this book of his poetry in memoriam. Really enjoyed it again. Very sad he died. His poetry meant a great deal to me, and he had a profound effect on my own work, for example “Triptych – History of the Church.” Very sad for me.

A Selection From the Poems of Giosuè Carducci   Giosuè Carducci
Winner of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Literature. Highly structured poems that feel contorted by Emily Tribe’s valiant attempt to maintain the structure and rhyme in translation. Never really got into any of them. As I’ve said before, Frost was correct. Too bad.

Vanished   Joseph Finder
Fairly entertaining thriller about a security consultant, former Green Beret, who tracks down his missing brother. Surprisingly dull, but first in the Nick Heller series, so I’ll try the second as well, would be nice to find another good series.

Selected Poems   Saint-John Perse
Winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature. Odd structure of many of the poems that have large sections of prose in them as well, though lyrical. Unfortunately, though the language is beautiful and there are some good images, didn’t really get much from these.

Last Days in Shanghai   Casey Walker
Novel about a congressional aide on a junket with his boss who goes missing. Didn’t like the main character, the pretensions of meaningfulness, and it seemed overwritten. Found the whole thing unconvincing. Too bad.

Far As the Eye Can See   Robert Bausch
Very enjoyable novel about the adventures of a Civil War veteran on the great plains in the 1870s. Liked his character and his struggle adapt to and understand his life there. Liked the first-person narrative style, and the writing in general. Didn’t want it to end.

O the Chimneys: Selected Poems, Including the Verse Play, Eli   Nelly Sachs
Very intelligent and original poems by the winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature. Inventive images, simple language but cosmic ideas. Many chronicle the twentieth-century Jewish experience and the holocaust, which she avoided. Very good.

Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral   Gabriela Mistral
Well crafted poems of female experience, a little self absorbed, but beautiful imagery, even in translation a hint of her Chilean origins, and longing. Won the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Damned Yard and Other Stories   Ivo Andric
These stories, by the winner of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, all felt very foreign and dated, to me. Guess that’s why we read comparative literature. Didn’t really like any of them, though, but glad I did it anyway.