A New World: An Epic of Colonial America from the Founding of Jamestown to the Fall of Quebec
Arthur Quinn
Part of my study of American history. Very informative and enjoyable overview of the founding of the British and French colonies in North America, though it was work getting through it. Especially liked Quinn’s writing style, and the European context for colonizing. Good foundation and learned a lot. Well worth it.

The Brick Layer   Noah Boyd
Very enjoyable, and nicely written, thriller about an unconventional FBI agent who solves a series of murders and finds ransom money. Especially good male-female dialogue between two agents. Steve Vail is much like Reacher; highly intelligent and violent, but wittier. Quick and quite entertaining.

Bhagavad Gita   translated by Stephen Mitchell
This, more than any other “sacred” text I have read, seems purely spiritual and conveys an understanding of life. I am not comfortable with the Lord/God references except that they can be understood to portray a reverence for the foundation of existence throughout the universe, which I like well enough. Also loved the clarity and simple beauty of Mitchell’s translation.

Mormon Polygamy: A History   Richard S. Van Wagoner
An outstanding overview of polygamy in Mormonism from its origins in Nauvoo to today. Nicely written, well researched, and very informative. I was especially interested in the Utah period of Mary Ann Freeze. Well worth it.

Field Grey   Philip Kerr
Latest of the Bernie Gunther series. He spends most of the book in prison recounting his involvement on the Eastern front. Not as interesting as previous books, a little too expository, but an interesting ending. Overall, disappointing, but OK.

The Second Son   Jonathan Rabb
Third Nikolai Hoffner book. This time Hoffner, dismissed from the Berlin Kripo because of his Jewish mother, is in Spain during the early days of the civil war, hunting for his youngest, second son, finding love and unbearable grief and pain. Well done. Don’t know if this is the last of a trilogy or not.

The Border Lords   T. Jefferson Parker
Very disappointing fourth novel in the Charlie Hood series. This one is marred by a veer into vampire fantasy and clumsy, over-the-top plot. Too bad.

Iron River   T. Jefferson Parker
Graphic, brutal, and hopeless third installment in the Charlie Hood series. As the power and range of the cartels grow, more people are destroyed while others thrive, Charlie and his ATFE team are overwhelmed, and some mysterious people intervene. Beautifully written contemporary entertainment.

The Renegades   T. Jefferson Parker
In this second Charlie Hood novel, Hood is battling a fellow LASD deputy, Allison Murrietta’s son, and the Mexican Drug cartel employing them. More violence and excellent prose, but no love story this time. Again, nicely entertaining, primarily because of the beautiful prose that enlivens the adequate plot.

L. A. Outlaws   T. Jefferson Parker
The first Charlie Hood novel where he gets involved with Allison Murrietta as he tries to solve the murder of 10 men at an L. A. warehouse. Police corruption, an evil assassin, loads of violence, and a great love story between two great characters, all written in excellent, Hemingway-esque prose. Nicely entertaining.

The Last Colony   John Scalzi
Another Old Man novel where John Perry and Jane Sagan are now retired and just colonists. That doesn’t last long and they are caught up in interstellar politics, war, and intrigue. Entertaining, smart, and an enjoyable escape.

Old Man’s War   John Scalzi
Really interesting science fiction novel about a future where old people can join the Colonial Defense Forces when they turn 75. Entertaining, marginally plausible, intelligent, and well-enough written. Lots of fun.

The Sentry   Robert Crais
Pretty disappointing Joe Pike novel with Pike and Cole protecting a woman who isn’t what she seems. It has character and thematic gaps, and little emotion or power. This is about the third Crais novel in a row where he seems tired and uninterested. Too bad.

Mormonism in Transition   Thomas G. Alexander
Read the sections that had specific relevance to my work on Mary Ann Freeze’s diaries such as Plural Marriage, Word of Wisdom, etc. Very good introduction to why many things are the way they are in the church now, as well.

Collusion   Stuart Neville
Disappointing second novel featuring the Northern Ireland assassin Gerry Fegan. The narrative is interesting, and works well, until Neville begins to bring the three strands together. When they converge, he loses control and the plot and the resolution becomes unconvincing and unjustifiably mysterious. Prose is good, but overall, didn’t like it.

Heaven’s Net is Wide   Lian Hearn
Prequel to the very-enjoyable Tales of the Otori tetralogy concerning the development and tragedies of Otori Shigeru. Nicely written, and very interesting and enjoyable, even if it slides over far too many years. Really enjoyed it.

I read 63 books in 2010, the most of any year I’ve been keeping track. And I’m pleased with the quality of the books, especially the non-fiction.

Non-fiction highlights were: Hegemony or Survival Noam Chomsky, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens, the five Plato dialogues, The Narrow Road to Oku Matsuo Bashō, Bhagavad Gita translated by Stephen Mitchell, and Marx’s General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels Tristram Hunt.

Fiction highlights were: Sleepless Charlie Huston, Bad Things Happen Harry Dolan, Rosa Jonathan Rabb, The Farmer’s Daughter Jim Harrison, Bite Me, A Love Story Christopher Moore, Road Dogs Elmore Leonard, and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet David Mitchell. It was a very good year.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet   David Mitchell
Another brilliant and moving Mitchell novel, this time about the years Jacob de Zoet spends in Japan at the turn of the 19^th century. Stories within stories within stories. Enjoyed it very much. Great way to end a great year of reading.

Sleepless   Charlie Huston
Novel about a prion-caused plague that makes people sleepless as they die from it. Another absolutely wonderful novel from Charlie Huston; profoundly imaginative, perfectly executed narrative in light, even beautiful, prose, compelling characters, and, in the end, deeply moving. Loved it.

A Drink before the War    Dennis Lehane
The first of the Kenzie and Gennaro books from 1994 this mystery tells the story of racial and gang warfare in Boston. Gritty and pretty well written, but the themes seemed dated and a little overwrought. Not bad though. May read the next in the series.

A Moveable Feast   Ernest Hemingway
Once again, I loved Hemingway’s exquisite prose descriptions of his time in Paris in the 1920s. Especially liked “False Spring” and “There is Never Any End to Paris.” Maybe my favorite of his books though it was published posthumously.

Bad Things Happen   Harry Dolan
Delightful mystery novel about someone killing people at Grey Streets, a magazine that publishes mysteries. An interesting protagonist, spare, clipped prose, a few delicate twists, and a wonderful ending made this an absolute pleasure. Wish it hadn’t ended.

Worth Dying For   Lee Child
The latest in the Jack Reacher books, which I have really enjoyed. Now Reacher has drifted from South Dakota to Nebraska where he gets involved with the Duncan family who terrorizes the entire county, imports sex slaves, and molests and kills eight-year-old girls. Previous Reacher novels have been great because of the razor-sharp prose and intelligent development and resolution of the mystery. This novel is just mindlessly violent, and Reacher has become just a brutal killing machine. Guess life on the best-seller lists changes you. Disappointing.

Shadow and Light   Jonathan Rabb
Nikolai Hoffner, now Kriminal Oberkommisar, returns in a mystery that couples the development of sound technology in movies with the further rise of the Nazis. It’s now 1927, Hoffner is struggling to understand the case he is on and have a relationship with his sons. Again very well-developed characters, complex plot, good writing, historically accurate, and uncompromising bleakness. Very good sequel to Rosa. Hope he keeps writing these Nikolai Hoffner novels.

Rosa    Jonathan Rabb
Excellent crime novel set in Germany in 1919 that explores the origins of Nazi power by “solving” the mystery of the disappearance of Rosa Luxemburg’s body after she was murdered. Introduces Kriminal Kommisar Nikolai Hoffner. Extremely well-developed characters, good writing, historically accurate, and a complex plot that is fully realized. Very, very good. Loved it.

The Sleepwalkers    Paul Grossman
In 1932 Germany, with Hitler on the verge of power, detective Willi Kraus, a Jew, works to solve a murder case of bizarrely deformed women which leads back to Nazi medical experiments. Pretty good, though slim on characterization, average writing, and a little sensationalized.

The Farmer’s Daughter   Jim Harrison
Another exquisite trilogy of novellas from one of my all-time favorite authors. Two of the novellas introduce new, real, fascinating characters, and one of them continues the wonderful Brown Dog arc. All in Harrison’s rambling, magnificent prose. Loved this book. Didn’t want any of them to end.

The Grand Design   Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Hawking’s latest book, this time about the design of the cosmos. Nicely written with a lot of information that has been in previous books. However, this time the authors go further by promoting M Theory and explain why there cannot be a god as creator of the universe. Profitable, and just what was needed racing across Nebraska.

The Arms Maker of Berlin   Dan Fesperman
Pretty good thriller about a history professor trying to find four missing folders of information about OSS activities during and after the war in Germany, particularly with an arms merchant. White Rose, FBI, CIA, Iranian hit men, and a beautiful German historian all made for a fairly good read.

Marx’s General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels Tristram Hunt
Excellent biography of Engels, well written and full of important information. It was an exemplary life as well as revolutionary. Wish I were more like him in several ways. And he had a huge impact on human history. Really enjoyable and profitable.

The Exodus Quest   Will Adams
Very disappointing archeological thriller about finding a site linked to the Essenes and the “Jews” exodus from Egypt. Not badly written with a few interesting ideas, but it quickly devolves into one long, unbelievable chase. Too bad. Don’t have the time to waste.

The English Major    Jim Harrison
Another very enjoyable Harrison novel. This one is about Cliff, a sixty-year-old former farmer and English teacher who loses everything to his now ex-wife and starts on a trip to visit every state of the lower forty-eight. Harrison’s prose is the opposite of Hemingway’s, but his theme’s and interests are delightfully similar. Hated for it to end.

Plato’s Republic: A Biography    Simon Blackburn
This is a terrible book. Blackburn admits in the preface that he knows nothing about Plato, and that he wrote it because his agent got him the gig. He then proceeds to talk about philosophers and other people instead of talking about The Republic. And, like a lot of people who can’t understand something, he ridicules it to cover his ignorance instead of explaining it. I’m not a fan of Plato, and I still am angered by what he did. A really huge waste.

Three Stations    Martin Cruz Smith
Latest in the outstanding Arkady Renko series. This time Renko, still in trouble with his boss, searches for a serial killer and a lost baby. Tight, perfect prose, great characters, and a narrative with a little of everything needed to make a great read. Not a wasted word or phrase. A little too easy an ending, but wonderful. Wish it hadn’t gone so quickly.

Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War Andrew Bacevich
An excellent book about the foundations of America’s militarism since World War II, and the dire state of the U. S. democracy and economy that has resulted. Surprisingly beautiful writing, thoughtfulness, history, and analysis make this a very valuable read. We are in serious trouble, but then I’ve known that since the early eighties. Can’t recommend this book enough.

The Astronomer    Lawrence Goldstone
Entertaining historical thriller set during the time of the publication Copernicus’ heliocentric theory in the 1530s. The history is accurate, the intrigue and horrors of the inquisition based on real people and events, the narrative is satisfying, and the writing is good. Enjoyed the quick read.

Phaedo    Plato
Plato’s final of five dialogues about Socrates’ trial and execution. It is longer and deeper than the previous four. Here, as he prepares to commit enforced suicide, Socrates describes the theory of learning as recollection, the nature of planet earth, and appropriately, the immortality of the soul. Pretty unbelievable stuff in the early twenty-first century, but his death is always a little moving.

Road Dogs   Elmore Leonard
Sequel to the also delightful Out of Sight. This time Jack Foley makes a prison buddy, and when they get out they are looking to live the good life, but there’s always a woman. Great dialogue, humor, interesting characters, and Jack’s smooth style and intelligence made this a very pleasurable read. Kind of sorry it ended.

Bite Me, A Love Story   Christopher Moore
Absolutely delightful novel about vampires roaming the nights of San Francisco. Really liked all the weird characters, especially the voice of Abby Normal, the sixteen-year-old vampire wannabe. Very inventive, funny, and a little touching. Wish I had known it is the third in a series before I read it. A really enjoyable, quick read.

Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy Noam Chomsky
Another provocative, accurate, and deeply troubling analysis of U. S. state power, foreign policy, and the work to undermine democracy at home. Extremely well researched and documented. He sees the current state of internal U. S. politics and the American hegemony the way I do, and he makes a great case. The first half of the book covers much the same ground as Hegemony or Survival, but the second half really gets at what is going on to undermine democracy around the world, as well as here at home. A very, very valuable book.

Gilgamesh: A New English Version    Stephen Mitchell
Mitchell’s contemporary rendering of the Sumerian version of the ancient epic. It is a thousand years older than the Iliad and the Bible. His version is beautiful and moving and has the feel of its distant age. Its concerns are deeply human: friendship, honor, and especially grief and death and how a human should live. Really enjoyed it again in this version.

Crito   Plato
Plato’s dialogue where Socrates explains why, on the eve of his execution, he will not flee from it. He argues that one must act with justice and virtue even if everyone else does not. Brief, clear, and even convincing. Really enjoyed reading it again.

Apology   Plato
Plato’s dialogue where Socrates defends himself against the accusation of impiety, that is, not believing in the gods, and corrupting the youth by teaching them to think. Really enjoying re-reading the dialogues related to Socrates’ trial and death. Interesting argument about why death should not be feared. Wish I had kept it up so I could read them in Greek.

Eye of the Red Tsar   Sam Eastland
Pretty disappointing mystery novel about the man who was the Tsar’s chief investigator who, after being plucked from the Gulag, works for Stalin to find out what happened to the Tsar’s family. Kind of surprised this book actually got published, it makes so many of the narrative mistakes that everyone is taught to avoid in freshman English classes. For example, telling the reader what happens instead of showing what happens. Very, very thin characters. Interesting premise wasted.

Hitler’s Peace   Philip Kerr
Intrigue surrounding the Big Three conference in Tehran in 1943 between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Really disliked the main character, and Kerr wasn’t able to make it feel like a mystery. Felt like a docu-drama the whole time. All the characters were very unconvincing, there was no suspense, and it was over long. First book of his I haven’t liked. It was a real slog. Too bad.

Stettin Station   David Downing
Third novel with John Russell as a foreign correspondent in Nazi Germany. It’s now 1941, Japan is about to attack Pearl Harbor, and Russell is trying to get himself and Effi safely out of Berlin and the country. Plenty of intrigue and suspense and heartache. Well written, historically impressive, and entertaining. Very nice read.

Hegemony or Survival   Noam Chomsky
Great book about the intellectual foundation and practical implementation of the U.S. plan to rule the world. Chomsky’s scholarship is astounding, and the foreign policy since Woodrow Wilson makes me ashamed. Well-documented case of American government subverting or destroying regimes just to establish its own economic agenda. The Iraq invasion just another step in the plan to control the whole world. Very well written, informative, and even engaging, as usual with Chomsky.

A Most Wanted Man    John Le Carré
Cornwell’s latest indictment of the spy agencies and what they do to all that is human. This time, as in Absolute Friends, the Americans and their program of “extraordinary rendition” are the really evil people. Tight, very well written, and perfectly executed. A delight to read, as usual. I have now read everyone of his books. Can’t wait for his new one this fall.

Elegy for April   Benjamin Black
Third in the series with the Dublin pathologist Quirke. Emotionally brutal mystery about a friend of Quirke’s daughter who has disappeared. The evil that lurks inside families and destroys lives, especially between parents and children. Banville is an outstanding writer. I’m glad he started this series. Very, very good.

Euthyphro   Plato
Plato’s dialogue about the nature of piety. Socrates has been accused of being impious, and he encounters “his friend” Euthyphro coming from the courts. Euthyphro proves to be a self-righteous fool under Socrates’ questioning, and as such a mirror of the Athenian piety laws. The beginning of Socrates’ end. First in a series of dialogues I’m reading about his trial and death. Good to be reading philosophy.

Point Omega   Don Delillo
Brilliantly minimal novella about time and our awareness of it, and whether it is possible, through art, to get to what a life is. Beautiful, achingly clean prose that lets us experience some of the disorientation of the few characters. “Every lost moment is the life.” Very good.

Cyber War   Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake
An excellent and very readable introduction to what cyber war is and why the U. S. is particularly vulnerable. Very simple for people who know little about networks or infrastructure, it’s still a valuable overview. Also pretty scary. Clarke inserts himself into the narrative a little too much, but that’s not really a criticism. Glad I read it.

The Nearest Exit   Olin Steinhauer
Very well executed sequel to The Tourist. Now Milo is trying to get his family back while a Chinese spy master tries to destroy Tourism. Steinhauer’s prose effortlessly glides us through the narrative permutations, humor, grief, and counseling. Very good and very enjoyable.

Freedom   Daniel Suarez
Sequel to last year’s Daemon. Now the daemon has progressed and is working, through the darknet, to undermine the corporate stranglehold on the planet. Lots of action, intrigue, and a compelling vision of how to get out of our slavery to corporate greed. Wish it could happen. Has made me want to change the way I live even more. Really enjoyed it.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight    trans. Simon Armitage 
A Middle-English narrative poem about Sir Gawain and his encounter with a monstrous knight. Very nicely translated by Armitage, but without the middle English cadences. Beautiful story, really enjoyed reading it, and I was deeply impressed by the literary abilities of the anonymous 14^th-Century English poet. Excellent.

Darwin’s Origin of Species: A Biography    Janet Browne
An absolutely wonderful book that describes the historical background, writing, content, and legacy of one of the most influential books in western civilization. Browne explains everything simply and clearly, without dumbing anything down, and in beautiful prose. Loved this book.

61 Hours   Lee Child
Latest in the series finds Reacher in South Dakota battling a drug lord, an assassin, and the brutal cold. Entertaining as always, though for the first time in one of Child’s books, I was ahead of the plot. Also, as usual, very clear, precise prose that really moves things along. Very enjoyable read except that he leaves it unfinished in anticipation of another book this Fall. Marketing guys got to him, I guess.

Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography   Francis Wheen
An excellent, brief historical background and analysis of Marx’s master work. Takes you from the beginnings of Marx’s research to the place the book and its concepts hold today. Clear prose and a deep understanding of Marx’s ideas made this a very informative and enjoyable read.

The Burial at Thebes   Sophocles – Seamus Heaney translation
Heaney’s “version of Sophocles’ Antigone.” Nicely rendered in clear, down-to-earth verse that is just right for a contemporary audience. As he says, it’s concern with the rights of the individual and the abuse of power was especially relevant during the Bush administration when he did the translation. Reminded me again of the greatness of the ancient Greeks. Really enjoyed reading it, and I would love to see it performed.

The Book of Urizen   William Blake
Blake’s visionary poem and paintings that describe an alternate creation myth. Stunningly beautiful and powerful paintings and poetry. Blake was a little weird, but an obvious genius. His illuminated books are some of the greatest works in western civilization. Really, really enjoyed this.

This Land is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation Barbara Ehrenreich 
Collection of short pieces about the current state of life in the U.S., especially the current war against the lower and middle classes. Very well written, caustic, brilliant, insightful, hilarious, sarcastic, and right on the money. Really enjoyed it.

A Treatise of Civil Power   Geoffrey Hill 
Collection of poems by the English poet, many based on his readings of Milton, among others. Kind of obscure for me, but very well crafted, reflective on what he’s reading concerning civil power, and highly intelligent. Really enjoyed the week of first-thing-in-the-morning readings.

The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality   Dalai Lama
Really enjoyed this book until the last couple of chapters on what Buddhism has to offer in the study of consciousness. A quick “read” driving through the streets of SLC. Against my expectations, I thought Gere did a very good job reading it. Renewed my respect for the Lama, and even made the scholarly aspects of Buddhist philosophy seem interesting. A profound intellectual tradition, especially the ancient Indian philosophy it’s based on.

The Wrong Kind of Blood   Declan Hughes
Well-written mystery set in contemporary Dublin about a private investigator who returns home from L.A. for his mother’s funeral. All kinds of violence and re-surfacing relationships and family tragedies. He comes to grips with them all, but only after a lot of harm comes to everyone. A good, above average, distraction.

The Age of American Unreason Susan Jacoby
The first few chapters were an excellent intellectual history of the current state of anti-intellectualism in the U.S. of A., and even though subsequent chapters turn into a screed with too many of her “arguments” based on personal experiences, this is a very valuable book. I loved driving around in the cool of the evenings, the windows down, listening to it. I really liked it.

Song of Songs
Re-read this love poem in the translation by the Jewish Publication Society. Doesn’t really belong in the bible, especially the Old Testament. Because of a recent loss, it connotes heartache as well now.

The Narrow Road to Oku Matsuo Bashō
In exquisite prose and perfect haiku, Bashō recounts his summer journey through Japan in 1689. This volume has the original Japanese on the left page and Donald Keene’s translation on the right. It also contains beautiful illustrations by Miyata Masayuki. A wonderful way to start the days. Didn’t want it to end.

The God Delusion Richard Dawkins
A bit of a slog, but a valuable description of many of the implications of belief in a god. Really geared to be another salvo in the battle between science and religion. The raising consciousness about natural selection was a little too much, but otherwise a useful account of the delusion that a belief in a god, any god, really is. Interesting ideas about whether teaching children religion is child abuse. Glad I read it, and glad I’ve finished it.

Sergeant Nibley, PhD Hugh Nibley
I knew Nibley a little when I lived out here in the 70s and 80s, and I worked tangentially with him against the Vietnam war. He had referred obliquely a few times to his experiences in WWII, so I was really interested to read this book by him and his son Alex. It was a lot more work than it needed to be because it is very poorly organized and crowded with unnecessary pictures and sidebars. I guess the editor thought it needed to be dumbed down for the Mormon readers even though it pretends to be for a non-Mormon audience as well. Still glad I worked my way through it. He still means a great deal to me in my intellectual and spiritual development.

If the Dead Rise Not Philip Kerr
Latest in the Bernie Gunther series, number 6. Now he’s in Cuba, but most of the book takes place during 1934. Again Kerr’s sleek prose that slips us through the narrative. His pre-war and Third Reich world is good history as well as compelling fiction. Really liked it. Hope he keeps writing them.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens
“Read” this as an audio book, and it was great listening to Hitchens read his own prose as I drove around in my Beetle. He loves to skewer people and our preconceptions, so there is a glee in this book as well as some good insights and history. But he is not a philosopher, and his arguments wind around a little even though they are, for the most part, right on the money. Very good, really glad I read it.

Once a Spy Keith Thomson
Entertaining novel about a spy with Alzheimer’s disease and his loser son. Started out great with a nice satirical bent, but devolved into a giant, cartoonish, comedic chase scene. Not too bad, but could have been better with a little more of an edge.