Burning Down George Orwell's House   Andrew Ervin
Disappointing novel about a man who gives up his life in Chicago for 6 months in the house in which George Orwell wrote 1984 on the island of Jura in Scotland to try to find himself. The prose is adequate, but the protagonist seems adolescent, and the other characters are sitcom-level eccentrics. Found Pitcairn senior to be completely unbelievable, the plot became slapstick, and the concerns shallow. Too bad.

Vanishing Games   Roger Hobbs
Ghostman hooks up with his former partner, who vanished six years previously, to scam a triad boss and mercenary out of cash and jewels. Not nearly as intelligent and entertaining as the previous book. This time, the details just got in the way of the action. Also, I was unconvinced by the resolution, and the woman. Too bad.

Aeneid   Virgil
Virgil’s epic poem about the mythic founding of the roman empire by Trojan survivors of the Trojan war. Very beautiful poetry, so I can understand why Dante had Virgil guide him through hell, but all the detailed battle descriptions and heroic bombast got really tedious. Not as great as Homer,, who it imitates, but still a great work of human literature. Fagles’ translation is superb.

Ghostman   Roger Hobbs
Very entertaining, well-written novel about a high-end bank robber whose profession now is to help people disappear. In this case he has to find money and a robber who have disappeared after a casino heist gone wrong. Violent, intelligent, and fast paced narrative clips right along. A great escape.

The Shot Heard Round the World: The Battles of Lexington and Concord   Nancy Whitelaw
Though a children’s book, a good overview of the military encounter that started the American Revolution. Much more content about the years and causes that precipitated the conflict than expected. A good, quick, intelligent read surprisingly filled with information.

The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord   Ray Raphael
Fascinating account of how the people of the Massachusetts Bay colony rose up in 1774 and overthrew British rule, in particular response to the Massachusetts Government Act. Does an excellent job of setting the stage for Lexington and Concord that triggered the full revolution. Very readable and informative, if a little ideological, which I didn’t mind. Really enjoyed it.

Introducing Chaos   Ziauddin Sardar and Iwona Abrams
Excellent, brief introduction and overview of Chaos in mathematics and science. Much broader than generally understood, for example in population, economics, cities, and the human body. Very interested in the relationship to complexity and complex systems, as well. Very good.

Consciousness Explained   Daniel C. Dennett
Very well written, serious, and rigorous philosophy/science book about the nature of human consciousness and how it functions. Relies more on scientific and psychological experimentation data than philosophical reasoning to make his points: hetero-phenomenology, the multiple drafts theory from a pandemonium, the discussion of the origins and nature of the self, and he makes his case very well. I think he makes a mistake thinking of the self as a thing. Good book, very glad I worked through it.

Our Souls at Night   Kent Haruf
Beautiful, sweet, and sad novel about two neighbors who decide to have a relationship late in their lives, just so they aren’t alone. Beautiful prose, pretty good characterizations, and a believable story line. Loved every word.

The Buried   Brett Battles
Entertaining thriller about Quinn, a cleaner, who discovers women imprisoned in a basement. The prose is pretty clumsy, there is little characterization, and the final 2/3rds of the plot is basically just a chase-scene, but it was exciting enough that I wanted to find out what all the trouble was about. Not too bad. Not like it’s the first book I’ve read by him.

The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America   Colin G. Calloway
Another excellent and fascinating history. This one concentrates on the social upheavals caused by the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that ended the Seven Years War. Britain, France, and Spain blithely exchanged territory and people they didn’t really own, and caused more havoc than they ended, particularly the destruction of thousands of years of American Indian nations and the beginnings of the American Revolution. Well researched and engagingly written, couldn’t put it down.

The Ghost Shift   John Gapper
Very entertaining spy/industrial espionage thriller set in contemporary China. Begins with a personal mystery that expands and is unraveled as the narrative progresses. Liked the characters. Nice, clean prose. Set up for a sequel, which I would like. Really enjoyed it.

Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766   Fred Anderson
Outstanding history of the war that really set the stage for the rebellion that became revolution a decade later. Anderson’s massive scholarship provides incredible detail, and his conclusions provide insights into American character and history. Clearly, even beautifully, written. Really, really liked, and profited from, this book. Kind of sad it ended.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man   John Perkins
Incredibly self-absorbed and indulgent book about Perkins’ experiences serving the American “corporatocracy” in the 1970s through early 2000s. Embarrassingly adolescent writing and thinking, especially the painfully dumb epilogue. Much of the information he provides, without much detail, is better revealed from other sources. Not good, waste of time really. Too bad.

Near Enemy   Adam Sternbergh
Entertaining novel about the further adventures of the garbage man-hit man amusingly named Spademan in a post-dirty bomb New York. Quick, crisp prose moves things right along in and out of the limnospere. A fun escape.

The Dead Lands   Benjamin Percy
Liked the premise of recreating the Lewis and Clark expedition through a post-apocalyptic American west, characters named Clark, a woman, and Lewis Meriwether, and Jon Colter. But the writing is clumsy, there are far too many needless supernatural elements, and the plot has too many 50’s science fiction devices. Too bad, not very good.

The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease   Daniel Lieberman
Excellent, fascinating history of the evolutionary development of the human body. Also discusses all the evolutionary mismatch diseases that have arisen because our bodies evolved over millions of years to be hunter gatherers who became farmers and who now are sedentary. Informative, well written, and very, very good.

The Water Knife   Paolo Bacigalupi
Harsh, brutal, dystopian novel about a near future western U.S. without enough water. Besides being incredibly timely, it is very well written with interesting and believable characters and a perfectly convincing plot. Couldn’t put it down. Loved it.

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century   Barbara W. Tuchman
Tuchman is a good historian and a very good writer, especially for a historian, but I found this book uninteresting. Read 150 pages and quit, just didn’t care. The details about the plague were somewhat interesting, but I found my mind wandering through everything else. Maybe because it’s about France. Might pick it up again another time.

The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists   Iris Murdoch
Insightful, not to mention beautifully written, explanation of Plato’s exclusion of artists from his ideal city. Impressive knowledge of Plato’s works and analysis of them by the philosopher known more for her novels. Very good.

Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation   Elaine Pagels
History and some analysis of the influential biblical text. Pagels places it in the context of its times, and the Jewish prophetic tradition, which go a long way toward eliminating much of the “mystery” of its language and symbols. Also, compares it to contemporary prophetic books discovered at Nag Hammadi. Well done, but only marginally interesting because I have happily left all that B.S. behind. Halleluiah.

The Revelation of John
Read this good contemporary translation by Richmond Lattimore to refresh my mind while reading Pagels’ book. The whole thing is weird, and it has caused a lot of misery throughout the last 2000 years. Too bad it got included in the Christian bible. Really glad I’m done with all that.

The Doomsday Equation   Matt Richtel
Frenetic techno-thriller about a conspiracy to destroy a peace conference and the computer genius whose software predicts it. Liked the technical parts, but the plot was thin and unnecessarily twisty, and the characters pale. Also, the ending was unjustifiably positive. But not a total waste, a little fun.

How We Do It: The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction   Robert Martin
Clinical, highly technical examination of human reproduction. Covered everything from conception to infant care from the purely biological point of view of humans as primates. Especially enjoyed the chapter on the brain, for example, women lose 4% of their brain mass while they’re pregnant. Learned a lot from all the sections. Very well done.

Leaving Berlin   Joseph Kanon
Highly entertaining spy thriller set in 1949 Berlin. Very well written, good characters, captured the desperation of the times and place. Also an excellent description of how a vicious totalitarian state operates and destroys individuals. Ending a little too positive, but believable enough. Wonder if the main character will re-appear. Couldn’t put it down.

The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War   Fred Anderson
Excellent overview of the 1754-1763 war that removed the French presence in North America and established a sense of independent identity in the British colonies that led to their rebellion ten years later. A very well written and very informative introduction.

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare   Stephen Greenblatt
“Biography” of Shakespeare. Because almost nothing is known of his life, the book is filled with phrases like, “may have,” “it’s reasonable to assume,” and “if we follow this line of speculation,” all of which made me very uncomfortable. Enjoyed and learned from the actual history of Elizabethan England. All the analysis of the plays got a little tedious. Greenblatt is a very good writer, his research is excellent and his prose even beautiful.

Blood on Snow   Jo Nesbø
Quick, well-written novel about a kind Oslo hit man in love and the havoc that results. Violent, sad, and tragic. A little of a surprise ending. Couldn’t put it down.

Seveneves   Neal Stephenson
Brilliant, fascinating, well-written, 800-plus page novel about the death of the earth because of the destruction of the moon and humanity’s attempt to survive over 5000 years. As much a dissertation on things like celestial mechanics, terra forming, and other highly technical subjects as fiction. Stephenson can write clearly, almost beautifully, about the most complicated topics. Loved many of the characters. Not quite as good as Anathem, my favorite of his, but up there near Cryptonomicon, which I also loved. Really enjoyed it.

Derrida For Beginners   Jim Powell
Good, extensive introduction to Derrida’s work. But only provided more detail on why I have always disliked the ways he bent Nietzsche and especially Heidegger. He should be ignored.

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created   Charles C. Mann
Fascinating account of the “Columbian Exchange” that resulted from Columbus’ landing on Hispaniola in 1492. Especially good information about the effect on Asia, which is usually ignored in basic descriptions, and the human exchanges. A little more journalistic than scholarly, but excellent nonetheless. Really good.

Introducing Postmodernism   Richard Appignanesi
Outstanding, exhaustive overview of what is meant by the overused term. Covers areas I hadn’t considered such as fundamentalist religions, terrorism, and politics. Written in clear, efficient prose. Very useful.

The Opium Eater   David Morrell
Kindle novella in which Thomas de Quincey explains why he became the infamous user of laudanum, the opium eater of his famous book. Plain but effective prose, good descriptions. Interesting.

The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us   Diane Ackerman
Disappointing, oddly positive, even optimistic, examination of how homo sapiens have affected the planet. Plenty of flowery, even poetic, language that seemed out of place. Didn’t learn anything. Too bad.

The Brothers Karamazov   Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Though considered by many to be one of the greatest novels ever written, I found it, like The Devils and The Idiot, to be emotionally overwrought, concerned with silly aristocratic notions of honor, and ridiculous notions of infantile religiosity. Incredibly stupid ending. I wanted to slap all these stupid people. The whole, enormous, 900-plus page book was a waste of time.

Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners   Donald D. Palmer
Notwithstanding the title, excellent introduction to these two philosophical critical schools. Starts with Saussure and goes through Derrida. Little more information on Foucault the pedophile than I think was necessary, but overall very good explanations and valuable background. Really glad I read it.

Child 44   Tom Rob Smith
Interesting, well-written, and well-plotted novel about a disgraced state security agent trying to solve the serial murders of children in the Stalinist Soviet Union. Emotionally bleak and deeply depressing politically. Harsher than I have read before. Slightly too-optimistic ending, but very enjoyable.

Body Copy   Michael Craven
Disappointing novel about an L.A. P.I. trying to solve a cold case murder. Characters are shallow and undeveloped, plot is simplistic and slow, there is no dark edge, and many of the conversations are laughably unbelievable. A waste of time, too bad.

Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that is Breaking America   Matt Taibbi
Taibbi’s irreverent, highly intelligent analysis and history of the financial crisis of 2008 and the division of America into the grifter (obtains money illicitly and illegally) class and the rest of us. To call the current construction of the U.S. economy deeply troubling would be a gross understatement. Made me angry and disgusted, the game is incredibly rigged. Everyone should read this book.

Introducing Semiotics   Paul Cobley and Litza Jansz
Excellent introduction to the “study of signs and systems of signs.” Very thorough, from Saussure and Pearce to Eco, including even the Soviets, the Prague school, anthroposemiosis, zoosemiosis, and the British. Plenty of good information well presented.

Station Eleven   Emily St. John Mandel
Beautiful novel about people who live through the end of civilization caused by a new flu virus that wipes out 99% of the human population. Exquisite prose, a compelling narrative, and haunting images. Moving and deeply sad. Outstanding fiction, wish it hadn’t ended.

Good-bye   Tatsumi Yoshihiro
More manga/gekiga short stories, these set during the 1960s and 1970s. Drenched in Tatsumi’s typically bleak worldview, they depict life and failed relationships of Japan’s underclass. Very good.

Abandon the Old Tokyo   Tatsumi Yoshihiro
A collection of manga/gekiga short stories set after World War II. Drenched in Tatsumi’s typically bleak worldview, they depict life and failed relationships of Japan’s underclass. Very good, really liked them.

The Selfish Gene   Richard Dawkins
Bloated, condescending explanation of how the gene is the “immortal replicator” that fuels natural selection. Only about 200 pages too long. Dawkins is at his usual self-obsessed, thin-skinned, and petulant best. Even with the smattering of good information, kind of a waste of my time. Too bad.

Bust   Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
Complicated noir thriller about a man and his mistress who hire a nut case to kill the guy’s wife. Everything goes wrong right from the start, and the killings multiply. Nasty, brutish, and deeply cynical. Kind of fun.

Libraries in the Ancient World   Lionel Casson
History of libraries from Alexandria to the beginning of the middle ages. Too much emphasis on the physical layout, cataloging techniques, and who the librarians were at the expense of what the libraries contained. Author sounded like all the librarians I have known. But not a total waste.

Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life   Jon Lee Anderson
Well researched, well written, exhaustive biography of the iconic 60s revolutionary. Che has always fascinated and intrigued me because of his politics, idealism, and personality, even more now that I have worked through this nearly 800-page work, though now there is sadness mixed with my interest. Very good.

Swann’s Lake of Despair   Charles Salzberg
Novel about Henry Swann who finds people or things for a living. Prose was decent, but the narrative was artificial and unconvincing, and the characterizations were shallow facades only. Too bad.

A Drifting Life   Tatsumi Yoshihiro
800-plus-page autobiographical graphic novel about the origins of gekiga manga. Loved every frame and balloon; the writing, drawing, and pacing. Didn’t want it to end. Already read The Push Man and Other Stories, plan to read more.

Quarry in the Middle   Max Alan Collins
This time Quarry is caught between the mob-controlled owners of two casinos on the Mississippi. More violence and sex, but this time not quite as interesting or convincing. Still, a good quick diversion from the meaningful stuff. Enjoyable enough.

Quarry’s Ex   Max Alan Collins
Another entertaining novel about the hit man who kills other hit men. This time he is protecting a film director who just happens to be married to his ex-wife. Sex and violence in the usual clean prose. Enjoyable diversion.

Autobiography   John Stuart Mill
Fascinating personal account of the political and social philosopher’s life (1806-1873). I grew to like and respect him more as the narrative progressed, for his incredible intellect, his honesty, and even humility. Even though it took some work to get used to his style, really enjoyed the book.

Quarry’s Choice   Max Alan Collins
Entertaining novel about a hit man sent to the Biloxi strip for a job in the 1970s. Plenty of sex, drugs, and violence in clean, efficient prose. Had a good time.

Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War   James Risen
Risen’s continuation of what he started in State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. Deeply depressing, detailed accounts of specific examples of the utter corruption of the political-economy of the American war on terror since 9/11. A little too journalistic, but well done. Makes me sick.

The Big Seven   Jim Harrison
Deeply entertaining novel about an ex-policeman who gets involved with a criminal family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Harrison’s usual blend of humor, lust, pain, and thoughtfulness, all described in apparently-unrefined prose that turns out to be beautiful. Loved it.

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.

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.

Introducing Wittgenstein   John Heaton and Judy Groves
Very good, brief introduction to Wittgenstein’s thought, especially the Tractatus and Philosophical Investigations, his two most important works. Well explained. I’ve never been a big fan of Wittgenstein, but he has to be dealt with. Glad for the review.

Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street   Herman Melville
Beautifully written novella about a law clerk who “would prefer not to.” In past readings, it was tinged with humor, but this time it just seemed sad, for everyone. Really enjoyed Melville’s exquisite prose.

The Old Man and the Sea (Bloom's Notes)    Harold Bloom editor
Deeply disappointing collection of critical essays about the Hemingway novel. I found Bloom’s introduction particularly self-serving and arrogant. Confirmed my dislike of Bloom personally and intellectually. Only liked Charles Taylor’s essay mentioning Nietzsche, the rest were cynical and mostly pathetic. Too bad.

The Old Man and the Sea   Ernest Hemingway
Really enjoyed re-reading this classic. Hemingway’s prose seemed even more perfect than I remembered. Didn’t see as much triumph of the human spirit this time as the oppressive nature of life, especially for the poor. Really, really good.

Tokyo Kill   Barry Lancet
Entertaining thriller about a detective agency that works in San Francisco and Tokyo. This time Brodie is looking for lost World War II treasure. Pretty good until the end where is kind of dissolves. Not too bad though.

The Grand Design   Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Hawking’s overview and explanation of the current cosmological view of the origins and nature of the universe based on M Theory. Read it when it first came out in 2010. Well written and organized. Good review. Glad I re-read it.

The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts   J.M.G. Le Clézio
Read this collection of short stories because Le Clézio won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2008. Stories are dark, fatalistic, and emotionally bleak. They were cold and hard. Didn’t really like any of them. Too bad.

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution   Richard Dawkins
Dawkins’ detailed account of the evidences for evolution by natural selection. He talks about himself too much, and he’s a little condescending, though in a nice way, but the book has good details. Chapter 13, “There is grandeur in this view of life” is an exquisite and beautiful summary of how natural selection works. Glad I read it.

Bridge   Robert Thomas
Beautifully written novel about a woman struggling with mental illness and trying to navigate love, work, and getting past jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Prose is astonishingly beautiful. Really liked it.

Gottlieb Mittelberger's Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754…   Gottlieb Mittelberger
Fascinating first-hand account of Mittelberger’s emigration to America in 1750 and his account of the four years he spent in Pennsylvania. Filled with useful and interesting information about what the colony was like then. Excellent.

Introducing Hegel   Lloyd Spencer and Andrzej Krauze
Brief, general overview of Hegel’s philosophy. Spent too much time on his philosophies of nature, science, religion, and art for me. I was primarily interested in Phenomenology of Mind and Philosophy of History. But a good review. Liked the summary of who was influenced by him as well.

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism   Andrew J. Bacevich
Bacevich’s history and analysis of the crises facing U.S. governance, foreign policy, and the military, as exemplified by our involvement in the Middle East. Well reasoned, convincing, and really well written. Also, deeply depressing. Continued in a recent article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-bacevich/iraq-assumptions_b_6210920.html.

Deadline   John Sandford
Most recent Virgil Flowers police procedural. This time he’s solving murders, embezzlement, and dog-nappings in Trippton, MN. Entertaining, but not really good until toward the end. Quick, fun read.

Collected Poems   Philip Larkin
Larkin’s published and unpublished poems. Beautiful images and language, all constrained by the omni-present rhyme. My first encounter with him, probably my last as well, though he is a very good poet.

The Odyssey   Homer (Fagles translation)
Re-read this after several decades. Remembered parts of it, but didn’t remember how beautifully written it is. Really enjoyed it. Was moved when Odysseus and Penelope finally reunite. No wonder it has survived for nearly 10,000 years.

Out of the Dark (Du Plus Loin De L'Oubli)   Patrick Modiano
Novel by the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 2014. A writer remembers the brief affair he had with a woman 30 years ago, and his encounter with her fifteen years later. A bit mysterious, interesting, and nicely written.

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer   Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Excellent biography of Oppenheimer. I’ve been fascinated with him since I was young. Focuses in great detail on the witch hunt to rescind his security clearance during the hysteria of the McCarthy era, as the subtitle indicates. Difficult and infuriating to wade through the extensive excerpts from the transcripts. Very well done and very interesting.

The British Colonies in North America   Peter Benoit
Good, brief introduction and overview of the British colonies up to 1774. Sparse, but useful information. Glad I read it.

The Double   George Pelecanos
Entertaining second installment in the Spero Lucas series. This time Spero cracks a burglary ring to recover a painting. But, of course, it’s not that simple. Pelecanos’ quick, clean prose, sex, and violence. Brutal and, like I said, entertaining.

The Intellectual Life of Colonial New England   Samuel Eliot Morison
Rather than an intellectual history per se, this is Morison’s catalogue of the origins of theology, history, literature, especially verse, and science in 17^th-century New England. A little dry and out of date, but also somewhat profitable.

The Cut   George Pelecanos
Entertaining crime thriller about an Iraq vet who works as an investigator for a lawyer and does work finding things on the side. He takes a percentage (a cut) of what he finds. Hard, realistic, written in quick, clean prose. Enjoyed it.

Sexual Revolution in Early America   Richard Godbeer
Excellent social history of sexual mores in colonial America from the first settlements through the 18^th century. Turns out, there was a lot of independent activity, even among the puritans. Thoroughly researched and well written. Very detailed and informative.

Selected Poems 1934-1952   Dylan Thomas
October 23 was the 100^th anniversary of Thomas’ birth, so I read through this collection. Everybody always says they love Thomas, so I didn’t take him as seriously for awhile, but re-reading these poems confirmed for me that he is really a great poet. Very good.