Reading

5/5

by John Steinbeck

5/5

by Robert Tombs

Wow and whew — this was incredible but long. I learned a lot and enjoyed reading, but am also glad to be done. Tombs' focus on national memory was especially insightful, and I appreciated when he pushed back on the prevailing narratives:...

5/5

by Frank Herbert

So this is what fantasy can be! The plot here was gripping, but what sets this apart is, as everyone says, the world-building. Truly unlike any other fantasy I've read: totally believable and cohesive all while being novel and intriguing...

3/5

by Ken Belson

I enjoyed this — a really interesting look at the ownership of the NFL. As a fan, I don't always think about the owners' incentives and influence, so this was quite enlightening. And it featured a heck of a quote from Jerry Jones: “Fella...

4/5

by Kiran Desai

This was incredible. I accelerated this to the top of my stack due to Tyler Cowen's glowing reviews, and I'm glad I did. It took me a while to read, due in part to its length but mostly due to its beauty. Good books can be page-turners, but the best books demand a slower read. It's full of beautiful prose, but also with rich explorations...

4/5

by Douglas Adams

What a strange, lovely book. I found it a little discombobulated at first, but enjoyed seeing the pieces come together and came to appreciate the flitting between people and places. It went from three stars to four in the last few chapte...

3/5

by Pierce Brown

I liked this book! My first science fiction in a long time — perhaps since middle school? The writing was sometimes eyeroll-inducing (see below), but as with any good fantasy book, the plot was spectacular. It flowed so well, keeping me ...

5/5

by George Orwell

Wow, Orwell is just great. A scary tale of how propaganda can seep into the populace, slowly replacing fact with fiction. I realized I need to learn more about the Russian Revolution, so I guess it's time to read Stephen Kotkin!

3/5

by John Green

I liked this book; Green is a captivating writer. The story he tells is a compelling one. The spots I found most insightful were on stigma and illness: the romanticizing of TB is just another way of "othering" a group and setting them ap...

5/5

by Norman Maclean

Wow, what a treasure. Maclean's voice was so memorable, delightful, and unique: having Hemingway's clarity and efficiency of prose but more numinous; sharing Marilynne Robinson's narrator who notices the divine in the quotidian but more ...

3/5

by James Baldwin

A really remarkable text, and reminder for how hatred corrupts the soul. I was especially moved by a passage toward the end that offered a lodestar for one's responsibilities in life: Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and th...

4/5

by Judith Scheele

I came by this from Tyler Cowen and was so glad I picked it up. Scheele's focus on the Sahara and its people, rather than countries, lent itself to a bottom-up ethnography and refreshed perspective of the region. I was reminded that it's...

3/5

by Donald B. Kraybill

A touching read, full of poignant moments and insight on what it means to forgive. I had not read the details of the shooting before and was moved by the Amish response, but perhaps more so by the non-Amish neighbors and friends' sensiti...

3/5

by Kyla Scanlon

I enjoyed this, but I didn't realize it was going to be an overview of the economic system (save for the final chapters). I'd heard much of this before so I didn't find it the most enlightening book, but I appreciated hearing Scanlon's o...

5/5

by Marilynne Robinson

This book was stunning. Robinson finds the numinous in all of life and it felt like a privilege to witness. I wanted to read this book so slowly, to sop up all its wisdom and beauty, treasuring each word. John Ames, the main character, i...