Books Read in August

My actual book reading was fairly limited in August.  I finished up Fielding's wonderful 'Tom Jones' and I'll write about that sometime soon.  Since then, I've wandered a bit through short stories and other things.  The biggest concentrated reading that I've done has been non-Shakespearean plays.  I've got an old text book called 'Masters of Modern Drama' and I've been reading through it.  In this past month, I've read several plays that are new to me:

• Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt' - Loved this.  Peer Gynt is a larger than life story-teller/rogue from a small town in Norway.  He gets in serious trouble, is nearly married to a troll princess and then flees to the larger world.  Near the end of his life, he works hard to cheat death and goes through a journey of self-discovery.  Great stuff.
• Ibesen's 'Ghosts' - A very realistic play about how societal rules require people to sin in the name of good and do good things in violation of law.  This is much more like the Ibsen that I've read in the past.  Disturbing and thought provoking.
• Strindberg's 'Miss Julie' - Another play about societal bonds and the havoc they can wreak.  I thought it was only ok, but I can see how a good performance of this could be devastating.
• Strindberg's 'The Ghost Sonata' - A dreamlike play, again with the hint of death and a strong sense of people having far too much control over others. 
• Maeterlinck's 'The Intruder' - This is a short, atmospheric play that could be terrifying.  It all takes place in one room as a family gathers with a blind grandfather.  They all sense...something...come into the house.  They fear for death.  Shivers!
• von Hofmannshtal's 'Death and the Fool' - Another short play about death, but this one all in verse.  I'll have to take another run at this when I'm in the right place, but as it is, I think I rushed through and missed out.
• Synge's 'Playboy of the Western World' - An interesting Irish drama about how glamour and infamy can change people.  Apparently it caused riots when it first appeared on stage.
• Yeat's 'At the Hawk Well' - A small, very arty play by William Butler Yeats, better known as a poet.  This is the type of play that people think of when they think of artists making art only for artists.
• Cocteau's 'Orpheus' - Another arty play, but I loved this one.  A retelling of Orpheus with some modern twists and some stage trickery.  Would love to see it on the stage.

This is a fine text book and I'll probably keep working through it over time. 

Books Read In May

While May was a busy month of reading, most of it was done within the projects of this blog.  Chaucer and Rabelais took up some time and I finished at least two plays at least week.  Outside of my regular projects, I think I only read two books:


Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson - This is a courtroom drama set in a beautiful area, the Juan de Fuca straights between Washington State and Canada.  The crime itself is interesting, but the main force of the book has to do with prejudice towards Japanese Americans both with interment during World War II and afterwards.  Very eye opening.  Also, I find books about island life fascinating.


Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - A reread for me.  One that I go over every few years and will no doubt push on my children as soon as they are old enough.  This is Heinlein's attempt to tackle questions of 'why do armies fight' and 'are there good reasons for a soldier to soldier'.  Despite the cartoonish title, this is a work with serious philosophical questions posed.  Highly recommended. 

Books Read in April

Another month, more reading done.  The biggie for April was a classic that was new to me.

• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte - New to me.  Jane Eyre is a young girl who is orphaned and raised in an unfriendly house.  She eventually finds a life as a governess and ends up wrapped in a relationship that is improper on many levels.  This was a very interesting book and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Eyre lives very much by her principles no matter what the cost to the rest of her life.  It's both admirable and difficult.  I recommend it.
• Double Star, Heinlein - A reread but it has been some years.  This book is set in a sci-fi future.  An actor is pressed into a job as a double for a high ranking official.  He learns a ton about politics, while sharing his insights into the stage.  There are difficulties and drama.  I love this book.
• Four Ghosts in Hamlet, Fritz Leiber - More of a short story, I suppose but very good.  The story is about a traveling Shakespearean troupe and a somewhat mystical occurrence.  If you run across this in a short story collection, read it.

The rest was taken up with Epictetus, St Augustine, Chaucer and (of course) Shakespeare.  (And work.)  I'm now done with 21 of the Shakespearean plays. That leaves one more comedy, five tragedies, six histories and all five of the romances.  Right on track.

Now I just need to get back on track with writing them up!

Books Read in March

I just realized that I completely missed doing one of these for February.  And now I can't remember what I read that month.  Well, one book, but I'm sure I read more than that.  Oh well! 

• The BFG, by Roald Dahl - This was new to me.  (I read this in February at the insistence of my daughter.  We read 'The Little Prince' together and I read this as part of a deal.  Both books have movies coming out and we wanted to be prepared.)  The BFG is a Big Friendly Giant.  He is part of a society of giants, but he is the most humane of them all.  This book is a critique at human societies pitched towards children, especially in respect to war.  Very good, very creative and I enjoyed it.
• The Just City, by Jo Walton - I really enjoyed this one.  The premise is that the goddess Athena has plucked people from all over time and space to recreate Plato's 'Republic'.  They do this as faithfully as they can.  They even purchase slave children so they can free them and raise them by the described methods of Plato's work.  After some years have passed, Athena brings Socrates to live in the city and, well, he does his own special thing.  Highly recommended.
• Hyperion, by Dan Simmons - A reread for me, but I barely remembered anything.  This is a science fiction work set some centuries in the future.  It centers on a group of pilgrims on a journey to beg wishes from a killing entity known as the Shrike.  Each pilgrim tells their story, much like in Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'.  Each story has its own style and the whole adds up to a very good mystery.
• The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons - The sequel to 'Hyperion'.  This was new to me.  The first book simply ends with every loose end, well, still loose.  This book did an excellent job of tying everything up, which isn't always true with 'mystery' style books.  Not as good as the first one, because the individual stories are so much more compelling, but still worth reading.

I think that's it.  I've been very busy with the actual Great Books books.  As I write this, I've completed 13 of the 59 pieces that I have left.  (I had envisioned this as a three year project, but now I'm thinking that two years is a definite possibility.)  I've also finished 17 different plays by Shakespeare since the beginning of the year.  Barring some catastrophe [knocks on wood], I should finish all 38 with time to spare. 
One casualty that I've had is the short story project.  It never really came together on my end and I've been more interested in other things.  I feel a little bit bad about this, but not overwhelmingly so.  It's a worthy project and I'm sure I'll return to it.  Just not in 2016.

Books Read in January

I did a bunch of reading for the Great Books this past month, and very little outside of it.  Overall, I read through three of Plato's dialogues, parts of three of Aristotle's works and five different plays from Shakespeare.  There are worse ways to spend a month than with Plato, Aristotle and Shakespeare.
Otherwise, I think it was just two books:


Declare, by Tim Powers - This was a reread for me, but it's been so long since I read the original that it was all new to me.  This book blends together legends of djinns, spy games with Kim Philby and the final resting place of Noah's Ark.  All great stuff.


Consider Phlebas, by Iain M Banks - New to me, though it's from an author that I enjoy quite a bit.  This is part of a far future space opera, where human civilization has come to be known as 'The Culture'.  In this book, the Culture is fighting against a warrior species called the Idiran.  A super-sentient AI gets lost behind enemy lines and something of a race is on to recover it.  Banks does such a good job of creating a rich world with complicated people in it.  This is no exception.


That's pretty much it.

Books Read in December

It was an active month of reading.  The new job (hours and location wise) seem to lend themselves more to reading and less to web surfing.  That's a good thing, right?


Civilization and its Discontents, Freud - From the reading list.  I haven't written up a review of this yet, but I will.  The thing about Freud, I don't think that I agree with him, but he has a very interesting mind.
Last Call, Tim Powers - A reread from me.  Powers is one of my favorite current writers.  He has a knack for blending myths from various sources into something fresh and inventive.  This combines Poker/Tarot, Bugsy Seigel and Las Vegas, with stories of Adonis, Isis and various resurrection stories.  All good stuff.
The ABC Murders, Agatha Christie - What fun mysteries!  I wish I'd found her when I was younger.  This is a 'Poirot' case.  The murder is picking a new victim in a new city each month and taunting Poirot the entire time.


I've also been reading my way through Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'.  Excellent and interesting stuff, but very repetitive.  Either a god fancies a girl and turns himself into something else to bed her, or someone challenges the gods and ends up turned into something (mostly birds but sometimes a stone or a spider). 
I've also been dabbling a bit in US history.  When I'm done with the Great Books, I have another project lined up that will deal with early US history as regards to constitutional thinking.  I'm preparing by reading some of the related works.


2015 wasn't always easy for reading, but it had lots of great stuff in it!

Books Read in November

I skipped this post for October because I spent all of the month either reading 'Moby Dick', 'The Brothers Karamazov' or bits and pieces of various stuff that isn't easy to collect.  November was a bit more straight forward.

• Starman Jones, by Robert Heinlein - A reread, but a very welcome one. Heinlein wrote a bunch of 'juvie' books and I still revisit them as an adult. This one focuses on learning, really learning, from mistakes.
• Brave New World by Huxley - Another reread. This should get a full post at some point. I'll just say that there is a pretty good discussion to be had comparing this with 'Fahrenheit 451' and '1984'.
• Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway - Still another reread but this one I had not tackled in more than twenty years. I think this one will also get its own post. Short review: still worth reading.
• America's Game by Michael Maccambridge - While I was away, I visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (I'm a big pro football fan.) The HOF has enormous amounts of great history, but, sadly, no good history books in their gift shop. I found this book, via Amazon, and it is fantastic. Highly recommended as a one volume history of football.

I also finished the short story project ahead of schedule.  I'll write about that in a separate post.

Books Read in September

Looking back, I really didn't read much in September.  I'm not sure why.  It felt like I read quite a bit but certainly not many books.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - This book comes very highly recommended.  It's a global best seller.  Was turned into a movie.  Is on a ton of 'best' lists.  And I hated it.  Hated, hated, hated.  The entire story-telling style was incredibly gimmicky with tiny lists and definitions.  It was as if the writer couldn't bear the thought that people could immerse themselves in the story without constantly looking at the writer.  The story, itself, was interesting, but the awful writing torpedoed any quality.  If you had People magazine have a go at 'Gone with the Wind', you'd have a similarly awful result.  Yuck.

The rest of the month was spent a) reading 'Moby Dick', b) reading early American history books from American Heritage or c) nibbling around the edges of other past enjoyments.  

The short stories were a mixed bag at best this month:

Competitors, Rosenfeld - good

A Distant Episode, - not good

Wants, Plaey - ok

Goodbye My Brother, Cheever - ok

My Sly Stops for a Cup of Joe, Bull - good

I'm somehow ahead of schedule, with only 11 short stories left for the last three months.

Books Read in August

Another busy month of non-Great Books. 

The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman - This is something of a literary mystery with heavy historical overtones.  The main story is that of a cub reporter in a small town trying to figure out the death of a hermit professor.  That part is interesting and well done but the real interesting part is a bunch of mini histories of mystic objects.
The Martian by Andy Weir - A very fun book (and soon to be a movie).  A man is left for dead on Mars by his expedition.  He survives and now must figure out how to a) let them know that he is still alive and b) stay alive for many years until he can be rescued.  This means heavy engineering reengineering of everything.  If you enjoyed the movie 'Apollo 13' and the show 'Mythbusters', you'll like this.
The Body by Stephen King - This is the novella that became the movie 'Stand by Me'.  It's an excellent coming of age story.  The movie adaptation was very faithful to it.  This is a reread for me.  The story takes place right before school starts and that put it into my head about this time.
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick - This is a nonfiction book about the sinking of the whale ship 'Essex' in 1820.  It was the first (and one of the only) accounts of violent action towards a ship by a whale.  It very much served as an inspiration for Melville's 'Moby Dick'.  I wanted to read it before diving into it next month.  The book deals with the attack and the incredible journey that the survivors made afterwards.  It also paints a picture of life in Nantucket and on whaling ships.  It was excellent.

And then the short stories, which were all tremendous.

The Million Pound Bank Note by Twain - excellent (and the rare Twain story that I haven't read before)
The Girl by Schneour - very good
Higher and Higher by Marcus - very good (though very dark)
A Study in Emerald by Gaiman - excellent and a high point of the series
Almost Home by Bisson - very good

Dead White Guys - Burriesci

Back in 2010, Matt Burriesci faced a life crisis.  He paired a job loss with the very premature birth of his daughter.  While moving things around for the nursery at his home, he had to shift his Great Books of the Western World set.  Upon opening the first volume, the Conversation, it sounds like he came across the ten year reading list.  He also made a promise to his new daughter that he would write a book for her before she turned eighteen.  This book is the result.
The book is divided into chapters, each one riffing on one of the pieces of reading from the first year.  He opens with Plato's 'Apology' and goes through to 'The Communist Manifesto'.  (Having worked through them just a few years ago, I could easily recognize the set and order.)  Each chapter involves a bit of Burriesci's personal history and some advice that stems from that piece.  The whole thing is to be set aside for her to read when she turns eighteen.
I liked this book a lot.  The idea behind it is inspired.  I didn't agree with all of the advice but that's hardly the point.  The best way to approach the Great Books is as an inspiration.  "Do I agree with what was said there?  Is it true or false, or (more often) partly true or false with important exceptions?"  'Be skeptical' is the early advice and that's exactly right.
I'm curious what his daughter will make of this when she reads it.  It's a tremendous gift for her and I'm a bit tempted to try and recreate this for my kids.  (I'll put that in the idea hopper.)  The most forthright advice comes in the preface where he makes a very strong argument towards a liberal education. 

The Great Books of the Western World are not interested in promoting our illusions, and they do not care about authority. They are neither gentle nor polite. They teach you how to see through illusions, and they demand that you question both yourself and your masters. Some people are afraid of that, and with good reason. And I should warn you, Violet: these books will challenge your illusions, too. At times you will be uncomfortable with what you find here. But I am reminded of Flannery O'Connor's remark: "The truth does not cahnge according to our ability to stomach it."

This has been exactly my experience too. 

I highly recommend this book.

Books Read in July

It was another busy month of reading.  Vacationing at the cabin really helped that along.  (My ideal vacation includes time spent reading next to a beach or a pool but a cabin with some pine trees works well too.)  What did I get to?

Bel Canto, Ann Patchett - This was the first book in a book club that I started on Facebook and it was good, but not great.  It's the story of a botched kidnapping in an unnamed South American country that turns into a lengthy hostage situation.  We learn about the hostages and the soldiers who are holding them.  They form relationships.  No one feels any urgency or has much agency.  But interesting people and many fine turns of phrase.
A Great Idea at the Time, Alex Beam - I reviewed this at length here, so I won't say much now.  Short review, I liked it at lot.
Wild, Cheryl Strayed - This is an autobiographical book about a young woman whose life fell apart.  Her mother died quickly of cancer.  She tore her marriage apart and dabbled in drugs.  Almost on a whim, she decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and faces many, many hardships.  She also spends some serious alone time which allows her to grieve.  It also gives her some confidence for the future.  An interesting book.
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut - A new one for me and one very highly regarded.  I...didn't care for it.  It came off as a too smart-ass for my taste.  The book deals with war and death and marks each death with the phrase 'and so it goes'.  Sometimes this is profound but it soon became a 'bit' and lost any serious effect.
Eh.
A Literary Education, Joseph Epstein - This is a series of essays and highly enjoyable.  These included writings about his time with great literature and his thoughts on art in the modern world.  My favorite though, was an essay on Jewish jokes.  Some very good stuff.
Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson - A reread for me.  I read this mostly for the first third which is historical fiction regarding Newton's time when he was young.  That whole time period was fascinating for the scientific efforts that were unleashed.

I'm right on track with the short stories.
Penal Colony - Kafka, very good
Kola Street - Asch, good
The Things They Carried - O'Brien, excellent
Spring in Fialta - Nabakov, very good
To the New World - Metzker, ok

The O'Brien story is haunting me and I'll probably need to read the book that came out of it soon.

A good month.

Books Read in June

June was another busy month for reading.

The Fourth Part of the World, Toby Lester - Very interesting book.  Highly recommended.  This book details how the Europeans found out about the other parts of the world.  It serves as a history of map making for the Western world.  If you've ever been interested in the Age of Exploration, this is a must read.
The Call of Cthulhu, by HP Lovecraft - I've never read any of the Cthulhu mythos before.  Very interesting stuff.  The idea of 'knowledge that man should not know' horrifies me.  But it's a fascinating horror.  Hard to look away from.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein - A reread of one of my favorites.  This involves a futuristic revolution by a penal colony on the moon.  There are echoes of the American revolution but I love this book because of the questions that it asks.  Early on, a professor asks 'what is moral when done by a group of people that would be immoral if done by one'.  I've pondered this for twenty some years and I still don't have a good answer.
Thomas Paine's 'Rights of Man' by Christopher Hitchens - This is part of a series about 'Books that Changed the World'.  Hitchens writes of the history of Paine and the influence that Paine's writing had on both the American and French revolutions.  Good stuff and I wish that Paine was covered in the Great Books list.
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas by himself - Fredrick Douglas was an escaped slave who wrote about his experiences under the whip.  Some horrifying stuff and this was highly influential on the abolitionists of the day.  Full of insights.  A very necessary history of the systematic awfulness of slavery.  Wish I'd read it earlier in my life.

All in all, a very good month of reading, even beside the Great Books.  If you're looking for something to read, I'd say that any one of these five will be rewarding.

Short stories:
You Go Where it Takes You by Balingrud - good
My First Love by Nadir - excellent
Alas, Babylon by Fitzgerald - very good
Master and Man by Tolstoy - very good

This brings me to 26 read through June.  Right on target.  These deserve a more full treatment but I'd be kidding myself if I thought that I would find time to write more about these stories each month.  

Books Read in May

I'm a little late on this.  Sorry!  Not many this month.

Around the World in 80 Days, Verne - I'd never read this before.  Very enjoyable both in concept and especially as an historical piece.  If anyone is interested, you can now travel commercially around the world in something like 36-40 hours.
View from the Cherry Tree, Willo Davis Roberts - I think my teacher read this to us back in 5th grade and it stuck with me ever since.  This was the first murder mystery that I've ever read.  I enjoyed it this time too.
Seveneves, Neal Stephenson - This just came out a couple of weeks ago.  The idea behind the story is that the moon has broken up and will send enough stones down to earth to render it uninhabitable.  An emergency attempt is made to use the ISS and some quickly designed pods to put people into orbit.  This works but there are large problems.  At some point humanity dwindles to only seven child bearing women.  And then the story takes off.
Did I like it?  Eh.  I love Neal Stephenson but this one was far too heavy on info-dump and light on people.  It would have been much, much better broken into two books.  As it is, I can't really recommend it.

And then parts of other books.  I'm working my way through the very good 'Black Swan' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (theory explained here).  I'm slowly rereading 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo, taking my time and savoring.
As far as short stories go, I only got to three of them this month but that still keeps me ahead of schedule.

The Dead by Joyce - good, but not as good as my expectations had led me to hope for
Greatness Strikes Where it Pleases by Gustafson - only ok
The Man to Send Rain Clouds by Silko - very good

Books Read in April

One of the strange things that has happened since I've gone back to working full time is that I still have time to read (at least as much) but less time to actually write.  Or maybe less time in the mental state most conducive to writing...
Anyway, April was a good month for reading:

• The Joy of X, by Steven Strogatz - This is a collection of articles about mathematical concepts, pitched to aid the mathphobic.  I was hoping that this would be something along the quality level of 'The Disappearing Spoon' but I was disappointed.  Some of it was too simple, while other concepts were compressed to a point that I really didn't understand them.  A great idea, but not great execution.
• Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand - A reread for me.  This is probably my very favorite play ever but it had been years since I last read it.  Cyrano is so, so beautiful!  Clever and courageous; only held back by his nose.  (I made the mistake of reading the last act while on a treadmill at the gym and I had to fight back tears.)
• The Stranger by Albert Camus - Yes, more Camus for me. The Stranger is about a fairly normal (though possibly slow) man who murders someone almost on a whim.  The trial happens almost without his understanding.  Almost completely without his input.  A very interesting book but not as good as 'The Plague'.  Striking and well worth reading though.
• Catcher in the Rye by Salinger - I never read this while young and perhaps I missed that window when it can be enjoyed.  I read the first half of the book and decided that I'd spent more than enough time with Caulfield.  If anyone wants to make the case that I should go back and read the second half, I'm willing to listen.
• Delores Claiborne by Stephen King - A reread.  This story is told as a 300+ page monologue given from an older woman to the police after she is accused of a murder.  It's a fascinating story with that mixture of everyday observation and utterly horribleness that King does so well.
• Some other this and that, including pieces of books like the last climatic 200 pages of Tom Clancy's 'Sum of All Fears'.

And then the short stories.  One of these days I'll sit down and figure out exactly where I should be as I certainly haven't stayed with any kind of strictly once a week rule.  In April I read:

The Calf by Sforim - good

Lady with a Lapdog by Chekov - very good

Texts by Leguin - haunting

The Flowers by Walker - very good

I continue to be very happy with this little side project and I mean to continue it again at least next year.

Myths and Legends

Back around Christmas I read an excellent book about home schooling.  This really isn't a good option for my family but I've been using it as something of a supplement for the school learnin' that my kids are having.  (Or will have.  I've got three kids, ages 3, 5 and 7.)  One of the things that it stressed is using myths and legends to teach kids about the classical period.  Shortly after I read that, I spoke with someone else about a completely unrelated subject and he told me that his kids got virtually no coverage of Greek myths in our modern multi-cultural age.  Perhaps this is the way that it has to be but it didn't quite set well with me.
I took a flyer and got a simple book of Greek myths that is aimed at youngish kids.  The book has about 15 stories, each around ten to fifteen pages long, usually with at least one illustration.  Not surprisingly, the kids loved it.  (The middle one has become a huge fan of Hercules.)  I got a book of Roman myths from the same publisher and that's worked well too.  As a plus, I've gotten to explain how the Romans came after the Greeks and adopted many of their stories.  We've also looked at some of the locations on maps.  Maybe most importantly, we've talked about their daily lives and how they differed with our bustling technological society.
I followed this up with a history/picture book of Egypt, Greece and Rome that is aimed about third grade or so.  This led to a book of Egyptian myths, though that hasn't been as popular.  Last week I broke out an old book of 'Arabian Nights' and that has proved to be a winner.  It seems that if a story has been passed down for more than a thousand years, it just might have some value to it.

Books Read in March

It feels like I read a ton this month but looking back, I'm not so sure if that's true.  Let me write down what I can remember and see if that jogs any further memory.

• The Drawing of the Dark, by Tim Powers - This is a reread for me.  Historical fantasy/fiction that takes place during the siege of Vienna.  A wonderful book that connects a number of dispersed European mythic figures.  The 'dark' in the title refers to some very special beer.
• The Cave and the Light, by Arthur Herman - Not the first time I mentioned it and probably not the last time I'll refer to it.  This was simply a great book for organizing various philosophical schools of thought.  The idea behind it is that western philosophy can be seen as a very long argument between Plato and Aristotle.  Highly recommended.
• The Plague by Albert Camus - A plague hits the town of Oran and the entire town is quarantined.  Camus uses the closed of town as a metaphor for life.  Every one is trapped there with the constant threat of life.  How do they handle it?  Who do they blame for it?  Very good book.
• The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford - This is a long first person account and it gave me trouble.  There wasn't quite enough plot or dialogue to hold on to me.  This is supposed to be a very good novel but I came away disappointed.  (This could be the era.  It reminded me of Henry James' 'Portrait of a Lady', which I also didn't like.)

And the short stories.  I made up some ground from last month.  I think I'm ahead by some amount.

Black is My Favorite Color by Malamud - very sad
Ancestor Money by McHugh - good
The Mad Talmudist by Peretz - interesting
The Fluted Girl by Backgalupi - very good
The Wife by Singh - good
Why I Became a Plumber by Maitland - lovely
Signs and Symbols by Nabakov - interesting

Books Read in January

This past month involved lots of rereads for me.  Well, not 'lots'.  It also involved lots of quality over quantity.

• 'Republic' by Plato - This was my treadmill book for most of the month.  Back in year one, we covered the first two books of the Republic.  That meant an abrupt end to the conversation as they sought the meaning of 'justice'.  I didn't like that and I wanted to know what lead to books 6 and 7 for January.  So I started at the beginning.  I'll write more about this.
• 'Time Enough for Love' by Heinlein - My favorite book by my favorite writer.  It takes place more than 2000 years in the future.  One man has been alive since the early 20th century and now he wants to let himself die.  The 'powers that be' want to keep him around and see what he's learned in all that time.  This is a very talky book.  Large portions of it involve dialogues not that unlike those found in the Republic.  This was the first time that I'd reread it in some time and, as always, it was interesting to see where my agreements/disagreements had changed.
• 'The Name of the Rose' by Eco - Another of my all time favorites.  The book takes place in a 14th century Italian monastery.  There is an unexplained murder.  There is an enormous library that is shaped into a labyrinth.  There is a political fight between the then two(!) popes.  And there is one of the most devastating scenes in all of fiction.  There is also discussion about various writers that I understand much better now that I've been reading the Great Books for the past few years.  An excellent read.

And then there were the short stories.  One a week, which meant five of them in January.  Quick, quick reviews.

• 'On Account of a Hat' by Alecheim - fun!
• 'The Red Bow' by Saunders - only ok
• 'A Quiet Garden Spot' by Asch - somber
• 'The Silence of the Falling Stars' by O'Driscoll - ok, atmospheric
• 'The Aleph' by Borges - exquisite

Books Read in November

For various reasons, November is the busiest month of the year for me.  Its got elections, all family holidays and some big birthdays.  For some time I was doing NaNoWriMo (where people write 50,000 word novels in the month of November) but I didn't even try this year.  In fact, the only time saving for me was discovering that I can read my Kindle while I walk on a treadmill at the gym. 

• I'm continuing to read 'Brothers Karamazov'.  The second half of it is due for next November.  
• In October, I read 'Will in the World' by Stephen Greenblatt.  The book is a biographical look at Shakespeare.  It attempts to reconcile what little is known of his life with things that appear in his plays.  It's interesting but not convincing.  In fact, for nearly every theory, Greenblatt points out counter evidence.  A good read for general info and interesting, but I wouldn't take it to the bank.
• Friends of mine convinced me to give the Game of Thrones books a read.  I'm part way through the third book now.  The story is something of a retelling of the War of the Roses set in a lightly fantasy world.  The writing follows several characters and virtually no one is safe.  It's compelling and very readable.  The series has five books so far with (at least) a sixth one due at some point in the future.  After the third one, I plan on setting it aside for a while.

On one more book related note, right now Amazon is selling one of my all time favorite, stuck on an island books, Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' for only $2.99.  The book is a murder mystery set in a medieval Italian monastery.  The mystery is tied up in some distant arguments about theology and an enormous library shaped like a labyrinth.  Great stuff!

I'll post the reading list for year four in a couple of weeks. 

Books Read in September

Let's see, what did I read last month?

• Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie - My first Christie book, but I'm certain it won't be the last!  I've always liked stories that had a mystery element but have read very few pure mystery stories.  This particular story sets up an unusual 'closed room' mystery and a very unusual conclusion.  Highly recommended. 
• The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell - I've read a few of Mitchell's books and enjoyed them quite a bit.  This one tells a single story through six discrete time periods.  Not as satisfying as 'Cloud Atlas' but still pretty good.

I've also been reading some short stories and brushing up on some Shakespeare history.  This month I also started Dostoyevsky's 'Brothers Karamazov' for November.  The reading plan splits it between this year and next.  I'd rather do the whole thing at once for continuity sake.  

Books Read in January

(Btw, I'm completely stealing this concept from Adam.) 

I'm going to try a new thing where I write about the books that I'm reading each month outside of the Great Book list.  Hopefully it will be interesting for others to read, but if nothing else it will serve as some kind of log for myself. 

American Gods, Neil Gaiman - A Hugo winner of about ten years ago, this is a fantasy novel about a man who gets involved in a war between gods of older mythologies (Norse, Egyptian, etc.) and newer American gods such as media and technology.  Very interesting detail work throughout and a lot of travel in my neck of the woods.  This is a reread for me.
Some Remarks, Neal Stephenson - A collection of essays and articles from one of my favorite authors.  Interesting stuff throughout, but the piece that really stuck with me was this one, regarding the ways that our culture has drawn the curtain on challenging stuff.
Podkayne of Mars, Robert Heinlein - Another reread for me.  I picked this one up mostly because of a part of the book that deals with an interplanetary cruise liner.  It had been some time (ten years? fifteen?) since I last read Podkayne.  The female protagonist thinks that being a woman will hold her back from her career.  Extremely dated book now.
The Wes Anderson Collection - Essays and articles on Wes Anderson and the movies that he's made.  He's one of the few directors whose new movies make me want to run out to the theater.  Also, lots of gorgeous pictures of sets and behind the scenes stuff.

I dipped into a lot of other things, but that's about all I can really say that I read this past month.