Here’s where I keep track of all the books I have been reading lately. This is mostly for my own personal benefit so that I don’t forget what I have read.
2021
From Russia with Love
Bond travels to Istanbul to meet with a rogue Russian agent who claims to be in love with him. The first quarter of the... more
Junkie!
This was a PlanetMonk Kindle reprint of a 50s pulp novel. I was expecting tons of scary drug use but the whole “junkie” thing... more
Death in the Clouds
Poirot on a plane, a blow dart, and many suspects all with reasons to kill the old hag. I was sure I knew whodunnit... more
Murder on the Orient Express
I read this knowing the ending but I still think it is a top-tier Poirot mystery. The confined setting means there isn’t any jumping... more
Three Act Tragedy
A mostly Poirot-free Poirot novel. It was okay, I guess, but pretty forgettable. What was I talking about?
The Stranger
A short, quick read that goes by even faster because of the blunt writing (or blunt translation as the case may be). A guy’s... more
Lady of the Lake
The final Witcher book is a solid conclusion to the series but doesn’t quite stand up to the previous two entries. When it’s focused... more
Wood Engraving: The Art of Wood Engraving & Relief Engraving
There are very few books detailing the technical aspects of wood engraving out there. This is about as close to one that I have... more
Piranesi: The Complete Etchings
I bought this on a whim when I saw the price dropped to $20. Kudos for the completeness and, if all you want is... more
Resurrection
In the 1960s Fritz Eichenburg illustrated many classics as part of the Heritage Press series of books. This one contains around 17 excellent wood... more
Diamonds Are Forever
James Bond #4 pits Bond against the mob in America. I’m surprised at how little actual spy-craft takes place in these novels. The stakes... more
The Tower of the Swallow
After a very Geralt-centric novel, this fourth book in The Witcher series returns to the Ciri being the primary focus. She’s finally starting to... more
Baptism of Fire
The third book in The Witcher series brings the story back to the quality that was shown in the short story volumes. There really... more
Ravilious: Wood Engravings
A nice collection of works by Eric Ravilious. This isn’t too text heavy, but each print gets a few sentences of copy. Much of... more
The Iliad
This is the sort of book that I feel like I have read already but that is mostly because we devoted a class or... more
Freezer Burn
Well, this is why I write these reviews. I got about a quarter the way into this book and realized I had already read... more
Words on the Move: Why English Won’t – and Can’t – Sit Still (Like, Literally)
While it’s almost structured as a defense of the “misuse” of words such as literally and like, McWhorter’s book is a very thorough investigation on how and... more
We
A dystopian novel that predates Orwell’s 1984 by a decade or two and was banned in Russia until the 80s. Unfortunately, I found this... more
South and South and South
The second book in this series moves along nicely as the various characters continue to do the things they were doing. We still don’t... more
2020
Hans Baldung Grien: Prints and Drawings
An excellent catalog of graphic artworks by this famous student of Dürer. A good chunk of this deals with how Baldung’s work relates to... more
Lord Edgware Dies
A perfectly serviceable Poirot mystery involving the most despicable kind of people on earth. That’s right, theater people.
The Time of Contempt
The Witcher continues with more of Geralt not fighting monsters. There’s a conclave of sorcerers, a double-crossing, a big battle then lots of Ciri.... more
Scene Through Wood: A Century of Wood Engraving
While wood engraving was the method of illustrating books for at least a century, there doesn’t seem to be many books about the great... more
Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark
This book is massive. Over a thousand pages filled with colorful photos, poster art and columns upon columns of content. It weighs in somewhere... more
Lives of the Artists: Volume I
I started reading this thinking it would cover the techniques and materials of the Renaissance masters. Apparently, that’s another Vasari book (unsurprisingly) called, “Vasari... more
Blood of Elves
The first official book in The Witcher series is not as jam-packed with action as the short story volumes were. The plot mainly is... more
Sword of Destiny
The second collection of Witcher short stories is actually the first or something like that. You’ll need to Google the series in order to... more
The Last Wish
I’ve played the games, watched the television show, and now I am going to work my way through the books. This first book in... more
The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
This is yet another summation of Western philosophical thought. In this case it’s presented as a perpetual oscillation between the spiritual ideas of Plato and the... more
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
One of the best looking books on printmaking I’ve seen. Printed on a think matte stock, with over 100 catalog images and equally as... more
Mediocre Saviors
This was an enjoyable fantasy about a world that’s been turned to blight everywhere except a single kingdom which seems to be protected by... more
1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder
In the past (“the past” get it… oh, wait you haven’t read the next bit yet), I have tried reading history books (see, history, past, har... more
The Coddling of the American Mind
I did not like this nearly as much as The Righteous Mind, but there are a handful of decent insights here about so-call “outrage” culture... more
Mystery of the Blue Train
It’s been years since I read me some Poirot and it was refreshing to dive back in. I am a better mystery reader now, and I... more
Pillars of the Earth
The historical fiction version of A Feast for Crows with the church versus the crown. It’s a thick but quick-paced read with a lot of detailed... more
Man and the State: The Political Philosophers
A good collection of political writings spanning from Hobbes to Marx. Hobbes and Locke lay down a nice foundation for what follows. “On Liberty” remains... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Mystic Places
So far, my favorite of the MOTU series. I think I liked this one because there is some grounding in reality. The pyramids exist,... more
The City and the Stars/The Sands of Mars
Why do I do this to myself? I am always disappointed with classic science fiction. This stuff is so boring. Of the two books, The... more
2019
The City of Gold and Lead
Ok. I may have goofed on the first book in The Tripods series earlier, but these are actually pretty fun reads. It’s not the deepest work of science... more
Prey: The Drovers, Book 1
Looks like I am ending the year on a YA fiction kick. Prey is the story of a young boy (aren’t they all) who takes a... more
The White Mountains
Young adult fiction about giant three legged machines that transform children into mindless teenagers when they turn thirteen. So basically not much different than... more
Dance of Death: A Graphic Commentary on the Danse Macabre Through the Centuries
Filled with art featuring death (for the most part that means a skeleton… spooky, no?) taunting the living. The reproductions vary in quality from... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Mysterious Creatures
The first chapter about sea creatures is probably the best part of this book. Lots of great illustrations of ships being attacked. There is... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Transformations
Transformations is divided into three main sections: native American shapeshifters, werewolves and vampires. The shapeshifters chapter is filled with interesting images of masks and totems. The... more
Public Opinion
I agreed with many of his main points on stereotyping, democracy, propaganda, and the inability for a potential voter to actually understand beyond their... more
Tales of the Peculiar
I went into this book knowing nothing of the many Mrs. Peregrine books/movies/after-dinner mints. Unless Shirley Temple is the main character, I’m not one for reading... more
The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics
Malice takes a break from trolling to clarify what exactly “The New Right” is. The dear readers are guided through the intellectual roots of the movement, meme... more
The Gay Detective
A short, fun read with a simple plot and one-dimensional characters, but that should go without saying for just about any vintage pulp from... more
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Apparently everything is going to kill us. There are a handful of insights among the doom and gloom, but mostly this is a litany of... more
Liberalism
Short overview of the basics of classical liberalism with nary a reference to praxeology.
The Wood and the Graver: The Work of Fritz Eichenberg
My copy was bought used and man-o-man does it smell musty. The odor is, at best, like a stack of old newspapers in the... more
Shirley Temple and the Screaming Specter
This is a strange old book. It’s a Nancy Drew style mystery but the main character is a teen-aged Shirley Temple. Characters in the book... more
A History Of Wood Engraving
The title of this one is a bit deceptive. The book is actually a history of British wood engraving. It starts out at the very beginnings... more
Presto! How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales
Penn details his weight-loss journey and his wacky diet. It’s an interesting take on how we view food and there are elements of his... more
The Divine Comedy
I primarily have this book because I am interested in the spectacular Gustave Doré wood engravings. The text is a deep and thoughtful meditation... more
The Pool of Fire
The final book the The Tripods trilogy delivers a satisfying conclusion to the story. I picture the aliens looking like Sigmund the Sea Monster and it all... more
Anthem
Having read her other books, I felt obliged to read this novella. It’s a fairly literal take on individualism that would have benefited from... more
2018
Swap Clubs
Published in 1964, this book presents itself as a scientific analysis of swinger culture. The opening chapters are filled with various statistics about the numbers... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects
The chapters on Free Masonry and The Golden Dawn were pretty informative. I think my big takeaway about these sects was not so much... more
The Naked Sun
A murder mystery on a sparsely populated planet where each person lives isolated from everyone else and all the work is done by robots.... more
A Renegade History of the United States
The premise here is that the outsiders and the misfits, by rejecting puritanism and pushing the limits of what is acceptable, are the real driving... more
Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion
I think it’s telling that throughout this book the author in constantly having to backtrack and clarify what he means by empathy. Compassion and caring... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Witches and Witchcraft
I enjoyed this one a lot more than Phantom Encounters. The historical accounts are more fact-based rather than anecdotal and the modern accounts had more... more
In the First Circle
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn brings us more thrilling tales from the gulag! This is his fictionalized account of life in the Marfino prison where the inmates... more
Mysteries of the Unknown: Phantom Encounters
This book is a collection of anecdotal tales of various people from the olden days being visited by spirits. The stories go as follows:... more
Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs
Outside of Helter Skelter, I have not read much true crime literature. I picked this one mainly because is was co-written by John Bloom (and it’s... more
Caliban’s War
This the second book in The Expanse series. It felt like a bit of a retread but with less interesting characters. The T.V. show is better.
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
Another rambling philosophical tome from Taleb. It expands on the idea that good policy emerges from the participants having skin in the game. I’m... more
Leviathan Wakes
I’ve been watching The Expanse lately and wanted to get a taste of the novels that the show is based upon. This was a good read,... more
Discrimination and Disparities
Sowell is always an interesting read. However, I find that he can be a bit repetitive in his points from book to book’I get... more
The Raft
The harrowing true life account of three airmen who are adrift in a rubber raft for thirty-four days following an emergency landing in the... more
The Gulag Archipelago (Vol. I & II)
This massive book has been sitting on my shelf taunting me for twenty-plus years. Ages ago it was recommended to me (by my art... more
No Holds Barred
The ridiculous plot of this pulp trash novel is as follows: disgraced big city reporter winds up in small town; proves his investigative reporting... more
Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans
I generally like the various Ben Shapiro “Destroys” videos I come across on the webs. He is an excellent debater and can take down... more
Kill All Normies
This is a pretty good overview of the roots of (mostly) right-wing Internet subcultures and trolls with a little fair-and-balanced lip service given to... more
The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047
Apocalyptic dystopia from a libertarian perspective. Biases confirmed! In this story it’s not war, plague or environmental catastrophe that brings the end times, it’s... more
Based on a True Story
He starts off with a typical comedian’s memoir and, after about three pages, Norm gives up and go total autofiction. There’s a grain of... more
Friday
Even as an audio book, this was a chore to get through. It’s a tale of a future with super human artificial persons (the... more
The Cosmic Computer
Pulpy science fiction about a remote planet on which the inhabitants are convinced exists a super-computer that could solve all their problems. The characters... more
2017
To Build a Castle: My Life as a Dissenter
A memoir of what living in The Soviet Union was like in the 60s and 70s. Bukovsky spent most of that time in prison... more
The Secret History of Twin Peaks
I listened to the audiobook version which features many of the original cast members reprising their roles. The book itself is somewhat of a... more
Food: A Love Story
An entertaining read that pretty much says everything funny that can be said about food. I’ve read a couple of these books by comedians... more
You’re Better Than Me
Another comic’s memoir, but this time it’s actually funny. The first half is really is much better, in which she details her life in... more
Two Years Before the Mast
This is a memoir of life aboard a merchant vessel in the early 1800’s. It is also noteworthy as a glimpse California before the... more
Happy Endings
Norton is usually a very entertaining guest on whatever chat show on which he appears. However, I’ve watched his stand-up and it never really... more
Coolidge
This was a fawning look at Coolidge’s life and tenure as the 30th President. It was okay up to a point, but there’s something about... more
Snow Crash
This was my first cyberpunk novel (if you don’t count getting stuck in Neuromancer on the IIgs). I thought it was pretty good but the middle... more
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Another big book about risk from Taleb filled with math, anecdotes, history and Fat Tony. This time it’s all in service of his idea... more
Marxism
I got this as an audiobook, hoping to get a decent overview of what Marxism is without having to actually read Marx himself. Even... more
Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story
Eccentric Orbits is the history of the rise, fall, and eventual rebirth of the world’s first (and only) global satellite phone system. This is not... more
Connecticut Privateer Samuel Smedley
A short book about a lesser known hero of the American revolution. As the captain of a Connecticut privateer vessel, Smedley captured a dozen or... more
The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture
Mamet’s political coming out book doesn’t offer much new insight into conservatism. Instead it cribs a lot from Thomas Sowell and other prominent conservative... more
Black Rednecks & White Liberals
A collection of six lengthy essays on race, history and misconceptions. The “Black Rednecks” essay is probably the most important of the lot. In... more
The Seven Deadly Virtues
A compilation of humorous essays by eighteen conservative authors in which each tackles the merits and faults or various virtues. Overall it was a... more
2016
Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future
Johan Norberg wrote one of the clearest accounts of the 2007 financial meltdown and, after that dismal tale, he’s back with a more uplifting story. Politicians... more
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
Required reading for anyone who is sick of the political name calling and soft bigotry that permeates every single political post on social media.... more
Bad Penny
I enjoyed his fantasy series, so I thought I’d try out Brown’s crime thriller series. This is the story of an ex-military/ex-con who gets caught... more
The Wave
This short novel tries to show how it was possible for normal German’s to just sit back and let the Nazi’s take over. Apparently... more
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
Billed as a travelogue, this book covers the culture, politics and history of the Nordic countries from the perspective of a British ex-pat. While... more
2015
Heart of Darkness
I read this mostly because I am an admirer of Apocalypse Now. It sorta lost me by the end so I really didn’t enjoy this.