My Reading – 02/12/13

I’ve just remembered my plan to keep a list of books I had read / was reading. It’s been nearly two months, so I reckon it’s time to update the list. Not very many completed in the past two months – seeing the list you’ll quickly understand why. I’m only including books I’ve actually read (some of) since October, and only books which I haven’t completed before.

Books I’ve completed

The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Unpopular Essays – Bertrand Russell

Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius – Ray Monk

Meet Mr Mulliner – P.G. Wodehouse

Books I’m reading

Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

P.G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters – ed. Sophie Ratcliffe

To The Edge Of The World – Christian Wolmar

For Whom The Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway (I’ve promised myself I’ll actually finish this soon)

The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology – ed. Alan Drengson and Yuichi Inoue

The waiting list is long. George Eliot is an author I’ve been meaning to read for years, so I’ve got a pile of her books, as well as another eight (I think) Dostoevskys. Should keep me quiet for a while.

My reading – 09/10/13

Ok, here we go. First book list. In the year since finishing my MSc I’ve been diving enthusiastically into books again, so I thought I’d make a note of my reading. I hear that Darwin used to make a list like this, so I’m trying to ape him (sorry.)

I’m one of those people who reads about a thousand books at once, but only finishes one occasionally. I’m pretty smug whenever a book does get finished, though.

Books I’m reading

The Brothers Karamazov – Dostoevsky

Why Nations Fail – Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Intellectual Impostures – Bricmont and Sokal

The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement – David Graeber

For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

Ethics – Spinoza

The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology – ed. Alan Drengson and Yuichi Inoue

Flat Earth News – Nick Davies

The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence and Its Causes – Steven Pinker

The Acceptance World: Volume 3 of Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell

Brick Lane – Monica Ali

Hopefully, a couple of those will be finished by the next list – as some people who’ve spoken to me recently will know, I’ve been making slow progress on a few of these. Maybe publishing a list will change that. Oh, and I ought to record my successes too, for future reference. Only books I’ve finished for the first time will count.

Books I’ve finished in the last few months

The Places in Between – Rory Stewart

The Soul of the Rhino – Hemanta Mishra

What We Know About Climate Change – Kerry Emanuel

Economic Fables – Ariel Rubinstein

A Buyer’s Market: Volume 2 of Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell

A Question of Upbringing: Volume 1 of Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell

Cricket’s Greatest Rivalry: A History of the Ashes – Simon Hughes

Fatty Batter: How Cricket Saved my Life – Michael Simkins

Bodyline Autopsy: The Full Story of the Most Sensational Test Cricket Series – David Frith

On the Road – Jack Kerouac

Tono Bungay – H.G. Wells

Fermat’s Last Theorem – Simon Singh

The Pirates! In an Adventure with the Romantics – Gideon Defoe

So there’s a target. I’ve already seen a few more books that I like, and suggestions are always welcome for new reading, as are comments on anything I’ve read. Hooray for books!