Bookshelf

  1. Cover of Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

    Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

    by Stephen Batchelor
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

    by Stephen Batchelor
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    Sometimes you read a book that restates a lot of what you already believe and know, but it’s still worthwhile because you needed to have it brought to the forefront of your thoughts afresh.
  2. Cover of Pericles

    Pericles

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

    Pericles

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

    A minor Shakespeare work for a reason. This one is thought to likely be a collaboration and it shows in its lack of Shakespearean depth of character and interiority. Still, interesting for a completionist like myself.
  3. Cover of The Forever War

    The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    A Hugo Award winner for a reason, Joe Haldeman’s military sci-fi epic takes one character skipping across the surface of time through a thousand year interstellar war. It’s grim, it’s episodic, and it’s brilliant. The book portrays the futility of war with a sharpness that is just as relevant now as it was in the Viet Nam era during which it was written.
  4. Cover of Richard III

    Richard III

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    Richard III

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    I love Shakespeare’s great villains and Richard III is one of the greatest of them all. Unapologetically evil, it’s a joy to watch him scheme, lie, and murder his way to the top (though his subsequent downfall feels a bit rushed and perfunctory, as if the bard knew he had gotten past the juicy bits and was eager to wrap it up). On this read I really noticed how much House of Cards and even A Song of Ice and Fire draw elements from it.
  5. Cover of Foundation and Empire (Foundation #2)

    Foundation and Empire (Foundation #2)

    by Isaac Asimov
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    Foundation and Empire (Foundation #2)

    by Isaac Asimov
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

    The second book in Asimov’s famed Foundation series. It’s clear that he’d grown quite a bit as a writer by this one, with a plot more intricate, subtle, and less predictable. A classic for a reason. (In case you’re wondering, I have no interest in Apple’s new TV series based on the books. It’s not the kind of thing that can be done properly on screen.)
  6. Cover of The Brothers Karamazov

    The Brothers Karamazov

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

    The Brothers Karamazov

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

    My book club chose this one to read and I was relatively interested to see how Dostoyevsky’s work stands up to my high school memories of Crime and Punishment and fragments of The Grand Inquisitor section of this book. The answer is not so good. The book is rambling in the extreme and most of the plot involves around a quasi-incestuous, middle school style game of he-said-she-said romance melodrama. It does explore philosophical themes, but the central question of whether a person can be moral without faith seems to me (as a humanist atheist) to be pretty well answered and not particularly germane to contemporary readers.
  7. Cover of Antony and Cleopatra

    Antony and Cleopatra

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    Antony and Cleopatra

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    Continuing my Shakespeare reading project, this particular play has always been a personal favorite. The titular characters are so fully realized, mercurial and tragic, that I really love them for all their flaws. Reading it this time, I kept picturing it filmed as a space opera with larger than life production design!
  8. Cover of The Best of Greg Egan

    The Best of Greg Egan

    by Greg Egan
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    The Best of Greg Egan

    by Greg Egan
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    A brilliant imagination, full of big ideas!
  9. Cover of Atomic Design

    Atomic Design

    by Brad Frost
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

    Atomic Design

    by Brad Frost
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

    I think this book would have been mind blowing if I had read it when it was new. But so many of its ideas are now mainstream in the design and development world that it feels very old hat. Something of a victim of its own success as far as the reading experience goes.
  10. Cover of The Winter's Tale

    The Winter's Tale

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

    The Winter's Tale

    by William Shakespeare
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

    This is an interesting one. The first half is almost all drama and the second half mostly comedy, with a big time jump in the middle. I prefer the former, a portrait of someone mad with jealousy destroying himself and all he holds dear.
  11. Cover of The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)

    The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)

    by Arthur Conan Doyle
  12. Cover of King Henry VI, Part 3

    King Henry VI, Part 3

    by William Shakespeare
  13. Cover of Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1: Walking the Path

    Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1: Walking the Path

    by G. Willow Wilson
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
  14. Cover of Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

    Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

    by Damian Duffy
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
  15. Cover of The Anthropocene Reviewed

    The Anthropocene Reviewed

    by John Green
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
  16. Cover of Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future

    Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future

    by Timothy Samara
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
  17. Cover of Measure for Measure

    Measure for Measure

    by William Shakespeare
  18. Cover of Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider, Vol. 1: Spider-Geddon

    Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider, Vol. 1: Spider-Geddon

    by Seanan McGuire
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
  19. Cover of Project Hail Mary

    Project Hail Mary

    by Andy Weir
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  20. Cover of Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead

    Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead

    by Kieron Gillen
    ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
  21. Cover of Type, Form & Function: A Handbook on the Fundamentals of Typography

    Type, Form & Function: A Handbook on the Fundamentals of Typography

    by Jason Tselentis
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
  22. Cover of Monstress, Vol. 5: Warchild

    Monstress, Vol. 5: Warchild

    by Marjorie M. Liu
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
  23. Cover of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

    Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

    by David Grann
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  24. Cover of The New Mutants Classic, Vol. 1

    The New Mutants Classic, Vol. 1

    by Chris Claremont
    ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆