Fiction:

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Pet Cemetery by Stephen King (Audiobook)

The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North [On Hold]

Deciding Better:

The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality by William Egginton

The Invention of Tomorrow: A Natural History of Foresight by Thomas Suddendorf, Jonathan Redshaw, Adam Bulley. [ON HOLD}

Jewish Studies:

Shaarai Teshuvah (The Gates of Repentance) by Rabenu Yonah

2024 Reads

Fiction:

Ballistic Book 3 in the Gray Man Series by Mark Greaney

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft (Translator)

Nonfiction:

None yet.

Reading Plan

I’m continuing the plan from 2023 more or less unchanged. I ended up neglecting my updating of this page. I’ve got four categories of reading: Fiction, Nonfiction general reading, books related to the On Deciding . . . Better project and my Jewish Philosophy reading. The idea is to have variety but focus on finishing a book in each category. Always having a few ready on deck of course.

In fiction it’s worked out well to alternate between genre fiction (thriller, SciFi and Fantasy) and what’d call literary fiction.

The nonfiction category is for general information, filling in gaps in my understanding of the world. It’s been physics, politics and creativity for the most part. Choice is based solely on serendipity and seeking variety.

Next is my project specific reading for this project, On Deciding . . . Better which has been going on 25 years now. Last year, I spent time on the fundamentals of statistics and Bayesian reasoning. I really wanted to catch up more on the neuroscience side, but spent way more time than expected on theory and philosophy of probability purely out of interest.These books get written and then reviewed for note taking as I described here.

Finally, I spend time every morning on a work of Jewish ethics and philosophy. Having read through some recent commentaries over the last few years, I’m going back to sources. Last year I finished Nefesh Hachaim and I’m now about halfway through The Gates of Repentance which is not about repentance per se but rather how to be better broadly adhering to the religious and civil guidelines and laws of Jewish Life. Now this doesn’t generally so directly enter my notes here, it is foundational to my thought and personal growth. I take notes as I read, filling one page of notes every morning as a reading quota.