Currently Reading
Nonfiction
None
Fiction:
The Anomaly: A Novel by Herve Le Tellier (audiobook)
Deciding Better:
The Entanglement: How Art and Philosophy Make Us What We Are by Alva Noë
Jewish Studies:
Madreigas Haadam – Darchei HaBitachon (The Path of Bitachon as Explained by the Alter of Novardok) By Rabbi Moshe Weiss (Translator)
2024 Reads
Fiction:
Ballistic Book 3 in the Gray Man Series by Mark Greaney
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft (Translator)
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North [DNF]
Livesuit by James S. A. Corey
Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Ken Liu (Trans)
Back Blast by Mark Greany
Dead Eye by Mark Greaney
G-Man by Stephen Hunter
Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas by Mick Herron
Beyond the Hallowed Sky: Book One of the Lightspeed Trilogy by Ken MacLeod
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Audiobooks:
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
How High we Go in the Dark by
Mr Mercedes By Stephen King
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Matter By Iain M. Banks
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Dust by Hugh Howey
The Outsider by Stephen King
The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
Shift by Hugh Howey
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Salems’s Lot by Stephen King
Wool by Hugh Howey
It by Stephen King
The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Pet Seminary by Stephen King
The Stand by Stephen King
The Player of Gams by Iain M. Banks
Nonfiction:
Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism by Nils Karlson (Open Access)
Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland
The Traveling Photographer’s Manifesto: A Guide to Connecting with People and Place Kindle Edition by David Hobby
Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves by Kevin Behan
Sporting Dog and Retriever Training: The Wildrose Way: Raising a Gentleman’s Gundog for Home and Field by Mike Stewart, Paul Fersen, and John Newman
Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others by T.M. Luhrmann
Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport
The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent?and Reinvent?Our Identities by Gregory Berns
Natural Dog Training: Working from the Dog’s Point of View by Kevin Behan
Ikigai & Kaizen: The Japanese Strategy to Achieve Personal Happiness and Professional Successby Anthony Raymond
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.
Shaarai Teshuvah (The Gates of Repentance) by Rabenu Yonah
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.
