reading list and book mini-reviews

Summary

Below is the current crop of books I'm reading along with ratings and mini-reviews for other novels I've recently finished. I'm always excited to start a new book, so recommendations are welcome!

NOTE! The ratings are a combination of how impactful the book was on my thinking about a particular topic or how well I think it was written/got its point across. Thus, at times whether I agree or disagree with the content/thesis/etc. of the book, it could still get 5 stars if the point it makes gets me to think about the subject in a new way or changes how I interpret the world around me.

Book reviews

My book reviews can be found at book reviews.

Select finished books

The ratings are a combination of how much of an impact the book had on my thinking about a particular topic or how well I think it was written/got its point across. Thus, at times whether I agree or disagree with the content/thesis/etc. of the book, it could still get 5 stars if the point it makes gets me to think about the subject in a new way or changes how I interpret the world around me.

Columns can be sorted by clicking on each table header.

date rating title author review
2023 5 of 5 stars The Right to Pain Relief and Other Deep Roots of the Opioid Epidemic Mark Sullivan
2023 4 of 5 stars Arundel Kenneth Roberts
2023 5 of 5 stars Islam and the Crusades: The Writings of Usama ibn Munqidh Usamah ibn Munqidh
2023 5 of 5 stars Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey Michael Collins
2023 4 of 5 stars The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power Daniel Yergin
2023 5 of 5 stars The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Univ... Eric J. Lerner
2023 4 of 5 stars The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition Caroline Alexander
2023 5 of 5 stars The Wandering Earth: Classic Science Fiction Collection Liu Cixin
2023 5 of 5 stars Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less Alex Epstein
2022 5 of 5 stars Taking the Back off the Watch: A Personal Memoir (Astrophysics and Space Science Library, 381) Thomas Gold
2022 5 of 5 stars The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Julian Jaynes
2022 5 of 5 stars The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels Thomas Gold
2022 4 of 5 stars Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants John Drury Clark
2022 4 of 5 stars The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia Peter Hopkirk
2022 5 of 5 stars Incredible Life: A Handbook of Biological Mysteries William R. Corliss
2021 4 of 5 stars From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000 Lee Kuan Yew
2021 5 of 5 stars The Big Book of Adventure Stories: The Most Daring, Dangerous, and Death-Defying Collection of Adven... Otto Penzler
2020 5 of 5 stars Wall & Melzack's Textbook of Pain E-Book: Expert Consult - Online and Print (Wall and Melzack's Text... Stephen B. McMahon
2020 5 of 5 stars The Archdruid Report: Green Wizardries: Collected Essays, Volume IV, 2010 (The Complete Archdruid Re... John Michael Greer
2020 5 of 5 stars France and England in North America, Volume 1 Francis Parkman
2020 5 of 5 stars France and England in North America, Volume 2 Francis Parkman
2020 5 of 5 stars The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo
2019 4 of 5 stars Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
2019 5 of 5 stars Columbus: The Four Voyages Laurence Bergreen
2019 5 of 5 stars Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed Ben R. Rich
2019 4 of 5 stars King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain, #1) H. Rider Haggard
2019 5 of 5 stars The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) Brandon Sanderson
2018 5 of 5 stars Conan: The Barbarian complete collection Robert E. Howard
2018 5 of 5 stars Heretic: One Scientist's Journey from Darwin to Design Matti Leisola
2018 5 of 5 stars Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past David Reich review link
2018 5 of 5 stars The Big Book of Science Fiction Ann VanderMeer
2018 4 of 5 stars "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character Richard P. Feynman
2017 4 of 5 stars Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Charles Mackay
2017 4 of 5 stars The Technological Society Jacques Ellul
2017 4 of 5 stars The Gospel According to Jesus: What Does Jesus Mean When He Says "Follow Me"? John F. MacArthur Jr.
2017 5 of 5 stars The Long Journey Johannes V. Jensen
2016 5 of 5 stars The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith Cordwainer Smith review link
2016 5 of 5 stars The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind Gustave Le Bon
2016 4 of 5 stars A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge
2016 5 of 5 stars The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power Gene Healy
2016 4 of 5 stars The Best and the Brightest David Halberstam
2015 4 of 5 stars The Real George Washington (American Classic Series) Jay A. Parry
2015 4 of 5 stars Jim Thorpe: World’s Greatest Athlete Robert W. Wheeler
2015 4 of 5 stars Wilderness Empire Allan W. Eckert
2015 5 of 5 stars The Sensory Order: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology Friedrich A. Hayek
2015 4 of 5 stars What Is Life? with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches Erwin Schrödinger
2015 5 of 5 stars Human Action: A Treatise on Economics Ludwig von Mises
2015 5 of 5 stars Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) Dan Simmons
2015 4 of 5 stars Physics of the Impossible Michio Kaku
2015 4 of 5 stars The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid Michael Alley
2015 4 of 5 stars The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene
2015 5 of 5 stars Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future Peter Thiel review link
2015 4 of 5 stars War Is a Racket Smedley D. Butler
2014 5 of 5 stars The Frontiersmen Allan W. Eckert
2014 4 of 5 stars Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1) John Scalzi review link
2014 4 of 5 stars The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X
2014 5 of 5 stars The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York Robert A. Caro review link
2014 5 of 5 stars Master of the Senate Robert A. Caro
2014 4 of 5 stars The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe
2014 5 of 5 stars The Path to Power Robert A. Caro review link
2014 4 of 5 stars The Informant Kurt Eichenwald
2014 4 of 5 stars Den of Thieves James B. Stewart
2014 4 of 5 stars The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron Bethany McLean review link
2014 5 of 5 stars Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra review link
2014 5 of 5 stars Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco Bryan Burrough review link
2014 4 of 5 stars Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character Richard P. Feynman review link
2014 5 of 5 stars Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, 2) James C. Collins review link
2014 4 of 5 stars Moneyball Michael Lewis review link
2014 4 of 5 stars The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug Barry Werth review link
2014 4 of 5 stars The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger Marc Levinson review link
2014 4 of 5 stars How to Lie with Statistics Darrell Huff review link

-biafra
bahanonu [at] alum.mit.edu

other entires to explore:

book review: the path to power
29 august 2014 | books

The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson) is a sweeping tale about the early years of LBJs life and political career. It is easily on[...]e of the best books I've read in awhile and would heartily recommend to others. Here i'll do a brief review of the book.

¿qué es la calle?
24 may 2013 | short story | spanish

Había terminado y salé para mi cocina. Tenía hambre pero este día no había comida dentro de mi despensa. Me fui y caminé hacienda[...] la Tport—una máquina que puede transportar una persona a otro lugar sin energía y tiempo. Cuando entré la máquina, toqué algunos botónes y esperé. Pero nada ocurrió y lo hice las mismas acciones otra vez—y nada ocurrió.

How would the disappearance of streets affect the social fabric? This short story briefly (in castellano!) explores a world in which instantaneous, free transport is possible. Meant mainly to practice my spanish, i plan to follow-up with a more detail story in the future.

the human abstraction
06 october 2013 | short story

How much effort would you expend to abstract man?[...]

why we need more james polks
25 september 2012 | politics

James J. Polk expanded the territory of the United States by about one-third during his tenure. A remarkable feat. Not only that, but i[...]t was done through an astonishing three ways: territorial conquest, gold and negotiation.

Some thoughts on why we should demand less rhetoric and more pragmatism/details from our presidents.

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