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I tend to be a voracious reader, and I read widely. This list has its origins in an old signature file which I would update periodically with the current book that I was reading. That gradually transmogrified itself into the current massive archive with brief reviews.
| What I've been reading lately |
| Number of books read and reviewed each year | |
|---|---|
| 1995* |  (28) |
| 1996 | (47) |
| 1997 | (74) |
| 1998 | (61) |
| 1999 | (62) |
| 2000 | (27) |
| 2001 | (51) |
| 2002 | (60) |
| 2003 | (37) |
| 2004 | (36) |
| 2005 | (32) |
| 2006 | (46) |
| 2007 | (109) |
| 2008 | (78) |
| 2009 | (65) |
| 2010 | (68) |
| 2011 | (98) |
| 2012 | (129) |
| 2013 | (114) |
| 2014 | (101) |
| 2015 | (88) |
| 2016 | (82) |
| 2017 | (76) |
| 2018 | (67) |
| 2019 | (95) |
| 2020 | (90) |
| 2021 | (85) |
| 2022 | (101) |
| 2023 | (124) |
| 2024 | (154) |
| 2025 |  (46) |
| * Partial year | |
[Finished 1 May 2025] An interesting look at eroticism, although one that is neither titillating nor romanticized, instead taking an intellectualist bent towards the subject. I was curious about why the book had such a low rating and noting that the one and two–star reviews were in Arabic, I copied one and popped it into Google translate for a quick sense of the meaning and discovered that as one English-speaking reviewer guessed, it’s largely a result of Islamic conservatism around subjects of sexuality.
The Best American Essays 2023
edited by Vivan Gornick
[Finished 30 April 2025] Like every installment of this series, a mixed bag, although there were more hits than misses and I enjoyed this. Now that I’ve abandoned my MFA ranking project though, this series is dropping off my to-read list so I won’t be reading any of the post–Robert Atwan installments.
Galatians: A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Churches in Galatia
by Hans Dieter Betz
[Finished 29 April 2025] A stunningly erudite and readable in-depth examination of the epistle to the Galatians. I was rather surprised at the level of investigation into the text here and rather pleased that there is such depth available.
The Poet's Quest for God: 21st Century Poems of Faith, Doubt and Wonder
edited by Oliver V. Brennan & Todd Swift with Kelly Davio and Cate Myddleton-Evans
[Finished 24 April 2025] The second of two spiritually-oriented poetry collections I’ve read this year, but this collection was much more successful in its aims and provided a number of poems that I will return to in the years to come.
One of Our Kind
by Nicola Yoon
[Finished 23 April 2025] I was surprised to see that the overall rating for this book on Goodreads was relatively low (close to 3 stars) and apparently it’s a consequence of people upset about the ending of the book and misconstruing the idea that Yoon somehow endorsed the concept behind it. Personally, I found the book eerie and successful in its efforts.
Priestdaddy
by Patricia Lockwood
[Finished 20 April 2025] I feel like I expected something very different from this book. The whole idea of growing up with a father who’s a Catholic priest feels like it’s ripe for exploring the nature of faith, family and the priesthood, but Lockwood instead tends to go for glib humor.
A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle & Muddle of the Ordinary
by Brian Doyle
[Finished 15 April 2025] My second Doyle and I continue to find him just too suburban for my tastes. I can see his appeal, but he’s just not what I need right now.
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
by Mary McCarthy
[Finished 10 April 2025] Not quite what I expected. Some interesting aspects to the story, but overall, a bit of a disappointment.
A Grief Observed
by C. S. Lewis
[Finished 3 April 2025] Kind of forgettable, although maybe it was reading this during a day stuck in the airport for fifteen hours.
Christian Globalism at Home: Child Sponsorship in the United States
by Hillary Kaell
[Finished 3 April 2025] A look behind the curtain at all those “for just a dollar a day” you can help this child programs and the complications and limitations inherent in them.