Recent reading
| 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 |
(155)
|
| 2025 |
(133)
|
| 2026 |
(67)
|
| * Partial year |
[Finished 12 October 2026] As I recall, this book got a fair amount of acclaim when it came out, although reading it, I found myself getting angry with the poor editing that the book got. When the narrator talked about knowing another character’s after-school activity schedule and two pages later says that same character had no after-school activities I had a harder time forgiving the “AP Geometry” of the first chapter or a “dual” for “duel” typo somewhat later. The story overall is interesting and Anam had a great concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired and it could have been a better book.
[Finished 8 October 2026] I heard about this book when the audiobook was released and Eisenberg was interviewed on KCRW’s Bookworm. I’m not much of an audiobook guy though, so I eventually got to around to reading it I found myself delighted with the writing. It’s very much the sort of writing that a woman of her age and background living in New York in the late twentieth century would write, which could be good or bad, but it’s mostly good, and Eisenberg writes with a playwright’s ear for dialog.
[Finished 5 October 2026] A well-known book in the field which I’d been reluctant to dig into largely because a lot of the left/right-brain stuff turns out to be not quite as true as it was claimed to be. But regardless of the physiological accuracy of the central conceit, it was worth taking a look just for being able to develop my drawing skills. Imagine my surprise at discovering that the things I thought were my “bad” habits as an artist turned out to actually be “good” habits! As it turns out, the stuff that I was least adept at in my drawing were the skills that Edwards labeled as left-brained rather than right-brained.
[Finished 29 September 2026] A somewhat harrowing account of Wynn-Williams’ time at Facebook, beginning with her idealistic view of the company as a force for good and watching as it became increasingly a force for evil from the front row, culminating with her retaliatory firing for raising sexual harassment complaints against her boss. A passing mention to her reluctance to leave earlier in part because of the promise of income from stock options that would vest in the future offers some indication that she’s not writing from a point of pure self-importance. Certainly, the effects of almost everything she writes about have been visible from the outside looking in and I’m glad I deleted by Facebook account over five years ago.
[Finished 23 September 2026] Consisting of single-paragraph sections with occasionally informative titles, this novel reads like no other I’ve read. It’s a beautiful experiment in narrative structure with two timelines in the protagonist’s life woven together in ways that occasionally reinforce each other and occasionally seem completely unrelated. It was a bit amusing to look at the reviews on Goodreads and see people who found the structure challenging declare it like reading poetry, which makes me wonder what they think poetry is.
[Finished 17 September 2026] A strangely surreal book, with the curious choice of putting the final chapters of the book (numbered as such) at the beginning and then returning to chapter 1 leaving the reader knowing where the story is going but not how it will get there. I am far removed from Jančar’s politics, but this is a book that will stay with me.
[Finished 12 September 2026] I just never connected with the book, I felt like maybe I was just too distracted while reading it or something, which is a pity because I think there might have been a brilliant read here which I missed.
[Finished 11 September 2026] A kaleidoscopic and frequently maddening book, running 600 pages and not always earning the length but sometimes definitely earning the length with the sort of crazed risk-taking that is both rare and unique for a first novel. I didn’t always like it, but I was thrilled to have the experience of reading it.
[Finished 4 September 2026] An interesting concept, although it ended up a bit disappointing in its execution. I felt like Maazel was trying too much to write something Pynchon-esque and we ended up with second-rate Pynchon instead of first-rate Maazel as a consequence.
[Finished 29 August 2026] A wonderfully delightful story of a young religious sister in a dying order and her encounters with the world. It’s a wonderfully drawn picture of the life with all the complications that arise from community and trying to distinguish God from the church.
Previous reads…