Book Reviews
Reviews: Books / Films / Video Games
Last updated: Jan 15, 2023
Table of Contents
This is a list of all the books I can recall having read, with the ones that I loved the most and/or left the biggest intellectual or emotional impact on me highlighted to various degrees. Books that I mostly read, but not rigorously from cover to cover, are in italics. Entries with short reviews can be expanded, and those entries with formal blog-level reviews are hyperlinked from the title cell.
Otherwise, do feel free to also check out my Film Reviews and Video Game Reviews.
Non-Fiction
R | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akerlof, George A. & Shiller | Animal Spirits | 2 | 2010 | 2009 | Economics | EN | |||
Anissimov, Michael | A Critique of Democracy | 2 | 2015 | 2015 | Politics, NRx | EN | |||
Assange, Julian et al. | Cypherpunks | 3 | 2013 | 2013 | Politics | EN | |||
Baudrillard, Jean | Simulacra and Simulation | 2 | 2004 | 1995 | Philosophy | EN | |||
Bostrom, Nick | Superintelligence | 5 | 2015 | 2014 | Futurism, AI, X Risks | EN | best | ||
Bronze Age Pervert | Bronze Age Mindset | 3 | 2018 | 2018 | Politics | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Caplan, Bryan | The Case Against Education | 4 | 2018 | 2018 | Economics | EN | good | According to libertarian economist Caplan, a college degree primarily serves to signal that a certain individual is sufficiently intelligent, conscientious, and conformist to finish a four year degree. Meanwhile, the gains in actual human capital are modest to non-existent (as the author flippantly notes, while anyone can come in and sit in at most college lectures, access to university gyms is tightly controlled). Consequently, promoting and subsidizing mass higher education is a huge misallocation of resources. |
⠀ | Chang, Ha-Joon | Kicking Away the Ladder [2009] | 4 | 2009 | 2002 | Economics | EN | good | See main review. Chang is a South Korean proponent of strategic trade. Adopting Friedrich List’s arguments for the early 21st century, he argues that American free trade rhetoric is largely for foreign consumption. |
Chomsky, Noam | Manufacturing Consent | 5 | 2013 | 1988 | Politics, Media | EN | |||
Chua, Amy | World on Fire | 4 | 2006 | 2002 | Sociology, HBD | EN | good | ||
Cohen, Stephen F. | Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives | 4 | 2012 | 2009 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Dawisha, Karen | Putin’s Kleptocracy | 3 | 2018 | 2014 | Politics, Russia | EN | good | ||
⠀ | Dawkins, Richard | The God Delusion | 4 | 2008 | 2006 | Theology, Atheism | EN | good | The past 1-2 decades have seen a massive retreat in religion – not just in the US, but in most of the rest of the world. I suspect much of this is driven by YouTube atheists, but where did many of them get their ideas from? Objectively, I think this may be one of the most influential books of the 21st century. |
Deffeyes, Kenneth | Beyond Oil | 4 | 2009 | 2006 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Donovan, Jack | The Way of Men | 4 | 2012 | 2011 | Sociology | EN | |||
Dutton, Edward & Woodley | At Our Wits’ End | 4 | 2019 | 2018 | HBD | EN | good | ||
Finlayson, Clive | The Humans Who Went Extinct | 4 | 2015 | 2010 | Anthropology | EN | |||
Fish, Steven | Democracy from Scratch | 2 | 2010 | 1995 | Politics, Russia | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Ford, Martin | Rise of the Robots | 4 | 2015 | 2015 | Economics, Futurism | EN | Superb overview of the role of automation on the future of leisure and employment – already reverberations of that with 2016 candidacy of Andrew Yang. | |
⠀ | Friedman, George | The Next 100 Years [2009] | 2 | 2009 | 2009 | Geopolitics, Futurism | EN | See main review. China and Russia to fall apart (how convenient). Polish superpower. Mexican superpower. The coming war with Japan. Why does anybody take Friedman seriously? | |
⠀ | Fukuyama, Francis | The End of History and the Last Man | 5 | 2008 | 1992 | Geopolitics | EN | best | This is one of the two “foundational” books of the post-Cold War geopolitical order (the other is Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations). The geopolitical ascent of China and the rise of populism in Europe would appear to refute this Panglossian, fin de siècle vision of universal liberal democracy. Or would it? The “Alt Right” of today are more liberal than the American men who stormed the beaches of Normandy. |
Gaddy, Clifford & Hill | The Siberian Curse | 4 | 2019 | 2003 | Economics, Russia | EN | good | ||
Gershenzon, Mikhail et al. | Vekhi | 3 | 2016 | 1909 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Gladwell, Malcolm | The Tipping Point | 3 | 2005 | 2000 | Sociology | EN | |||
Gray, John | False Dawn | 1 | 2006 | 1998 | Economics | EN | |||
Greene, Brian | The Elegant Universe | 3 | 2005 | 1999 | Science, Physics | EN | unread | ||
Greene, Robert | The 48 Laws of Power | 4 | 2011 | 1998 | Politics | EN | unread | ||
Greer, John Michael | The Long Descent | 5 | 2009 | 2008 | Collapse | EN | |||
Greer, John Michael | Our Ecotechnic Future | 4 | 2009 | 2009 | Collapse | EN | |||
Grey, Aubrey de | Ending Aging | 3 | 2014 | 2007 | Science, Gerontology | EN | |||
Hanson, Robin | The Age of Em | 5 | 2016 | 2016 | Futurism, AI, H+ | EN | best | ||
Heilbroner, Richard | The Worldly Philosophers | 5 | 2009 | 1953 | Philosophy, Political Economy | EN | good | ||
Hitler, Adolf | Mein Kampf | 2 | 2004 | 1925 | Politics, Nazi Germany | EN | |||
Hobbes, Thomas | Leviathan | 4 | 2009 | 1651 | Philosophy, Political Economy | EN | |||
⠀ | Hoffman, David | The Oligarchs | 4 | 2012 | 2001 | Politics, Russia | EN | unread | |
Huntford, Roland | The New Totalitarians | 4 | 2010 | 1971 | Sociology, Sweden | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Huntington, Samuel | The Clash of Civilizations | 5 | 2006 | 1996 | Geopolitics | EN | best | This is one of the two “foundational” books of the post-Cold War geopolitical order (the other is Fukuyama’s The End of History). Huntington argues that future conflicts will center around ancient cultural and religious identities, which are especially likely to occur in “cleft countries” that contain large demographic blocs identifying with separate civilizations. This was borne out in the Ukraine in 2014. |
Hutchins, Chris & Korobko | Putin | 4 | 2011 | 2011 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Ilyin, Ivan | Our Tasks | 5 | 2017 | 1956 | Politics, Russia | RU | good | ||
Jack, Andrew | Inside Putin’s Russia | 3 | 2004 | 2004 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Jensen, Arthur | The g Factor | 5 | 2014 | 1998 | HBD | EN | bestunread | ||
Jones, Garett | Hive Mind | 4 | 2017 | 2015 | HBD, Economics | EN | good | ||
Kaczynski, Ted | Industrial Society and Its Future | 3 | 2005 | 1995 | Politics | EN | |||
⠀ | Kahn, Herman | On Thermonuclear War | 4 | 2009 | 1959 | Geopolitics, Military | EN | unread | The inspiration for Dr. Strangelove, this is – in reality – an attempt to objectively analyze the costs of nuclear war (devastating, but survivable) and the most cost-effective way of mitigating it. |
Kaplan, Robert D. | Asia’s Cauldron | 3 | 2016 | 2014 | Geopolitics | EN | unread | ||
Kennedy, Paul | Preparing for the 21st Century | 4 | 2005 | 1993 | Geopolitics, Futurism | EN | best | ||
Klebnikov, Paul | Godfather of the Kremlin | 4 | 2008 | 2000 | Politics, Russia | EN | unread | ||
Klein, Richard | The Human Career | 3 | 2015 | 1999 | Anthropology | EN | |||
Kornai, Janos | The Socialist System | 4 | 2013 | 1992 | Economics | EN | unread | ||
Kotkin, Stephen | Armageddon Averted | 3 | 2012 | 2003 | Politics, Russia | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Kroeber, Arthur A. | China’s Economy [2019] | 4 | 2019 | 2016 | Economics | EN | See main review. | |
Krugman, Paul | Peddling Prosperity | 3 | 2006 | 1994 | Economics | EN | |||
⠀ | Krylov, Konstantin | Behavior [2009] | 4 | 2011 | 1997 | Sociology, China | RU | See main review. | |
Kunstler, Howard | The Long Emergency | 2 | 2009 | 2005 | Collapse | EN | |||
⠀ | Kurzweil, Ray | The Singularity is Near | 5 | 2006 | 2005 | Futurism, H+ | EN | best | The necessary disclaimers: Yes, I think Kurzweil’s method of willy-nilly exponential extrapolations are weak. Actually my criticisms go even deeper, since I view technological progress as being driven primarily by literate “smart fractions,” whereas Kurzweil models it as a function of existing technology. Moreover, the reality test: As of 2017, it is clear that he was overoptimistic on timelines. Still, when I read this in 2006 (straight out of high school), this was all extremely new and interesting to me. And ultimately I remain a “singularitarian,” in the sense that I view the concept of a “technological singularity” and “transhumanism’ as both feasible and something that it worth striving towards (not least because the alternates are grim). |
Land, Nick | The Dark Enlightenment | 3 | 2018 | 2013 | Politics, NRx | EN | |||
Leonard, Mark | What Does China Think? | 4 | 2010 | 2008 | Geopolitics, China | EN | |||
Levitt, Stephen | Freakonomics | 3 | 2008 | 2005 | Economics | EN | |||
List, Friedrich | The National System of Political Economy | 4 | 2011 | 1841 | Economics | EN | good | ||
⠀ | Liu, Xin | The Otherness of Self [2013] | 1 | 2013 | 2001 | Sociology, China | EN | See main review. Only read/reviewed this because it was assigned in college. | |
Lovelock, James | The Ages of Gaia | 4 | 2006 | 1988 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Lovelock, James | The Revenge of Gaia | 2 | 2007 | 2006 | Energy & Climate, Futurism | EN | |||
Lucas, Edward | The New Cold War | 1 | 2008 | 2008 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Lynas, Mark | Six Degrees | 4 | 2006 | 2007 | Energy & Climate, Futurism | EN | |||
Lynn, Richard | Race Differences in Intelligence | 4 | 2014 | 2006 | HBD | EN | |||
Lynn, Richard | The Global Bell Curve | 5 | 2014 | 2008 | HBD | EN | good | ||
Lynn, Richard | Intelligence | 4 | 2015 | 2012 | HBD | EN | |||
⠀ | Lynn, Richard | Race Differences in Psychopathic Personality [2020] | 4 | 2020 | 2019 | HBD | EN | See main review. | |
Lynn, Richard | Memoirs of a Dissident Psychologist | 4 | 2020 | 2020 | Memoirs, HBD | EN | |||
MacDonald, Kevin | The Culture of Critique | 2 | 2016 | 2013 | Politics, HBD | EN | unread | ||
Marx, Karl | Capital | 1 | 2008 | 1867 | Economics | EN | |||
Marx, Karl & Engels | The Communist Manifesto | 4 | 2008 | 1848 | Economics | EN | |||
⠀ | McGregor, Richard | The Party | 5 | 2011 | 2010 | Politics, China | EN | good | Some takeaway from this deep analysis of the world’s largest and most powerful political organization: (1) China remains a thoroughly “Leninist” (or NEPist) state; its largest corporations, including nominally private ones, are connected by “red telephones” to Zhongnanhai. (2) The overweening role of the Organization Department in choosing cadres. (3) The CPC has a much tighter grip on both the military and regional branches than the CPSU did in the late USSR. |
⠀ | Meadows, Donella et al. | Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Update [2010] | 5 | 2010 | 2004 | Energy & Climate, Futurism | EN | good | See main review. |
Meier, Andrew | Black Earth | 4 | 2005 | 2003 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
⠀ | Moldbug, Mencius (Curtis Yarvin) | A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations | 3 | 2016 | 2009 | Politics, NRx | EN | unread | Will admit I found the foundational text of “neoreaction” to be rather underwhelming. The HBD was obviously not new to me, he seems to believe that supporting Britain in the American Revolutionary War is some great taboo (is that really so?), and engages in long-winded regurgitations of conservative talking points about the supposed global warming hoax. |
Moore, Michael | Stupid White Men | 4 | 2004 | 2001 | Politics, USA | EN | |||
Murray, Charles | Coming Apart | 5 | 2017 | 2012 | Sociology, HBD, USA | EN | |||
Murray, Charles | Facing Reality | 4 | 2021 | 2021 | Sociology, HBD, USA | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Murray, Charles & Herrnstein | Bell Curve | 5 | 2013 | 1994 | HBD | EN | best | This blockbuster of a book establishes the validity of g, its sociological relevance, the B/W gap in the US and its apparent intractability, and social consequences thereof. As Steve Sailer and Charles Murray himself point out, twenty years on, the predictions made in Bell Curve have all panned out and the trends identified in it I don’t think it’s possible to conscientiously read this text and come away with the impression that IQ is an invalid or irrelevant concept, which is what the book is ultimately mainly about (even though the race/IQ chapter is what it has become infamous for, regardless of Murray & Herrnstein’s dozens of pages of disclaimers about it). Quite apart from the IQ/sociology nexus, it is also my opinion that this is one of the key books you need to understand American society, along with David Hackett Fischer’s Albion’s Seed. |
⠀ | Myers, B.R. | The Cleanest Race | 4 | 2012 | 2010 | Politics, North Korea | EN | good | Convincing argument that Best Korea is more of an ultranationalist state than a Marxist-Leninist one. |
⠀ | Naughton, Barry | The Chinese Economy | 3 | 2012 | 2006 | Economics, China | EN | Introductory textbook to the Chinese economy. Couple of observations: (1) Chance of dying on the job under Maoism than getting fired; (2) Perhaps uniquely for any major economy, there were zero positive returns to increasing education until ~1990. |
|
Nietzsche, Friedrich | On the Genealogy of Morality | 5 | 2010 | 1887 | Philosophy | EN | unread | ||
Orlov, Dmitry | Reinventing Collapse | 3 | 2011 | 2008 | Collapse | EN | |||
Papagianni, Dimitra & Morse | The Neanderthals Rediscovered | 3 | 2015 | 2013 | Anthropology | EN | |||
⠀ | Parshev, Andrey | Why Russia Is Not America [2009] | 4 | 2002 | 1999 | Economics, Russia | RU | good | See main review. |
Pearce, Fred | With Speed and Violence | 3 | 2006 | 2008 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Pearce, Fred | When the Rivers Run Dry | 2 | 2006 | 2008 | Energy & Climate | ||||
Pillsbury, Michael | China Debates the Future Security Environment | 3 | 2010 | 2000 | Geopolitics, China | EN | |||
Pinker, Steven | The Blank Slate | 5 | 2016 | 2002 | Sociology, HBD | EN | goodunread | ||
Pinker, Steven | The Better Angels of our Nature | 4 | 2013 | 2011 | World, Anthropology | EN | good | ||
Pinker, Steven | Enlightenment Now | 3 | 2018 | 2018 | World | EN | |||
Polanyi, Karl | The Great Transformation | 4 | 2010 | 1944 | Economics | EN | |||
Preston, Richard | The Hot Zone | 5 | 2015 | 1994 | Science, Epidemiology | EN | |||
Putin, Vladimir et al. | From the First Person | 3 | 2012 | 2000 | Politics, Russia | RU | |||
Randers, Jorgen | 2052 | 4 | 2012 | 2012 | Energy & Climate, Futurism | EN | |||
Rees, Martin | Our Final Hour | 2 | 2006 | 2003 | Futurism, X Risks | EN | |||
Reid, T.R. | The United States of Europe | 3 | 2004 | 2005 | Politics, Europe | EN | |||
Ricon, Jose Luis | Back in the USSR | 4 | 2017 | 2017 | Economics, Communism, Russia/USSR | EN | good | ||
Rindermann, Heiner | Cognitive Capitalism | 5 | 2019 | 2018 | HBD, Economics | EN | good | ||
Ritchie, Stuart | Intelligence: All That Matters | 4 | 2018 | 2015 | HBD | EN | |||
Rosefielde, Steven | Russia in the 21st Century | 3 | 2009 | 2004 | Geopolitics, Russia | EN | |||
⠀ | Rushton, J. Philippe | Race, Evolution, and Behavior | 5 | 2012 | 2000 | Anthropology | EN | good | This is still, perhaps, the book about the validity of HBD theory. In this book, a huge mass of data (the endnotes comprise a substantial percentage of the overall text) is marshalled in support of r/K selection theory applied to the three great races of mankind. When I read it sometime around I was already somewhat “redpilled” on this issue, but this book raised my confidence in the HBD view of reality from “likely” to “almost certain.” There are several other good essentially “HBD” books – The 10,000 Year Explosion by Cochran and Harpending, or Wade’s A Troublesome Inheritance for those hesitating about… wading into this subject, but this is the book I read first so as it’s the most influential so far as I’m concerned. |
Sachs, Jeffrey | The End of Poverty | 3 | 2004 | 2005 | Economics | EN | |||
Sakwa, Richard | The Crisis of Russian Democracy | 4 | 2013 | 2010 | Politics, Russia | EN | good | ||
Sakwa, Richard | Frontline Ukraine | 4 | 2015 | 2014 | Geopolitics, Russia | EN | unread | ||
Shafarevich, Igor | Russophobia | 5 | 2018 | 1982 | Politics, Russia | RU | goodunread | ||
Schimpfössl, Elisabeth | Rich Russains | 4 | 2020 | 2018 | Sociology, Russia | RU | unread | ||
Schwab, Klaus | The Fourth Industrial Revolution | 3 | 2021 | 2016 | Futurism, Economics | EN | unread | ||
Singh, Simon | Fermat’s Last Theorem | 4 | 2006 | 1997 | Science, Math | EN | |||
Singh, Simon | The Code Book | 4 | 2006 | 1999 | Science, Math | EN | |||
⠀ | Smil, Vaclav | Global Catastrophes and Trends [2009] | 4 | 2009 | 2008 | Futurism, Technology | EN | See main review. | |
Smith, Adam | The Wealth of Nations | 5 | 2011 | 1776 | Economics | EN | goodunread | ||
⠀ | Smith, Arthur H. | Chinese Characteristics [2013] | 5 | 2013 | 1894 | Sociology, Travel, China | EN | good | See main review. One of the best travelogues ever written. |
Smith, Laurence C. | The World in 2050 | 3 | 2010 | 2010 | Geopolitics, Futurism, Arctic | EN | |||
Solomon, Steven | Water | 3 | 2010 | 2010 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Stager, Curt | Deep Future | 4 | 2016 | 2011 | Energy & Climate, Futurism | EN | good | ||
⠀ | Steyn, Mark | America Alone [2009] | 4 | 2009 | 2006 | Geopolitics | EN | Funny writing style, appeals to American vatnik types, ultimately nonsensical but who cares. | |
Strahan, David | The Last Oil Shock | 3 | 2009 | 2007 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Taleb, Nicholas Nassim | The Black Swan | 4 | 2012 | 2007 | Economics | EN | |||
Tegmark, Mark | Our Mathematical Universe | 4 | 2016 | 2014 | Science, Physics | EN | good | ||
Thiel, Peter | Zero to One | 5 | 2021 | 2014 | Economics, Business | EN | best | ||
Todd, Emmanuel | The Explanation of Ideology | 5 | 2014 | 1985 | Sociology, HBD | EN | best | ||
Treisman, Daniel | The Return | 5 | 2011 | 2011 | Politics, Russia | EN | good | ||
Trenin, Dmitry | Should We Fear Russia? | 3 | 2017 | 2016 | Geopolitics, Russia | EN | |||
⠀ | Trubetzkoy, Nikolay | Europe and Mankind [2009] | 5 | 2009 | 1920 | Politics, Russia | RU | best | See main review. |
Trump, Donald | The Art of the Deal | 3 | 2016 | 1987 | Memoirs, Business | EN | |||
Turner, Jonathan Adair | Just Capital | 5 | 2005 | 2001 | Economics | EN | good | ||
Wade, Nicholas | A Troublesome Inheritance | 4 | 2015 | 2014 | Anthropology, HBD | EN | |||
Ward, Peter | Under a Green Sky | 3 | 2010 | 2007 | Energy & Climate | EN | |||
Ware, Timothy | The Orthodox Church | 4 | 2012 | 1963 | Theology, Christianity | EN | good | ||
Wegren, Stephen et al. | After Putin’s Russia | 3 | 2010 | 2009 | Politics, Russia | EN | |||
Weisman, Alan | The World Without Us | 4 | 2009 | 2007 | Collapse | EN | |||
Wolff, Michael | Fire and Fury | 3 | 2018 | 2018 | Politics, USA | EN | unread | ||
⠀ | Yang, Andrew | The War on Normal People [2019] | 4 | 2019 | 2018 | Politics, Futurism, AI, USA | EN | See main review. | |
Zhavoronkov, Alex | The Ageless Generation | 3 | 2019 | 2013 | Futurism, Gerontology | EN | unread | ||
Zygar, Mikhail | All the Kremlin's Men | 2017 | 2016 | Politics, Russia | EN | unread |
History
R | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acheson, David | 1089 And All That | 5 | 2004 | 2002 | Science, Math, Children's | EN | good | ||
Arnove, Robert & Graff | National Literacy Campaigns | 3 | 2014 | 1987 | Economics, Literacy | EN | |||
Beevor, Anthony | Stalingrad | 2 | 2004 | 1999 | Military, WW2 | EN | |||
Bellamy, Chris | Absolute War | 5 | 2012 | 2007 | Military, WW2 | EN | best | ||
⠀ | Bloom, Howard | The Lucifer Principle [2010] | 5 | 2010 | 1995 | World, HBD | EN | good | See main review. |
Brogan, Hugh | The Penguin History of the USA | 2 | 2008 | 1985 | History, USA | EN | |||
Bryson, Bill | A Short History of Nearly Everything | 4 | 2002 | 2003 | Science | EN | |||
Burleigh, Michael | The Third Reich | 4 | 2005 | 2001 | History, Nazi Germany | EN | |||
Chanda, Nayan | Bound Together | 2 | 2008 | 2007 | Economics, World | EN | |||
Clark, Gregory | A Farewell to Alms | 5 | 2014 | 2008 | Economics, HBD | EN | best | ||
Clark, Gregory | The Son Also Rises | 4 | 2016 | 2014 | Economics, HBD | EN | |||
Cochran, Gregory & Harpending | The 10,000 Year Explosion | 4 | 2014 | 2009 | World, HBD | EN | |||
Dartnell, Lewis | The Knowledge | 4 | 2016 | 2014 | Science, Technology | EN | good | ||
⠀ | Diamond, Jared | Guns, Germs, and Steel [2009] | 5 | 2003 | 1997 | World, Anthropology | EN | good | See main review. |
Diamond, Jared | Collapse | 3 | 2007 | 2005 | World, Anthropology, Collapse | EN | |||
Doyle, William | The Oxford History of the French Revolution | 2 | 2004 | 1990 | History, France | EN | |||
Dunham, William | Journey through Genius | 5 | 2007 | 1991 | Science, Math | EN | good | ||
Dupuy, Trevor N. | A Genius for War | 4 | 2015 | 1977 | Military, WW2 | EN | good | ||
Durocher, Guillaume | The Ancient Ethnostate | 5 | 2022 | 2021 | Ancient, HBD | EN | good | ||
Emmerson, Charles | The Future History of the Arctic | 4 | 2010 | 2010 | History, Arctic | EN | |||
Ferguson, Niall | Empire | 3 | 2008 | 2003 | History, Britain | EN | |||
Ferguson, Niall | Colossus | 3 | 2008 | 2004 | History, USA | EN | |||
Ferguson, Niall | The War of the World | 2 | 2009 | 2007 | History, WW2 | EN | |||
⠀ | Ferguson, Niall | The Pity of War | 5 | 2006 | 1998 | Military, WW1 | EN | best | "The Pity of War: Explaining World War I" does justice to its subtitle, boldly reinterpreting most of the standard narrative through vivid statistical argumentation. For instance, the claims that there was widespread enthusiasm for the conflict at the outset seems to be pretty much false. This was also the book that introduced me to the work of Dupuy et al., who have calculated that the Germans were consistently much more combat effective than the Anglo-French forces; conversely, he also very effectively shows why the war was lost for Germany after the end of the Spring Offensive. One need not always buy into his arguments – ironically, I am rather skeptical of his “Anglophobic” thesis that it was England most at fault for making WW1 into the carnage it was – but his counterintuitive takes strike home sufficiently frequently to justify this as a must-read in addition to the more conventional histories. |
Fischer, David Hackett | Albion’s Seed | 5 | 2018 | 1989 | History, USA | EN | best | ||
Gat, Azar | Nations | 5 | 2017 | 2012 | World | EN | goodunread | ||
Grass, Gunter | Peeling the Onion | 4 | 2010 | 2006 | Memoirs, Nazi Germany | EN | |||
Gumilev, Lev | From Rus’ to Russia | 4 | 2008 | 2008 | History, Russia | RU | |||
Harris, William | Ancient Literacy | 4 | 2014 | 1989 | Economics, Ancient, Literacy | EN | |||
Harrison, Mark et al. | The Economics of World War II | 4 | 2017 | 1998 | Economics, WW2 | EN | unread | ||
Harrison, Mark et al. | The Economics of World War I | 4 | 2017 | 2005 | Economics, WW2 | EN | unread | ||
Hart, Michael | Understanding Human History | 2 | 2013 | 2007 | World, HBD | EN | |||
Jones, E.L. | The European Miracle | 4 | 2014 | 1981 | Economics, Medieval, Europe | EN | |||
Keegan, John | The Face of Battle | 3 | 2002 | 1976 | Military | EN | |||
Keegan, John | The First World War | 3 | 2004 | 1998 | Military, WW1 | EN | |||
⠀ | Kennedy, Paul | The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers | 5 | 2003 | 1987 | World, Geopolitics | EN | best | Covering 500 years of history in 500 pages, the historian Paul Kennedy exhaustively argues that the root of military and geopolitical power is heavily dependent on economic power, which supports the munitioning potential to equip gunpowder armies. From the Third Years War to the Cold War, it has been deeper pockets, not military elan or morale, that have won. This seems pretty obvious and self-explanatory, but many people don’t seem to get it. Although there are now many things I would quibble with it – I read it sometime around 2004 – its basic framework is still one I use when thinking about Great Power geopolitics. I can also say that this book formed the wellspring of my interest in economic history. Statistics about pig iron production in 1910 seem pretty boring until you start imagining it going into Dreadnoughts and Krupp guns. |
Khlevnyuk, Oleg | Stalin: Life of a Leader | 4 | 2020 | 2015 | Biography | RU | unread | ||
⠀ | Korotayev, Andrei et al. | Introduction to Social Macrodynamics [2009] | 5 | 2009 | 2006 | World, Cliodynamics | EN | best | Most people think of history as a narrative of names and dates interlinked with “happenings” that historians try to explain and contextualize. But there has been very little progress on the methods of history since Thucydides. The cliodynamicists are to history what Alfred Marshall was to economics – they want to start modeling history. Although the best known name in this field is Peter Turchin’s, I was more influenced by Korotayev et al’s Introduction to Social Macrodynamics, a very short but formula heavy book that laid the framework for how I have thought about pre-industrial Malthusian societies ever since. Here is my main review of it. One of my very long-term ambitions is to try to integrate psychometrics with cliodynamics models. |
Landes, David | The Wealth and Poverty of Nations | 4 | 2008 | 1998 | Economics, World | EN | good | ||
Malia, Martin | Russia under Western Eyes | 5 | 2009 | 2001 | History, Russia | EN | goodunread | ||
Martin, Janet | Medieval Russia, 980-1584 | 2020 | 1995 | History, Medieval, Russia | EN | goodunread | |||
Martin, Terry | The Affirmative Action Empire | 5 | 2018 | 2001 | History, Russia | EN | unread | ||
McMeekin, Sean | The Russian Revolution | 5 | 2018 | 2017 | History, Russia | EN | good | ||
McMeekin, Sean | Stalin's War | 2 | 2022 | 2021 | History, Russia, WW2 | EN | unread | ||
Menzies, Gavin | 1421 | 2 | 2005 | 2002 | History, China, Conspiracy | EN | |||
Merridale, Catherine | Ivan's War | 4 | 2016 | 2005 | Military, WW2, Russia | EN | unread | ||
Mitterauer, Michael | Why Europe? | 4 | 2015 | 2010 | Economics, Medieval, Europe | EN | unread | ||
Morris, Ian | Why the West Rules–For Now | 4 | 2014 | 2010 | World | EN | good | ||
Morris, Ian | The Measure of Civilization | 4 | 2014 | 2010 | World | EN | |||
Murray, Charles | Human Accomplishment | 5 | 2014 | 2009 | Science, HBD | EN | best | ||
Overy, Richard | Why the Allies Won | 5 | 2006 | 1995 | Military, WW2 | EN | good | ||
Overy, Richard | Russia’s War | 4 | 2006 | 1997 | Military, WW2 | EN | |||
⠀ | Pomeranz, Kenneth | The Great Divergence [2011] | 5 | 2011 | 2000 | Economics, World, China | EN | good | See main review. |
Roberts, John | The New Penguin History of the World | 3 | 2006 | 2007 | World | EN | unread | ||
Robinson, Paul | Russian Conservatism | 5 | 2019 | 2019 | History, Russia | EN | good | ||
Schama, Simon | Citizens | 5 | 2004 | 1989 | History, France | EN | good | ||
Schrad, Mark | Vodka Politics | 4 | 2016 | 2013 | History, Russia | EN | good | ||
⠀ | Schwartz, Benjamin | In Search of Wealth and Power [2013] | 4 | 2013 | 1963 | History, China | EN | See main review. | |
⠀ | Scott, John | Behind the Urals [2009] | 3 | 2009 | 1941 | Memoirs, Russia/USSR | EN | See main review. | |
Sheehan, James J. | Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? | 4 | 2004 | 2008 | History, Europe | EN | |||
Shirer, William L. | The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich | 5 | 2004 | 1960 | History, Nazi Germany | EN | good | ||
Slezkine, Yuri | The Jewish Century | 5 | 2011 | 2004 | History, Jews | EN | bestunread | ||
⠀ | Tainter, Joseph | The Collapse of Complex Societies [2018] | 4 | 2009 | 1988 | History, Anthropology, Collapse | EN | good | See main review. |
Tombs, Robert | The English and Their History | 5 | 2017 | 2015 | History, Britain | EN | unread | ||
Tooze, Adam | Wages of Destruction | 5 | 2017 | 2015 | Economics, Nazi Germany, WW2 | EN | best | ||
⠀ | Tuchman, Barbara | The Guns of August | 5 | 2009 | 1962 | Military, WW1 | EN | best | This may not be the most groundbreaking WW1 book, but it may well be the best from a literary perspective. Seriously, just read her opening paragraph: So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep back gasps of admiration. In scarlet and blue and green and purple, three by three the sovereigns rode through the palace gates, with plumed helmets, gold braid, crimson sashes, and jeweled orders flashing in the sun. After them came five heirs apparent, forty more imperial or royal highnesses, seven queens – four dowager and three regnant – and a scattering of special ambassadors from uncrowned countries. Together they represented seventy nations in the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last. The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again. Whether one agrees with her thesis that it was Germany that was overwhelmingly culpable or not – though I suppose it helps that I do – her skill at bringing the increasingly agitated diplomatic activity in the buildup to the war and the military maneuvers in its first few months is unrivalled. This is history that reads like fiction, and I mean that in a good sense. |
⠀ | Turchin, Peter | War and Peace and War [2010] | 5 | 2010 | 2006 | World, Cliodynamics | EN | best | See main review. |
Turchin, Peter | Ultrasociety | 5 | 2017 | 2015 | World, Cliodynamics | EN | good | ||
Turchin, Peter | Ages of Discord | 3 | 2017 | 2016 | USA, Cliodynamics | EN | unread | ||
Turchin, Peter & Nefedov | Secular Cycles | 5 | 2012 | 2011 | World, Cliodynamics | EN | bestunread | ||
⠀ | Werth, Alexander | Moscow War Diary [2009] | 3 | 2009 | 1942 | Memoirs, WW2, Russia/USSR | EN | See main review. |
Literature
R | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alighieri, Dante | Divine Comedy: Hell | 3 | 2003 | 1472 | Play, Italy | EN | |||
Anon | The Bible | 3 | 2000 | 100 | Classics, Theology, Christianity | EN | good | ||
Borges, Jorge Luis | Labyrinths | 5 | 2010 | 1964 | Philosophy | EN | bestunread | ||
Brown, Dan | The Da Vinci Code | 5 | 2006 | 2003 | Thriller | EN | |||
Buchan, James | Thirty-Nine Steps | 2 | 1999 | 1915 | Thriller, Spy | EN | |||
Camus, Albert | The Myth of Sisyphus | 4 | 2010 | 1942 | Philosophy | EN | |||
Camus, Albert | The Stranger | 5 | 2010 | 1942 | Philosophy | EN | best | ||
Clancy, Tom | Red Storm Rising | 4 | 2009 | 1986 | Thriller | EN | |||
Boccaccio, Giovanni | The Decameron | 4 | 2021 | 1353 | Fiction, Italiy | EN | |||
Defoe, Daniel | Robinson Crusoe | 1 | 2003 | 1719 | Fiction, England | EN | |||
Dostoevsky, Fedor | Crime and Punishment | 5 | 2006 | 1866 | Fiction, Russia | RU | good | ||
Dostoevsky, Fedor | The Brothers Karamazov | 5 | 2007 | 1879 | Fiction, Russia | RU | best | ||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 4 | 2003 | 1892 | Detective | EN | good | ||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | 4 | 2003 | 1894 | Detective | EN | |||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 5 | 2003 | 1901 | Detective | EN | |||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Return of Sherlock Holmes | 4 | 2003 | 1905 | Detective | EN | |||
Dumas, Alexandre | The Three Musketeers | 4 | 2005 | 1844 | Fiction, France | EN | |||
Evola, Julius | Meditations on the Peaks | 3 | 2015 | 1974 | Politics | EN | |||
Fleming, Ian | Dr. No | 3 | 2004 | 1958 | Thriller, Spy | EN | |||
Fleming, Ian | On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | 3 | 2004 | 1963 | Thriller, Spy | EN | |||
Fleming, Ian | You Only Live Twice | 3 | 2004 | 1964 | Thriller, Spy | EN | |||
Fyodorov, Vitaly (Afrika) | Notes of a Terrorist | 4 | 2016 | 2016 | Autobiography, War Story, Ukraine War | RU | unread | ||
Golding, William | Lord of the Flies | 3 | 2004 | 1954 | Fiction, England | EN | |||
Grisham, John | The Firm | 5 | 2008 | 1991 | Thriller | EN | |||
Haggard, Henry Rider | King Solomon’s Mines | 4 | 2005 | 1885 | Fiction, England | EN | |||
Haywire, Rachel | The New Reaction | 2 | 2015 | 2015 | Politics, NRx | EN | |||
Homer | The Odyssey | 4 | 2012 | -800 | Classics, Epic, Greece | EN | |||
⠀ | Houellebecq, Michel | Submission [2013] | 4 | 2021 | 2015 | Politics | EN | See main review. | |
⠀ | Istvan, Zoltan | The Transhumanist Wager | 2 | 2014 | 2013 | Politics | EN | [2013] review - This must be one of the most overhyped books I have ever read. I really don't understand all the 4/5 and 5/5 reviews. Two dimensional characters and cardboard cutout villains who speak in multi-page, sleep-inducing monologues; a sophomoric "philosophy" that pretends to be original but is really just Objectivism with a transhuman accent, promoted with all the nuance and subtlety of a sledgehammer by a fanatical and thoroughly unlikable ideologue full of strange and unexplained contradictions (despite his worship of rationalism); in large parts, hilariously technologically illiterate, despite the fetishization of technology. | |
Kafka, Franz | The Trial | 1 | 2006 | 1925 | Philosophy | EN | |||
King, Stephen | Carrie | 5 | 2007 | 1974 | Horror | EN | good | ||
Kundera, Milan | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | 5 | 2007 | 1984 | Philosophy | EN | good | ||
Laozi | Dao De Jing | 3 | 2010 | -550 | Classics, Theology, Taoism | EN | |||
Larsson, Stieg | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | 3 | 2010 | 2005 | Thriller | EN | |||
Limonov, Eduard | The Other Russia | 3 | 2009 | 2004 | Politics, Russia | RU | |||
London, Jack | The Call of the Wild | 2 | 2003 | 1903 | Fiction, USA | EN | |||
MacDonald, Andrew & Pierce | The Turner Diaries | 1 | 2008 | 1978 | Politics | EN | |||
Machiavelli, Niccolò | The Prince | 5 | 2008 | 1532 | Politics, Political Economy | EN | good | ||
Nabokov, Vladimir | Conversation Piece, 1945 | 4 | 2010 | 1945 | Fiction, Russia | RU | |||
Nestor | Tale of Bygone Years | 4 | 2012 | 1113 | Classics, Epic, Russia | RU | |||
Nikitin, Afanasy | A Journey Beyond the Three Seas | 2020 | 1475 | Classics, Russia, Travel | RU | unread | |||
Pushkin, Alexander | Ruslan and Ludmila | 5 | 1994 | 1820 | Poetry, Russia | RU | good | ||
Pushkin, Alexander | The Queen of Spades | 5 | 2006 | 1834 | Fiction, Russia | RU | |||
Rand, Ayn | The Fountainhead | 4 | 2010 | 1943 | Politics | EN | unread | ||
Remarque, Erich Maria | All Quiet on the Western Front | 5 | 2004 | 1929 | Fiction, War Story, WW1 | EN | |||
Sachar, Louis | Holes | 4 | 2002 | 1998 | Fiction | EN | |||
Shakespeare, William | Romeo and Juliet | 4 | 2004 | 1595 | Play, England | EN | |||
Shakespeare, William | Macbeth | 4 | 2001 | 1606 | Play, England | EN | |||
Sheriff, R.C. | Journey’s End | 4 | 2002 | 1928 | Fiction, War Story, WW1 | EN | |||
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander | One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | 4 | 2005 | 1962 | Fiction, Russia | RU | |||
Stevenson, Robert Louis | Treasure Island | 2 | 2003 | 1883 | Fiction, England | EN | |||
Sunzi | The Art of War | 3 | 2005 | -500 | Classics, Military, China | EN | |||
Tolstoy, Lev | The Death of Ivan Ilyich | 5 | 2004 | 1886 | Fiction, Russia | RU | |||
Twain, Mark | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | 3 | 2004 | 1876 | Fiction, USA | EN | |||
Twain, Mark | The Prince and the Pauper | 3 | 2004 | 1881 | Fiction, USA | EN | |||
Unamuno, Miguel de | San Manuel Bueno, Martyr | 5 | 2009 | 1930 | Philosophy | EN | good | ||
Virgil | The Aeneid | 2 | 2011 | 19 | Classics, Epic, Roman | EN | |||
Wheatley, Dennis | The Quest of Julian Day | 5 | 2003 | 1939 | Thriller | EN | |||
Wyss, Johann | The Swiss Family Robinson | 1 | 2003 | 1812 | Fiction, England | EN | |||
Zhuchkovsky, Alexander | 85 Days in Slavyansk | 5 | 2018 | 2018 | War Story, Ukraine War | RU | unread |
SciFi
R | Series | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eis-1 | Abnett, Dan | Xenos | 4 | 2018 | 2001 | SciFi, WH40K | EN | |||
Asimov, Isaac | I, Robot | 5 | 2010 | 1950 | SciFi, AI | EN | ||||
Asimov, Isaac | The Last Question | 5 | 2010 | 1956 | SciFi | EN | best | |||
Bacigalupi, Paolo | The Water Knife | 3 | 2016 | 2015 | Post-Apoc | EN | ||||
F | Baxter, Stephen | FLOOD | 4 | ~ | Post-Apoc | EN | theseries | |||
F-1 | Baxter, Stephen | Flood | 4 | 2014 | 2009 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
F-2 | Baxter, Stephen | Ark | 4 | 2014 | 2010 | Post-Apoc | EN | good | ||
Brooks, Max | The Zombie Survival Guide | 5 | 2009 | 2003 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | ||||
Brooks, Max | World War Z | 2 | 2010 | 2006 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | ||||
RR | Brown, Pierce | RED RISING | 3 | ~ | Dystopia | EN | theseries | |||
RR-1 | Brown, Pierce | Red Rising | 4 | 2015 | 2014 | Dystopia | EN | |||
RR-2 | Brown, Pierce | Golden Son | 3 | 2015 | 2015 | Dystopia | EN | unread | ||
EG-11 | Card, Orson Scott | Ender’s Game | 3 | 2015 | 1985 | SciFi | EN | |||
⠀ | Carter, Paul | The Last Objective | 4 | 2020 | 1946 | Short Story, Military SF, Post-Apoc | EN | Not the best sci-fi story, not the worst. Implicit commentary on the futility of war, evidently hates military psychologists, elements of horror towards the end. Interesting portrayal of underground subterrene combat. | ||
HG | Collins, Suzanne | HUNGER GAMES | 4 | ~ | Dystopia | EN | theseries | |||
HG-1 | Collins, Suzanne | The Hunger Games | 4 | 2012 | 2008 | Dystopia | EN | good | ||
HG-2 | Collins, Suzanne | Catching Fire | 4 | 2012 | 2009 | Dystopia | EN | |||
HG-3 | Collins, Suzanne | Mockingjay | 2 | 2012 | 2010 | Dystopia | EN | |||
Crichton, Michael | Congo | 4 | 2010 | 1980 | SciFi, Thriller | EN | ||||
Crichton, Michael | Jurassic Park | 4 | 2011 | 1990 | SciFi, Thriller | EN | good | |||
Crichton, Michael | Prey | 4 | 2010 | 2002 | SciFi, Thriller | EN | ||||
Crichton, Michael | State of Fear | 1 | 2012 | 2004 | SciFi, Thriller | EN | ||||
Crichton, Michael & Richard Preston | Micro | 2 | 2013 | 2011 | SciFi, Thriller | EN | ||||
MR-1 | Dashner, James | The Maze Runner | 3 | 2011 | 2009 | Dystopia | EN | |||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Lost World | 5 | 2003 | 1912 | SciFi | EN | ||||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Poison Belt | 4 | 2003 | 1913 | SciFi | EN | ||||
Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Land of Mist | 1 | 2003 | 1926 | SciFi, Esoteric | EN | ||||
Egan, Greg | Permutation City | 4 | 2022 | 1994 | SciFi, Paradox | EN | unread | |||
Ellison, Harlan | I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | 4 | 2021 | 1967 | Short Story, Horror | EN | good | |||
Fehervari, Peter | Genestealer Cults | 4 | 2021 | 2016 | SciFi, WH40K | EN | unread | |||
Forstchen, William | One Second After | 5 | 2014 | 2009 | Post-Apoc | EN | good | |||
Gibson, William | Neuromancer | 4 | 2014 | 1984 | Cyberpunk | EN | unread | |||
M | Glukhovsky, Dmitry | METRO | 4 | Post-Apoc | RU | theseries | ||||
M-1 | Glukhovsky, Dmitry | Metro 2033 | 5 | 2010 | 2005 | Post-Apoc | RU | best | ||
M-2 | Glukhovsky, Dmitry | Metro 2034 | 4 | 2016 | 2009 | Post-Apoc | RU | |||
M-3 | Glukhovsky, Dmitry | Metro 2035 | 2 | 2016 | 2015 | Post-Apoc | RU | |||
Hackett, John | The Third World War | 3 | 2002 | 1982 | Alt History, WW3 | EN | ||||
Harris, Robert | Fatherland | 5 | 2017 | 1992 | Alt History | EN | goodunread | |||
D-1 | Herbert, Frank | Dune | 4 | 2015 | 1965 | SciFi | EN | |||
Hertling, William | Avogadro Corp | 4 | 2015 | 2014 | SciFi, AI | EN | ||||
S | Howey, Hugh | SILO | 4 | ~ | Post-Apoc | EN | theseries | |||
S-1 | Howey, Hugh | Wool | 5 | 2015 | 2012 | Post-Apoc | EN | good | ||
S-2 | Howey, Hugh | Shift | 4 | 2015 | 2012 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
S-3 | Howey, Hugh | Dust | 3 | 2016 | 2012 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
Huxley, Aldous | Brave New World | 5 | 2005 | 1932 | Dystopia | EN | ||||
King, Stephen | The Stand | 5 | 2007 | 1978 | Horror, Post-Apoc | EN | best | |||
King, Stephen | Cell | 4 | 2008 | 2006 | Horror, Post-Apoc | EN | ||||
King, Stephen | The Long Walk | 4 | 2008 | 1979 | Horror, Dystopia | EN | good | |||
King, Stephen | The Running Man | 3 | 2008 | 1982 | Dystopia | EN | ||||
⠀ | Kunstler, Howard | World Made by Hand [2009] | 2 | 2009 | 2008 | Post-Apoc | EN | See main review. | ||
Leiber, Fritz | A Pail of Air | 3 | 2015 | 1951 | Short Story, Post-Apoc | EN | ||||
Lukyanenko, Sergey | Knights of the Forty Islands | 4 | 2012 | 1992 | Dystopia | RU | good | |||
Lukyanenko, Sergey | Night Watch | 4 | 2012 | 2004 | Urban Fantasy | RU | unread | |||
N | Mather, Matthew | NOMAD | 2 | ~ | Post-Apoc | EN | theseries | |||
N-1 | Mather, Matthew | Nomad | 4 | 2019 | 2016 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
N-2 | Mather, Matthew | Resistance | 3 | 2019 | 2017 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
Miller, Walter M. | A Canticle for Leibowitz | 5 | 2006 | 1960 | Post-Apoc, WW3 | EN | best | |||
Aut | Moody, David | AUTUMN | 3 | ~ | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | theseries | |||
Aut-1 | Moody, David | Autumn | 4 | 2001 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Aut-2 | Moody, David | The City | 3 | 2005 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Aut-3 | Moody, David | Purification | 3 | 2004 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Aut-4 | Moody, David | Disintegration | 3 | 2011 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Aut-5 | Moody, David | Aftermath | 3 | 2012 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Aut-6 | Moody, David | The Human Condition | 2 | 2005 | 2012 | Post-Apoc, Zombies | EN | |||
Orwell, George | Animal Farm | 4 | 2003 | 1945 | Dystopia | EN | good | |||
Orwell, George | 1984 | 5 | 2005 | 1949 | Dystopia | EN | best | |||
Panshin, Alexei | Rite of Passage | 3 | 2013 | 1968 | SciFi | EN | ||||
Robinson, Kim Stanley | The Years of Rice and Salt | 5 | 2013 | 2003 | Alt History | EN | good | |||
Stephenson, Neal | The Diamond Age | 4 | 2015 | 1995 | Cyberpunk | EN | unread | |||
⠀ | Stephenson, Neal | Seveneves | 4 | 2015 | 2015 | Post-Apoc | EN | good | It took me 2 days to read the first two thirds of Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. It is taking me an excruciating 2 weeks (and counting) to finish the last third. The genetic technology to produce the post-Hard Rain races is just about plausible (I am assuming this book is set in a techno-optimistic version of what 2025-2030 would be like or thereabouts). However, the idea that racial admixture would be low enough to result in the continuance of distinct races even though they spend the first 4,000 years of the Hard Rain scooped up in cramped living quarters isn't very plausible. | |
Ev | Stirling, S.M. | EMBERVERSE | 5 | ~ | Post-Apoc | EN | theseries | |||
Ev-1 | Stirling, S.M. | Dies the Fire | 5 | 2011 | 2004 | Post-Apoc | EN | good | ||
Ev-2 | Stirling, S.M. | The Protector’s War | 5 | 2011 | 2005 | Post-Apoc | EN | |||
Ev-3 | Stirling, S.M. | A Meeting at Corvallis | 5 | 2011 | 2006 | Post-Apoc | EN | best | ||
Strugatsky, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky | The Inhabited Island | 5 | 2022 | 1969 | SciFi, Dystopia | RU | bestunread | |||
Swallow, James | Deus Ex: Icarus Effect | 3 | 2016 | 2014 | SciFi, Cyberpunk | EN | ||||
Verne, Jules | Journey to the Center of the Earth | 4 | 2002 | 1864 | SciFi | EN | ||||
Verne, Jules | Around the World in Eighty Days | 5 | 2000 | 1873 | SciFi | EN | best | |||
Vinge, Vernor | True Names | 5 | 2008 | 1981 | SciFi | EN | best | |||
⠀ | Voinovich, Vladimir | Moscow 2042 [2018] | 2 | 2002 | 1986 | Dystopia | RU | See main review. | ||
Vonnegut, Kurt | Cat’s Cradle | 4 | 2014 | 1963 | Post-Apoc | EN | ||||
SH | Weber, David | SAFEHOLD | 3 | ~ | SciFi | EN | theseries | |||
SH-1 | Weber, David | Off Armageddon Reef | 3 | 2020 | 2016 | SciFi | EN | unread | ||
Wells, H.G. | The Time Machine | 5 | 2004 | 1895 | SciFi | EN | ||||
Wells, H.G. | The Island of Doctor Moreau | 4 | 2004 | 1896 | SciFi | EN | good | |||
Wells, H.G. | The War of the Worlds | 4 | 2004 | 1898 | SciFi | EN | ||||
CK-3 | Wingrove, David | The Middle Kingdom | 2 | 2011 | 1989 | Dystopia | EN | |||
Yudkowsky, Eliezer | A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?! | 2 | 2017 | 2016 | SciFi | EN |
Fantasy
R | Series | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | FL | Abercrombie, Joe | THE FIRST LAW | 5 | ~ | Hero | EN | theseries | ||
⠀ | FL-1 | Abercrombie, Joe | The Blade Itself | 5 | 2011 | 2006 | Hero | EN | good | The world-building doesn’t amount to much more than cardboard cutouts of TV Tropes realms – The Union (=The Federation), Gurkish Empire (=The Empire), The North (=”It’s Grim Up North”). The plot is forgettable, and sometimes barely made sense. Yet despite all that, Abercrombie proves that in literature, it is the characters that carry the day: Years on, I still remember the crippled torturer Glokta, the doofy aristo Jezal, and of course the berserker Logen and his band of warriors. |
FL-2 | Abercrombie, Joe | Before They Are Hanged | 5 | 2012 | 2007 | Hero | EN | |||
FL-3 | Abercrombie, Joe | Last Argument of Kings | 3 | 2012 | 2008 | Hero | EN | |||
Dahl, Roald | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | 4 | 2000 | 1964 | Children's | EN | ||||
Dahl, Roald | Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator | 4 | 2000 | 1972 | Children's | EN | ||||
Dahl, Roald | The BFG | 4 | 2000 | 1982 | Children's | EN | ||||
Dahl, Roald | The Witches | 4 | 2000 | 1983 | Children's | EN | ||||
Dahl, Roald | Boy: Tales of Childhood | 4 | 2000 | 1984 | Children's, Autobiography | EN | ||||
Dahl, Roald | Matilda | 4 | 2000 | 1988 | Children's | EN | ||||
CT | Friedman, C.S. | COLDFIRE TRILOGY | 3 | ~ | Horror | EN | theseries | |||
⠀ | CT-1 | Friedman, C.S. | Black Sun Rising [2013] | 4 | 2012 | 1991 | Horror | EN | See main review. | |
Friedman, C.S. | When True Night Falls | 2 | 2012 | 1993 | Horror | EN | unread | |||
SoT | Goodkind, Terry | SWORD OF TRUTH | 2 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
SoT-1 | Goodkind, Terry | Wizard’s First Rule | 2 | 2009 | 1994 | Epic | EN | |||
RW | Jacques, Brian | REDWALL | 5 | ~ | Children's | EN | theseries | |||
RW-1 | Jacques, Brian | Lord Brocktree | 4 | 2001 | 2000 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-2 | Jacques, Brian | Martin the Warrior | 4 | 2000 | 1993 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-3 | Jacques, Brian | Mossflower | 5 | 1998 | 1988 | Children's | EN | good | ||
RW-4 | Jacques, Brian | The Legend of Luke | 4 | 1999 | 1999 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-5 | Jacques, Brian | Outcast of Redwall | 4 | 1999 | 1995 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-6 | Jacques, Brian | Mariel of Redwall | 4 | 1999 | 1991 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-7 | Jacques, Brian | The Bellmaker | 4 | 1998 | 1994 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-8 | Jacques, Brian | Salamandastron | 5 | 1998 | 1992 | Children's | EN | good | ||
RW-9 | Jacques, Brian | Redwall | 5 | 1997 | 1986 | Children's | EN | good | ||
RW-10 | Jacques, Brian | Mattimeo | 4 | 1998 | 1989 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-11 | Jacques, Brian | The Pearls of Lutra | 5 | 1998 | 1996 | Children's | EN | good | ||
RW-12 | Jacques, Brian | The Long Patrol | 4 | 1998 | 1997 | Children's | EN | |||
RW-13 | Jacques, Brian | Marlfox | 4 | 2000 | 1998 | Children's | EN | |||
Jacques, Brian | Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales | 4 | 2000 | 1991 | Children's, Horror | EN | ||||
DM | Jarvis, Robin | DEPTFORD MICE | 4 | ~ | Children's | EN | theseries | |||
DM-1 | Jarvis, Robin | The Dark Portal | 4 | 2000 | 1989 | Children's | EN | |||
DM-2 | Jarvis, Robin | The Crystal Prison | 3 | 2000 | 1989 | Children's | EN | |||
DM-3 | Jarvis, Robin | The FInal Reckoning | 3 | 2000 | 1990 | Children's | EN | |||
WoT | Jordan, Robert | THE WHEEL OF TIME | 4 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
WoT-0 | Jordan, Robert | New Spring | 3 | 2008 | 2004 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-1 | Jordan, Robert | The Eye of the World | 5 | 2003 | 1990 | Epic | EN | best | ||
WoT-2 | Jordan, Robert | The Great Hunt | 5 | 2003 | 1990 | Epic | EN | good | ||
WoT-3 | Jordan, Robert | The Dragon Reborn | 5 | 2003 | 1991 | Epic | EN | good | ||
WoT-4 | Jordan, Robert | The Shadow Rising | 4 | 2003 | 1992 | Epic | EN | best | ||
WoT-5 | Jordan, Robert | The Fires of Heaven | 5 | 2003 | 1993 | Epic | EN | best | ||
WoT-6 | Jordan, Robert | Lord of Chaos | 4 | 2004 | 1994 | Epic | EN | good | ||
WoT-7 | Jordan, Robert | A Crown of Swords | 3 | 2004 | 1996 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-8 | Jordan, Robert | The Path of Daggers | 2 | 2004 | 1998 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-9 | Jordan, Robert | Winter’s Heart | 2 | 2004 | 2000 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-10 | Jordan, Robert | Crossroads of Twilight | 1 | 2004 | 2003 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-11 | Jordan, Robert | Knife of Dreams | 3 | 2005 | 2005 | Epic | EN | good | ||
WoT-12 | Jordan, Robert & Sanderson | The Gathering Storm | 4 | 2009 | 2009 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-13 | Jordan, Robert & Sanderson | Towers of Midnight | 3 | 2010 | 2010 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-14 | Jordan, Robert & Sanderson | A Memory of Light | 2 | 2013 | 2013 | Epic | EN | |||
WoT-14+ | Jordan, Robert & Sanderson | A Memory of Light: River of Souls | 4 | 2014 | 2014 | Epic | EN | |||
DT | King, Stephen | DARK TOWER | 2 | ~ | Epic, Western | EN | theseries | |||
DT-1 | King, Stephen | The Gunslinger | 2 | 2008 | 1982 | Epic, Western | EN | |||
ES | Le Guin, Ursula | EARTHSEA CHRONICLES | 4 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
ES-1 | Le Guin, Ursula | The Wizard of Earthsea | 4 | 2004 | 1968 | Epic | EN | good | ||
ES-2 | Le Guin, Ursula | The Tombs of Atuan | 5 | 2004 | 1971 | Epic | EN | good | ||
ES-3 | Le Guin, Ursula | The Farthest Shore | 4 | 2004 | 1972 | Epic | EN | |||
CoN | Lewis, C.S. | THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA | 5 | ~ | Children's | EN | theseries | |||
CoN-1 | Lewis, C.S. | The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | 5 | 2001 | 1950 | Children's | EN | good | ||
CoN-2 | Lewis, C.S. | Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia | 4 | 2001 | 1951 | Children's | EN | |||
CoN-3 | Lewis, C.S. | The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | 4 | 2001 | 1952 | Children's | EN | |||
CoN-4 | Lewis, C.S. | The Silver Chair | 4 | 2001 | 1953 | Children's | EN | |||
CoN-5 | Lewis, C.S. | The Horse and His Boy | 4 | 2002 | 1954 | Children's | EN | |||
CoN-6 | Lewis, C.S. | The Magician's Nephew | 4 | 2002 | 1955 | Children's | EN | |||
CoN-6 | Lewis, C.S. | The Last Battle | 4 | 2002 | 1956 | Children's | EN | |||
Lovecraft, H.P. | The Call of Cthulhu | 5 | 2012 | 1928 | Horror | EN | ||||
ASoIaF | Martin, G.R.R. | A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE | 5 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
ASoIaF-1 | Martin, G.R.R. | A Game of Thrones | 5 | 2013 | 1996 | Epic | EN | best | ||
ASoIaF-2 | Martin, G.R.R. | A Clash of Kings | 5 | 2013 | 1999 | Epic | EN | best | ||
ASoIaF-3 | Martin, G.R.R. | A Storm of Swords | 5 | 2013 | 2000 | Epic | EN | best | ||
ASoIaF-4 | Martin, G.R.R. | A Feast for Crows | 5 | 2013 | 2005 | Epic | EN | best | ||
ASoIaF-5 | Martin, G.R.R. | A Dance with Dragons | 5 | 2013 | 2011 | Epic | EN | good | ||
Tw | Meyer, Stephanie | TWILIGHT | 2 | ~ | YA | EN | theseries | |||
Tw-1 | Meyer, Stephanie | Twilight | 2 | 2009 | 2005 | YA | EN | |||
Pullman, Philip | The Firework-Maker’s Daughter | 4 | 2005 | 1995 | Children's | EN | good | |||
Pullman, Philip | Clockwork | 4 | 2005 | 1996 | Children's | EN | good | |||
HDM | Pullman, Philip | HIS DARK MATERIALS | 5 | ~ | Children's | EN | theseries | |||
HDM-1 | Pullman, Philip | The Golden Compass | 5 | 2012 | 1995 | Children's | EN | best | ||
HDM-2 | Pullman, Philip | The Subtle Knife | 5 | 2012 | 1997 | Children's | EN | good | ||
HDM-3 | Pullman, Philip | The Amber Spyglass | 4 | 2012 | 2000 | Children's | EN | |||
HC | Reeve, Philip | HUNGRY CITIES | 3 | ~ | YA | EN | theseries | |||
HC-1 | Reeve, Philip | Mortal Engines | 4 | 2014 | 2001 | YA | EN | |||
HC-2 | Reeve, Philip | Predator’s Gold | 2 | 2014 | 2003 | YA | EN | unread | ||
HP | Rowling, J.K. | HARRY POTTER | 4 | ~ | Children's | EN | theseries | |||
HP-1 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 5 | 2004 | 1997 | Children's | EN | |||
HP-2 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 5 | 2004 | 1998 | Children's | EN | good | ||
HP-3 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 5 | 2004 | 1999 | Children's | EN | good | ||
HP-4 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 5 | 2005 | 2000 | YA | EN | good | ||
HP-5 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 5 | 2005 | 2003 | YA | EN | |||
HP-6 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 5 | 2006 | 2005 | YA | EN | good | ||
HP-7 | Rowling, J.K. | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 5 | 2007 | 2007 | YA | EN | |||
MB | Sanderson, Brandon | MISTBORN | 5 | ~ | YA | EN | theseries | |||
MB-1 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Final Empire | 5 | 2009 | 2006 | YA | EN | best | ||
MB-2 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Well of Ascension | 4 | 2009 | 2007 | YA | EN | |||
MB-3 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Hero of Ages | 5 | 2009 | 2008 | YA | EN | good | ||
MB-1+ | Sanderson, Brandon | Mistborn: Secret History | 5 | 2016 | 2016 | YA | EN | |||
CS | Sanderson, Brandon | STORMLIGHT CHRONICLES | 5 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
SC-1 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Way of Kings | 5 | 2010 | 2010 | Epic | EN | |||
W&W | Sanderson, Brandon | WAX & WAYNE | 4 | ~ | YA | EN | theseries | |||
W&W-1 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Alloy of Law | 4 | 2012 | 2011 | YA | EN | |||
W&W-2 | Sanderson, Brandon | Shadows of Self | 4 | 2015 | 2015 | YA | EN | |||
W&W-3 | Sanderson, Brandon | The Bands of Mourning | 4 | 2016 | 2016 | YA | EN | |||
Sanderson, Brandon | The Emperor’s Soul | 5 | 2012 | 2012 | Short Story | EN | best | |||
Reck | Sanderson, Brandon | THE RECKONERS | 3 | ~ | YA | EN | theseries | |||
Reck-1 | Sanderson, Brandon | Steelheart | 4 | 2013 | 2013 | YA | EN | |||
Reck-1+ | Sanderson, Brandon | Mitosis | 3 | 2014 | 2014 | YA | EN | |||
Reck-2 | Sanderson, Brandon | Firefight | 3 | 2015 | 2015 | YA | EN | |||
Reck-3 | Sanderson, Brandon | Calamity | 3 | 2016 | 2016 | YA | EN | |||
W | Sapkowski, Andrzej | WITCHER | 4 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
W-1 | Sapkowski, Andrzej | The Last Wish | 4 | 2022 | 1993 | Epic | EN | unread | ||
Tolkien, John R.R. | The Hobbit | 5 | 2000 | 1937 | Children's | EN | best | |||
LotR | Tolkien, John R.R. | THE LORD OF THE RINGS | 5 | ~ | Epic | EN | theseries | |||
LotR-1 | Tolkien, John R.R. | The Fellowship of the Ring | 5 | 2001 | 1954 | Epic | EN | best | ||
LotR-2 | Tolkien, John R.R. | The Two Towers | 5 | 2001 | 1954 | Epic | EN | best | ||
LotR-3 | Tolkien, John R.R. | The Return of the King | 5 | 2001 | 1955 | Epic | EN | best | ||
Tolkien, John R.R. | The Silmarillion | 3 | 2002 | 1977 | Epic | EN | ||||
Yudkowsky, Eliezer | Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality | 5 | 2015 | 2015 | YA, FanFic | EN | best | |||
Yudkowsky, Eliezer | Dark Lord’s Answer | 3 | 2016 | 2016 | Humor | EN |
Self-Help
R | Author | Title | ★ | read | pub. | Tags | L | notes | Short Review: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allen, David | Getting Things Done | 4 | 2014 | 2002 | Productivity | EN | |||
Bell, James Scott | Write Great Fiction | 34 | 2013 | 2008 | Writing | EN | |||
Carnegie, Dale | How to Win Friends and Influence People | 2 | 2008 | 1936 | Social | EN | |||
Charles, H.W. | The Money Code | 4 | 2013 | 2012 | Money, Jews | EN | |||
Demarco, M.J. | The Millionaire Fastlane | 5 | 2012 | 2011 | Money | EN | best | ||
⠀ | Durant, John | The Paleo Manifesto [2013] | 5 | 2013 | 2013 | Health, Paleo | EN | See main review. | |
Ferriss, Tim | The Four Hour Workweek | 5 | 2009 | 2007 | Productivity, Money | EN | best | ||
Ferriss, Tim | The Four Hour Body | 3 | 2009 | 2010 | Health, Paleo | EN | good | ||
Fox, Chris | 5,000 Words per Hour | 4 | 2015 | 2015 | Writing | EN | |||
Kearny, Cresson | Nuclear War Survival Skills | 3 | 2009 | 1987 | Survivalism | EN | |||
King, Stephen | On Writing | 4 | 2008 | 2000 | Writing | EN | best | ||
Kresser, Chris | The Paleo Cure | 4 | 2014 | 2013 | Health, Paleo | EN | |||
Lowndes, Leil | How to Talk to Anyone | 4 | 2013 | 1999 | Social | ||||
Roosh V | Bang! | 5 | 2011 | 2007 | Social | EN | good | ||
Sisson, Mark | The Primal Blueprint | 4 | 2013 | 2009 | Health, Paleo | EN | |||
Sisson, Mark | The Primal Connection | 4 | 2013 | 2013 | Health, Paleo | EN | |||
Snyder, Blake | Save the Cat! | 4 | 2016 | 2005 | Writing | EN | unread | ||
Strauss, Neil | The Game | 5 | 2008 | 2005 | Social | EN | best | ||
⠀ | Wade, Paul | Convict Conditioning [2013] | 4 | 2013 | 2010 | Health, Fitness | EN | See main review. | |
Wolf, Robb | The Paleo Solution | 3 | 2013 | 2010 | Health, Paleo | EN |