Reading
Books I’ve read, newest to oldest. Year of publication is in parentheses. It hopefully goes without saying, but liking a book doesn’t mean I approve of or agree with everything in it. Slightly longer reviews can generally be found under the #recent-reads tag on my blog.
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2002 2001 2000
Books more people should read Favorite authors Other reading lists
2023 — 34 books
June 2023
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Paladin of Souls
Liked it a lot, especially the religious aspects. Bujold continues to be one of my favorite writers.
May 2023
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Shareware Heroes
Nostalgia from my childhood. No idea if it’s interesting to someone who didn’t live through it.
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Caste
Really good. Important book. I hate caste systems.
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The Diamond Age
Liked it less than his others. A few icky bits. Still enjoyed the voice, though.
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The Invisible Kingdom
Whew. Important, even if it’s often sad.
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The River of Doubt
Loved it! Really, really good.
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Stealing from the Saracens
A bit slow going, but I’m glad I read it and I learned a lot.
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The Dispossessed
Anthropologically interesting, but overall I didn’t really like it.
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Small Miracles
Liked the cozy vibes, super readable, yet the story didn’t really click for me.
April 2023
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The Goblin Emperor
Loved it, want more.
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Size-specific Adjustments to Type Designs
Some great type specimens.
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All the President’s Men
Really liked it, ate it up.
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Moon Over Soho
Second in the Rivers of London series. Some earthy bits, but other than that I liked it enough to keep reading the series.
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Best Served Cold
Whew, that was brutal. Loads of content warnings. Compelling writing, though.
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James Patterson
Autobiography. Not as much about writing as I’d hoped, but still entertaining and an easy read.
March 2023
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First
Really liked this bio of Sandra Day O’Connor, learned a lot about SCOTUS.
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Taken
Enjoyed it.
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Red Famine
Good, though the last third is super sad.
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A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
Novella. Cozy. Liked most of it.
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Chatter
Good! Several useful tools for dealing with your inner voice.
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The Player of Games
Generally liked it, though one section was gross.
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Saints, volume 3
Loved it, learned a lot.
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The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
Good. Took me a while to read it, though.
February 2023
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Never Let Me Go
Didn’t really care for it.
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The Justice of Kings
Really liked it, very much up my alley.
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In Praise of Slowness
Could have been shorter but worth reading.
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Slaughterhouse-Five
I…didn’t really like it.
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The Soul of a New Machine
Really good! Especially enjoyed the technical details.
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The Handmaid’s Tale
Well crafted, good prose, readable. But also uncomfortable and heavy and sad.
January 2023
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The Perfectionists
So good! Fascinating throughout.
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Memory
Really liked it, looking forward to phase 2 of Miles’s career.
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The Lord of Stariel
Liked it.
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Good, especially the characterization and game dev parts.
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The Rules We Break
Fun exploration of game design.
2022 — 100 books
December 2022
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Extra Life
Really good! Highly recommended.
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Ogres
Novella. Really liked it, probably my favorite of his so far.
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The Law
Novella. Very much a Dresden Files story. Liked it.
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The Expert System’s Champion
Novella. An interesting sequel. Enjoyed it.
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Inside Man
Novella. Enjoyed it.
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The Mountain in the Sea
Good, liked it.
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I Wish I’d Been There
Really enjoyed it, made me want to read more American history.
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Petty Treasons
Novella. Liked it, nice to revisit the world.
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A Mirror Mended
Novella. Liked the variations and folktaleishness.
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The Ballad of Black Tom
Novella. Good, liked it (though the ending was a bit graphic).
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Human Errors
Fascinating, really liked it.
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The Expert System’s Brother
Novella. Enjoyed it.
November 2022
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Chokepoint Capitalism
Good, recommended.
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Terry Pratchett
Liked it a lot. The end was sad, of course.
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The Golden Enclaves
Didn’t like it as much as the first two, but some parts were interesting.
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Out of the Software Crisis
A few interesting ideas.
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The Anna Karenina Fix
Liked it. Made me want to read more Russian lit.
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Snow Crash
Generally liked it, though some parts were cringey.
October 2022
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How the Word Is Passed
Really good, strongly recommended.
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Nona the Ninth
Bonkers (I didn’t know what was happening most of the time) but the voice is great.
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Karachi Vice
Really good, learned a lot about Pakistan.
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The Paper Menagerie
Liked it. Learned about lots of tragic Asian history.
September 2022
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Babel
Liked it a lot, especially the argument against colonialism.
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Northanger Abbey
Funny at first but then not so much.
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The Infiltrator
Intense.
August 2022
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Foundryside
Liked most of it, especially the programming-style magic.
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The Castle of Otranto
Kind of boring and silly.
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In the Land of Invented Languages
Really liked it.
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Here Is Real Magic
Enjoyed it.
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Clementine
Good but a bit exhausting (wars, bad parenting).
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A Practical Guide to Conquering the World
Okay but not as good as the first two.
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The Hands of the Emperor
Loved it, bought all her books.
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The Case Against the Sexual Revolution
Good. Graphic, though.
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The Plantagenets
Really good, glad I read it.
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On Reading
Short. Enjoyed it.
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The Sixth Extinction
So good, highly recommended.
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Ninth House
Good, though dark and rough.
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Attention Factory
Didn’t really like it, not sure why I finished it.
July 2022
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The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
Enjoyed it.
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The Wizard of Lies
Good, learned a lot about finance.
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A New Foreign Policy
Good, though a bit dry at times.
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Prosper’s Demon
Novella. Liked it.
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Upgrade
So-so, but I did like the end more.
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Disability Visibility
Some of the essays really resonated with my experience with my back.
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Devolution
Liked it, though it’s quite violent.
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The Sudden Appearance of Hope
Liked it more than Touch, not as much as Harry August.
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Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World
Good, learned a lot.
June 2022
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The Invention of Nature
Loved it. So good.
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Sourdough
Really liked it.
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The Last Witness
Novella. Quite good.
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Wakers
Liked it, though the scatological humor wasn’t great.
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Diamond Dogs
Novella. A bit too bleak for me.
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Black Sun
Liked it, looking forward to the next.
May 2022
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Fugitive Telemetry
Novella. Enjoyed it as usual.
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The Imaginary Corpse
Weird but good. Liked it.
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The Last Nomad
Good! More intense than I expected.
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Building Ligatures
Good, but not as much about type as I’d hoped.
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All Our Wrong Todays
Really good time travel story.
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This Changes Everything
So good. This book changed me.
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A Spindle Splintered
Loved it.
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A Warning to the Curious
So-so.
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A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Novella. Better than I thought it would be. I’m down with philosophical books.
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Binti
Novella. Really liked it! More Afrofuturism, please.
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Every Heart a Doorway
Novella. More interesting than I thought it would be.
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The Curse of Chalion
Loved it! Really good.
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The Puzzler
Enjoyed it. Lightweight.
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Scotland’s Merlin
Good, though occasionally repetitive/dull.
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The End Is Always Near
Good, learned a lot.
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Zodiac
Liked it a lot.
April 2022
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Vita Nostra
Weird book. Don’t know if I liked it.
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Saints, volume 2
Loved it.
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The Last American Aristocrat
Good. Slow going, but glad I read it.
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Network Effect
Really liked it.
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The Library at Mount Char
Such a bizarre book. Liked it.
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China in Ten Words
Good, though a bit weird and not what I expected.
March 2022
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On All Fronts
Good, liked it.
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Elder Race
Novella. Good, enjoyed it.
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Stretching the Heavens
Really good! Sad, too.
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The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Novella. Good, liked it.
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Last Argument of Kings
Great writing. Lots of content warnings, though.
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My Broken Language
Good, glad I read it.
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Parable of the Sower
Whew, stressful. But good.
February 2022
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Riot Baby
Novella. Good, though earthy and angry.
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The Haunting of Tram Car 015
Novella. Good, I liked it.
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In the Camps
Ugh, concentration camps are awful. The stories were worth reading.
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The Dawn of Everything
So good! Important book, highly recommended.
- A Collection of Sacred Hymns
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The Echo Wife
Whew, this one wasn’t my thing (abusive relationships are hard reading).
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Klara and the Sun
Good, I think? Liked his other books more.
January 2022
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Dealers of Lightning
Quite good, right up my alley.
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Ring Shout
Novella. Really good! Fresh and original.
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Typographic Firsts
Good, lots of cool innovations.
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Exit Strategy
Novella. Fun.
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An Essay on Typography
Liked it. More political than expected.
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The Cubans
Really good! Riveting and sad.
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The Making of Prince of Persia
Good, liked it.
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Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Glad I read it. Lots about Easter being celebrated on the wrong date.
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Rogue Protocol
Novella. Good, liked it.
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A Desolation Called Peace
Good, generally liked it.
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The Golden Thread
Fascinating, really liked it.
2021 — 92 books
December 2021
- Artificial Condition
- How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It
- There Is No Antimemetics Division
- All Systems Red
- Duplex
- Working
- The Last Graduate
- Spy Handler
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Press Reset
November 2021
- Flying on the Inside
- The Last Shadow
- The Dragon Republic
- Responsible JavaScript
- Flexible Typesetting
- Several Short Sentences About Writing
- Merchants of Doubt
October 2021
- Historia Calamitatum
- How to Live
- Italic
- The Riddle of the Labyrinth
- Type Tricks
- Blood River
- Radical Candor
- The Golden Secrets of Lettering
- In Progress
- Foundation
- Cursed
- Giambattista Bodoni
- Under the Pendulum Sun
September 2021
- Seahenge
- An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
- The Midnight Library
- Sidewinders
- Twenty Bits I Learned About Making Fonts
- Sitting Pretty
- This Is What America Looks Like
- The Pragmatic Programmer
- Tower Dog
- The Once and Future Witches
August 2021
- The Lies of Locke Lamora
- Daily Rituals: Women at Work
- Permanent Record
- Cicero
- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
- Fated
- The Day of the Triffids
- Creativity, Inc.
July 2021
- Knight’s Shadow
- Broad Band
- Yours in Truth
- Or What You Will
- Jade City
- Billion Dollar Loser
- The Aleppo Codex
June 2021
- Project Hail Mary
- How to Do Nothing
- Madam Secretary
- Before They Are Hanged
May 2021
- A Disciple’s Life
- Cryptonomicon
- The Song Machine
- The Buried Giant
- Shimmerdark
- Genius
- Skysworn
April 2021
- Borne
- Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
- The City of Brass
- Eyes in the Sky
- Underground
- Exhalation
- Creative Selection
March 2021
- Benjamin Franklin
- Ceremony
- The Bone Shard Daughter
- Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
- How Asia Works
- Harrow the Ninth
- The Ten Books of Architecture
February 2021
- Mirror Dance
- Coretta
- Babylon’s Ashes
- Borders of Infinity
- On the Shoulders of Titans
- How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day
January 2021
- The Firsts
- Seven at Sea
- The Gameshouse
- The Ghost Map
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Killer Dungeon
2020 — 105 books
December 2020
- The Road
- Stalling for Time
- Midnight Riot
- The Humans
- She Said
- Grinding It Out
- Longitude
- Radicalized
- A Deadly Education
- Limited Wish
- How to Think
November 2020
- The Ride of a Lifetime
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers
- Battle Ground
- Obama: An Oral History
- Piranesi
- World War Z
October 2020
- Half a Soul
- Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
- We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- The Black Company
- The Physics of the Dead
- How to Stop Time
- Peace Talks
- The Dream Machine
September 2020
- The Last Days of Socrates
- The Crossing Places
- The Poppy War
- Currently
- Fear
- Diaspora
August 2020
- Silas Marner
- Eminent Victorians
- This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Middlegame
- The Substance of Civilization
- Saints, volume 1
- Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns & Moons
- Servant of the Underworld
July 2020
- Stories of Your Life and Others
- Nightmare Keep
- The Great Successor
- A Wizard of Earthsea
- Extraordinary Lives
- Semiosis
- The Everything Store
- The Butchering Art
- Gideon the Ninth
June 2020
- Perennial Seller
- Divine Signatures
- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
- What You Should Know About Politics…But Don’t
- The Thread That Binds the Bones
- Blackflame
- The Borgias
- And Then There Were None
- The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
- Finish
- Master Assassins
- How Will You Measure Your Life?
May 2020
- Angler
- Struck by Genius
- A Memory Called Empire
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- Attachments
- The Art of Possibility
- Red Sister
- Catch and Kill
- I Contain Multitudes
April 2020
- Blade’s Edge
- Blood of Heirs
- Bad Blood
- Cortés & Montezuma
- Along the Razor’s Edge
- The Road to Unfreedom
- The Lore of Prometheus
- The Lost 116 Pages
- Fantasyland
March 2020
- Reaper Man
- Fortune’s Fool
- Senlin Ascends
- The Northern Caves
- Being Mortal
- The Fifth Season
- When Books Went to War
- Turning Pro
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January
February 2020
- True Grit
- Minimum Wage Magic
- Drift
- The Blade Itself
- Just Mercy
- Poke the Box
- American Kingpin
- The Sword of Kaigen
January 2020
- False Step
- Cat’s Cradle
- Pinpoint
- Ultralearning
- The Bright Hour
- Traitor’s Blade
- Educated
- The Remains of the Day
- Rosemary and Rue
- A Craftsman’s Legacy
2019 — 67 books
December 2019
- Brothers in Arms
- How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method
- Lost and Found
- The Bear and the Nightingale
- Recursion
- Persuadable
- Becoming Superman
- The Worlds of Medieval Europe
- Molly’s Game
November 2019
- Indistractable
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
- AI Superpowers
- Lab Girl
- The Raven Boys
- Children of Blood and Bone
- Good to Great
October 2019
- Atomic Habits
- Quiet
- Solomon’s Seal
- The Light Between Worlds
- Dark Money
- Dear Writer, You Need to Quit
- Of Mice and Men
- A Savage Place
- After Dark
- Range
September 2019
- The Rook
- The Revenge of Analog
- The Tiger
August 2019
- Soulsmith
- Six of Crows
- The Hive
- Digital Minimalism
- 12 Strong
July 2019
- Aching God
- Isaac’s Storm
- Ego Is the Enemy
- The World as It Is
June 2019
- Crimes Against Magic
- Wyrd Sisters
- Prisoners of Geography
- The Palace Job
May 2019
- Story Trumps Structure
- Death March
- When Breath Becomes Air
- Tubes
- Children of Time
April 2019
- The Crimson Queen
- The Unicode Cookbook for Linguists
- Coders
- Moon Shot
- One Word Kill
- Into the Labyrinth
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant
March 2019
- Touch
- Word by Word
- Vicious
February 2019
- The Big Roads
- In Distant Lands
- The Last Wish
- Dawn
- Harmony Black
- 11/22/63
January 2019
- Bébé Day by Day
- Hooked
- Unsouled
- The Steerswoman
2018 — 55 books
December 2018
- Nemesis Games
- Cetaganda
- The Shining
November 2018
- Edible
- Red Notice
- Flash Boys
- The Light Fantastic
October 2018
- Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman
- Children of the Fleet
September 2018
- The Gatekeepers
- Cyberstorm
- The Lost City of the Monkey God
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
August 2018
- Dark Matter
- Unsong
- Russian Roulette
- Narconomics
July 2018
- Argo
- The Billion Dollar Spy
- Black Flags
- The Midwich Cuckoos
June 2018
- Sufficiently Advanced Magic
- The Body Builders
- Skin Game
- Cold Days
May 2018
- Annihilation
- Grokking Algorithms
- Ghost Story
- Changes
- They Mostly Come Out at Night
- Turn Coat
- Leadership and Self-Deception
- Small Favor
April 2018
- Pirate Hunters
- Deep Undercover
- Sphere
- Cibola Burn
- The Bible Tells Me So
March 2018
- White Night
- Proven Guilty
- Abaddon’s Gate
- The Obstacle Is the Way
- Dead Beat
- An Economist Gets Lunch
February 2018
- Blood Rites
- Early Autumn
- Caliban’s War
January 2018
- Language of the Spirit
- A Fever in Salem
- Death Masks
- Soonish
- The Time Traveler’s Wife
- Carol Twombly
- That We May Be One
- Super Structure
2017 — 62 books
December 2017
- Looking for Rachel Wallace
- Pyramids
- Summer Knight
- The League of Frightened Men
- The Judas Goat
- Edgedancer
- The Vor Game
- The Mountains of Mourning
- Promised Land
November 2017
- Jurassic Park
- 1776
- Shop Class as Soulcraft
- Time Travelers Never Die
- The Devil and Sherlock Holmes
- Changes in Languages
- Casino
October 2017
- An Introduction to the Book of Abraham
- Picture This
- Fer-de-Lance
- Mortal Stakes
- Grave Peril
- The Bone House
- So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
- Criminal
September 2017
- The Psychopath Test
- Shoe Dog
- Worm
- Equal Rites
- Working Stiff
August 2017
- Shaken Faith Syndrome
- Taco USA
July 2017
- The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
- Shadow
- Use of Weapons
- How to Create Typefaces
- The Exorcist
- Shakespeare: The World as Stage
- Over Your Dead Body
June 2017
- Legion: Skin Deep
- Ones and Zeroes
- The Color of Magic
- The Emperor of Scent
May 2017
- Fight Club
April 2017
- The Wee Free Men
- Chanson de Geste
- The Chronoliths
- Bonk
- The Dark Net
- Starship: Pirate
- Alone
- Ra
March 2017
- Where Are the Children?
- One for the Money
- Mort
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
February 2017
- Killing Floor
- A is for Alibi
January 2017
- Deadlock
- Think
- God Save the Child
- Bowl of Heaven
- 1491
2016 — 61 books
December 2016
- Indemnity Only
- Hamilton’s Curse
- Consider the Lobster
- The Godwulf Manuscript
- Starship Troopers
- Infected
- The Braindead Megaphone
- Crosstalk
November 2016
- Lincoln’s Dreams
- Destiny Disrupted
- Secret Gardens
- The Dark Forest
- Night Watch
October 2016
- The Cassandra Project
- The Girl on the Train
- The Pattern on the Stone
- The Warrior’s Apprentice
- Hallucinations
- Black Unicorn
September 2016
- The Swarm
- What’s So Great About Christianity
- The Engines of God
August 2016
- Voices of Vision
- Inventology
- The Rights of the Reader
- The Knights of the Cornerstone
- The Checklist Manifesto
- The Toaster Project
- Triggers
- The Anubis Gates
July 2016
- Bluescreen
- Roadside Picnic
- Cold as Ice
June 2016
- Free as in Freedom
- Unruly Places
- Schooling the Prophet
- Shady Characters
- Extreme Medicine
- Lost Fleet: Fearless
May 2016
- The Left Hand of Darkness
- Ready Player One
- Blindsight
- Willful Child
- Mythago Wood
April 2016
- Counterpunch
- Fool Moon
- Unforgettable
March 2016
- The Quantum Thief
- The Girl with All the Gifts
- The Dorito Effect
- Revelation Space
- Storm Front
- Calamity
February 2016
- The Magician’s Land
- Planted
- The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
- The Bands of Mourning
January 2016
- Invisible Ink
- The Fall of Hyperion
- What If?
- A Talent for War
2015 — 70 books
December 2015
- Childhood’s End
- Gatefather
- How Fiction Works
November 2015
- Evolving Faith
- The Magician King
- Among Others
- Old Testament and Related Studies
- Hyperion
- Mission of Gravity
October 2015
- The Devil’s Only Friend
- Darwinia
- Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction
- Shadows of Self
- Rough Stone Rolling
- The Silence of the Lambs
- The Magicians
September 2015
- The Viper on the Hearth
- A Head Full of Ghosts
- His Majesty’s Dragon
- Red Dragon
- Wyrms
- While Europe Slept
August 2015
- Marrow
- Nanotech
- Tau Zero
July 2015
- Salvador
- Barrayar
- The Forever War
- Every Day
- Immortals
- Illegal Alien
June 2015
- Life in a Medieval City
- Shocked
- Biography: A Very Short Introduction
- Escape from Earth
- City of Brick and Shadow
- 13 Steps Down
- The Bridge at Andau
- Shards of Honor
- Millstone City
May 2015
- The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold
- Eternal Man
- The Town
- The Book of Oz Cooper
- The Abolition of Man
- The Three-Body Problem
- Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction
- Gateway
- The Best Interface Is No Interface
- America Alone
April 2015
- Sun of Suns
- The Crucible of Doubt
- Pushing Ice
- Carrie
- Lamentation
- Brain
- Do No Harm
March 2015
- Making Money
- The Golem and the Jinni
- Under the Dome
- Do the Work
- This Is Not a Game
- The Onion Girl
February 2015
- Visitors
- Firefight
January 2015
- Lost Fleet: Dauntless
- Ship of Magic
- Letters to a Young Mormon
- The Goliath Stone
- WWW: Wake
2014 — 38 books
December 2014
- Cleopatra 7.2
- Steal Across the Sky
- Starship: Mutiny
November 2014
- Gone Girl
- Eater
October 2014
- Darwin’s Radio
- Hull Zero Three
- The One-Eyed Man
September 2014
- Stuff Matters
- The Martian
- Deadhouse Gates
August 2014
- Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers
- Batman: Earth One
- Batman: The Killing Joke
- Tyrannosaur Canyon
July 2014
- Incandescence
- Mindhunter
June 2014
- How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Earth Awakens
- Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn
- Batman: Hush
- Songmaster
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
May 2014
- The Time Machine
- Doomsday Book
April 2014
- The Stars My Destination
- Count to a Trillion
- The 4% Universe
- The Mote in God’s Eye
March 2014
- Words of Radiance
February 2014
- Lovelock
- Curious Minds
- Lies My Teacher Told Me
January 2014
- Rubicon
- Food Rules
- Dispirited
- Leviathan Wakes
- The Dragon Reborn
2013 — 30 books
December 2013
- The Master and Margarita
October 2013
- The Shadow of the Torturer
- Steelheart
- Gardens of the Moon
September 2013
- A Fire Upon the Deep
August 2013
- The Way of Kings
July 2013
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane
- Kiln People
June 2013
- Wild Seed
- Masters of Doom
- Earth Afire
- The Rithmatist
- The God Who Weeps
May 2013
- Going Postal
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
- Ender’s Game
- Assassin’s Quest
April 2013
- The Gate Thief
- Royal Assassin
March 2013
- An Introduction to the History of Printing Types
- Axis
- The Stroke Theory of Writing
- Assassin’s Apprentice
- Three Days to Never
February 2013
- A Short Stay in Hell
- Spin
- The Goblin Mirror
January 2013
- The Worthing Saga
- Second Foundation
- Foundation and Empire
2012 — 52 books
December 2012
- The Great Hunt
- The Joy of X
November 2012
- Mindstorms
- Foundation
- The Emperor’s Soul
- Legion
- Ruins
- The Dragonbone Chair
October 2012
- Arts and Inspiration
- Feedback
September 2012
- The Hollow City
- The Eye of the World
- Earth Unaware
- Elantris
August 2012
- Foreigner
- How to Read Bridges
- Warbreaker
July 2012
- A Night of Blacker Darkness
- Treason
- Artists’ Techniques and Materials
- Dreams and Wishes
- The Emperor of All Maladies
- Jhereg
- Beowulf
- Sarah, Plain and Tall
- The Crystal City
June 2012
- Maphead
- Tuesdays at the Castle
- Curveball
- Heartfire
- The Year 1000
- An Anthropologist on Mars
May 2012
- The Spying Heart
- The Great Gilly Hopkins
- The White Horse King
- Alvin Journeyman
April 2012
- Worlds of Childhood
- Partials
- The Idea Factory
March 2012
- Prentice Alvin
- Red Prophet
- Shadows in Flight
- Seventh Son
- Shadow of the Giant
February 2012
- Shadow Puppets
- Generative Art
- Stonefather
January 2012
- Shadow of the Hegemon
- Divergent
- Soap making: Self-sufficiency
- The Alloy of Law
- Great Tales from English History 2
2011 — 51 books
December 2011
- Prospero’s Children
- Wild Robert
- When You Reach Me
- A Stir of Bones
- Wonderstruck
November 2011
- Rot & Ruin
- Variant
October 2011
- The Christian Imagination
- Eifelheim
- The Wise Man’s Fear
September 2011
- Well of Ascension
- The Hero of Ages
August 2011
- Mistborn
- Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative
- The Name of the Wind
July 2011
- Half Magic
- Zen in the Art of Writing
- Color and Light
June 2011
- The Monstrumologist
- An Abundance of the Heart
- Sean Griswold’s Head
- A Lion and a Lamb
- Pastwatch
May 2011
- Smiles to Go
- Temple and Cosmos
- Lettering & Type
- Notes from the Midnight Driver
- White Cat
- After Ever After
- Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie
- War of Gifts
- Okay for Now
April 2011
- The Dark and Hollow Places
- Invasive Procedures
- I Don’t Want to Kill You
- The Lost Gate
March 2011
- Letters to Malcolm
- The Candymakers
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- Show & Tell
February 2011
- The Poisoner’s Handbook
- Arthur Rackham
- Stradivari’s Genius
- Packing for Mars
January 2011
- Learning All the Time
- The Man Who Deciphered Linear B
- Holes
- The Gardener
- Spook
- The Ring of Solomon
- Pathfinder
2010 — 48 books
December 2010
- Matched
- Stiff
- The Dark Side of Nowhere
- Mr. Monster
- Antsy Does Time
- The Magic Circle
- Homebody
November 2010
- Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
- The Schwa Was Here
- Bruiser
October 2010
- Beauty
- My Double Life
- Catalyst
- The Young Merlin Trilogy
- The Chosen One
September 2010
- Mockingjay
August 2010
- Incarceron
- My Fair Godmother
July 2010
- The Dead-Tossed Waves
- William Caxton & His Work
- For the Win
- Hidden Empire
- Detail in Typography
June 2010
- Web Form Design
May 2010
- It’s a Mall World After All
- Fame, Glory, and Other Things On My To-Do List
- Just One Wish
- The Angel of Death
- All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School
- Specials
- The Christopher Killer
- Playing the Field
April 2010
- Treasure Box
- The Killer’s Cousin
- If You Want to Write
- Full Tilt
- Leviathan
March 2010
- Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces
February 2010
- Outliers
- Tribes
- The Tale of Despereaux
- The Sea of Monsters
- The Bourne Identity
- I Am Not a Serial Killer
January 2010
- The Forest of Hands and Teeth
- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
- The View from Saturday
- The Lightning Thief
2009 — 37 books
December 2009
- The Book Thief
- Enchantment
- Pretties
- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
- Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
November 2009
- Complications
July 2009
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Catching Fire
- Ender in Exile
- Things As They Really Are
June 2009
- Everlost
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- The Wednesday Wars
- City of Ashes
- Wings
May 2009
- Unwind
- The War of Art
- City of Bones
- The Thief
April 2009
- Uglies
- Jellicoe Road
- Bright Blue Miracle
- J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
- Beginnings, Middles & Ends
- The Revolution: A Manifesto
March 2009
- Inside Job
- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
- On Directing Film
- Clever Maids
- Little Brother
- Death by Meeting
February 2009
- CONTENT
- Crossworld
- Reading the OED
January 2009
- The Game
- Amusing Ourselves to Death
- Magic Street
2008 — 38 books
December 2008
- Conversations with Screenwriters
- The Hunger Games
- And There Was Light
- Love, Stargirl
- The Graveyard Book
- Passage
November 2008
- The Creative Habit
- Prey
- Don’t Make Me Think
- The Ten Commandments of Typography
October 2008
- Stargirl
- To Infinity and Beyond
- The Pixar Touch
September 2008
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret
- Art and Fear
- As Long As I Have You
- Conversations with Mormon Authors
- Bird by Bird
August 2008
- Ptolemy’s Gate
July 2008
- A Voyage to Arcturus
- Mummy’s the Word
June 2008
- The Golem’s Eye
- Every Book Its Reader
May 2008
- American Born Chinese
- The Amulet of Samarkand
- Wit
- The Arm of the Starfish
- The Kite Runner
- The Lord’s Question
March 2008
- Book of a Thousand Days
- Madeleine L’Engle: Herself
- The Perilous Gard
February 2008
- Light in the Wilderness
- Princess Academy
- Enna Burning
January 2008
- The Goose Girl
- To Say Nothing of the Dog
- The Sacrament
2007 — 58 books
December 2007
- Empire
- 84, Charing Cross Road
- Dogsbody
- The Princess Bride
- A Grief Observed
November 2007
- Red Prophet
- The Sherwood Ring
- Bellwether
- Rules of Engagement
- The Thirteenth Tale
October 2007
- Doomsday Book
September 2007
- Archer’s Goon
August 2007
- When We Meet Again
- Seventh Son
- The Prisoner of Zenda
- The Hero and the Crown
July 2007
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Castle in the Air
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
June 2007
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Peter and the Starcatchers
- Children of the Mind
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
May 2007
- Principles of Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics
- Persuasion
- Xenocide
- First Meetings
- Speaker for the Dead
- A Sense of Wonder
- Shadow of the Giant
- Mixed Magics
April 2007
- Passage to Zarahemla
- Shadow Puppets
- Shadow of the Hegemon
- The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised
- Ender’s Shadow
March 2007
- Nighthogs
- The Wand in the Word
- To Catch a Falling Star
- Sgt Piggy’s Lonely Hearts Club Comic
- Matte Painting
- BLTs Taste So Darn Good
- Fire and Hemlock
- Bridge to Terabithia
- All the Pretty Horses
- Eight Days of Luke
- The Complete Animation Course
February 2007
- Hexwood
January 2007
- And the Earth Did Not Devour Him
- Far from Home
- The Great Gatsby
- Conrad’s Fate
- One More River to Cross
- Yekl
- Witch Week
- The Magicians of Caprona
- Laws of Simplicity
2006 — 68 books
December 2006
- Prince Caspian
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Understanding Comics
- The Lives of Christopher Chant
- Charmed Life
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- Blink
- The Magician’s Nephew
- Here, There Be Dragons
- Since You Were Away
- Till We Have Faces
- Shadowlands
- Brittany
November 2006
- Phantastes
- A Grief Observed
- Rumors of War
- A Whole New Mind
- War in Heaven
- An Experiment in Criticism
- Fablehaven
- The Four Loves
- The Last Battle
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
October 2006
- The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book
- Perelandra
- Sam
- Alone, Together
- Charly
- The Silver Chair
- Miracles
- The Understudy
September 2006
- Visual Explanations
- Mere Christianity
- Envisioning Information
- The Gammage Cup
- Michael Graves
- The Abolition of Man
- The Great Divorce
- Thinking with Type
- Coraline
August 2006
- Wanting More
- Rachel and Leah
- Jane Eyre
- Heir to the Empire
July 2006
- A Return to Modesty
- Rebekah
- Silver on the Tree
- The Spirit of Writing
- A Storyteller in Zion
- Death Comes for the Archbishop
- Sarah
- The Grey King
- The Writer’s Mentor
June 2006
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
- The Screwtape Letters
- Angels Don’t Knock
- A Heart Like His
- All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
- Through the Looking-Glass
- I Kissed Dating Goodbye
- Uncommon Genius
May 2006
- This Is My God
March 2006
- Alice in Wonderland
- Arm the Children
- To Draw Closer to God
February 2006
- The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life
January 2006
- The Great Divorce
- Lenten Lands
2005 — 29 books
December 2005
- Till We Have Faces
- Designing from Both Sides of the Screen
- The Christmas Box Miracle
- That Hideous Strength
- User Interface Design for Programmers
- The Crafty Art of Playmaking
October 2005
- The Boggart
- The Island of Lost Maps
- Greenwitch
- Dreams and Wishes
September 2005
- Lemony Snicket: The Bad Beginning
- Reading the Map of Knowledge
- Book Business
August 2005
- Illustrator CS Most Wanted
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Mathematicians Are People, Too, vol. 1
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- The Giver
July 2005
- Great Literature and the Good Life
- Writing Down the Bones
- Worlds of Childhood
- The Art of 3-D Computer Animation
- The Alchemist
- The Scarlet Letter
- Illustrating Children’s Books
May 2005
- The Richest Man in Babylon
- Used and Rare
April 2005
- To the Treasures of Babylon
2004 — 6 books
December 2004
- Bonds That Make Us Free
- Of the Making of Books
- The Case for Legibility
- The Dark Is Rising
- Over Sea, Under Stone
September 2004
- Out of the Silent Planet
2002 — 39 books
August 2002
- Jesus the Christ
July 2002
- Two Years in God’s Mormon Army
- Simple Etiquette in Thailand
June 2002
- Kilmeny of the Orchard
- The Ball and the Cross
- Anne of Avonlea
- Anne of Green Gables
May 2002
- Across China
- Sunshine for the LDS Missionary Soul
- Strong Poison
- Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
- A Brief History of Time
- The Story of the Treasure Seekers
- Culture Shock: Thailand
- Culture for Missionaries: Thailand
- Prepare with Honor
April 2002
- Wuthering Heights
- Love
- A Grief Observed
- The Magic Mountain
- Caesar’s Gallic War, Book One (Latin)
- Missionaries to Match Our Message
- What I Wish I’d Known Before…
- Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
March 2002
- Anna Karenina
- The Wild Duck
- Goethe’s Key to Faust
- Goethe’s Faust: A Critical Reading
February 2002
- Faust
- How to Learn a Foreign Language
- Caesar as a Man of Letters
- The Sorrows of Young Werther
January 2002
- Candide
- An Experiment in Criticism
- Forgotten Scripts
- A Winter’s Tale
- A Marvelous Work and a Wonder
- King Lear
- Don Quixote
2001 — 99 books
December 2001
- Silver on the Tree
- Discourses of Brigham Young
- Letters to an American Lady
- Serve With Honor
- The Grey King
- Latin Syntax
- Language Myths
- The Scholar-Adventurers
- The Irish Language
- Greenwitch
November 2001
- The Ruby in the Smoke
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Six Weeks Preparation for Reading Caesar
- Looking for Angels
- The Book of Enoch
- Standing for Something
- Enoch the Prophet
- The Dark Is Rising
- A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri
October 2001
- Language in Thought and Action
- The Holy Grail
- The Figure of Arthur
- Over Sea, Under Stone
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- In Search of Our Ancestors
September 2001
- A Swiftly Tilting Planet
- The Man Who Was Thursday
August 2001
- Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
- Mere Christianity
July 2001
- Antigone
- Oedipus at Colonus
- The Life and Works of Escher
- The Story of the Amulet
- Read and Grow Rich
- As You Like It
- Heretics
- Mathematicians Are People, Too, vol. 2
- Mathematicians Are People, Too, vol. 1
- The Naked Sun
- Essays in the Art of Writing
- The Phoenix and the Carpet
June 2001
- Ozma of Oz
- The Caves of Steel
- The Canterbury Tales
- Language: The Basics
- Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior
- Pride and Prejudice
- Beowulf
- The Wood Beyond the World
- The Hobbit
- Meno
May 2001
- Ion
- The Apology
- The Story of the Dictionary
- On Writing Well
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- Within Reach
- Essays in Little
- The Innocence of Father Brown
- King Solomon’s Mines
April 2001
- The Holy Temple
- Five Children and It
- My Lost Mexico
- Lords of the Elves and Eldils
- From Homer to Joyce
- Foundation
- Teach Yourself Beginner’s Latin
- The Journey Beyond Life, vol. 1
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Merchant of Venice
March 2001
- The Marvelous Land of Oz
- Candide
- Letters on Literature
- The Princess and Curdie
- The Book of Literary Lists
- The Children on the Hill
- The Day Boy and the Night Girl
- The Shadows
- A Wind in the Door
February 2001
- Twenty and Ten
- The Giant’s Heart
- The Light Princess
- The Portent
- The Golden Key
- Phantastes
- The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
- The Jungle
- At Home With Books
- The Inklings
- The Princess and the Goblin
- On Fairy-Stories
January 2001
- Used and Rare
- A Light in the Storm
- Zadig
- For the Love of Books
- The Federalist Papers
- The Screwtape Letters
- Letters to Children
- Novus Ordo Seclorum
2000 — 12 books
December 2000
- The Delights of Reading
- The C. S. Lewis Hoax
- A Wrinkle in Time
- That Hideous Strength
- Learning All the Time
- Perelandra
November 2000
- Superlearning
- Dune
- Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen
- Out of the Silent Planet
- One Tattered Angel
October 2000
- The Great Divorce
Books more people should read
(In my opinion.) Listed alphabetically by title.
- Dark Money, by Jane Mayer
- The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber & David Wengrow
- Extra Life, by Steven Johnson
- How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith
- The Idea Factory, by Jon Gertner
- The Invention of Nature, by Andrea Wulf
- Longitude, by Dana Sobel
- The Perfectionists, by Simon Winchester
- The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard
- The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert
- This Changes Everything, by Naomi Klein
Favorite authors
Listed alphabetically by last name. I generally don’t add authors here unless I’ve read more than one thing by them.
Fiction
- Lois McMaster Bujold
- G. K. Chesterton
- Ted Chiang
- Susannah Clarke
- Susan Cooper
- Steven Erikson
- Victoria Goddard
- Alix E. Harrow
- Diana Wynne Jones
- R. F. Kuang
- C. S. Lewis
- Tamsyn Muir
- Claire North
- K. J. Parker
- Terry Pratchett
- Robert V. S. Redick
- Robin Sloan
- Neal Stephenson
- Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Martha Wells
- Connie Willis
Nonfiction
- Robert A. Caro
- Atul Gawande
- David Grann
- Steven Johnson
- C. S. Lewis
- David McCullough
- Hugh Nibley
- Mary Roach
- Oliver Sacks
- Ed Yong
Other reading lists
If you’re aware of any others, please send them to me.
- Frank Chimero used to have one, which inspired this page
- Matt Bell
- Tyler Cipriani
- Marielle Foster
- Chuck Grimmett
- Tom MacWright
- Derek Sivers
- James Somers
- Dan Wang