Reading List

Queue

The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky
Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence by James Bridle

2022

November

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers: Delightful follow-up to A Psalm for the Wild-Built, masterful in its completeness

August

The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin: See The Fifth Season

July

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin: See The Fifth Season
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin: I don't enjoy fantasy, and I don't understand what I've just read really, but it's absolutely immaculately written, and I'm for sure going to read the next two
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson: Very fun, sets up some compelling thoughts

June

To Be Taught, if Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Easily my favorite from Chambers. Quick read, pretty fun

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I didn't enjoy Station Eleven, but I was willing to try Mandel again, and I'm glad

Echoed a lot of my thinking early pandemic and very fun

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Ambling and poorly constructed, can't recommend for anyone who needs or wants a coherent narrative, but it scratches the surface of a few crucial issues

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Fun read. Great footnotes. Baffling story

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

The story itself is a bit much for me, but I love the ideas of technology repurposed to help actual people instead of corporations. Gets my mind going on Dynabook things

May

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

Somehow edifying despite itself. Better to pull terms from than actually read or take as substantive advice

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

A vast and curious universe, like Foundation but actually manageable, in so few words

Sparked an interest in metered poetry for me

April

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: See A Desolation Called Peace
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers: I'd recommend this series easily, but I did wish it provided a view of larger conflict or any real risk of danger... felt a bit too easy

March

Designing Event-Driven Systems by Ben Stopford: 🤷
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers: See The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: See The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: See The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin: I keep wanting part two
Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin: Vast and wonderful
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin: Rough read, not my favorite, but still good

February

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin: This one went deep instead of wide and that stood out
City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin: Made my brain a little mushy. Loved it
Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin: Took me a minute to get into, but it was a good read. I particularly enjoyed how it built on Rocannon's World
Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. Le Guin: Fun. Wish more of the themes (like invincibility layers) had carried into the other Hainish Chronicles
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler: This is my third or fourth book by Butler and honestly she's just too perverted for me
Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks: Simultaneously grotesque and comically banal
Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang: Unmemorable, but inoffensive
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood: I couldn't figure out what this was about, but at least it went quickly

January

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

I felt that this little book ambled about, but ultimately it was a vibe

I enjoyed the significance placed on ceremony and counseling in a solarpunk setting

My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Attempting to note any thoughts on Daniel Quinn's books makes me want to re-read them all. I think perhaps that's my greatest takeaway — these books contain bold questions that Quinn cannot always answer but leaves as an exercise for the reader to carry with them each day

Beyond Civilization seems like an attempt a field guide, but perhaps it's not quite there

A tremendous body of work for anyone who understands that the way they live is wrong

Beyond Civilization by Daniel Quinn

See My Ishmael

The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

See My Ishmael

Dust by Hugh Howie

This was probably my third read of Wool, Shift, and Dust. I enjoy the series. It's transportive for me, and I can get lost in its sad world... perhaps part of the appeal is that I can hold the entire world of the narrative in my head?

As far as post-apocalyptic fiction goes, I think this series is refreshing and thought-provoking

Shift by Hugh Howie

See Dust

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

See My Ishmael

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

I highly recommend We as an alternative to 1984 or Brave New World for any reader new to dystopian fiction

Wool by Hugh Howie

See Dust

The CEO Test by Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer

This was a very quick read that I found valuable for strategies on being effective. recurring thought while reading was "this should be advice for everyone... workers are much more capable of applying this than managers"

The Past

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca: Good