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authorMarcin Chrzanowski <marcin.j.chrzanowski@gmail.com>2021-02-02 23:36:23 -0500
committerMarcin Chrzanowski <marcin.j.chrzanowski@gmail.com>2021-02-02 23:36:23 -0500
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Publish 2020 books blog post
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+title: Books Read in 2020
+date: February 02, 2021 22:35
+---
+<p>
+If memory serves me right, I read around 10 books last year. Here's the list,
+with a few words about each entry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<ol>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Moby Dick</b>, Herman Melville. The Great American Novel. Haven't
+ actually quite finished this one, but I've gotten most of the way
+ through it, so feels more appropriate to include it in the 2020 list
+ rather than the 2021 one (I do intend on finishing this book).</p>
+ <p>Interestingly, despite its length, I found it fairly easy to pick the
+ book up midway after a longer pause from reading it. This might be due
+ to quite a different structure compared to the more modern novels I'm
+ used to. Though it happens mostly chronologically, it's not really a
+ linear, continuous story where you have to keep track of the plot and
+ characters. Instead, you're presented with short vignettes of whaling
+ life (and, sometimes, everyone's favorite cetology lectures).</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>SiÄ™</b>, Edward Stachura. A collection of short stories by the
+ Polish poet, one of his last published works before his suicide two
+ years later. The stories are mostly set in travels around both Poland
+ and the American continent.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>The First Philosophers</b>, Robin Waterfield. Guess you could say
+ I'm finally starting with the Greeks (I did read The Republic the year
+ prior, reading it was an interesting experience but I'm sure a lot of it
+ went way over my head at the time).</p>
+ <p>Like Moby Dick, I haven't quite finished the whole book yet &mdash;
+ I read the first half on the presocratics, but will need to get back to
+ the part on the sophists at some point.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Fight Club</b>, Chuck Palahniuk. Probably shouldn't talk about
+ this one much, but man, this is the first time in a while a book sucked
+ me in this strongly. A literal page turner that kept me awake late into
+ the night.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Antifragile</b>, Nassim Taleb. Very glad I finally got around to
+ reading something from Taleb.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</b>, Robert M. Pirsig.
+ Another foray into philosophy, though definitely more modern than the
+ Greeks. It wasn't until I was about halfway through the book that I
+ found out it's mostly autobiographical rather than pure fiction.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Vagabonding</b>, Rolf Potts. I've published extended reading
+ notes <a href='<%= path_to "blog_book-notes-vagabonding" %>'>here</a>.
+ </p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>The Sovereign Individual</b>, James Dale Davidson and William
+ Rees-Mogg. Widely popular amongst and recommended by Bitcoin/blockchain
+ fans.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Brave New World</b>, Aldous Huxley. Probably my favorite
+ dystopian novel I've read so far.</p>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <p><b>Thinking, Fast and Slow</b>, Daniel Kahneman. An interesting (and
+ long!) volume on how our brain's work.</p>
+ </li>
+</ol>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Interestingly, in the first month alone of 2021, I've already read nearly half as
+many new books. Granted, none of them were quite as long as, say, Antifragile or
+the Kahneman book, but still a welcome metric. Off to more reading, now!
+</p>