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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>Się</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 —
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 brains 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>
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