The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda. Some useful things, some dated things (iPod, machines will solve all), some things that make me question this man’s life choices, in particular his approach to time. The time thing feels of that era; the book was published in 2006.
The Street Photographer’s Manual by David Gibson. I don’t plan to read every page.
How I Make Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz. This was very good.
The Greek and Roman Myths: A Guide to the Classical Stories by Philip Matyszak. It’s not the stories themselves, but an overview of the situation in detail. Kind of a hodgepodge of other facts and details. However. I have found it easy to keep reading, so it’s another one of those.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It was alright.
February
The 9.9 Percent by Matthew Stewart. This has been excellent.
How to do nothing by Jenny Odell. This also has been very good. I plan to read more Odell.
March
Neuromancer by William Gibson. A re-read. Still effing rips. So good.
This Night’s Foul Work by Fred Vargas. Good but a bit annoying at times.
April
Do Interesting by Russell Davies. A quick read. There were a few interesting/useful activities suggested.
The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger. Fascinating. I wish there were more. More details. More coverage. More cultures. Just more.
How To Live by Sarah Bakewell. About Montaigne and his Essays. Much more interesting than I expected. But it also kind of wandered. Like any life does, I suppose.
I also read some of Montaigne’s essays.
May
Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. Kind of meh, actually. The references seem good, and contains a good collection of data.
Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. Initially was very good, but then got rather tedious and I just couldn’t make myself read more.
I also read some Syntopicon.
June
Continued with Beagle.
July
Continued with Beagle, but probably abandoning it.
Partially re-read Blindsight by Peter Watts.
The Log of the Sea of Cortez, by Steinbeck. I thought this was quite interesting and plan to read more Steinbeck.
Yes, I’ve abandoned Beagle, and wish I had been less dedicated to trying to read it. I probably could have read 3 other books in that time. Or more.
August
On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz. Not quite the book that I wish it was, but excellent as a starting point for more of this.
September
Collected Fictions, the first part “A Short History of Iniquity” by Borges.
Selected Non-Fiction, the first part “Early Writings” by Borges. Everything by Borges is good.
Kissa by Kissa by Craig Mod. All too brief, but also there were a few good observations in those essays. Not very dense. Nice pictures.
October
Nexus by Harari. I found the first half to be quite good at informing and altering perspective. The second half was… less useful.
A Natural History of Empty Lots by Brown. Very interesting. But lacking in endnotes or references, and I think it would have really benefited from that.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Holy eff. This was quite excellent scifi.
November
The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. The directness of the translation is quite good, and I plan to keep it. That said, it can be quite difficult at times to separate all the hullabaloo about the analysis of this poem from the text of the poem itself. I do recommend the poem and this translation in particular, just know that a lot of what is said about it isn’t explicitly in the Homer’s words themselves.
When things fall apart by Chödrön. Very good.
December
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday, the middle part “Action”