Here’s a list of some of the books I’ve read recently. I’ve starred the ones that I especially liked or that were otherwise special.
2026
Click the fleuron ❧ to read the full review.
- You Can Just Do Things by Cate Hall and Sasha Chapin. Self-help on cultivating agency. The advice is good, but it’s not easy to put into action.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Young women are in want of a husband. Great, but I still don’t understand why everyone loves Mr. Darcy so much. It is because Colin Firth in the BBC miniseries, isn’t it?
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Necromancers in space. I was adequately entertained.
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. A romance between a human and a faerie. The world intrigues me, but apparently the sequels do not do a good job with it.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. A bit like Harry Potter, but with young adults, dragons, and way more sex and violence.
- Jää by Ulla-Lena Lundberg, translated by Leena Vallisaari. Story about a young priest and his wife moving to a far-away corner of Åland archipelago and trying to build life there.
- Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman. A sword and planet classic. Low-brow.
- Iltavahtimestarin kierrokset by Matias Riikonen. A guy walks the streets of Helsinki at night. Short and well-written.
- ⭐ Hävitys: tapauskertomus by Iida Rauma. A story about school bullying, Kaarina, and Turku. ❧
- On the Line by Andy Kirkpatrick. Top rope solo instruction manual. ❧
- Ohrana Kekkonen by Pekka Niiranen. On Urho Kekkonen’s career in the State Police before his political career. Illuminating about 1920s in Finland.
- Petteri Orpo ja oikeistovallan paluu by Teemu Luukka. On Petteri Orpo and his cabinet coalition. The profiles of the politicians were interesting.
- Suuri fuuga by Matias Riikonen. A story with experimental structure, for people of my age.
- ⭐ Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson. A story about the winged red monster Geyron as a young man. ❧
- A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Cozy sci-fi about an AI in a body kit.
- The Art of Gig, Volume 1: Foundations by Venkatesh Rao. On being an indie consultant and sparring executives.
Earlier: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018
All-time favorite fiction
I rarely re-read books, but there are some books I keep thinking about.
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
- Historias de cronopios y famas by Julio Cortázar.
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
I look at this list and I realize I must have incredibly ordinary taste. Still, they’re good books.
In April 2020, I filled a social-media bingo card about my favorite books. I’m not sure if they’re my eternal favorites, but they felt like good books at the time. Ask me again in the future.
My reading projects
Lists of books read by other people
I’ve found the following lists especially interesting:
- Alvaro Videla’s Some Books For You Consideration
- Venkatesh Rao’s Now Reading page
- David R. MacIver’s three-book sets and book pairings
- Further reading for Meaningness