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.
2021
- Hytti nro 6 by Rosa Liksom. A story about taking a train to Mongolia from Moscow.
- The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse. About the conflict between spiritual life and worldly life.
- Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima. A memoir of bodybuilding.
- Kaikki elämästä(ni) by Antti Holma. Autofiction on being (famous for being) funny and gay.
- Villi ihminen by Riikka Kaihovaara. Essays on wildness and the relationship between humans and nature.
- How to Live by Derek Sivers. Concentrated life philosophy.
- ⭐ Nousu ja tuho by Liv Strömquist. A comic about capitalism, feminism, and leftist self-criticism.
- A Hero Born by Jin Yong. A kung-fu story.
- Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. A space opera. The first two parts were great, but the final third part felt just weird.
- Fantastinen salaatti by Harry Salmenniemi. A collection of short stories, some of them are delightful. Reads like it was written by a 30-something Finnish male author.
- Planet Fun Fun by Johannes Ekholm. A story about startup buzz in art world. Not going to stand the test of time.
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. A Nazi concentration camp memoir and introduction to logotherapy. The former was way more interesting than the latter; if you’re not into logotherapy, you can skip that part.
- The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman. A story about faking a Hemingway story. Gets out of hand.
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. A story about two families of gentry. Gothic.
- Pienen hauen pyydystys by Juhani Karila. A fantastic story about a cursed woman.
- Metsä meidän jälkeemme by Anssi Jokiranta, Pekka Juntti, Anna Ruohonen, Jenni Räinä. On the effects of the Finnish forest industry on the forests of Finland.
- ⭐ The 7 Secrets of the Prolific by Hillary Rettig. On writing, but the best parts are really about perfectionism and procrastination.
- 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer. On how businesses can gain continuous power over the market.
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. A libertarian revolution on the moon. (reread)
- Henkireikä by Kari Hotakainen. A weird crime story.
- Bluets by Maggie Nelson. On the author’s love of the color blue. Lyrical.
- The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef. On why it is good to try to see the world accurately.
- Mikä liberalismia vaivaa? by Veikka Lahtinen and Pontus Purokuru. On liberalism, where it came from and where it is going.
- The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster. Hard-boiled detective stories meet Italo Calvino.
- Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home by Heather Anish Anderson. Memoirs of walking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and breaking the fastest known time (FKT).
- Finding Our Sea-Legs by Will Buckinham. About using stories and phenomenology to understand ethics.
- Vieraat by Johanna Sinisalo. A horror novel about the gut. Excellent in its mundanity, but too slow.
- How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens. On Zettelkasten and how it’s a great way to write.
- The Limits of Organization by by Kenneth J. Arrow. On the cost of acquiring information and what it means for organizations.
- Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. On decision-making from the perspective of a poker player.
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.
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