Books (2026)

 [TOC: all my posts]

This is a continuation of last year's list, which continued an even earlier list of books.

Woman of Light, by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. Beautifully written account of several generations of citizens of New Mexico and Colorado.

The Winged Watchman, by Hilda van Stockum. An adventure story of kids growing up in occupied Netherlands during the last year or so of WW2.

Straw Dogs, by John Gray. Thoughts on humans and other animals. John Gray is incisive. He often comes off as snidely cynical. He helps me think.

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley. Romance and thrills across time and culture.

A Murder of Crows, by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett. Listened to this and the next two in the Nell Ward series on a long car trip. Fun read, with a reasonable attempt to include wildlife in solving the crime(s).

Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson. Meh (although I enjoyed the chapter Names more than I expected, and Wordplay is worth a read in itself.

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Read it to see if it's appropriate to read to a 10-year-old. I don't think so, but it's a pretty good YA sci-fi story.

Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. (Read to a grandson.) A few things in this series have not aged well, but almost as good as I remember them.

The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky). Thanks, Joe. Only my second time. I'll never catch up with you.

All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker. 261 short chapters, every one a prose poem, and all woven into a helluva story. Loved it, start to finish.

Currently reading:

• The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History, by Vanessa Williamson

On my reading list: 

• The Gate of Angels, by Penelope Fitzgerald (recommended by D. B. Hart)
• Corruption and the Decline of Rome, Ramsay MacMullen (see here)
• Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela