2017 was a whirlwind. My first calendar year spent outside the US since 2006-2007. Beginning and growth of a serious relationship with a woman I love. A job that has taught me a lot and challenged me an order of magnitude more than any other I've had. Lots and lots (and lots) of new friends and acquaintances. A trip to eastern Europe with M&D, and a trip to the Himalayas with Linc. Flying to NH for an afternoon to see Jack in July. Joining a book club for the first time ever. Much more that I won't even begin to try to capture here because otherwise I'll be at my computer all night.
Books completed in 2017 (five most memorable in bold):
1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie
2. A Perfect Spy, by John Le Carre
3. LaRose, by Louise Erdrich
4. What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman
5. Blindness, by Jose Saramago
6. Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
7. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
8. Doughnut Economics, by Kate Raworth
9. The City and the City, by China Mieville
10. What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, by Leslie Arimah
11. Sister Outside, by Audre Lorde
12. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman
13. Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex, by Alice Dreger
14. Prussian Blue, by Philip Kerr
15. What If?, by Randall Munroe
16. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
17. Would Everybody Please Stop?, by Jenny Allen
18. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, by Mohsin Hamid
19. The Butcher Bird, by SD Sykes
20. A Legacy of Spies, by John Le Carre
21. The Struggle for Pakistan, by Ayesha Jalal
22. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
23. Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams
24. The Last Mughal, by Will Dalrymple
25. La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman
I read 80% of Carlotta Gall's The Wrong Enemy in December but didn't finish until the plane ride home after New Year's, so it counts for 2018.
Doughnut Economics should be required reading for high school students across the US. Capitalist obsession with growth is doom, but there need to be good, simple, appealing alternatives to the simple, appealing metaphors we use now. It's easy to despair at the triumph of right-wing and centrist narratives and much harder to posit some reasonable alternatives. Raworth does. Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex is a stunning history of the science of sex, gender, and sexuality. Deeply enriched my understanding of the degree to which biological sex, and not just gender, is itself socially constructed. The Underground Railroad was the best novel I read this year. The Struggle for Pakistan is well-researched, informative, and the worst-written professionally published book I've ever read. Yes, including The Da Vinci Code. The Last Mughal, by contrast, is astoundingly well-researched and also gripping. We helped Dalrymple organize a family vacation this year to the north so he could write about it for the Financial Times, so I happened to be on a couple of email chains with him. Didn't get a chance to meet him, but if I ever do I'll be able to creep him out by memorizing his passport number (you know, if I felt like it). He is a fantastic writer.
Books completed in 2017 (five most memorable in bold):
1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie
2. A Perfect Spy, by John Le Carre
3. LaRose, by Louise Erdrich
4. What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman
5. Blindness, by Jose Saramago
6. Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
7. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
8. Doughnut Economics, by Kate Raworth
9. The City and the City, by China Mieville
10. What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, by Leslie Arimah
11. Sister Outside, by Audre Lorde
12. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman
13. Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex, by Alice Dreger
14. Prussian Blue, by Philip Kerr
15. What If?, by Randall Munroe
16. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
17. Would Everybody Please Stop?, by Jenny Allen
18. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, by Mohsin Hamid
19. The Butcher Bird, by SD Sykes
20. A Legacy of Spies, by John Le Carre
21. The Struggle for Pakistan, by Ayesha Jalal
22. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
23. Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams
24. The Last Mughal, by Will Dalrymple
25. La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman
I read 80% of Carlotta Gall's The Wrong Enemy in December but didn't finish until the plane ride home after New Year's, so it counts for 2018.
Doughnut Economics should be required reading for high school students across the US. Capitalist obsession with growth is doom, but there need to be good, simple, appealing alternatives to the simple, appealing metaphors we use now. It's easy to despair at the triumph of right-wing and centrist narratives and much harder to posit some reasonable alternatives. Raworth does. Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex is a stunning history of the science of sex, gender, and sexuality. Deeply enriched my understanding of the degree to which biological sex, and not just gender, is itself socially constructed. The Underground Railroad was the best novel I read this year. The Struggle for Pakistan is well-researched, informative, and the worst-written professionally published book I've ever read. Yes, including The Da Vinci Code. The Last Mughal, by contrast, is astoundingly well-researched and also gripping. We helped Dalrymple organize a family vacation this year to the north so he could write about it for the Financial Times, so I happened to be on a couple of email chains with him. Didn't get a chance to meet him, but if I ever do I'll be able to creep him out by memorizing his passport number (you know, if I felt like it). He is a fantastic writer.
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