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Since I started keeping a book diary in 1993.
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (audible)
Reamde by Neal Stephenson (audible)
Philosophy of Mind by Alan Charles Kors (audible)
The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (audible)
Watership Down by Richard Adams (audible)
The Vaccine Race by Meredith Wadman
The Song Machine by John Seabrook (audible)
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan (audible)
How to Write a Poem by John Redmond
Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy book 1) by Ruthanna Emrys
The Great Courses - Philosophy of Science by Jeffrey L. Kasser (audible)
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker
Sacred Tree: Reflections on Native American Spirituality by Judie Bopp, Michael Bopp, Lee Brown, Phil Lane Jr.
Everybody Lies: What the internet can tell us about who we really are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
All Systems Red (Kindle Single): The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (audible)
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique (33 1/3) by Dan LeRoy
Making Space: How the Brain Knows Where Things Are by Jennifer M. Groh
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong by Eric Barker
All the things I lost in the flood by Laurie Anderson
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink
Concerto (Forte book 2) by JD Spero
The Ripple Effect: Sleep Better, Eat Better, Move Better, Think Better by Greg Wells
Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction by Britt Wray
Cool it!: The Climate Crisis and What We Can Do - A Post-Paris Agreement Game Plan by David Suzuki and Ian Hanington
The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World by David R. Boyd
Deliverance by James Dickey (audible)
Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
Matters of Life and Death: public health issues in Canada by Andre Picard
Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson (audible)
The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat by Stephan Guyenet (audible)
Riveted: The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe by Jim Davies (audible)
***Good Dog: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Loyalty Edited by the editors of Garden and Gun magazine
“Oh not so great":poems from the depression project by Rob Taylor
Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises by Erich Hoyt
Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom
N0S4A2 by Joe Hill (audible)
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters by Satoshi Kanazawa
Ethics in the Real World by Peter Singer
Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution by Daniel Rothenberg
The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (audiobook)
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Ahsoka by E.K. Johnson
Summer Knight (Dresden Files book 4) by Jim Butcher
Grave Peril (Dresden Files book 3) by Jim Butcher
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive book 1) by Branden Sanderson
From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds by Daniel Dennett
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Josh Kushins
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (audible)
Writing Creative Nonfiction (The Great Courses, Audible) by Tilar J. J. Mazzeo
The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (audible)
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (audible)
Born to Walk by Dan Rubenstein and Kevin Patterson
The Magician's Land (The Magicians Book 3) by Lev Grossman
Concerto (Forte Book 2) by JD Spero
The Case for Mental Imagery by Stephen M. Kosslyn and William L. Thompson
Food: A Cultural Culinary History (Audible, the Great Courses) by Ken Albala
The Warded Man (The Demon Cycle, Book 1) by Peter V. Brett
*Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices about Giving Back by William MacAskill
The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date by Samuel Arbesman
Writing the Breakout novel by Donald Maass
Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber
Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time by Sean Carroll (audiobook)
Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit by Steven Pressfield
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddartha Mukherjee
Myth in Human History (the Great Courses) by Grant L. Voth (audiobook)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
The Neuroscience of Hallucinations by Renaud Jardri et al. (Eds.)
Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations (the great courses) by Brian M. Fagan (audible)
Stolen Child by Laurie Gough
Grave Peril (Dresden Files book 3) by Jim Butcher (audible)
The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships by Neil Strauss
Heat: How To Stop the Planet From Burning by George Monbiot
Fool Moon (Dresden Files book 2) by Jim Butcher (audible)
Origins of the Human Mind (The Great Courses) by Stephen P. Hinshaw (audible)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (audible)
Moral Decision Making (the Great Courses) by Clancy Martin (audible)
The Magician King (The Magicians book 2) by Lev Grossman (audible) ***
Cesar Millan's Short Guide to a Happy Dog: 98 Essential Tips and Techniques by Cesar Millan (audible)
Wizardborn (Runelords book 3) by David Farland (audible)
Peace is every breath by Thich Naht Hanh
How Ideas Spread (the great courses) by Johan Berger (audible)
Forte by J. D. Spero
Paradox Lake by J.D. Spero
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Great book. Rubin reads everything about happiness and reports on her experience trying to improve herself.
The Martian by Andy Weir (audible)
Behavioral Economics (The Great Courses) by Scott Huettel (audible)
Beastie Boys Book Deluxe: A Unique Box Set Celebration of the Beastie Boys by Frank Owen
The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (audible)
Meaning of Life: Perspectives From the World's Great Intellectual Traditions. The Great Courses by Jay L. Garfield (audible)
Lost Worlds of South America (Great Courses/The Teaching Company) by Edwin Barnhart (audible)
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Medeival World (The Great Courses) by Dorsey Armstrong (audible)
Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
The Neurobiology of the Gods: How Brain Physiology Shapes the Recurrent Imagery of Myth and Dreams by Goodwyn, Erik D.
Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History (Great Courses / The Teaching Company) by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius (audible)
***The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically by Peter Singer
The Deaths of Tao: Tao Series Book Two by Wesley Chu
The Art of Risk: The New Science of Courage, Caution, and Chance by Kayt Sukel
Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature (The Great Courses) by Thomas A. Shippey(audible)
Firefight (The Reckoners Book Two) by Brandon Sanderson (audible)
Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them by Marjorie Taylor
Fooled by Randomness by Nasim Nicholas Taleb (audible)
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (audible)
How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson
Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are (The Great Courses) by David Livermore (audible)
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu ****
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel (Audible)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (audible) (audible)
*** Steelheart (Reckoners Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson (audible)
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky (audible)
The Art of Character: Making Memorable Characters for Fiction, Film, and TV by David Corbett
Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation (The Great Courses) by Mark W. Muesse (Audible)
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom (Audible)
An interesting, frightening exploration of the possibility of evil AIs.
Consciousness and the Brain: Decyphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts by Stanislas Dehaene (audible)
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch book 1) by Ann Leckie
Some good ideas, but not enough to support a book this long.
The Stench of Honalulu: A Tropical Adventure by Jack Handey (audible)
How To Listen to and Understand Great Music (3rd Edition) (The Great Courses) by Robert Greenberg (audible)
Star Wars: Scourge by Jeff Grubb
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception by Claudia Hammond
Reversion: The Inevitable Horror (The Portal Arcane Series - Book I) by J. Thorn
Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us by Jesse Bering (audible)
Bossypants by Tina Fey
What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz
Riveted: The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe by Jim Davies
Catcher's Keeper by JD Spero
Star Wars: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller
Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them by Joshua Greene
Great Courses (Teaching Company) The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland (Audible)
How to Be a Woman by Caitlan Moran
Icemark Chronicles: Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill(audible)
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss (audible)
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (audible)
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam M. Grant (audible)
Blood Rock: Book Two of the Skindancer series by Anthony Francis
The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion by Scott Atran
Gone Girl*** by Gillian Flynn
A paradise built in hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit
Under the Dome by Stephen King
The Ragged Astronauts by Bob Shaw
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel Dennett
A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution by Peter Richerson and Robert Boyd
Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer
Invented Worlds: The Psychology of the Arts by Ellen Winner
Elemental Magic by Angela Wallace
Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success by Mark Coker
How Music Works by David Byrne
The Belief Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life by Jesse Bering
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
Cold Paradise by Stuart Woods
The Chairs Are Where The People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City by Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti
Play for Panic by Johannah Spero
*** The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away by Bill Bryson
Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships by Kayt Sukel
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert by John M. Gottman
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
The Economic Naturalist by Robert H. Frank
Faces In the Clouds by Stuart Guthrie
Bloom by Wil McCarthy
Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs
Galilee by Clive Barker
Catcher's Keeper by Johannah Spero
Hard Contact (Star Wars: Republic Commando, Book 1) By Karen Traviss
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
Ready Player One By Ernest Cline
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths by Michael Shermer
The Scar by China Mieville
Dramatica: A New Theory of Story by Phillips & Huntley
You can get a free PDF version of this interesting book at
storymind.com/free-downloads/dramatica_book.pdf
The Work of the Imagination by Paul L. Harris
The God Gene by Dean H. Hamer
Discover Your Inner Economist by Tyler Cowan
The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten: 100 Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher by Julian Baggini
Robopacolypse by Daniel H. Wilson
Smart and Gets Things Done by Joel Sapolsky
The Best American Science Writing 2006 Edited by Atul Gawande
What They Didn't Teach You In Graduate School by Paul Gray and David E. Drew
Homo Aestheticus by Ellen Dissanayake
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
*** Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett
Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
This is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow
The Art Instinct by Denis Dutton
Gods of the Word: Archetypes in the Consonants by Margaret Magnus
The first book I read on Kindle. A book for non-scientists about her theory of phonosemantics.
Handbook of Imagination and Mental Simulation Keith D. Markman (Editor), William M. P. Klein (Editor), Julie A. Suhr (Editor)
This took me a year and a half to read. Full of stuff very relevant to my research.
Frost Moon (Skindancer, Book 1) Anthony Francis
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War Max Brooks
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang William Queen
The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets Sudhir Venkatesh
The Compleat Academic darley, Zanna, Roediger (Eds.)
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
The Mantram Handbook by Eknath Aeswaran
The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women, and the Real Gender Gap by Susan Pinker
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Good book. Read it free on my phone.
The Gathering Storm*** by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Fantastic addition to a series I love.
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life*** by Neill Strauss
Awesome read. Love Neil Strauss.
The Ruins by Scott Smith
Couldn't put it down.
Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Careers in Science and Engineering by Richard M. Reis
Decent book.
Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind by Hans Moravec
A bit dated, but full of good ideas.
The Mechanical Mind in History , edited by Husbands, Holland, & Wheeler
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Fourth Ambit by Dawson Nichols
Great!
Meditation by Eknath Easwaran
Best book on meditation I've ever read.
The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen William Hawking
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe by Stephen Hawking
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
Obsession by Karen Robards
Who Wants to be a Scientist?: Choosing Science as a Career by Nancy Rothwell
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
The Best American Science Writing 2004 Edited by Dava Sobel
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind by Marvin Minsky
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander Mccall Smith
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Next by Michael Crichton
Death in Paradise by Robert B. Parker
Fantastic Voyage by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman
When Things Start to Think by Neil Gershenfeld
Island by Richard Laymon
The Best American Science Writing 2001 Edited by Timothy Ferris
Shrink Rap by Robert B. Parker
The Best American Science Writing 2000 Edited by James Gleick
Miss Gloucester City by Johannah Spero
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
***All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing by Judith L. Rapoport
Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy (This book is terrible)
What Is Your Dangerous Idea? Edited by John Brockman
Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
Robert Ludlum's The Paris Option by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Pillars of the Earth*** by Ken Follett
Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen J. Gould
Blood Work*** by Michael Connelly
Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter
The Body Artist by Don DiLillo
The House of God by Samuel Shem, MD
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
The Onion's Finest News Reporting, Vol. 1
Golden Buddha by Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo
How To Be A Great and Successful Scientist by Jim Davies
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Best American Science Writing 2002, edited by Matt Ridley
The Best American Science Writing 2003, edited by Oliver Sacks. ***
The Summons by John Grisham
The Skills To Pay The Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys by Alan Light
Memoirs of An Invisible Man *** by H. F. Saint (re-read)
The Game by Neill Strauss
Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert Simon
What is my dog thinking? by Gwen Baily
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos by Bruce Schechter
Life of Pi**** by Yann Martel
I know, everyone loves this book. You know why? Because it's great.
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakeslee
The philosophy is sloppy, but the theory interesting. What I like most is that he's at least trying to understand the mind as a whole, which is more than I can say for most cognitive scientists.
Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey
Not good.
The Society of Mind**** by Marvin Minsky
Brilliant.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This is probably the most creative novel I've ever read, though it's not the fastest read in the world.
It's interesting to think about how things like brainstorming and prototyping can be applied to scientific practice.
A Day Late and a Dollar Short By Terry McMillan
It was just okay.
Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
Collapse By Jared Diamond
The Genome War by James Shreeve
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow
The Rules by Ellen Fein, Sherrie Schneider
Although I think most of the Rules are a good idea, this book is written for people with a ninth grade literary sensibility, with lots of exclamation points and absurd promises like a marriage you get out of using the rules won't have abuse, because he loves you so much. Utterly unscientific and written by two people whose biographies include their cities and the fact that they are married. It's no "Genome."
Genome by Matt Ridley ***
Nickel And Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
The most important point of this book is that you can have a full-time job making $7 per hour and still not get by.
Advice to a Young Scientist by Peter B. Medawar
Not much advice here that can't be found in other books, but this is well-written and worth reading for every scientist.
Knightfall by Dennis O'Neil
An entertaining Batman novel. I read this while walking to and from work. I don't read while I'm crossing streets, no matter how safe it looks.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz
Godel, Esher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Dougas R. Hofstadter
Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew W. Stover
The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) by Richard Dawkins
Radiant Cool : A Novel Theory of Consciousness by Dan Lloyd
The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence by Ray Kurzweil
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Shadow Puppets (Ender, Book 7) by Orson Scott Card
The Best American Science Writing 2002 (Best American Science Writing by Matt Ridley, Alan Lightman
What Emotions Really Are : The Problem of Psychological Categories by Paul E. Griffiths
Eye in the Sky by PHILIP K. DICK
The Complete Concrete by Paul Chadwick
Monkey Sonatas by Orson Scott Card
Shadow of the Hegemon (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Exploring the Matrix : Visions of the Cyber Present by Karen Haber (Editor)
Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully Breaking the Rules by Ken Dancyger, Jeff Rush
Wizardborn (The Runelords, Book 3) by David Farland
The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
Impro for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men : Stories by David Foster Wallace
Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, Book 2) by Frank Herbert
How to Be Happy, Dammit: A Cynic's Guide to Spiritual Happiness by Karen Salmansohn, Don Zinzell
Distant Mirrors: America as a Foreign Culture by Philip R. DeVita, James D. Armstrong
This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall by Gordon Korman
Spoken Soul : The Story of Black English by John Russell Rickford, Russell John Rickford
A Natural History of Love by DIANE ACKERMAN
Living With a Pug by Alison Mount
Introduction to writing screenplays. Decent book. I was hoping for more conventions of the actual screenplay. This focuses on story structure, etc.
No Coins, Please! by Gordon Korman
A delightful piece of young fiction. I love Gordon Korman. About a kid who can't stop making money, driving his tour guides crazy.
I want to go home! by Gordon Korman
Great book. Young fiction.
Ultimate Punishment : A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty by Scott Turow
Great book about the death penalty. I learned a lot.
Understanding Zen by Benjamin and Amy Radcliff
Far from Soothing, this rather disturbing book describes, in a western philosophy style, the philosophy of Zen, and briefly traces it's roots. The basic idea is that experiencing of reality means acknowledging that the concepts we use to understand the world are a fiction and not a part of the world at all, which is kind of a non-understandable plenum. I am left with many questions, but in the end I feel I've learned a lot about Zen.
A science and political thriller. Starts slow, but pays off well.
Sequel to "The Great and Secret Show." Full of imagination and some sicko characters. I like Clive Barker's style. He's like a weirder Stephen King, but I'll take a break for a while, I think.
Story of a recovering alcoholic. Starts funny, but the second half gets sad and boring.
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
Good. Sequel to "Wolves of the Calla."
New Spring: The Novel by Robert Jordan
Prequel to the Wheel of Time Series. Decent. I think only fans of the series should read it.
Origins of the Modern Mind by Merlin Donald
Cognitive science book, using evolutionary, genetic, brain, and anthropological data to make a theory of the three stages of the evolution of mind, the last of which is, basically, books. Well-researched and interesting. For cognitive scientists only--it's a pretty technical book.
The Dramatist's Toolkit by Jeffrey Sweet
Best book on writing plays I've read. Highly recommended.
Opening Skinner's Box by Lauren Slater
Wonderful! An introduction to some of the great psychology experiments of the 20th century for the layperson and psychologist alike. The author is a real firecracker, too--fun to read about.
One of the best novels I've read. In our world, ethics is dominated by a Christian tradition, which frames goodness on not doing badness. This book pushes the limits in the other direction. How actively should one go out and try to make the world better? In this book a woman's husband suddenly changes his life to maximize his goodness. It's funny, touching, and profound. It doesn't provide ultimate answers, but is great food for thought.
Death by Hollywood by Steven Bocho
Entertaining and very readable thriller about Hollywood. You get a feel for life out there. What a bunch of weirdos.
Fun supernatural thriller about Repairman Jack, a soft-hearted gun for hire. Very readable.
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
A great book. Classic. Required for general cultural literacy.
Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
Good book, part of the Dark Tower series.
The second Repairman Jack novel. Good, fast read. A thriller.
Re-read this for the first time since I was 15, I think. Much deeper now. What a brilliant book. Creates a fascinating world.
Good book targeted for young adults.
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
Fascinating book of mythic proportions. Creates a detailed otherworldly earth. Recommended for fans of horror and fantasy. "Everville" is next in the series.
Very entertaining.
Breathe! You Are Alive: Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing by Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh's books are always so calming for me. This is a Buddhist book about breathing during meditation.
Understanding Movies by Louis Giannetti
Great introduction to film appreciation. It uses many examples from popular movies to talk about an enormous number of aspects of the decisions that go into film creation. I very much enjoyed it. ****
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Very readable classic.
The Dark Elf Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore
Actually three novels set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons world. Entertaining, recommended for fantasy fans still in high school.
Weird but entertaining book about a group of people who make up a ghost and it becomes real. It gets weirder from there.
Needful Things by Stephen King
Good book. I think Stephen King's very talented.
Adventure story, Crichton-style, which ends with an interesting theory that mammals traded off, evolutionarily, the ability to regenerate limbs for having a reduced risk of cancer.
The Silent Strength of Stone by Nina K. Hoffman
Great book! Modern fantasy, related to animism. Fascinating. Highly recommended.****
The Comedy Writer by Peter Farrelly
Laugh out out funny. You'll love it. Recommended by my friend Alison Way.****
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Page by page, it's well written, but it doesn't hold together very well for me. Not particularly memorable.
A Leg to Stand On by Oliver Sacks
Read this in a book club. I liked it. Sacks is a great writer. People found the book a little self-indulgent, but that never bothers me.
The Three Steps of Modern Calligraphy by Gu Gan
I love this book. It helped me invent the kind of calligraphy I do. See Thunderwords.****
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Always be suspicious of non-fiction, persuasive books by great writers. They can write complete garbage so sweetly you'll think it can't be wrong. Case in point. This book tries to solve very hard sociology problems using--guess what? Poor, anecdotal evidence and great writing! Though the book is not garbage, its central claim is not justified by the evidence presented. I hate it when writers try to do scientist's work.
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan
The worst in a fabulous series so far. But if you're reading the series, you have to read it.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
First half is great, about the author's experiences in a concentration camp, and who made it and why. Second half is about his theory of therapy, logotherapy, which is skippable.
The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler
Much more from Cutler's POV than one might expect. Still, it's a relaxing, interesting read.
The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond
Absolutely brilliant. I love this man. It's about human evolution.****
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
A Painted House by John Grisham
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III ****
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel by Haruki Murakami ****
Giddy-Up Startup by Johannah Davies
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card ****
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card ****
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo****
True and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor by David Mamet
I disagree with a lot in this book.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing by William Ball
Excellent directing book about dealing with actors.
The Empty Space by Peter Brook
Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords, Book Two) by David Farland****
The Artful Universe by John D. Barrow ****
Straight Man by Richard Russo ****
Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott ****
Inspiring book on writing.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Homo Centaurus by Anthony Francis
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh ****
The best book on Buddhism I've read.
Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists by Sharon Traweek
The Runelords: The Sum of All Men (The Runelords, Book One) by David Farland ****
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, Book 1) by David Eddings
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth, Book 4) by Terry Goodkind
Nosferatu: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
These vampire books were my guilty pleasure for a while.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
The Godfather by Mario Puzo ****
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Entertaining, but not the best book on how to write.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Clan Novel: Tremere by Eric Griffin
Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth, Book 2) by Terry Goodkind
Aaron's Code: Meta-Art, Artificial Intelligence and the Work of Harold Cohen by Pamela McCorduck
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling ****
Brujah (Vampire: The Masquerade Clanbooks) by Gerbod Fleming ****
The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Clan Novel: Giovanni by Justin Achilli ****
Laurie Anderson by Roselee Goldberg
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Clan Novel: Malkavian by Steward Wieck
Terrible.
Disclosure by Michael Crichton ****
Bloodwar: Masquerade of the Red Death (World of Darkness) by Robert Weinberg
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker ****
Looks silly, but is really great.
Clan Novel: Ravnos by Kathleen Ryan
Assamite: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Lasombra by Richard E. Dansky
entrue: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Setite by Kathleen Ryan
Clan Novel: Gangrel by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Tzimisce by Eric Griffin
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J. K. Rowling
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
My second favorite book of all time. Everyone on earth should read this book. ****
Toreador (The Clan Novel Series, no. 1) by Stewart Wieck
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) by J. K. Rowling
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4) by
His Master's voice by Stanislaw Lem
The Shining by Stephen King ****
Consilience : The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson ****
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Wastelands by Stephen King
The Marvellous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
October Sky by Homer Hickam ****
The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
Greatness: Who Makes History and Why by Dean Keith Simonton ****
The Client by John Grisham ****
The Little Shop of Horrors Book by by John McCarty, Mark Thomas McGee
A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe ****
Who Censored Roger Rabbit by by Gary K. Wolf
This is the original book the movie script was based on.
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, Book 2) by Stephen King ****
The Cobra Event by Richard Preston ****
The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, Book 8) by Robert Jordan ****
The Stand by Stephen King ****
The link is for the expanded edition, but I actually read the cut version. It was plenty long.
Moths to the Flame : The Seductions of Computer Technology by by Gregory J. E. Rawlins
Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer ****
Airframe by Michael Crichton ****
Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft from the Inside by by Jennifer Edstrom, Marlin Eller
A Ph.D. Is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science by by Peter J. Feibelman
Must-reading for any Ph.D. Student.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Fuzzy Thinking : The New Science of Fuzzy Logic by Bart Kosko
First Light : The Search for the Edge of the Universe by Richard Preston ****
Beyond Positivism and Relativism: Theory, Method, and Evidence by Larry Laudan
Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney
The Hacker and the Ants: Version 2.0 by Rudy Rucker
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1) by Stephen King
The Truth Machine by James Halperin ****
A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, Book 7) by Robert Jordan ****
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire ****
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis ****
Children of the Mind (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan ****
The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms by Margaret A. Boden
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton ****
Travels by by Michael Crichton
Foundation's Edge : The Foundation Novels (Foundation Novels (Paperback)) by Isaac Asimov
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson ****
Hard science fiction about what a Mars Colony might be like.
The Hot Zone : A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston ****
The Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time, Book 5) by by Robert Jordan ****
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by by JONATHAN WEINER ****
My fourth favorite book of all time (after The Selfish Gene, Guns, Germs and Steel, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.)
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman ****
The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) by Robert Jordan ****
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Relic by Lincoln Child, Douglas J. Preston
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan ****
Categories and Concepts (Cognitive science series) by Edward E. Smith, Douglas Medin
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science by Carl Sagan
The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, Book 2) by Robert Jordan
How to Think Straight About Psychology by by Keith E. Stanovich ****
The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel C. Dennett ****
Magic: A Novel by William Goldman
1,001 Ways to Save the Planet by Bernadette Vallely
The Language Instinct : How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
Sphere by Michael Crichton ****
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan
Quiddities by W. V. O. Quine
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard P. Feynman
The Intentional Stance by Daniel Dennett
One Human Minute by Stanislaw Lem ****
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1) by Robert Jordan
Rising Sun by Michael Crichton
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe ****
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat : And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks ****
Third favorite book of all time.
The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
dentity, Consciousness, and Value by Peter K. Unger
Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card
The Book of Three (Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Art: The Way It Is (author unknown)
Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney
Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggen Saga) by Orson Scott Card
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Elric Saga) by Michael Moorcock
Speed Reading by Robert L. Zorn ****
I was reading faster by time I was halfway through it.
Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
Ender's Game (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Stories from the Nerve Bible: A Twenty-Year Retrospective by Laurie Anderson
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1) by Margaret Weiss
The Web of Belief by W. V. Quine, J. S. Ullian
Unified Theories of Cognition by Allen Newell
Computation and Cognition: Toward a Foundation for Cognitive Science by Zenon W. Pylyshyn
The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) by Anne Rice
The Girl in a Swing by Richard Adams
Neuromancer (Remembering Tomorrow) by William Gibson
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins ****
My favorite book in the whole wide wonderful world.
Thinking (An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol 3) by Daniel N. Osherson, Edward E. Smith (Editor)
A New Guide to Artificial Intelligence by Derek Partridge
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant : A Novel by Anne Tyler
The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
Black Hands of Beijing: Lives of Defiance in China's Democracy Movement by George Black, Robin Munro
Thinking Machines by Igor Alexander and Riere Burnett
The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Microcognition: Philosophy, Cognitive Science, and Parallel Distributed Processing by Andy Clark
Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang ****
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Laurie Anderson (American Originals) by John Howell
L.Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman by Bent Corydon
Cracking the System: The GRE by The Princeton Review
Strange Tales From Make-do Studio by Pu Songling,
Letter to a Child Never Born by Oriana Fallaci
This was the first book I entered in my book diary. I was Living in China in 1993 at the time.
Books read before my book diary that I can remember reading:
Fade by Robert Cormier
Riverworld
Presumed innocent by Scott Turow
Cats eye by Margaret Atwood
Dragonslayer
Tron
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks