Recently Mentioned Books

2. Jean Guillou, Bach Organ Works , six CDs.  I thought I would be happy with Christopher Herrick and Peter Hurford forever; I was wrong.  It's even better than Guillou's 1999 Bach recordings.

1. Haydn, The Complete String Quartets , the Buchberger Quartet.  To my ears, these are definitive and much better than Emerson, Kodaly, Lindsay, and other versions.  Some single disc excerpts are available as well.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

6. Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades , by Jonathan Phillips.

5. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown , by Simon Johnson; a public choice analysis of the unholy alliance between finance and politics.

4. The Great Reset: How New Ways of Working and Living Drive Post-Crash Prosperity , by Richard Florida.

3. Anthony de Jasay, Political Philosophy, Clearly: Essays on Freedom and Fairness, Property and Equalities .  This one is a Liberty Fund edition.

2. Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creation Destruction , by Thomas McCraw, new in paperback.  I loved this book, you can Google back to my previous reviews.

1. Acting White: The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation , by Stuart Buck.

I loved this book , which is written by Charles Emmerson.  Here is one short bit:

That is the new book by David Schmidtz and Jason Brennan.  It is ideal for anyone looking for a broad overview of human history from a classical liberal point of view.  Self-recommending, as they say.  Buy it here .  Here are Schmidtz and Brennan on CatoUnbound .

I read these new volumes in December.  There are six large books, two columns to a page, large pages, the whole thing weighs about thirty pounds.  I can't recall taking on such a large reading project in such a short period of time, but I am very glad I spent a few weeks immersed in the world of Vincent van Gogh.  I was impressed by how smart van Gogh was, what an intellectual omnivore he was, and how well he could compose a letter and pour forth a lot of information very rapidly.  The illustrat...

That's one good sentence from the book, which you can order here .  There is an excerpt from the book, on Michael Burry, here .  Here is a Felix Salmon review of the book .  In terms of policy, Lewis attaches great weight to the fact that the major investment banks became publicly-traded companies rather than partnerships.  I liked the stories and much of the inside scoop, but it didn't have the giddy fun of Liar's Poker or Moneyball nor did it have the analysis of some other books .

Here is more , via Steve Silberman .  How much of the health care cost-saving revolution will occur in the hands of the individual patient ?

That's the new Gary Gorton book and the subtitle is The Panic of 2007 .  It brings together Gorton's writings on the crisis in one convenient place but it serves up a fascinating afterword in which he asks how people will view this crisis one hundred years from now.

5. The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ is Wrong , by David Shenk.  There's nothing new in here, plus not everybody can be a genius.

4. Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time .  This new translation is a big improvement on the old and thus a chance to rediscover a classic of Russian literature.

3. Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo .  Some parts of this story are very good, but overall I felt manipulated by the author and I was glad when it was over.  I prefer Henning Mankell.

2. Ender's Shadow , by Orson Scott Card.  Not as good as Ender's Game and the trilogy, but still worth reading if you have an interest in the series.

1. Baba Yaga Laid an Egg , by Dubravka Ugresic.  These interrelated stories, which concern the aging of women, are so far my favorite fiction of the year.  This was from a Bookslut recommendation; here is one review .

Most of the twentieth century greats, such as Cheever and Barthelme, don't much stick with me.  I am a huge fan of Alice Munro and have read most or all of her work (the last collection is good but somewhat below average.)  She is consistently interesting about human nature and its foibles; maybe start here .

The author is Peter Hessler and the subtitle is A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory .  It is the account of the author's driving journeys throuh the Middle Kingdom.  Here is one bit:

6. Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity , by Sam Miller.  Bombay had its book , now Delhi has its.  Recommended, it captures the feel of the place.