Reading Log: October 2025

 The books that I finished reading in the month of October 2025

October 2025 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"The Targeter," Nada Bakos 

"Cry Havoc," Jack Carr

"Agents of Innocence," David Ignatius 

"Slow Horses," Mick Herron

"Pariah," Dan Fesperman 

Reading Log: December 2022

 The books I finished reading in the month of December 2022

December 2022 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions," David Quammen 

"Seven Brief Lessons on Physics," Carlo Rovelli 

"Andrea Hoffman Goes All In," Diane Cohen Schneider 

"The Power of Myth," Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers

"Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living," Nick Offerman 

"When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management," Roger Lowenstein

Cliff's Notes

"Dodo"

A friend and I recently discussed the books that have had an impact on our lives and this one immediately came to my mind. I first read it in 1996 and it shaped my outlook on the world and informed my work as a "nature interpreter" at the botanic garden where I volunteered. So, I decided to reread it to see how I feel about it after all this time.

It is still a great piece of writing combing scientific reporting with travel writing. Sadly,  many of the situations it covers seem to have gotten worse rather have been ameliorated in any fashion. So, it is still highly relevant. 

"Brief Lessons"

This book did not do much for me. This lessons are brief and as such lack much substance. We learn that the theory of general relativity and the theory of quantum mechanics are both true, yet contradict each other.  The author seems to want the reader to accept this on faith; a word he disparages in other contexts.

One reviewer said that this book is a much better read than "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. I don't find that to be the case.

"Andrea Hoffman"

This book came to my daughter's attention because the name is very close to her own and she decided to give me a copy. 

I very much enjoyed it. While, at heart, I guess that it can be called a young woman's coming-of-age story it also provides a very interesting the world of finance in the 1980s. The author has a marvelous way with words. As an example; she describes as looking like ". . . he's been playing on a dusty floor with a toddler and a golden retriever." I very much recommend it.

"Myth"

Some say that this is a book that everybody should read, and now I have done it. Both Campbell and Moyers like to use words and drop names that send a reader such as myself to the dictionary or encyclopedia. That lies on me. Your mileage may be different. 

"Paddle"

While I have still have not watched "Parks and Recreation", I am a fan of Nick Offerman. This is the third book of his that I have read. It is, in my humble opinion the least of them. That may be because it was the first one that he wrote and, dare I say it, it took him sometime to find his voice.

Part memoir and part his advice on how to live a fulfilling life it is immensely interesting. I certainly recommend to anyone aspiring to get into acting. However, while I do not think of myself as a prude, I learned far more about his martial relations with Megan Mullally than I care to know. Though, I am happy for them that their sex life seems to be mutually enjoyable. Also, I am the first to admit that I swear, cuss, or use foul language more than I should, but find these pages to just a bit too full of it.

[Note to self: Figure out the difference between "memoir" and "autobiography".]

"Genius"

Last month I read that this is one of the two books that was required reading for the people on Enron's trading floor, so I wanted to see what it was all about.

This book, originally published in 2000, details the rise and and fall (which nearly took the financial system with it) of LTCM. This 2011edition has an Afterward which shows that lessons were not learned. As James Cramer has noted, "perhaps the term genius should be reserved for Mozart and not for arbitrageurs."

I had already learned from Andrea Hoffman that this business is neither logical nor fair and that the party won't last forever. 

Reading Log: June 2020

The books that I finished reading in June 2020

June 2020 Reading: photo by Cliff Hutson

“L.A. Requiem,” Robert Crais

“Fair Warning,” Michael Connelly

“The Dreamt Land,” Mark Arax 

“On Tyranny,” Timothy Snyder

“Devolution,” Max Brooks

“The Driver,” Dustin Stevens

"On Tyranny"

"On Tyranny": photo by Cliff Hutson

I feel that "On Tyranny," by Timothy Snyder is such a worthwhile book for our times that I thought that I should highlight it.

Snyder states that, “Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism in the twentieth century. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.” 

It might well behoove us to pay attention to that.

Reading Log: April 2019

The books that I finished reading in April 2019

April 2019 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

“Speculative Everything,” Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby

“Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Architecture in California,” Adam Arenson 

“The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy,” Michale McCarththy 

“Pearls Takes a Wrong Turn,” Stephan Pastis

Reading Log: March 2019

The books that I finished reading in March 2019

March 2019 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

“A Cook’s Tour,” Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain's account of traveling the world, eating local foods, and experiencing life with a very open mind. I am, for the most part, glad that it was him and not me as so many of his experiences seem very unpleasant.

“Doctor Who Scratchman,” Tom Baker with James Goss

This was a pretty good read. My main problem with it was that it is written as if someone was relating what they saw on TV the night before rather than it being an actual novel. 

“A Thief of Time,” Tony Hillerman

Last month I read "Spider Woman’s Daughter" by Hillerman's daughter Anne.  That book is based upon the characters first introduced in this novel; so I decided to reread it. My humble opinion is that it is the fr better of the two.

“Cooking for a Beautiful Woman,” Larry Levine

I seldom read memoir, but I found this to quite enjoyable. And, not just because my daughter is mentioned in it.

"W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits Visualizing Black America," Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Britt Rusert

This was the highlight of the month. I have long been an admirer of the work of Edward Tufte in the presentation of information or data visualization. Little did I know that Du Bois, well known as an African-American writer, teacher, sociologist, and activist, was a leader in this field as well.  This book is a compilation of sociological charts, graphs, and maps from the 1900 Paris Exposition, created by Du Bois and his sociology students to illustrate the status of Black life in la fin du siècle America.  He was ahead of his time.

Catching Up on My Reading

The Books I Finished Reading in December 2017

December 2017 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

The Books I Finished Reading in January 2018

January 2018 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

October 2017 Reading

The books I finished reading in October 2017

October 2017 Reading: photo by Cliff Hutson

Sorted Books

National Book Lovers Day

Each year on August 9,  book lovers celebrate National Book Lovers Day.

#NationalBookLoversDay

This year it coincides with my monthly post about books.

The books I finished reading in July 2017

July 2017 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

I originally planned not to say much about my reading list for July. Because, as my Aunt Dagmar used to say, "If you can't say anything nice, may be you should keep your mouth shut." But, ended up being carried away and got very judgmental.

"Stuff White People Like," by Christian Lander, a Canadian no less, was the best of the bunch. It was clearly written in fun and tied in nicely with June's “How to be Black,” which was where I learned of it. I, of course, while not being white may not be the best judge, but highly recommend it to people of all stripes.

My favorite genera of book over the last few years would be mystery and I completed two in that category. "The Bat," by Jo Nesbo was the the first of his Harry Hole series. I enjoyed it, but found it less compelling than his later stories such as "The Redbreast”,  or  “Nemesis”.  Michael Connelly is most famous his Harry Bosch novels.  His latest, "The Late Show", introduces a new protagonist, detective Renée Ballard. It is not a bad story, but it left me looking forward to the next one about Bosch.

There is a quote: “Art is what you can get away with”; attributed to both Andy Warhol and Marshall McLuhan, I find that it most particularly applies to "Blind Spot" by Teju Cole. I purchased this book based upon a glowing review, it was not money well spent. The tome is a collection of something like 150 photographs taken by Cole and pieces that he has written to accompany each one, but not necessarily about them. This sounded like a marvelous concept to me and I thought that it might be inspirational.  However, I found that I would be embarrassed to present all but a few of these images as a body of work. I also feel that the prose is far too etherial or artsy for my taste. Now, I am willing to admit that the fault may lie within myself, but I really do not like this book.

It is probably my expectations that led to my disappointment with "A Choice of Weapons" by Gordon Parks. Growing up, Parks was an inspiration to me, mostly through his work in LIFE magazine. It was not that I wanted to emulate what did, but that he showed me that a photographic image could be a powerful tool for communication. I was hoping that his autobiography would provide some insight as to how his vision developed. However, what I learned was that he bought a used camera and six weeks later had his first show. The book also discusses experiencing bigotry and hardship, making bad choices, and getting an occasional break. But, those are things that happen to so many of us that it really does not make for compelling reading. Furthermore, the story ends in the early years of World War II so there is no mention of his contributions as a writer and filmmaker. But, again, perhaps I should not discount a book for being what it intended to be and not what I wanted.

Sorted Books: an Assignment

I subscribe to Austin Kleon's weekly newsletter, and this past week it really paid off for me by bring my attention to conceptual artist Nina Katchadourian and the Art Assignment.

The object of the assignment is to group books so that their titles can be read as sentences, creating whimsical narratives from the text found there. 

So far, I have made two attempts. My first attempt was just looking at the books I read in July, as they were sitting on the table next me, and seeing that these could make a heading and a two item list.

Sorted Books - 01 - 1: photo by Cliff Hutson

I put more effort in to the next, spending time looking through my bookshelves. I am very happy with this as it reminds me of a haiku:

Sorted Books - 01 - 2: photo by Cliff Hutson

Nina Katchadourian’s final results from her time in Kansas can be found here:

How was your July? Read any good books lately?

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