The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse (such a subtle, profound, and compassionate book - I imagine Hesse writing it slowly and with a twinkle in his eye. of course my (unapologetic!) main reaction was to be very seriously moved by its treatment of learning and purpose. an incredible read)
Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers (I’ve only read his 90s work, so I get to be bitter and pretentious about his deserved popularity post-Overstory))
In a Grove by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (onboarding for rashomon)
archived lists
as of 2025.08
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (affecting - and readable(!))
JR by William Gaddis (gah)
Puzzle Craft by Stewart T. Coffin
Exhalation by Ted Chiang (I think about ‘The Lifecycle of Software Objects’ a lot)
Tristan et Iseult by René Louis
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (paying my dues to Silicon Valley)
My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route by Sally Hayden
Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault
as of 2025.03
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (uneventful)
Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino (especially A Sign in Space, only 10 pgs)
The Days Are Just Packed: Calvin and Hobbes #8 by Bill Watterson (remains my favorite book of all time)
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (arguably, and I do argue, the best pulitzer alongside confederacy of dunces and the shipping news)