Currently Reading

Yeah, I read a lot of books concurrently. No, I am not fast at finishing them, that's why I do it in such a chaotic way. I'm trying to get better at it though.


  • The Wealth of Nations: Book I (1776) by Adam Smith
    • Adam Smith is often credited as being the 'Father of Capitalism' for his inquiry into how markets work in this book. Technically, he never really said the word Capitalism in the book, but that doesn't really matter. I've been trying to learn more about markets, so this has been an interesting read, and once you get used to the 18th century dialect, he's actually got a pretty engaging writers voice.
    • (Project Gutenburg) (Wikipedia)

  • How To Stand Up To A Dictator (2022) by Maria Ressa
    • Written by a Filipino journalist who has fought against her own authoritarian government in publishing stories critical of the then-President. I heard about this book from Jon Oliver's special on Trump & The Press.

  • The Nazi Movement (1938) by Theodore Abel
    • A history of the political context of the Hitler Movement, as well as a (then modern) history of how Hitler came to power. Written during WWII.
    • (OpenLibrary)

  • Lessons in Magic and Disaster (2025) by Charlie Jane Anders
    • The copies for this finally arrived at the library, so I get to read it now. I know very little about it except that I heard about it from a review by Cory Doctorow. I just know it has themes of queer identity, family difficulties, magic, and all that fun stuff. So far I'm really enjoying it.
    • (OpenLibrary) (Tor Publishing)

  • The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (1964) by George L. Mosse
    • A free giveaway I got from the library. I've been trying to do more learning about the rise of totalitarian governments and what allowed them to succeed. I'm finding this book pretty interesting.
    • (OpenLibrary)

Future Reading List

  • 1984 (1949) by George Orwell

  • In Dubious Battle (1936) by John Steinbeck

  • All The President's Men (1974) by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

  • Mein Kampf (1925) by Adolf Hitler

    • I suppose it goes without saying that I read about the Hitler movement not because I admire it, but rather because I despise it so much, and would like to be able to help prevent similar movements as they arise in the future.

Have Reads

2025

October

  • The Naked Sun (1957) by Isaac Asimov
    • Part 2 in the Lije Baley & and R. Daneel Olivaw series. This time, we follow detective Baley on a new, alien planet, and interacting with many foreign cultural habits and taboos that conflict with his own Earthly habits and experiences.
    • (Goodreads)

September

  • How to Argue With a Racist: What Our Genes Do (and Don't) Say about Human Difference (2020) by Adam Rutherford

  • The Caves of Steel (1953) by Isaac Asimov

    • A detective case featuring Earthman Lije Baley partnered up with robot Daneel Olivaw from Spacetown, working to solve a murder case. Involves themes of social stratification, Luddism (under a different name), and the threat of automation.
    • (My review)
    • (OpenLibrary)

Older

  • Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

    • 10/10 would recommend to anyone who is even mildly critical of their cellphone use.

  • This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends by Nicole Perlroth

    • Really good non-fiction about the use of cyberweapons by nation state actors. Told by a completely non-technical author, designed to be understood by technical and non-technical audiences alike.

  • Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow

    • Fiction novel following a forensic accountant who is functionally a private investigator for the cyber and financial world. A really great novel, this series is what really turned me on to Cory's work in the first place.

  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

    • Awesome scifi about an astronaut who wakes up with amnesia and has to piece together his situation while alone in space. Written by the same guy who wrote The Martian. I highly recommend it. I might even go back and re-read it at some point.

  • How to Interpret the Constitution by Cas Sunstein

    • Pretty cool overview of the debate around constitutional interpretation. He presents his own take only at the end of the book. I found it mostly unbiased, but you could still see his own perspective seeping in from time to time. Either way a great read, even if you end up disagreeing, you'll go away having much better reasons for feeling that way.

  • Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

    • An autobiography of his life, focusing mostly on his being a whistle blower of the NSA, exposing mass, warrantless surveillance of United States citizens by our government. Includes a lot of his own opinions as well, though I think that's fair given the context.