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Finished reading: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a great start to the series. I enjoy a good story about plucky humans taking on powerful and mysterious aliens with inscrutable motivations 📚

Finished reading: Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson is a compelling and richly detailed story about a prehistoric tribe. Since I’m on vacation at a cottage in the woods, I felt a stronger connection with the world of the book than I might have at home 📚

Finished reading: I really enjoyed The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. I think this is the first story I’ve read that really explores the implications of the simulation hypothesis 📚

Finished reading: Dust by Hugh Howey is a good ending to the trilogy with a nice note of hope. I hadn’t enjoyed the second book in the series as much as the first, but Dust put it in perspective and I appreciate it better now 📚

Finished reading: Although very strange, I enjoyed The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss. There’s no need to read the book to understand the rest of the series and it wouldn’t make much sense as a standalone. Nonetheless, learning more about Auri and great writing make it worthwhile 📚

Finished reading: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson is a satisfying end to an entertaining trilogy. I enjoyed the creative world building and interesting characters across the three books📚

Finished reading: Shape by Jordan Ellenberg is a delightfully meandering book about geometry and why it is important. The book is much more about people than math. Well worth reading 📚

Finished reading: Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson is fascinating. The importance of a seemingly small incident is really well explained and shows how such a thing can reverberate through history 📚

Finished reading: A Beginner’s Guide to the End by B. J. Miller and Shoshana Berger. I’m grateful that I didn’t need to read this book now. That said, this is an important topic, best thought about when it isn’t an emergency. Despite a few America-specific points that don’t apply to this Canadian, there’s lots of useful and careful advice in this book 📚

Finished reading: The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul is full of great content. I was much more cerebral in my youth and have been externalizing thought much more productively recently. This book helps confirm the approach and adds new techniques 📚

Finished reading: The Last Druid by Terry Brooks. I’ll confess to reading this only to finish off the entire Shannara collection. This is the fourth book in the The Fall of Shannara series and much better than the middle two, which seemed far too rote. The original series is still my favourite, though I also quite liked The Genesis of Shannara trilogy. 📚

Finished reading: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is really good. I enjoyed the characters, world building, and narrative structure. I’m curious to read the next book, once I’ve finished a few other books in the reading queue📚

Finished reading: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is a fantastic alternative history of the space race. The sexism and racism in the story is infuriating (which is exactly the point). I’m looking forward to reading the next book📚

Finished reading: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe by Sean Carroll. I really appreciated this book. Starting from high school math, Carroll leads you through 200 crisp and entertaining pages to actually show you how to derive Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. A nice middle ground between the analogies of popular science books and the intense detail of a text book. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. 📚

Finished reading: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A fun read. I really liked the structure of alternating each chapter between fantasy and sci-fi, plus the story was intriguing 📚

Finished reading: Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer. A satisfying ending to the Terra Ignota series. I really enjoyed this series, though it can be a tough read. Jammed full of ideas and rich details, which can seem overwhelming at times. In the end, I’m not sure it was a successful novel, despite the ambition and fascinating world building📚

Reading more books in 2022 📚

I read many more books this year than in recent, past years. Although this was intentional, I’m glad it worked out. I really cut back on my various internet feeds, so that I was less distracted away from books. Purchasing a Kobo and connecting it to the local public library was also helpful. The most influential non-fiction book for me this year was Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. Plenty of practical and insightful advice in this book.

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Finished reading: I wanted to like The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley. The main thesis is that as societies became more complex and conflicts more intense, governments needed to develop written constitutions to cede rights to their citizens and keep them participating in wars. I found getting through the details a tough slog that distracted from the broader narrative. 📚