Non-Fiction:

• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb ★★★★★
• The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children by Katherine Stewart ★★★★
• The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School by Neil Postman ★★★★
• To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism by Evgeny Morozov ★★★
• An Accidental MP by Martin Bell ★★★
• Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf ★★ (my review)
• The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement by David Graeber ★
• Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform by Philippe van Parijs ★
• A Price to Pay: The Inside Story of the Natwest Three by David Bermingham ★
• Digital Vertigo: How Today’s Online Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us by Andrew Keen ★ (my review)

Fiction (Series):

• Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) by Dan Brown ★★★
• The Case of the Vagabond Virgin by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom (Perry Mason #33) by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Cautious Coquette (Perry Mason Mystery, #34) by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the One-Eyed Witness by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Fiery Fingers by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Angry Mourner by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Grinning Gorilla by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Hesitant Hostess by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★★ (my review)
• The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Fugitive Nurse by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★

Fiction (Non-Series):

Total: ~7061 pages

Non-Fiction:

• Levels of Life by Julian Barnes ★★★★★
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach ★★★★
• So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport ★★★★ (my review)

Fiction (Series):

• The Case of the Drowning Duck by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Empty Tin by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Careless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito by Erle Stanley Gardner ★
• The Case of the Crooked Candle by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• Case of the Black Eyed Blonde by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Golddigger’s Purse by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Borrowed Brunette by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Fan-Dancer’s Horse by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Lazy Lover by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Lonely Heiress by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★

Fiction (Non-Series):

Total: ~5040 pages

Non-Fiction:

• What Does China Think? by Mark Leonard ★★★★★ (my review)
• KLF: Chaos Magic Music Money by J.M.R. Higgs ★★★★★
• The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s Most Exclusive School for Startups by Randall Stross ★★★★ (my review)
• Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham ★★★★
• Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. David Shields by David Shields ★★★★
• Does the 21st Century Belong to China?: Kissinger and Zakaria vs. Ferguson and Li by Henry Kissinger ★★★
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina ★★★
• Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert ★★★
• 21st Century Dodos: A Collection of Endangered Objects by Steve Stack ★★★
• Crossworld: One Man’s Journey into America’s Crossword Obsession by Marc Romano ★★★
• The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined by Salman Khan ★★★
• Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry by Helaine Olen ★★★
• The New Tycoons: Inside the Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything by J. Kelly ★★ (my review)
• The Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz ★★

Fiction (Series):

• The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall ★★★
• The Case of the Haunted Husband by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Doomsday Key: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins ★★★★
• The Skeleton Key (Sigma Force, #6.5) by James Rollins ★★

Fiction (Non-Series):

Total: ~7022 pages

Non-Fiction:

• On the Origin of Tepees by Jonnie Hughes ★★★★
• Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World by Christopher Steiner ★★★★
• The History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks by Emma Marriott ★★★

Fiction (Series):

• The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Stuttering Bishop by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Dangerous Dowager by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Substitute Face by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Perjured Parrot by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★
• The Case of the Rolling Bones by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Silent Partner by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Baited Hook by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• Black Order: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins ★★★
• The Judas Strain: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins ★★★
• The Last Oracle (Sigma Force, #5) by James Rollins ★★

Fiction (Non-Series):

Total: ~5233 pages

Non-Fiction:

• Cathar Castles: Fortresses of the Albigensian Crusade 1209-1300 by Marcus Cowper ★★
• Henry VIII’s Wives: History in an Hour by Julie Wheeler ★★
• The Perfect Heresy by Stephen O’Shea ★★★★
• The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation by Jon M. Sweeney ★★

Somewhat of a history theme this month. I spent several weeks at the end of December and the start of January driving around Pays Cathare, and with my interest suitably piqued, I sought out some reading for a more detailed background. The first, part of the Osprey Fortress series, was an interesting introduction, and would probably have been better to read before my trips, but The Perfect Heresy was much more engaging. (Update: The Pope Who Quit turned out to be an eerily prescient read!)

Fiction (Series):

• The Baxter Trust (Steve Winslow #1) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★★
• The Anonymous Client (Steve Winslow #2) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★★
• The Underground Man (Steve Winslow #3) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★★
• The Naked Typist (Steve Winslow #4) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★★
• The Wrong Gun (Steve Winslow #5) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★
• The Innocent Woman (Steve Winslow #6) by Parnell Hall (as J.P. Hailey) ★★★★
• In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder #2) by Lawrence Block ★★★
• Time to Murder and Create (Matthew Scudder #3) by Lawrence Block ★★★
• A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4) by Lawrence Block ★★★
• Eight Million Ways to Die (Matthew Scudder #5) by Lawrence Block ★★★★
• When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (Matthew Scudder #6) by Lawrence Block ★★
• Detective (Stanley Hastings Mystery #1) by Parnell Hall ★★☆
• Gone (Gone #1) by Michael Grant ★☆
• Bloodline (Sigma Force #8) by James Rollins ★★★★
• Sandstorm (Sigma Force #1) by James Rollins ★★☆
• Map of Bones (Sigma Force #2) by James Rollins ★★★★
• The Inimitable Jeeves (Jeeves #2) by P.G. Wodehouse ★★★★
• The Case of the Sulky Girl (Perry Mason #2) by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★★
• The Case of the Lucky Legs (Perry Mason #3) by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★
• The Case of the Counterfeit Eye (Perry Mason #6) by Erle Stanley Gardner ★★★

The Steve Winslow series was a quick fun read. The books are heavily modelled after Perry Mason, so after trying another series by the same author (and not really liking it so much), I decided to read my way through the original Mason books instead. After loving Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr and Evan Tanner series, I’ve moved on to the Matthew Scudder books. These are much darker, and I’ll probably keep going with the series, but I’m not in as much of a hurry as I was with the two lighter series. The Sigma Force books are a slightly-more-intelligent-and-better-written-than-Dan-Brown scientists-with-guns conspiracy-theory-ahoy rompfest. They’re a little over-long at the start, but the pacing gets better as the series progresses.

Fiction (Non-Series):

• Jammy Dodger by Kevin Smith ★★★★
• Essays in Love by Alain de Botton ★★★
• Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean ★★★★
• The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren ★★★★
• The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up by Jacob M. Appel ★★

Jammy Dodger is a fun tale of ’80s Belfast that likely wouldn’t be quite so appealing to those who didn’t live through it. It’s slightly difficult to know whether Essays In Love should be in the Fiction or Non-Fiction category. Like most of de Botton’s books it’s full of interesting insights and quotable phrases, but is rather patchy. Not the End of the World is a fascinating re-telling of the Noah’s Ark myth that asks a lot of usually-ignored questions of the story. I suspect The Brothers Lionheart would have received five stars had I read it when I was much younger. The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up starts off well, but then completely loses it.

Abandoned unfinished:

• You Want WHAT??? by Mariann Mohos
• Another Man’s Wife Plus 3 Other Tales of Horror by David Bernstein
• The List of 7 by Mark Frost

Not yet finished:

• Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The White Man’s Burden by William Easterly
• The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth
• On the Origin of Tepees by Jonnie Hughes
• Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine
• This Will Make You Smarter edited by John Brockman
• The Great Cat Massacre by Robert Darnton

Total: ~9,589 pages