{"id":4979,"date":"2016-11-01T15:57:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T15:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/?p=4979"},"modified":"2017-01-20T16:21:37","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T16:21:37","slug":"my-october-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-october-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"My October 2016 Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books<\/h2>\n

I wrote last month that I was on a big reading kick, and that surge of devouring books has continued in full force this month. Outside of the reading I’ve been doing for my dissertation and my work, here’s a list of the books I read for pleasure\/self-education in October 2016:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No Good Men Among the Living<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by\u00a0Anand Gopal. An account of the war in Afghanistan, told largely through the lens of 3 native Afghans. Important, detailed reporting from a WSJ journalist who lived and reported in Afghanistan for several years. Read on recommendation from my friend Laura.<\/li>\n
  2. Partisan of Things<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Francis Ponge. Translated by Joshua Corey and Jean-Luc Garneau. A new translation of Ponge’s amazing 1942 collection of prose poems\u00a0Le parti pris de choses<\/em>\u00a0from Kenning Press. Absolutely worthy reading.<\/li>\n
  3. Stoicism<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by John Sellars. A brief introduction to the philosophical thought of the ancient Greek Stoics. Turned me on to Epictetus, which was a fortunate encounter.<\/li>\n
  4. Guant\u00e1namo Diary<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, edited by Larry Siems. The account of the detainment and torture of Slahi, a\u00a0Mauritanian national held without charges by the United States for around 15 years. Slahi was released last month and is now living with his family in Mauritania. Read on recommendation from my friend Phil.<\/li>\n
  5. The Most Good You Can Do<\/em><\/a> by Peter Singer. A brief exploration of effective\u00a0altruism<\/a>, a new trend in charitable giving, and some of the principles of ethical utilitarianism. Laurel and I have been guided in our thinking about chartiable giving by Give Well<\/a>, a related\u00a0metacharity.<\/li>\n
  6. Discourses and Selected Writings<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Epictetus, translated and edited by Robert Dobbin\u00a0and The Handbook (The Encheiridion)<\/em><\/a>, translated by Nicholas P. White.\u00a0I had never read any of Epictetus’ teaching, which I generally quite enjoyed. Epictetus was a former slave and leading Stoic philosopher.<\/li>\n
  7. Meditations: With Selected Correspondence<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Marcus Aurelius. Translated by Robin Hard. I’d only ever read fragments of this work, so it was good to read it all, and to have a better context of Stoicism generally in which to understand the former emperor’s thought.<\/li>\n
  8. Independent People<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Halldor Laxness. A terrific, brutal novel about a fiercely independent Icelandic sheep farmer, Gu\u00f0bjartur J\u00f3nsson (Bjartur of Summerhouses).Laxness is the only Icelander to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and this was the novel credited with winning him the prize. For a social realist novel, it’s expectedly dismal, but surprisingly funny (mostly black humor, but still). Read on recommendation from my friend Hugh.<\/li>\n
  9. Reality: A Very Short Introduction<\/em><\/a> by Jan Westerhoff. Laurel and I have decided to start reading several of the titles in Oxford’s Very Short Introduction series to quickly learn more about subjects that we think we should know more about. This was the first one I read.<\/li>\n
  10. Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction<\/a><\/em> by Daniel Gardner. I’ve been editing and proofreading writing for a South Korean friend with a doctorate in Ancient Chinese thought for years now, so this book helped me gain a lot more of the context that I really should have had for several years. Better late than never, I suppose.<\/li>\n
  11. Sayings and Anecdotes with Other Popular Moralists<\/em><\/a> by Diogenes the Cynic [Diogenes of Synope]. Translated by Robin Hard.<\/li>\n
  12. Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Julia Annas. Can you detect a theme in my October reading?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Currently Reading<\/h3>\n

    I’ve started a few\u00a0other books that I’m reading rather slowly. Each is excellent:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Mary Beard’s\u00a0SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome<\/a><\/em>; <\/em><\/li>\n
    2. Catherine Jagoe’s\u00a0Bloodroot<\/em><\/a> (a new poetry collection by a friend); and<\/li>\n
    3. Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection\u00a0Interpreter of Maladies<\/a><\/em> (a birthday gift from my\u00a0friend Theresa).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      To Read Soon<\/h3>\n

      Books recommended by friends currently on the night shelf for me to start soon:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Alfie Kohn’s\u00a0Unconditional Parenting\u00a0<\/em>(thanks Christina, Anna, and Kaitlin!)<\/li>\n
      2. Isabel Wilkerson’s\u00a0The Warmth of Other Sons <\/em>(thanks Monika!)<\/li>\n
      3. Matthew Desmond’s\u00a0Evicted<\/em>\u00a0(thanks Jim, Dee and many, many others!)<\/li>\n
      4. Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies\u00a0<\/em>(thanks Sarah!)<\/li>\n
      5. Michel Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things <\/em>(thanks Jeff!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Longform Journalism<\/h2>\n

        Apart from books, I also read a lot of long-form journalism via the Pocket app on my iPad. I’ve been reading a lot less there now that I’ve been so engrossed in actual books (and because I’ve been assiduously\u00a0avoiding the whole presidential election cycle newscycle vomitorium), but I did read a few good pieces worth recommending in October:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. “Who Gets to Be an Atheist<\/a>,” Andrea Bennett and Kim Fu writing in\u00a0Hazlitt.<\/em><\/li>\n
        2. “The Way Ahead<\/a>,” Barack Obama writing for\u00a0The Economist\u00a0<\/em>on economic policy and the future of the American\/global economy.<\/em><\/li>\n
        3. “More Virtuous Than We Think<\/a>,” Henry Aaron’s\u00a0review of Samuel Bowles<\/a>‘ new book\u00a0The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas<\/em>. I want to read Bowles’ book!<\/li>\n
        4. “Out of Their Love They Made It: A Visual History of Buraq<\/a>,” Yasmine Seale writing about visual representations of the steed upon which Muhammad made his night journey to heaven in\u00a0The Public Domain Review<\/em>. Some incredible images here.<\/li>\n
        5. “I Used to Be A Human Being<\/a>,” Andrew Sullivan’s recent meditation in\u00a0New York <\/em>magazineon the human price of constant connection to our devices. I don’t typically read (or recommend!) Sullivan, but …<\/li>\n
        6. “The New Yorker Endorses Hillary Clinton<\/a>,” the editorial staff of the New Yorker with a thorough, thoughtful, largely factual encapsulation of the electoral choice Americans face in this year’s presidential race.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Wishing you all a happy, curiosity-filled November! May you all frequent your local libraries lots and lots!<\/p>\n

          Featured image: People reading the newspaper on a bench in the street after the American moon landing<\/a>, July 21, 1969, Amsterdam, Holland<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Books I wrote last month that I was on a big reading kick, and that surge of devouring books has continued in full force this month. Outside of the reading I’ve been doing for my dissertation and my work, here’s a list of the books I read for pleasure\/self-education in October 2016: No Good Men […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"For my reading friends, here's a list of what I've been reading over the last month. I'd love to hear what you've been into too!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[17,223,18],"class_list":["post-4979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading","tag-literature","tag-philosophy","tag-reading"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_mx1olyYcw11sfie3io1_1280.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Steel Wagstaff","author_link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/author\/steel\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_mx1olyYcw11sfie3io1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C826&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tumblr_mx1olyYcw11sfie3io1_1280.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd6z5D-1ij","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6078,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-november-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":4979,"position":0},"title":"My November 2016 Reading","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"December 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Books My reading pace slowed a bit in November (the US elections and their sad aftermath have provided me with lots of avenues for distraction and worry), but I still managed to keep up my love affair with books, though I picked a fair amount of duds this month. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I'm Reading"","block_context":{"text":"What I'm Reading","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/category\/reading\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/liwf2uhxs0q-annie-spratt.jpg?fit=1200%2C704&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/liwf2uhxs0q-annie-spratt.jpg?fit=1200%2C704&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/liwf2uhxs0q-annie-spratt.jpg?fit=1200%2C704&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/liwf2uhxs0q-annie-spratt.jpg?fit=1200%2C704&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/liwf2uhxs0q-annie-spratt.jpg?fit=1200%2C704&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6298,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-october-and-november-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":4979,"position":1},"title":"My October and November Reading","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"November 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last reading update, I mentioned that I had read the first book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Since then, apart from reading for my dissertation, that's pretty much\u00a0all\u00a0I've read. I just finished\u00a0The Yellow Admiral, which means that I've read 18 of the 21 books (one left unfinished at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bollard, Photos by Clark","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/35332790134_ebb6938e70_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/35332790134_ebb6938e70_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/35332790134_ebb6938e70_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/35332790134_ebb6938e70_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/35332790134_ebb6938e70_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6117,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-december-2016-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":4979,"position":2},"title":"My December 2016 Reading","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"January 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Books As the year limped its way to a close, I tried to keep up my torrid reading pace. I slowed down considerably from my October\/November frenzy, and spent a lot more of my free time reading and writing on dissertation related topics (hi, Objectivist poets!) but still managed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I'm Reading"","block_context":{"text":"What I'm Reading","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/category\/reading\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6188,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-april-2017-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":4979,"position":3},"title":"My April 2017 Reading","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"May 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Books My leisure reading of books slowed down a bit in April, as I continued getting sucked into lots more longform than I had intended and, on a happier note, did a lot more reading for my dissertation (good news!!!). Here's some of what I read last month for pleasure.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I'm Reading"","block_context":{"text":"What I'm Reading","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/category\/reading\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dead moles on a fence in Yorkshire.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2464682583_75238b8f03_b_moles-yorkshire.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2464682583_75238b8f03_b_moles-yorkshire.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2464682583_75238b8f03_b_moles-yorkshire.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2464682583_75238b8f03_b_moles-yorkshire.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6198,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/my-june-2017-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":4979,"position":4},"title":"My June 2017 Reading","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Books The good news? I read a lot for my dissertation in June 2017. Even better news? Much of it was pleasurable (at least for me)--a lot of \"Objectivist\" poetry, biographical material on Williams and Zukofsky, and histories of late 1920s-early 1930s little magazines. 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