The purpose of this review is to recount my reading this year, and to add some comments to certain reviews I’ve written this year. This is the year I decided to take reading more seriously, after getting back into it a few years ago. There are so many things I want to read, that it makes a lifetime seem too short to see everything worthwhile at a leisurely pace. This year, I finished reading 24 books, though a fair few of them were shorter works as well, such as the later works of Nietzsche. I’ll aim for as much or more next year, but the works I have on my ’to read’ list are larger and more difficult. It’s a number that isn’t too impressive on Goodreads, but considering those numbers come from single city chicks who read smut every night, I’m really not fussed.
The List
- The Art of Designing Embedded Systems — Jack Ganssle
- The Medium is the Massage — Marshall McLuhan
- I’m Glad My Mom Died — Jennette McCurdy
- Don Quixote — Miguel de Cervantes, trans. Charles ‘Jarvis’ Jervas
- Botchan — Natsume Sōseki, trans. J. Cohn
- Numerical Computing with IEEE Floating Point Arithmetic — Michael L. Overton
- Several Short Sentences About Writing — Verlyn Klinkenborg
- Neuromancer — William Gibson
- The Perks Of Being A Wallflower — Stephen Chbosky
- God & Golem Inc. — Norbert Wiener
- Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television — Jerry Mander
- A History Of Surgery, 3rd Ed. — Harold Ellias, Sala Abdalla
- Scott Pilgrim, Vols. 1-6 — Bryan Lee O’Malley
- Odyssey — Homer, trans. Robert Fagles
- Botchan — Natsume Sōseki, trans. Umeji Sasaki
- Alice in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll
- The Art Of Fiction — John Gardner
- Studies in Pessimism — Arthur Schopenhauer, trans T. Bailey Saunders
- The Last Days Of Socrates (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo) — Plato, trans Hugh Tredennick
- Twilight of the Idols — Friedrich Nietzsche, trans Antony Ludovici
- Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy — René Descartes, trans Donald A. Cress, pub. Hackett 4th Edition
- The Anti Christ — Friedrich Nietzsche, trans Antony Ludovici
- Human, All Too Human — Friedrich Nietzsche, trans R. J. Hollingdale
- Understanding Media — Marshall McLuhan
- Positive Disintegration — Kazimierz Dabroski
I also partially read the following.
- [83/179 Pages] Intertwingled, The Work and Influence of Ted Nelson — Various Authors
- [128/668 Pages] Red Mars — Kim Stanley Robinson
- [10/43 Works] Labyrinths — Jorge Luis Borges, trans. Various
The Best Books
I gave three books a ★★★★, which is my highest rating. The best book that I read this year would be either Don Quixote or Understanding Media. I cannot break this tie, because it feels unfair to compare the impact a fiction and nonfictional work had on me, but both were significant to me.
The Worst Books
I gave only one book a ☆☆☆, my worst rating, which was The Medium is the Massage. The interesting fact about this is that since I read this in January, I’ve read more McLuhan which has changed my perspective. I want to read this next year and write an updated review, with a new judgment of it, and with comment on my old review. The definite worst thing I read this year is, with little competition, Scott Pilgrim. I’d initially given it a ☆☆☆ but decided it was not offensive enough to deserve this, but nonetheless shows I have a particular disdain for this series.
Reflections On Other Books
Neuromancer was given a decent rating, but of all these books it has returned to me the most. Scenes of the book come back to my memory from time to time, and a vague recollection of some great parts of writing. I said at the time that I would be unlikely to read it again, but now I feel compelled to revisit it.
Botchan also stuck with me more than I expected, so much so that I read it twice in different translations, one by an English man and another by a Japanese man. I was gifted a copy of ‘I Am A Cat’ for Christmas, and I’ll definitely read it soon next year.
In Conclusion
Thank you reader, if you have been reading these reviews. I admit, my reviews aren’t great, in particular I’ve noticed that my reviews will shrink in proportion to the greatness of the work, while also becoming more lengthy the worse it is. Despite how much I enjoyed Don Quixote, my review of it didn’t even attempt to reflect on what was so good about the work. I won’t write less about the books I dislike, but for 2026 I will aim to write as much for those books I do enjoy, which are more deserving of my attention.