Books

These are 79 books I've read or given up on a significant portion of the way through, occasionally presented with notes.

Imprecise tracking began in 2022, with proper tracking beginning in 2023, so some reading prior to that isn't present.

Sort by: Published Descending Published Ascending Reviews Descending Reviews Ascending Read Descending Read Ascending

1. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937)

   JRR Tolkien

   Reads

   • 2025-12-13 - 2026-01-11 | Read

2. Practical Typography (2013)

   Matthew Butterick

   Notes

   Very opinionated and aimed more at the amateur typographer than someone with professional experience, but nevertheless valuable. I disagree with certain assertions, such as the notion of not underlining links.

   Reads

   • 2025-11-25 - 2025-12-07 | Read

3. Careless People (2025)

   Sarah Wynn-Williams

   Notes

   I really struggled to read this, as the content was so repulsive in a way that I've never experienced in any other context other than cringe. Through particularly slimy portions my skin felt tight on me, and I regularly had to put it down and take a break. Any one of the many horrific cases this book details should have been enough to destroy the company. I couldn't keep myself from drawing comparisons to Friendship is Optimal. Everyone will live in the Facebook world in which all their desires will be met, and they will be happy.

   Reads

   • 2025-09-28 - 2025-10-04 | Read

4. The Elements of Style (1959)

   William Strunk Jr, EB White

   ■■■■□

   Notes

   A useful book which in some places shows its age. I would recommend it to all writers, if not just to find which parts you disagree with so as to form strong opinions of your own.

   Reads

   • 2025-07-04 - 2025-07-06 | Read

5. The Curse of Lono (1983)

   Hunter S Thompson

   Notes

   Hunter's drug habit having taken its toll, I lost interest. Padded out with quotes and fluff, it reads poorly.

   Reads

   • 2025-06-29 - 2025-07-06 | Did Not Finish

6. The Rum Diary (1998)

   Hunter S Thompson

   ■■■■□

   Notes

   Every bit as distorted and degenerate as I'd expected and hoped.

   Reads

   • 2025-06-09 - 2025-06-26 | Read

7. Atomic Design (2016)

   Brad Frost

   Reads

   • 2025-06-15 - 2025-06-24 | Read

8. Web Typography: A handbook for designing beautiful and effective responsive typography (2016)

   Richard Rutter

   Notes

   Extremely useful and applicable content explained very well. I'm sure to refer to it whenever working on web typography.

   Reads

   • 2025-06-11 - 2025-06-17 | Read

9. Sunrise on the Reaping (2025)

   Suzanne Collins

   ■■■◧□

   Reads

   • 2025-04-12 - 2025-05-03 | Read

10. Friendship is Optimal (2012)

    iceman

    ■■■◧□

    Reads

    • 2025-04-08 - 2025-04-11 | Read

11. The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists (2019)

    Alexander McCall Smith

    ■■■◧□

    Reads

    • 2025-01-24 - 2025-01-25 | Read

12. The Days Have Worn Away (2024)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2024-12-20 - 2024-12-20 | Read

13. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)

    Hunter S Thompson

    Reads

    • 2024-09-19 - 2024-10 | Read

14. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (2015)

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    Notes

    Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is certainly a long and difficult read, with some rather questionable parts, but some interesting ideas which can be extracted. It has its flaws, and certain bits are contrived, but overall it's quite a worthy experience. I haven't read much fan fiction, but this feels more transformative than the usual. The world is much the same, as are the character names, but their behaviours and the overall approach to everything is almost completely unique. Towards the beginning of the book, I had several issues with it. Rather impressively, almost every gripe turned out to be intentional and was either addressed or resolved by the end.

    Reads

    • 2024-11-01 - 2024-12-29 | Read

15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-02-08 - 2022-02-12 | Read
    • 2023-12 | Read

16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-02-07 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-24 - 2022-01-31 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

18. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-17 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-07 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

20. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-02 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

21. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)

    JK Rowling

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-01 | Read
    • 2023-12 - 2023-12 | Read

22. If Only They Could Talk (1970)

    James Herriot

    Reads

    • 2023-04-11 - 2023-04-12 | Read

23. The Desolations of Devil's Acre (2021)

    Ransom Riggs

24. The Conference of the Birds (2020)

    Ransom Riggs

25. A Map of Days (2018)

    Ransom Riggs

26. Library of Souls (2015)

    Ransom Riggs

27. Hollow City (2014)

    Ransom Riggs

28. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011)

    Ransom Riggs

29. Spurious Correlations (2015)

    Tyler Vigen

    Reads

    • 2022-04-11 - 2022-12-24 | Read

30. Of Mice and Men (1937)

    John Steinbeck

    Reads

    • 2023-04-11 - 2023-12-20 | Read

31. The Naked and the Dead (2017)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

32. Unhappy Returns (2013)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

33. A Cold Day In Hell (2014)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

34. Blood In The Water (2014)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

35. Old Wounds (2015)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

36. Ring of Fired (2013)

    Valve

    Reads

    • 2022-10-03 - 2022-10-03 | Read

37. Mostly Harmless (1992)

    Douglas Adams

    ■■■■□

38. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984)

    Douglas Adams

    ■■■■□

39. Life, The Universe, and Everything (1982)

    Douglas Adams

    ■■■■□

40. The Restaurant At the End of the Universe (1980)

    Douglas Adams

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-05-20 - 2022-06-05 | Read

41. Varg in Love (2013)

    Alexander McCall Smith

    ■■■□□

    Reads

    • 2022-06-05 - 2022-06-05 | Read

42. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)

    Douglas Adams

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-05-08 - 2022-06-17 | Read

43. A Clockwork Orange (1962)

    Anthony Burgess

    ■■■■■

    Reads

    • 2022-04-01 - 2022-04-21 | Read

44. Lost Perth (2014)

    Warren Duffy

    ■■■◧□

    Reads

    • 2022-04-13 - 2022-04-13 | Read

45. Kitchen Confidential (2000)

    Anthony Bourdain

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-02-08 - 2022-03-31 | Read

46. Animal Farm (1945)

    George Orwell

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-03-15 - 2022-03-16 | Read

47. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016)

    Jack Thorne

    ■■□□□

    Reads

    • 2022-03-11 - 2022-03-12 | Read

48. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020)

    Suzanne Collins

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-03-04 - 2022-03-10 | Read

49. Mockingjay (2010)

    Suzanne Collins

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-02-28 - 2022-03-03 | Read

50. Catching Fire (2009)

    Suzanne Collins

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-02-25 - 2022-02-28 | Read

51. The Hunger Games (2008)

    Suzanne Collins

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-02-22 - 2022-02-25 | Read

52. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964)

    Ian Fleming

    ■■■□□

    Notes

    I love the 1968 film so much, and while this is perfectly serviceable as a children's read it lacks any of the same magic.

    Reads

    • 2022-02-21 - 2022-02-21 | Read

53. Wonder (2012)

    RJ Palacio

    ■■■◧□

    Reads

    • 2022-02-14 - 2022-02-16 | Read

54. More Rules for Life (2021)

    Kitty Flanagan

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-22 | Read

55. 488 Rules for Life (2019)

    Kitty Flanagan

    ■■■■□

    Reads

    • 2022-01-21 | Read

56. The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990)

    Douglas Adams, John Lloyd

    Reads

    • 2022 | Read

57. The Meaning of Liff (1983)

    Douglas Adams, John Lloyd

    ■■■■◧

    Reads

    • 2022-01-10 | Read

58. Flowers for Algernon (1966)

    Daniel Keyes

    ■■■■■

    Reads

    • 2022-01-03 | Read

59. The Great Gatsby (1925)

    F Scott Fitzgerald

    Reads

    • 2022 | Did Not Finish

60. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)

    JK Rowling

    Reads

    • 2022 | Read

61. Quidditch Through the Ages (2001)

    JK Rowling

    Reads

    • 2022 | Read

62. Atomic Habits (2018)

    James Clear

    Notes

    Repeats common sense ad nauseum.

    Reads

    • 2022 | Did Not Finish

63. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (2006)

    Bobby Henderson

    Reads

    • 2022 | Read

64. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (2001)

    JK Rowling

    Reads

    • 2022 | Read

65. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2006)

    John Boyne

    ◧□□□□

    Notes

    Required reading in high-school and an incredibly poorly written book full of historical inaccuracies so egregious that they outright damage Holocaust education. Absolutely stupid.

    Reads

    • 2020 | Read

66. The Smuggler's Curse (2016)

    Norman Jorgensen

    Reads

    • 2017 | Read

67. The Midnight Gang (2016)

    David Walliams

    Notes

    I remember being deep into this book very late at night and sobbing.

68. The Copper Gauntlet (2015)

    Holly Black

69. The Iron Trial (2014)

    Holly Black

    Notes

    My enjoyment of this series was very much impacted by one of the characters sharing my name.

70. The Children's House of Belsen (2000)

    Hetty E Verolme

    Notes

    I purchased my copy directly from the author after a talk she gave. She kindly signed my copy and has since passed away.

71. Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian (2009)

    Rick Riordan

72. Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)

    Rick Riordan

73. Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse (2007)

    Rick Riordan

74. Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters (2006)

    Rick Riordan

75. Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (2005)

    Rick Riordan

76. The Prehistory of The Far Side (1989)

    Gary Larson

77. Imagine A Day (2005)

    Sarah L Thomson, Rob Gonsalves

    ■■■■◧

78. Imagine A Night (2003)

    Sarah L Thomson, Rob Gonsalves

    ■■■■◧

79. Imagine A Place (2008)

    Sarah L Thomson, Rob Gonsalves

    ■■■■◧