Books
These are 98 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.
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This Is For Everyone (2025)
Notes
I have an interest in web history, and the beginning half of this book covered it nicely from Tim Berners-Lee's perspective. It especially captured the early petitioning for its success and his motivations and vision. The latter half twisted more into artificial intelligence, governance, and how it relates to Solid, which I found less interesting.
Reads
- - | Read
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Careless People (2025)
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
- - | Read
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Sunrise on the Reaping (2025)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Days Have Worn Away (2024)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Desolations of Devil's Acre (2021)
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More Rules for Life (2021)
Reads
- | Read
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The Conference of the Birds (2020)
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists (2019)
Reads
- - | Read
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488 Rules for Life (2019)
Reads
- | Read
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A Map of Days (2018)
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Atomic Habits (2018)
Notes
Repeats common sense ad nauseum.
Reads
- | Did Not Finish
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The Naked and the Dead (2017)
Reads
- - | Read
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Atomic Design (2016)
Reads
- - | Read
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Sting (2016)
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Web Typography: A handbook for designing beautiful and effective responsive typography (2016)
Notes
Extremely useful and applicable content explained very well. I'm sure to refer to it whenever working on web typography.
Reads
- - | Read
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Smuggler's Curse (2016)
Reads
- | Read
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The Midnight Gang (2016)
Notes
I remember being deep into this book very late at night and sobbing.
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Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (2015)
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
- - | Read
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Library of Souls (2015)
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Spurious Correlations (2015)
Reads
- - | Read
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Old Wounds (2015)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Copper Gauntlet (2015)
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Hollow City (2014)
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Loot (2014)
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A Cold Day In Hell (2014)
Reads
- - | Read
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Blood In The Water (2014)
Reads
- - | Read
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Lost Perth (2014)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Iron Trial (2014)
Notes
My enjoyment of this series was very much impacted by one of the characters sharing my name.
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Practical Typography (2013)
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
- - | Read
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Unhappy Returns (2013)
Reads
- - | Read
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Ring of Fired (2013)
Reads
- - | Read
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Varg in Love (2013)
Reads
- - | Read
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Friendship is Optimal (2012)
Reads
- - | Read
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Wonder (2012)
Reads
- - | Read
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011)
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Willbee The Bumblebee (2010)
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Mockingjay (2010)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Legend of the Golden Snail (2010)
Notes
Had a most wonderful digital accompaniment on Graeme's website. Alas, it seems to be lost now.
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The Wonky Donkey (2009)
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Catching Fire (2009)
Reads
- - | Read
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Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian (2009)
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The Hunger Games (2008)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)
Reads
- | Read
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Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
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Imagine A Place (2008)
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Reads
- - | Read
- | Read
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Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse (2007)
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The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (2006)
Reads
- | Read
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The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2006)
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
- | Read
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Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters (2006)
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Reads
- | Read
- - | Read
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Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (2005)
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Imagine A Day (2005)
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Weird Stuff (2004)
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Reads
- - | Read
- - | Read
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Imagine A Night (2003)
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Quidditch Through the Ages (2001)
Reads
- | Read
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Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (2001)
Reads
- | Read
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Notes
The subplot of Hermione trying to free slaves being presented as a negative thing was an interesting choice.
Reads
- | Read
- - | Read
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Kitchen Confidential (2000)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Children's House of Belsen (2000)
Notes
I purchased my copy directly from the author after a talk she gave. She kindly signed my copy and has since passed away.
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My Life as a Mixed-Up Millenium Bug (1999)
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Reads
- | Read
- - | Read
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The Rum Diary (1998)
Notes
Every bit as distorted and degenerate as I'd expected and hoped.
Reads
- - | Read
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Reads
- | Read
- - | Read
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Wicked! (1997)
Notes
Unsure which books of the series I read – perhaps them all? I remember being extremely perplexed by the book's dual-perspective structure, which took me a while to grok.
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Reads
- | Read
- - | Read
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Neon Genesis Evangelion (1994)
Notes
The extra content included at the end of each volume is an extremely interesting read.
Reads
- - | Read
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Looking for Alibrandi (1992)
Notes
A high-school English read.
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The Haunted Mask (1992)
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Say Cheese and Die! (1992)
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Monster Blood (1992)
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Mostly Harmless (1992)
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Screw-Jack (1991)
Reads
- | Read
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The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990)
Reads
- | Read
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The Prehistory of The Far Side (1989)
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The Eleventh Hour (1989)
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Animalia (1986)
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So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984)
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Hairy Maclary's Bone (1984)
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The Curse of Lono (1983)
Notes
Hunter's drug habit having taken its toll, I lost interest. Padded out with quotes and fluff, it reads poorly.
Reads
- - | Did Not Finish
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Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy (1983)
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The Meaning of Liff (1983)
Reads
- | Read
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Life, The Universe, and Everything (1982)
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The Restaurant At the End of the Universe (1980)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Reads
- - | Read
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)
Reads
- - | Read
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If Only They Could Talk (1970)
Reads
- - | Read
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Flowers for Algernon (1966)
Reads
- | Read
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964)
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
- - | Read
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A Clockwork Orange (1962)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Elements of Style (1959)
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
- - | Read
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Animal Farm (1945)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937)
Reads
- - | Read
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Of Mice and Men (1937)
Reads
- - | Read
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The Great Gatsby (1925)
Reads
- | Did Not Finish