{"id":19742,"date":"2020-12-31T10:49:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T15:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/?p=19742"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:14:33","slug":"my-2020-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/?p=19742","title":{"rendered":"My 2020 Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>

My 2020 Reading<\/p><\/div>\n

Jump Forward to my 2021 Reading List<\/a><\/p>\n

This year was something of a landmark for me in terms of reading. For a while now I’ve been trying to read some of the books that I should have read in high school or college (or perhaps that I should have been supposed to read, if you follow me). Over the last dozen years or so, I’ve gotten through a significant number, including fiction by Austen, Bronte, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Dufoe, Hardy, Melville, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and Zola, to name but a few. I’ve read some of the classics, including Greek and Roman historians, playwrights, and philosophers and some significant modern non-fiction, as well. Late last year, though, I decided to step it up a notch. My goal was to read 26 books with some significant number of them being big, important or serious books. As it turns out—and no one is more surprised than I am—I aimed low.<\/p>\n

All the books I read this year are pictured here. Some of them are short and very easy to read, but a few of them are what Dorothy and I have taken to calling “Lifetime Achievement Books.” Specifically, the three volumes of The Gulag Archipelago<\/em> (weighing in at a combined 1,818 pages), Moby Dick<\/em> (‘only’ 459 pages but seriously, get to the whale already!), The History of the Peloponnesian War<\/em> (574 pages), The Tale of Genji<\/em> (1,139 pages), and War and Peace<\/em> (1,136 pages).<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My 2020 Reading<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is the full list of books read in 2020 in the order I read them. Overall, I’ve enjoyed much of what I read. Some were not so much enjoyable as worthwhile. For instance, The Gulag Archipelago<\/em> is not light or enjoyable, but it’s important. Personally I think it should be required reading, along with The Hiding Place<\/em>. Obviously Jack London, the Narnia books by Lewis, and a few others are on the other end of the difficulty spectrum and provided a needed respite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Order   
Read   <\/th>\n		Title<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nDate   <\/th>\nNotes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\nAnna Karenin<\/span> Anna Karenin<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolstoy, Leo (September 9, 1828 \u2013 November 20, 1910)<\/td>\n1878<\/td>\nI actually started this on December 23, 2019, so only a third or so was read this year. My first book by Tolstoy and I have to say I really enjoyed it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nGulag Archipelago 1<\/span> The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation<\/em>, Volume 1<\/strong><\/td>\nSolzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich (December 11, 1918 \u2013 August 3, 2008)<\/td>\nFrom 1958 and 1968, English translation by Thomas Whitney, 1974<\/td>\nI believe this should be required reading at some level (high school or college). Although the Soviet Union no longer exists as it was, what happened there can—and almost certainly will—happen again, although in a different guise.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nBrideshead Revisited<\/span> Brideshead Revisited<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWaugh, Evelyn (October 28, 1903 \u2013 April 10, 1966)<\/td>\n1945<\/td>\nA miniseries was made in 1981 that is pretty faithful to the book. But the book is still better. Enjoyable and even a little thought provoking.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nMoby Dick<\/span> Moby Dick<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMelville, Herman (August 1, 1819 \u2013 September 28, 1891)<\/td>\n1851<\/td>\nOne of those books that everyone knows but few have actually read. You could make a much shorter, abridged version and not really detract from the story. I mean, seriously, get to the whale already.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nSilas Marner<\/span> Silas Marner<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEliot, George (Mary Ann Evans, November 22, 1819 \u2013 December 22, 1880)<\/td>\n1864<\/td>\nA lovely short story. I really enjoyed it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nMan With The Gash<\/span> The Man With The Gash<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLondon, Jack (January 12, 1876 \u2013 November 22, 1916)<\/td>\n1901<\/td>\nShort Stories, set in the arctic.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nIn Parenthesis<\/span> In Parenthesis<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nJones, David (November 1, 1895 \u2013 October 28, 1974)<\/td>\n1937<\/td>\nA book length, modern poem about the First World War.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nTristram Shandy<\/span> Tristram Shandy<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSterne, Laurence (November 24, 1713 \u2013 March 18, 1768)<\/td>\nbetween 1759 and 1767<\/td>\nI bought this because the title seemed familiar to me, bit I’m not sure if I’d classify it as a classic. Enjoyable but not great.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nBeowulf<\/span> Beowulf: A New Verse Translation<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nUnknown, translated in 1999 by Seamus Heaney (April 13, 1939 \u2013 August 30, 2013)<\/td>\n8th century<\/td>\nI haven’t read Beowulf<\/em> since collece and when I came across this new verse translation, I thought I’d give it a read. It has the Anglo-Saxon on the left and the modern English on the right.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nRepublic<\/span> The Republic<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPlato (circa 425 \u2013 circa 347 B.C.)<\/td>\n375 B.C.<\/td>\nMy goal is to read all of Plato’s dialogs.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nFrankenstein<\/span> Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShelley, Mary (August 30, 1797 \u2013 February 1, 1851)<\/td>\n1818<\/td>\nNot really much like the movie, in case you are wondering. Much more nuanced.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nConfessions<\/span> Confessions<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nAugustine of Hippo (November 13, 354 \u2013 August 28, 430 AD)<\/td>\nA. D. 397<\/td>\nI read an old translation years ago but wanted to read it again. I saw this new (2001) translation by Philip Burton and figured the time was right.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nJugurthine War<\/span> The Jugurthine War<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus, 86 \u2013 circa 35 B.C.)<\/td>\n44 B.C.<\/td>\nThe Jugurthine War was fought between the Romans and the Numidian King Jugurtha from 112 through 105 B.C. This book also has a second work, The Conspiracy of Catiline<\/em>, dealing with events in Rome in 63 B.C.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nMacbeth<\/span> Macbeth<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\naround 1606<\/td>\nYou know the story, probably. Don’t do what he did.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nGenji<\/span> The Tale of Genji<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMurasaki, Lady (circa A.D. 970 circa 1030)<\/td>\nearly 11th century<\/td>\nThis is a long novel (three pages longer than War and Peace<\/em>), written about 1,000 years ago, set in imperial Japan. Quite fascinating to read, although a cheat sheet with names would be helpful.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nRecovering Eden<\/span> Recovering Eden: The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEswine, Zack (born 1969)<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\nOne of the few books written by a living author this year. I understood what he was saying and basically agreed, but I found his way of talking a little to hip for my teste.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nHobbit<\/span> The Hobbit<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolkien, J. R. R. (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973)<\/td>\n1937<\/td>\nThe classic (and much<\/em> better than the movie).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nLives of the Twelve Caesars<\/span> The Lives of the Twelve Caesars<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSuetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, circa A.D. 69 \u2013 sometime after 122)<\/td>\nA. D. 121<\/td>\nAbout (not too surprisingly): Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nCanterbury Tales<\/span> The Canterbury Tales<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nChaucer, Geoffrey (c.\u20091340s \u2013 October 25, 1400)<\/td>\nbetween 1387 and 1400<\/td>\nLike the edition of Beowulf, this has the modern English along side the original, which I find interesting. I can’t say that I enjoyed this as much as I thought I might.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nPractice of the Presence of God<\/span> The Practice of the Presence of God<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLawrence, Brother (c. 1614 \u2013 February 12, 1691)<\/td>\nlate 17th century<\/td>\nCompiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort around 1692. I love this little book and try to read it every couple years. I also try to put Brother Lawrence’s practice into practice, but without a huge amount of success.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\nDeath of Death<\/span> The Death of Death in the Death of Christ<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nOwen, John (1616 – August 24, 1683)<\/td>\n1647<\/td>\nThe introduction by J. I. Packer is probably worth the price of the book. This is a fairly lone defense of the doctrine of limited atonement.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\nAlice<\/span> Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nCarroll, Lewis, (a.k.a. C. L. Dodgson, January 27, 1832 \u2013 January 14, 1898)<\/td>\n1865<\/td>\nThis book contains Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em> (1865), Through The Looking-Glass<\/em> (1871), and The Hunting Of The Snark<\/em> (1876).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\nConsolation of Philosophy<\/span> The Consolation of Philosophy<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nBoethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus Bo\u00ebthius, c. A.D. 477 \u2013 524)<\/td>\nA. D. 524,<\/td>\nI found this quite interesting. How philosophy personified came to the aid of a man in desperate circumstances.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\nHistory<\/span> The History<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTacitus (circa A.D. 56 – sometime after 117)<\/td>\nbetween A. D. 100 and 110,<\/td>\nMore first century Roman history, written around the time of Hadrian.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\nHistory of the Kings of Britain<\/span> The History of the Kings of Britain<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nGeoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095 \u2013 c. 1155)<\/td>\n1136<\/td>\nCovering Britain from the earliest time, from its founding by Brutus, great-grandson of the Trojan Aeneas through King Cadwaladr in the latter half of the 7th century.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\nFive Dialogues<\/span> Five Dialogues<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPlato (circa 425 \u2013 circa 347 B.C.)<\/td>\n5th or 4th centuries, B.C.<\/td>\nMore Plato<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
27<\/td>\nPeloponnesian War<\/span> The History of the Peloponnesian War<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nThucydides (circa\u2009460 \u2013 circa\u2009400 B.C.)<\/td>\ncirca 400 B.C.<\/td>\nPublished as The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War War<\/em>, 1996, by Robert B. Strassler. This was easier to get through than I expected. Athen’s really should have left Syracuse alone, though.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28<\/td>\nMagician’s Nephew<\/span> The Magician’s Nephew<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1955<\/td>\nI decided to read through the seven Narnia books in chronilogical rather than publication order. This one deals with the founding or creation of Narnia by Aslan.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
29<\/td>\nLion Witch and the Wardrobe<\/span> The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1950<\/td>\nThe four Pevensie children find themselves in Narnia.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30<\/td>\nHorse and His Boy<\/span> The Horse and His Boy<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1954<\/td>\nSet during the time of the Pevensie kingdom, this is the story of Shasta and a horse named Bree.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
31<\/td>\nPrince Caspian<\/span> Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1951<\/td>\nThe Pevensie children return and meet Prince Caspian and help him in his fight against his uncle Miraz.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
32<\/td>\nVoyage of the Dawn Treader<\/span> The Voyage of the Dawn Treader<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1952<\/td>\nThe two younger Pevensies, Edmund and Lucy return to Narnia with their cousin, Eustace Scrubb, and travel with Prince Caspian.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
33<\/td>\nSilver Chair<\/span> The Silver Chair<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1953<\/td>\nEustace escapes to Narnia with his classmate Jill Pole and they travel with Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle to rescue Prince Rilian<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
34<\/td>\nLast Battle<\/span> The Last Battle<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1956<\/td>\nThe end of the old Narnia and the beginning of the true and better Narnia.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35<\/td>\nFire Next Time <\/span> The Fire Next Time <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nBaldwin, James (August 2, 1924 \u2013 December 1, 1987)<\/td>\n1963<\/td>\nThis is a very worthy book on race relations and rightly a classic. Baldwin sometimes paints with too broad a brush, but then, it’s hard not to, sometimes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\nNicomachean Ethics<\/span> Nicomachean Ethics<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nAristotle (384 \u2013 322 B.C.)<\/td>\n4th century B.C.<\/td>\nI think I’m more of a Neoplatonist than an Aristotelian. But we need to read people we don’t always agree with and this is a classic that should definitely be read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
37<\/td>\nHiding Place<\/span> The Hiding Place<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nten Boom, Corrie (April 15, 1892 \u2013 April 15, 1983)<\/td>\n1971<\/td>\nI was given this book last year and once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/td>\nPurgatory<\/span> Purgatory<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nAlighieri, Dante (c.\u20091265 \u2013 1321)<\/td>\n1308<\/td>\nTranslated by Dorothy L. Sayers, (June 13, 1893 – December 17, 1957). I read the first portion of Dante’s Divine Comedy<\/em>, Inferno<\/em>, in late 2015. Of the three parts, I think I enjoyed Purgatory<\/em> the most. Are we allowed to enjoy purgatory?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\nWar and Peace<\/span> War and Peace<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolstoy, Leo (September 9, 1828 \u2013 November 20, 1910)<\/td>\n1869<\/td>\nWith the exception of a few sections, I enjoyed this book almost entirely. If you dropped out Tolstoy’s philosophy of war, there’s really be nothing to complain about. It’s long, but worth reading.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40<\/td>\nHouse of The Seven Gables<\/span> The House of The Seven Gables<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHawthorne, Nathaniel (July 4, 1804 \u2013 May 19, 1864)<\/td>\n1851<\/td>\nI think I was biased against Hawthorne because we had to read him in school. But this story is really nice. Not necessarily happy, but nice.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
41<\/td>\nGilgamesh<\/span> The Epic of Gilgamesh<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nUnknown<\/td>\npossibly 18th century B.C.<\/td>\nProbably the oldest thing I’ve read, from a time and a place we know little about.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
42<\/td>\nParadise<\/span> Paradise<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nAlighieri, Dante (c.\u20091265 \u2013 1321)<\/td>\n1321<\/td>\nTranslated by Dorothy L. Sayers, (June 13, 1893 – December 17, 1957). The third and final part of Dante’s Divine Comedy<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
43<\/td>\nRoumeli<\/span> Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nFermor, Patrick Leigh (February 11, 1915 \u2013 June 10, 2011)<\/td>\n1966<\/td>\nFermor writes beautifully and if you have any ethnographic interest in Greece, then this book is for you. His writing is like stepping into a time machine.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
44<\/td>\nMill on the Floss<\/span> The Mill on the Floss<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEliot, George (Mary Ann Evans, November 22, 1819 \u2013 December 22, 1880)<\/td>\n1860<\/td>\nNot as happy a book as Silas Marner, but a beautifully written, sad tale of life.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45<\/td>\nKing John<\/span> King John<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\n1595<\/td>\nThe first of Shakespeare’s histories. My goal is to read through them all. This one, unsurprisingly, is about John, King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
46<\/td>\nLord Jim<\/span> Lord Jim<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nConrad, Joseph (December 3, 1857 \u2013 August 3, 1924)<\/td>\n1900<\/td>\nDark and somewhat mysterious. I’m not sure whether or not I’m a fan.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
47<\/td>\nMani<\/span> Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nFermor, Patrick Leigh (February 11, 1915 \u2013 June 10, 2011)<\/td>\n1959<\/td>\nThis one wasn’t as interesting to me as Roumeli<\/em>, but still worth a read if you’re interested in the area.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
48<\/td>\nBeat to Quarters<\/span> Beat to Quarters<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nForester, C. S. (August 27, 1899 \u2013 April 2, 1966)<\/td>\n1937<\/td>\nOriginally published in England as The Happy Return<\/em>. If I want something light to read, I often look to either Horatio Hornblower or Matthew Hervey. Chronologically, this is the eighth Hornblower novel.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
49<\/td>\nGulag Archipelago 2<\/span> The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation<\/em>, Volume 2<\/strong><\/td>\nSolzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich (December 11, 1918 \u2013 August 3, 2008)<\/td>\nFrom 1958 and 1968, English translation by Thomas Whitney, 1974<\/td>\nThese three volumes are not easy to read. But, again, I believe they should be required reading.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\nCybernetics<\/span> Cybernetics<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWiener, Norbert (November 26, 1894 \u2013 March 18, 1964)<\/td>\n1948<\/td>\nThis was a book my dad had. It was written by a the famous mathematician and philosopher who was a professor when my dad was a grad student at MIT. I can’t say I understood all the math, but there was some interesting concepts that make the book worthwhile.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
51<\/td>\nProblem of Pain<\/span> The Problem of Pain<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1940<\/td>\nOne of the best by C. S. Lewis.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
52<\/td>\nGulag Archipelago 3<\/span> The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation<\/em>, Volume 3<\/strong><\/td>\nSolzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich (December 11, 1918 \u2013 August 3, 2008)<\/td>\nFrom 1958 and 1968, English translation by Thomas Whitney, 1974<\/td>\nIt’s easy to find used copies of the first volume of this trilogy but I had to hunt to find one copy of volume 2. I never did find volume 3 so I had to buy it new.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
53<\/td>\nRumours of War<\/span> Rumours of War<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMallinson, Allan (Born February 6, 1949)<\/td>\n2004<\/td>\nI mentioned Matthew Hervey above. He’s sort of the Horatio Hornblower of the Light Dragoons.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
54<\/td>\nEarly History of Rome<\/span> The Early History of Rome<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLivy (59 B.C. \u2013 A.D. 17)<\/td>\n29 to 27 B.C.<\/td>\nBooks 1 through 5 of Livy’s 142 volume History of Rome<\/em>, which cover the period from the founding of Rome to 386 B.C.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55<\/td>\nOld Man And The Sea<\/span> The Old Man And The Sea<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHemingway, Ernest (July 21, 1899 \u2013 July 2, 1961)<\/td>\n1952<\/td>\nThis is the first book by Hemingway I’ve read and I enjoyed it quite a bit.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
56<\/td>\nOut of Africa<\/span> Out of Africa<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nDinesen, Isak (a.k.a. Karen Blixen, April 17, 1885 \u2013 September 7, 1962)<\/td>\n1937<\/td>\nI sort of expected this to be a novel, but it’s really an autobiography. Still, interesting glimpse into a time and a place that’s changed since then.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
57<\/td>\nUnder The Greenwood Tree<\/span> Under The Greenwood Tree<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 \u2013 January 11, 1928)<\/td>\n1872<\/td>\nI find that I really like Hardy’s novels. This is a short one and was written early in his career. Recommended.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
58<\/td>\nCrime and Punishment<\/span> Crime and Punishment<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nDostoevsky, Fyodor (November 11, 1821 \u2013 February 9, 1881)<\/td>\n1866<\/td>\nThe third book by Dostoyevsky that I’ve read, after The Brothers Karamazov<\/em> and Poor Folk and Other Tales<\/em>. This is more of a psychological thriller. I liked Brothers K<\/em>, for the most part. This is very different but also a great read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
59<\/td>\nHistory of My Times<\/em><\/strong>, (Hellenica<\/span> A History of My Times<\/em><\/strong>, (Hellenica<\/em><\/strong>)<\/td>\nXenophon (circa\u2009430 \u2013 354 B.C.)<\/td>\n4th Century B.C.<\/td>\nCovering Greek history in the years following the Peloponnesian War.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
60<\/td>\nSmith of Wooton Manor<\/span> Smith of Wooton Manor and Farmer Giles of Ham<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolkien, J. R. R. (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973)<\/td>\npublished in 1967 and 1949, respectively<\/td>\nThis is a short book with a pair of fun stories.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Jump Forward to my 2021 Reading List<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jump Forward to my 2021 Reading List This year was something of a landmark for me in terms of reading. For a while now I’ve been trying to read some of the books that I should have read in high school or college (or perhaps that I should have been supposed to read, if you … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3328],"tags":[461,2735,2734,2225,2733],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19742"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24965,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19742\/revisions\/24965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}