{"id":20153,"date":"2021-12-31T23:59:22","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T04:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/?p=20153"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:14:16","slug":"my-2021-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/?p=20153","title":{"rendered":"My 2021 Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>

My 2021 Reading<\/p><\/div>\n

Jump Back to my 2020 Reading List<\/a> or Jump Forward to my 2022 Reading List<\/a><\/p>\n

As the year started I had four fairly substantial books that I wanted to read this year. They were The Faerie Queene<\/em> (1,043 pages), Don Quixote<\/em> (957 pages), The City of God<\/em> (1,142 pages), and The Bible. I’ve read the Bible straight through in its entirety a few times before but wanted to read in a different version, the relatively new English Standard Version (ESV), published in 2001 by Crossway. The copy I have, a study Bible, runs 2,091 pages of actual Biblical text, although to be fair, the pages probably average somewhere in the range of 40% to 50% notes. Nevertheless, even without notes it’s a fairly long book and I got through it in 25 days. Are these all ‘Lifetime Achievement Books’? I don’t know, but they are significant, anyway.<\/p>\n

I had a few other books in my ‘to-read’ pile and of course we went to our two favorite used book stores a few times throughout the course of the year. As you can see from the photo and the list below, I got through quite a varied collection. I’ve put the information in a table that can be sorted by the order I read them (the default order), or by title, author, or date published. If you are interested in comparing this to last year, I’ve updated last year’s post<\/a>, putting the list of books into a table similar to this one.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My 2021 Reading<\/p><\/div>\n

Note about dates: If the work was written over a period of years, sorting by date will use the latest date. The most notable example is the Bible, written over a period of about 1,500 years. It is listed as though it were published in A.D. 96 (the latest accepted date for the writing of the Book of Revelation). Also, I only label dates with B.C. or A.D. if they are earlier than A.D. 1000. All unlabeled dates are A.D.<\/p>\n

I have a stack of 27 books waiting to be read starting in the new year (a.k.a. tomorrow). That includes a few larger works, such as General Sherman’s Memoirs<\/em>, Bonhoeffer<\/em> by Eric Metaxas, and a book of poetry and prose by John Milton (including Paradise Lost<\/em>), and the other two volumes of Livy (The War with Hannibal<\/em> and Rome and the Mediterranean<\/em>. I also want to read six or so more plays by Shakespeare in my hopes to read all 39 of them (I’ve read 14 so far). <\/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\n\n\n
Order   
Read   <\/th>\n		Title<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nDate   <\/th>\nNotes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\nFaerie Queene<\/span> The Faerie Queene<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSpenser, Edmund (circa 1552 \u2013 January 13, 1599)<\/td>\nwritten in 1590 and 1596<\/td>\nThis is a longish book and the spellings are archaic, which made it fairly slow going. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it quite a bit.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nMr. Midshipman<\/span> Mr. Midshipman Hornblower<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nForester, C. S. (August 27, 1899 \u2013 April 2, 1966)<\/td>\n1950<\/td>\nChronologicaly, this is the first Hornblower novel. Start here.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nHow to Make Your Money Last<\/span> How to Make Your Money Last<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nQuinn, Jane Bryant (born February 5, 1939)<\/td>\n2016<\/td>\nAs I near retirement, the questions answered by this book become more and more important. But I don’t think it’s ever too early to begin asking them.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nLife’s Little Ironies<\/span> Life’s Little Ironies<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 \u2013 January 11, 1928)<\/td>\n1927<\/td>\nThis collection of short stories was originally published in 1894, and republished in 1927 with a slightly different collection of stories. I have and read the 1927 version.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nDon Quixote<\/span> Don Quixote<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nCervantes, Miguel de (September 29, 1547 \u2013 April 22, 1616)<\/td>\n1605 and 1615<\/td>\nParts of this were absolutely beautiful. Other parts dragged and I couldn’t wait to get through them. Overall, a difficult book for me to finish but one I’m glad to have read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nIsland of the Day Before<\/span> The Island of the Day Before<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEco, Umberto (January 5, 1932 \u2013 February 19, 2016)<\/td>\n1994<\/td>\nTranslated into English in 1995. This is a somewhat bizarre story by someone described on Wikipedia as an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic and political and social commentator.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nAbolition of Man<\/span> The Abolition of Man<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\n1947<\/td>\nIf it’s by Lewis, I’m going to recommend it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nAct of Courage<\/span> An Act of Courage<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMallinson, Allan (born February 6, 1949)<\/td>\n2005<\/td>\nThis is the seventh Matthew Hervey story, set mostly in the Iberian penensula.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nMayor of Casterbridge<\/span> The Mayor of Casterbridge<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 \u2013 January 11, 1928)<\/td>\n1886<\/td>\nSubtitled The Life and Death of a Man of Character<\/em>. As much a comedy of errors as anything. Very entertaining.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nEscape from Camp 14<\/span> Escape from Camp 14<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nDong-hyuk, Shin (born November 19, 1982 or 1980) and Journalist Blaine Harden (born 1952)<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\nSubtitled One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey From North Korea to Freedom in the West<\/em>. From a literary standpoint, this is a weak book. However, from a cultural and historical perspective, it’s terrific. Read it and be amazed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nIsland of Doctor Moreau<\/span> The Island of Doctor Moreau<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWells, H. G. (September 21, 1866 \u2013 August 13, 1946)<\/td>\n1896<\/td>\nI picked up a bunch of Wells’ book at the used book store and this is the first of them I’ve read. It’s not fabulous, to be honest. Clever, but not great.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nMiddlemarch<\/span> Middlemarch<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEliot, George (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans, November 22, 1819 \u2013 December 22, 1880)<\/td>\n1871 and 1872<\/td>\nI liked this novel quite a bit. Eliot (Evans) is one of my top ten novelists.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nTime Machine<\/span> The Time Machine<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWells, H. G. (September 21, 1866 \u2013 August 13, 1946)<\/td>\n1895<\/td>\nLike Dr. Moreau<\/em>, I found this weak and not very believable. But it was a time.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nBible<\/span> The Bible<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEnglish Standard Version (ESV)<\/td>\nsometime before 1400 B.C. through somewhere around A.D. 96<\/td>\nPublished in 2001 by Crossway.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nAround The World In 80 Days<\/span> Around The World In 80 Days<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nVerne, Jules (February 8, 1828 \u2013 March 24, 1905)<\/td>\nEnglish translation published in 1873<\/td>\nThe movies made based on this depart from it a bit, but you know what’s going to happen. I’m still not sure why he didn’t notice his mistake when leaving New York, but that’s alright, I suppose.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nAdventures of Tom Sawyer<\/span> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTwain, Mark (a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, November 30, 1835 \u2013 April 21, 1910)<\/td>\n1876<\/td>\nI know I should have read this at some point but I also know I never did. Twain is somewhat out of favor these days, among the politically correct. But he was a man of his time and this was a book of its time.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nInvisible Man<\/span> The Invisible Man<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWells, H. G. (September 21, 1866 \u2013 August 13, 1946)<\/td>\n1897<\/td>\nThis is the third of my Wells books for the year. It was okay.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nAs I Lay Dying<\/span> As I Lay Dying<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nFaulkner, William (September 25, 1897 \u2013 July 6, 1962)<\/td>\n1930<\/td>\nThe first book by Faulkner I’ve ready. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Not a light read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nRichard II<\/span> Richard II<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\nprobably 1595<\/td>\nFollowing up from King John, we skip forward to Shakespeare’s second history, about Richard II, King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nGorgias<\/span> Gorgias<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPlato (circa 425 \u2013 circa 347 B.C. )<\/td>\ncirca 380 B.C.<\/td>\nAnother of Plato’s dialogues.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\nJude the Obscure<\/span> Jude the Obscure<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 \u2013 January 11, 1928)<\/td>\n1896<\/td>\nA somewhat sad tale—although for Thomas Hardy, perhaps it’s only midling sad—about a young man with dreams.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\nTolkien Reader<\/span> The Tolkien Reader<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolkien, J. R. R. (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973)<\/td>\n1966<\/td>\nThis contains four works, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son<\/em>, a short play first printed in an academic journal in 1953; Tree and Leaf<\/em>, 1964, which contains an essay called On Fairy Stories<\/em> and the short tale Leaf by Niggle<\/em>; Farmer Giles of Ham<\/em>, 1949, which I read last year; and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil<\/em>, 1962, a collection of 16 poems.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\nAdventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/span> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTwain, Mark (a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, November 30, 1835 \u2013 April 21, 1910)<\/td>\n1884<\/td>\nLike Tom Sawyer<\/em>, this is a book I was supposed to have read. I liked it even more than I liked Sawyer<\/em>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\nFarewell To Arms<\/span> A Farewell To Arms<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHemingway, Ernest (July 21, 1899 \u2013 July 2, 1961)<\/td>\n1929<\/td>\nThis is a more complicated and detailed story than The Old Man And The Sea<\/em>, which I read last year. I liked it well enough that I’ll be reading more Hemingway, if I get the chance.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\nHow (Not) To Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor<\/span> How (Not) To Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSmith, James K. A. (born October 9, 1970)<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\nThis is a review and summarization of A Secular Age<\/em>, 2007, by Charles Taylor (born November 5, 1931). Thought provoking and interesting, although I can’t say I always agree with either Smith or Taylor.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\nTempest<\/span> The Tempest<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\ncirca 1611<\/td>\nAnother of Shakespeare’s plays. I saw this one at Cambridge University in 1972 (or possibly 71).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
27<\/td>\nMaster and Man and Other Stories<\/span> Master and Man and Other Stories<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolstoy, Leo (September 9, 1828 \u2013 November 20, 1910)<\/td>\n1912<\/td>\nThis book includes three stories: Father Sergius<\/em>, written between 1890 and 1898 and published (posthumously) in 1911; Master and Man<\/em>, 1895; and the novella Hadji Murat<\/em>, written from 1896 to 1904 and published posthumously in 1912. These were really nice.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28<\/td>\nTroilus and Cressida<\/span> Troilus and Cressida<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\ncirca 1602<\/td>\nA somewhat lesser known play by Shakespeare.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
29<\/td>\nNjal’s Saga<\/span> Njal’s Saga<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nUnknown<\/td>\ncirca 1280<\/td>\nThis Icelandic saga relates events purported to have taken place between A.D. 960 and 1020. Very interesting.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30<\/td>\nSound and the Fury<\/span> The Sound and the Fury<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nFaulkner, William (September 25, 1897 \u2013 July 6, 1962)<\/td>\n1929<\/td>\nMy second Faulkner and the one I liked better of the two.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
31<\/td>\nCity of God<\/span> City of God<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nAugustine of Hippo (November 13, 354 \u2013 August 28, 430)<\/td>\nA.D. 413–427<\/td>\nThis has been on my reading list for years and I finally got around to it. Not an easy read, but worth the effort.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
32<\/td>\nLieutenant Hornblower<\/span> Lieutenant Hornblower<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nForester, C. S. (August 27, 1899 \u2013 April 2, 1966)<\/td>\n1952<\/td>\nThe fourth volume in the Hornblower saga.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
33<\/td>\nCossacks<\/span> Cossacks, The \/ Happy Ever After \/ The Death of Ivan Ilyich<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolstoy, Leo (September 9, 1828 \u2013 November 20, 1910)<\/td>\n1863, 1859, and 1886<\/td>\nThree novellas. Note that Happy Ever After<\/em> was originally published as Family Happiness<\/em>. Tolstoy has definitely moved into my top ten authors.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
34<\/td>\nWar In Heaven<\/span> War In Heaven<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWilliams, Charles (September 20, 1886 \u2013 May 15, 1945)<\/td>\n1930<\/td>\nWilliams is \u201cthe other Inkling\u201d and is hardly known today. Unlike the fiction of Tolkien or Lewis, Williams’ stories are set in the 20th century England. But he writes wonderfully and his stories are full of the supernatural.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35<\/td>\nPrince<\/span> The Prince<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMachiavelli, Niccol\u00f2 (May 3, 1469 \u2013 June 21, 1527)<\/td>\n1513<\/td>\nIt’s worth reading authors with whom you disagree. So, I read this. I still disagree, I guess.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\nChekhov<\/span> Best Plays by Chekhov<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nChekhov, Anton (January 29, 1860 \u2013 July 15, 1904)<\/td>\n1903<\/td>\nThe four plays in this book are: The Sea Gull<\/em> (1895), Uncle Vanya<\/em> (1898), The Three Sisters<\/em> (1900), and The Cherry Orchard<\/em> (1903). I’m not sure what point is being made by these plays, other than a glimpse into life at the time.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
37<\/td>\nRomola<\/span> Romola<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEliot, George (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans, November 22, 1819 \u2013 December 22, 1880)<\/td>\n1863<\/td>\nThis is a very different novel to the others by Eliot (Evans) that I’ve read. Set in Florence, Italy in the 1490s.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/td>\nTwo Gentlemen of Verona<\/span> Two Gentlemen of Verona<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\n1593<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\nAre Women Human<\/span> Are Women Human<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nSayers, Dorothy L. (June 13, 1893 – December 17, 1957)<\/td>\n1947<\/td>\nThis book contains a address—Are Women Human?<\/em>—given to a Women’s Society in 1938; and an essay—The Human-Not-Quite-Human<\/em>—from 1947. Do I need to tell you her conclusion? This is a short book that makes an important point (or two).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40<\/td>\nNibelungenlied<\/span> The Nibelungenlied<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nUnknown poet<\/td>\ncirca 1200<\/td>\nThis epic is known today mostly through Richard Wagner’s operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen<\/em>, although his version differs in some ways from the original story. The setting is Germanic-speaking Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
41<\/td>\nHandful of Dust<\/span> A Handful of Dust<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nWaugh, Evelyn (October 28, 1903 \u2013 April 10, 1966)<\/td>\n1934<\/td>\nI enjoyed this novel.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
42<\/td>\nLost in the Cosmos<\/span> Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPercy, Walker (May 28, 1916 \u2013 May 10, 1990)<\/td>\n1983<\/td>\nThe early parts of this book ask some very interesting questions and I was expecting to recommend it fairly highly. As you go through it, though, the author seems to become more sure of himself and less sure of anyone else. So, meh.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
43<\/td>\nIdylls of the King<\/span> Idylls of the King<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTennyson, Alfred, Lord (August 6, 1809 \u2013 October 6, 1892)<\/td>\npublished between 1859 and 1885<\/td>\nI didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It tells the story of King Arthur, his knights, Guinevere, etc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
44<\/td>\nBetween Heaven and Hell<\/span> Between Heaven and Hell<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nKreeft, Peter John (born March 16, 1937)<\/td>\n1982<\/td>\nThe book is subtitled A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis, & Aldous Huxley<\/em>. All three died on the same day, November 22, 1963, and this is a Socratic dialog on faith between the three of them when they meet in Purgatory. I have the expanded edition published in 2008. Highly recommended.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45<\/td>\nHenry IV, Part 1<\/span> Henry IV, Part 1<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\ncirca 1597<\/td>\nFollowing Richard II<\/em>, we get the first of two plays about Henry IV, King of England from 1399 to 1413.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
46<\/td>\nCivilization And Its Discontents<\/span> Civilization And Its Discontents<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nFreud, Sigmund (May 6, 1856 \u2013 September 23, 1939)<\/td>\n1930<\/td>\nFollowing my policy of reading people with whom I disagree, this confirmed my disagreement with Freud.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
47<\/td>\nOn The Road<\/span> On The Road<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nKerouac, Jack (March 12, 1922 \u2013 October 21, 1969)<\/td>\n1957<\/td>\nThis was a very interesting read of a culture and time I’m fairly unfamiliar with. I can’t say I envy Kerouac, particularly, but I found him and his friends fascinating.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
48<\/td>\nSeven Gothic Tales<\/span> Seven Gothic Tales<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nDinesen, Isak (a.k.a. Karen Blixen, 17 April 1885 \u2013 7 September 1962)<\/td>\n1934<\/td>\nThe seven stories are: The Deluge at Norderney<\/em>, The Old Chevalier<\/em>, The Monkey<\/em>, The Roads Round Pisa<\/em>, The Supper at Elsinore<\/em>, The Dreamers<\/em>, and The Poet<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
49<\/td>\nHenry IV, Part 2<\/span> Henry IV, Part 2<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nShakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 \u2013 April 23, 1616)<\/td>\ncirca 1599<\/td>\nAnd the second of Shakespeare’s plays about Henry IV.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\nGrief Observed<\/span> A Grief Observed<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLewis, C. S. (29 November 1898 \u2013 22 November 1963, as N. W. Clerk)<\/td>\n1961<\/td>\nThis book really, really resonated with me. If you’ve lost someone close to you, read this book.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
51<\/td>\nMetamorphoses<\/span> Metamorphoses<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nOvid (P\u016bblius Ovidius N\u0101s\u014d, March 20, 43 B.C. \u2013 A.D. 17 or 18)<\/td>\nA.D. 8<\/td>\nSo many myth stories. Great stuff.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
52<\/td>\nCicero<\/span> The Basic Works of Cicero<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nCicero, Marcus Tullius (January 3, 106 \u2013 December 7, 43 B.C.)<\/td>\nbetween 63 and 43 B.C.<\/td>\nThe works included in this Modern Library edition are: On Moral Duty<\/em>, book 1, circa 43 B.C.; Tusculan Disputations<\/em>, book 1, circa 43 B.C.; On Old Age<\/em>, 44 B.C.; Scipio’s Dream<\/em>, from On The Republic<\/em>, 51 B.C.; On The Character Of The Orator<\/em>, book 1, 55, B.C.; First Oration Against Catiline<\/em>, November 7, 63 B.C.; Second Oration Against Catiline<\/em>, December 5, 63 B.C.; For Caelius<\/em>, April 4, 56 B.C.; The Second Philippic<\/em>, 44 B.C.; and selected Letters.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
53<\/td>\nDubliners<\/span> Dubliners<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nJoyce, James (February 2, 1882 \u2013 January 13, 1941)<\/td>\nwritten 1905 but not published until 1914<\/td>\nI frankly don’t know what the fuss is all about. This was a good story and not, as far as I could tell, anything to get worked up about.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
54<\/td>\nNatural History<\/span> Natural History<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPliny the Elder (A.D. 23\/24 \u2013 August 24, 79)<\/td>\ncirca A.D. 79<\/td>\nInteresting stuff.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55<\/td>\nRome and Italy<\/span> Rome and Italy<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nLivy (Titus Livius, 59 B.C. \u2013 A.D. 17)<\/td>\ncirca 27 B.C.<\/td>\nLivy’s History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita Libri<\/em>) contained 142 books, of which 35 are extant. This volume contains books six through ten, picking up where the first volume (The Early History of Rome<\/em>, which I read last year) left off after the Gallic occupation in 386 B.C. and runs up to about 293 B.C., part way through the Third Samnite War (298\u2013290 B.C.).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/li>\n
56<\/td>\nPortrait of the Artist<\/span> A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nJoyce, James (February 2, 1882 \u2013 January 13, 1941)<\/td>\noriginally published in serial form from February, 1914 through September, 1915 in The Egoist<\/em><\/td>\nThis was another good story. The two Joyce books I read this year were my introduction to his work. Probably won’t be the last.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
57<\/td>\nJewish War<\/span> The Jewish War<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nJosephus, Titus Flavius (born Yosef ben Matityahu, A.D. 37 \u2013 circa 100)<\/td>\ncirca A.D. 75<\/td>\nAnyone who knows the Christmas story knows about King Herod. But reading this really put a lot into perspective. It may not be as historically accurate as we might want, but it’s worth reading.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
58<\/td>\nHorologicon<\/span> Horologicon<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMark Forsyth (born 2 April 1977)<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\nSubtitled “A Day’s Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language”. Interesting book on some interesting words.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
59<\/td>\nBrave New World<\/span> Brave New World<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nHuxley, Aldous Leonard (July 26, 1894 \u2013 November 22, 1963)<\/td>\nwritten in 1931 and published in 1932<\/td>\nA dystopian future, although not as believable as some. But a good read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
60<\/td>\nDoctor Zhivago<\/span> Doctor Zhivago<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nPasternak, Boris Leonidovich (February 10, 1890 \u2013 May 30, 1960)<\/td>\n1957<\/td>\nTranslated by Max Hayward and Manya Harari, 1958. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Not a happy story, really, but a good one.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
61<\/td>\nEuripides I<\/span> Euripides I<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nEuripides (circa\u2009480 \u2013 circa\u2009406 B.C.)<\/td>\n414 B.C.<\/td>\nThe first of three volumes of plays by Euripides and volume five in the Modern Library’s The Complete Greek Tragedies<\/em>. The seven plays are: Alcestis<\/em> (438 B.C.), The Medea<\/em> (431 B.C.), The Heracleidae<\/em> (430 B.C.), Hippolytus<\/em> (428 B.C.), Cyclops<\/em> (unknown), Heracles<\/em> (416 B.C.), and Iphigenia in Tauris<\/em> (414 B.C.).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
62<\/td>\nCompany of Spears<\/span> Company of Spears<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nMallinson, Allan (born February 6, 1949)<\/td>\n2006<\/td>\nThis is the eighth Matthew Hervey story, this time set in South Africa and fighting the Zulus.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
63<\/td>\nMonsters and the Critics<\/span> The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nTolkien, J. R. R. (January 3, 1892 \u2013 September 2, 1973)<\/td>\nFrom 1931 to 1959<\/td>\nThis is a collection of essays, published in 2006 by Christopher Tolkien. The parts are: Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics<\/em> (1936), On Translating Beowulf<\/em> (1940), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight<\/em> (1953), On Fairy-Stories<\/em> (1939), English and Welsh<\/em> (1955), A Secret Vice<\/em> (1931), Valedictory Address<\/em> (1959).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\nJump Back to my 2020 Reading List<\/a> or Jump Forward to my 2022 Reading List<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jump Back to my 2020 Reading List or Jump Forward to my 2022 Reading List As the year started I had four fairly substantial books that I wanted to read this year. They were The Faerie Queene (1,043 pages), Don Quixote (957 pages), The City of God (1,142 pages), and The Bible. I’ve read the … 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\/20153"}],"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=20153"}],"version-history":[{"count":131,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24964,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20153\/revisions\/24964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henryhartley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}