Fiction
There is enough ugliness in the world, so my fiction choices have been shaped to avoid dark or distressing themes. I have returned to favoured authors like Sebastian Faulks as well as ones that I trust will have an undercurrent of love and wonder (e.g. Robbie Arnott and Trent Dalton). I also frequently picked up easy reads.
- Siang Lu: Ghost Cities
- Tracy Chevalier: The Glassmaker
- Frederick Forsyth: The Afghan
- Ian Rankin: A Song for the Dark Times
- Jennifer Croft: The Extinction of Irena Rey
- Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials (trilogy)
- Jostein Gaarder: Sophie’s World
- Sebastian Faulks: Charlotte Gray
- Alba de Céspedes: Forbidden Notebook
- Robbie Arnott: Limberlost
- Nikos Kazantzakis: Zorba the Greek
- John Scalzi: Redshirts
- Morris West: The Lovers
- Ursula K. Le Guin: The Dispossessed
- Aristophanes: The Clouds
Zorba the Greek was a surprise for its out-there-ness. Ursula Le Guin met my high expectations. The Forbidden Notebook was intensely captivating – and a clear influence on the (extraordinary) Neopolitan Novels. Ghost Cities was, for the most part, quirky, lyrical, and quite wonderful – but the ending was abrupt and unfulfilling. The Extinction of Irena Rey was also fun and clever, but I found it hard going at times. The Clouds was a slog (maybe it was the translation), with bits of hilarity and brilliance.
Non-fiction
I have been spending a lot more time in libraries this year due to my chauffeuring home educator responsibilities. While I wait for my daughter to finish her library-based classes, I can spend time avoiding doing my own work by trawling through the library catalogues for books by writers I have heard interviewed. It has given rise to a more diverse reading experience.
The availability of books in audio has also significantly influenced my reading. There are many books that I may once have been disinclined to pick up in print that I now get through quite easily in audio. It has almost led me to begin opening these types of books in print. And while audio is so convenient and efficient, I miss having the option to flick back over a book and see something in words. Sometimes, this is what you need for true absorption. The answer, of course, would be to have multiple sense ‘reading’ but few of us buy audio and print together.
- Jonathan Haidt: Anxious Generation
- Cal Newport: Digital Minimalism
- Cal Newport: Slow Productivity
- Oliver Burkeman: Four Thousand Weeks
- Aidan McCullen: Undisruptable
- Anne Applebaum: Autocracy Inc.
- Douglas Murray: War on the West
- Trent Dalton: Love Stories
- Johann Hari: Stolen Focus
- Alberto Angela: A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome
- Gustave Rathe: The Wreck of the Barque Stefano off the North West Cape of Australia in 1875
- Steven Bartlett: Diary of a CEO – 33 Laws of Business and Life
- Alexei Navalny: Patriot
- Plato: The Apology of Socrates
- Plato: Crito
Like so many people, The Anxious Generation has been hugely influential on my parenting decisions. Jonathan Haidt’s substack, After Babel, is also important reading. All the related books on fighting the golden cage of online engagement have been eye-opening, inspiring, alarming, and so much more. My love-hate relationship with tech is something I will grapple with at some point in a blog or essay, but for now, I am trying to strengthen myself in this frenemy contest by reading more books.
Autocracy Inc. was brilliant. As was The War on the West. It’s unlikely I would have picked up the latter if it weren’t for October 7 and its consequences. While Douglas Murray is brilliant, I am not yet an acolyte. But his arguments are compelling, and his recommendation to watch Kenneth Clark’s 1969 documentary series Civilisation was welcome, particularly in view of our home ed focus on ideas.
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome, borrowed from the library for home education purposes, was a surprisingly interesting find. As was the short but riveting The Wreck of the Barque Stefano off the North West Cape of Australia in 1875, an account of survival by a 16-year-old shipwreck survivor and his shipmate, including their rescue by the Aboriginal people who took them in and cared for them.
Non-Book Reading
We are subscribers to The Age, which I check more often than I should each day, and The Saturday Paper, which I read in full weekly. I’ll often go through the Australian Jewish News, but not always. We get the Jewish Quarterly, I print out Sapir each quarter for Shabbat reading, and the occasional article from Mosaic.
Interesting Documentaries
I’ve mentioned Kenneth Clark’s series Civilisation which we are still getting through. I enjoyed the latest Bill Gates documentary series on Netflix, in which he once again tries to solve the world’s ills. But the most powerful documentary series I watched this year was Turning Point – The Cold War and the Bomb. It’s a nine-part series and thoroughly worth watching. On a homeschool front, my daughter and I enjoyed the Netflix docuseries Roman Empire (although it had lots of sex, so she was constantly looking away).
On Reflection
These Numbers are Not Good
It feels like I don’t read much at all and am always staring at a screen, so the fact that I have compiled a list of 25 books read (plus some shorter pieces) seems, at first glance, to suggest things are better than I thought. But, on closer inspection, at least six of the non-fiction books were audio, meaning my eyes-to-print activity was pretty average. I also know that most of these books were read on Shabbat or Jewish festivals. This means I have lovely brain-nourishing days once a week but the rest of the week is overfilled with screen time. Furthermore, I read fast, which proves these numbers are meagre – at least, for someone who was once a voracious reader.
Take Away: Read more! SPEND LESS TIME ATTACHED TO A SCREEN.
I’m Reading Business Books?
It’s been a surprise to develop an interest in business books. But that, I suppose, is a natural consequence of running a business. Most of these books are consumed in audio and complement many of the podcast interviews I listen to. They have been useful – not only on a business front.
Not Enough Jewish Content
Apart from the Jewish magazines, I don’t feel I am reading enough Jewish texts, especially for a publisher of Jewish texts!!! That needs to change in 2025.