Books Read in 2010: Part I, January-April

This is a list of the books I read during the calendar year 2010, in the order in which I completed them. Some of them were started during 2009, or possibly even earlier. This post covers the list through my notes for April 2010, meaning books finished in January-April 2010, and books started in January-April 2010, which were completed in the calendar year 2010. This excludes books begun in 2010, but which were completed in 2011.

As you will see, there are novels, histories, biographies, and books on an assortment of topics. There are sixteen books in this list covering four months of literary activity. I have made no attempt to sort or group these books in any particular fashion.

Michael Cox. The Meaning of Night. New York, London: W. W. Norton, 2006. 703 pages. ISBN 978-0-393-33034.2. Read 22 September 2009-27 January 2010.
Michael Jecks. The Malice of Unnatural Death. Great Britain: Headline, 2006. xiv + 399 pages.
Henning Mankell. Faceless Killers. New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2003. 280 pages. Read 15-18 January 2010.
Sean Williams. Cenotaxis. Austin, TX: MonkeyBrain Books, 2007. 111 pages. Read 15-21 January 2010.
Jay Lake. Escapement. New York: Tor Books, 2008. 384 pages. Read 29 January-12 February 2010.
Stephen Jones. The Monster Book of Zombies: Tales of the Walking Dead. New York: Metro Books, 2009. ix + 518 pages. Read 12 February-4 March 2010.
David Drake, Eric Flint, and Jim Baen. The World Turned Upside Down. New York: Baen Books, 2004. 743 pages. Read 17-27 February 2010.
Reporting World War II: American Journalism 1938-1946. New York: Library of America, 1995, 2001. xxiii + 874 pages. Read 20 February-14 April 2010.
N. A. M. Rodger. The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996. 445 pages. Index. Read 5 March-24 April 2010.
Matthew Hughes. Majestrum. San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2007. 247 pages. Read 9-16 March 2010.
Robert Asprey. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. New York: Basic Books, 2000. xxi + 580 pages. ISBN 0-465-04879-x. $37.50. Read 17 March-8 August 2010.
Robert L. Casey. Journey to the High Southwest: A Traveler's Guide to Santa Fe and the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Eighth edition. Guilford, CT: Insider's Guide, 2007. xix + 561 pages. Index. Read 13 April-30 September 2010.
Halka Chronic. Roadside Geology of Arizona. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1983. xix + 321 pages. ISBN 978-0-87842-147-3. $18.00. Glossary. Index. Read 16 April-25 May 2010.
Bernice Brode. Tales of Los Alamos: Life on the Mesa 1943-1945. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1997. 165 pages. Glossary. Glossary of Names. Index of Names. About the Author. Read 17 April-8 May 2010.
David Weber. By Heresies Distressed. 2009. 492 pages. Characters. Glossary. Read 22 April-5 May 2010.
Jo Nesbo. Nemesis. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: Harper, 2008. 474 pages. Read 22 April-31 July 2010.

Reading List: December 2010

In December, 2010, I was reading my usual half-dozen books.

The NIV Study Bible, read December 1-31, pages 1725-2172. (Finished)
The Poisonwood Bible, read December 3-5, pages ix-x and 1-66.
Crossroads of Twilight, read December 6-30, pages 267-700. (Finished)
The Koran for Dummies, read December 7-15, pages 24-78.
What Distant Deeps, read December 10-14, pages vii-x and 1-370. (Finished)
The Vampire Archives, read December 19-31, pages 635-809.
The Legions of Fire, read December 18-31, pages 7-76.

Two of these books, What Distant Deeps and The Legions of Fire were written by my friend, David A. Drake. What Distant Deeps is "space opera," another in a series of adventures with the Royal Cinnabar Navy. On the other hand, The Legions of Fire is a fantasy novel set in a close analog of ancient Rome called Carce.

9-9-9-ZERO

Herman Cain's "9-9-9" plan would cut corporate income taxes to 9%, cut personal income taxes to 9%, and create a federal sales tax at a 9% rate. So far, so simple. Winners and losers:

Anyone who pays more than 9% in federal income taxes should be a winner, right? Because of the graduated brackets in federal income taxes, with all the deductions and exemptions, nobody pays the nominal marginal rate for his or her income level.

However, Cain's plan would eliminate all deductions and exemptions, including home mortgage interest, which means that the 9% could apply to a much larger proportion of your actual income. Like all of it!

The sales tax, on top of state and local sales taxes, would be sharply regressive, and could discourage the recovery in retail sales. Moreover, unlike many state sales taxes, Cain's program would not exempt food or medicine from taxation. 9% on everything you buy, across the board. That adds up.

Cain's plan eliminates deductions and exemptions, but it drops income tax on capital gains from speculation in stocks and real estate altogether. That's a big exemption for the finance capitalists and the rentier class. (Those are the people who don't need exemptions.)

Reading List: November 2010

Some of the books I was reading in October, and even September, of 2010 continued on my list into November. I added a couple, and even read a few books straight through during the month.

The Third Chimpanzee, read November 1-10, pages 225-407. (Finished)
Nixonland, read November 1-6, pages 607-881. (Finished)
Crossroads of Twilight, read November 5-30, pages 7-266.
The Vampire Archives, read November 10-20, pages 555-633.
Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, read November 13-14, pages 1-232. (Finished)
The Janissary Tree, read November 14-30, pages 1-302. (Finished)
The Koran for Dummies, read November 15-30, pages 1-23.
The Spies of Warsaw, read November 18-21, pages 1-266. (Finished)

The Janissary Tree, by Jason Goodman, is a mystery set in the Ottoman Empire. Mr. Goodman is also the author of Lords of the Horizon, a history of the Ottoman Empire. I found it especially entertaining, because of the time I had spent in Turkey.

The Spies of Warsaw, by Alan Furst, is an accomplished book by a very accomplished author of historical fiction. To be precise, Alan Furst has written a large number of books set before and during World War II in various European countries, and he does a great job of evoking the atmosphere of looming disaster.

Reading List: October 2010

In this list, I'm going to skip the details of my reading in the NIV Study Bible. Not very exciting.

So, during the month of October, 2010, I read in the following books:

Nixonland, read September 1-31, pages 174-606.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, read September 11-21, pages 1-724. (Finished)
That Old Cape Magic, read September 12, pages 1-17.
The Third Chimpanzee, read September 16-31, pages 59-225.

October 2010 was the month in which I traveled to North Carolina for a memorial observance for my late mother-in-law, Rosalind Skeuse. After the gathering in North Carolina, we drove to Florida and worked on cleaning out her house. I suffered some serious dental problems while in Florida, the consequences of which are still working themselves out.

Reading List: September 2010

No, that isn't a typo. You read correctly that this is my list from September 2010, just over a year ago. It has been a long time since I updated these materials.

The NIV Study Bible, read September 1-30, pages 1175-1354
Jeremiah, read September 1-6, pages 1175-1206
Hebrews, read September 1-16, pages 1864-1876
Lamentations, read September 7-8, pages 1207-1217
Ezekiel, read September 8-22, pages 1218-1288
Daniel, read September 22-26, pages 1289-1310
Hosea, read September 26-28, pages 1312-1329
Joel, read September 28-30, pages 1330-1336
Amos, read September 30, pages 1337-1351
Obadiah, read September 30, pages 1352-1354
James, read September 17-30, pages 1878-1885

Journey to the High Southwest, read September 1-30, pages 182-561. (Finished)
Riding the Iron Rooster, read September 2-10, pages 210-480. (Finished)
The Vampire Archives, read September 2-14, pages 485-553.
Nixonland, read September 6-30, pages 46-174.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, read September 18-30, pages 1-590. (Finished)

A Bad Penny Always Turns Up (Again)

It has been quite some time since I updated this blog. My last post were was in April, 2011, and the previous one may have been in November 2010. Here we are in mid-October, 2011, and a lot has happened in the meantime.

For one thing, my "Current Reading List" is far out of date, and I've read many, many books since I last updated it. If I'm going to pursue this, I need to update that sidebar, and I need to post a number of articles on the reading I've done since the last update.

For another, we're back in another American presidential campaign cycle, which always tends to drain the substance and seriousness out of political conversation.

Finally, 2010 and 2011 have been difficult years, personally speaking, and I will post on some of the events which have made it so.

Welcome back, Glenn!

Welcome back, readers!

And a very good day to us all.