Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley

Outstanding work of narrative history concerning the contest for control of the Mediterranean Sea in the 16th century. From the conquest of Rhodes, to the Siege of Malta, to the Battle of Lepanto, it's all here, told in thrilling style. One of the most enthralling history books I've ever read.

Socrates by Paul Johnson

Johnson is an historian (maybe the greatest living historian), and he takes an historians approach to an introduction to Socrates. Excellent. (audiobook)

1984 by George Orwell

A classic I've always meant to read but never got around to. Finally listened to it in the car; one of the greatest novels I've ever read.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Aaron is reading this in his Brave New Worlds class at UMass, so I reread it to follow along. You can never read this one too many times.

The City of Man by Pierre Manent

This was a re-read of a book that is among the most profound philosophical reflections I have read. I was impressed the first time I read it, and found myself regularly returning to it. Some books almost take on a living presence in your life; you don't just read them, but you have a dialogue with them over years as you explore their depths. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript, and Plato's Dialogs are in this category for me. The City of Man, I am discovering, is entering it as well.

The Social Animal by David Brooks

David Brooks explains that human behavior is driven by emotion more than reason. Duh. An irritating feature of the book is Brooks commitment to appear politically even-handed; when he criticizes the left for something, he must follow it immediately by a criticism of the right, with himself positioned as some sort of Aristotelian mean between the two. Is it never the case that either the left or right is simply correct on some policy position? Is the wise position always a splitting of the difference between the two?

Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas

Since reading Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson, I've been looking forward to reading more about Hernan Cortes. Ruthless, ambitious, pious, charismatic, brave, perceptive and clever, Cortes is an altogether fascinating man. Hugh Thomas's account of the conquest of Tenochtitlan does him justice.

Philosophy in the Mass Age by George Grant

Series of essays by Canadian philosopher George Grant on the possibilities of philosophy in our technocratic world.

The Omen by David Seltzer

The novel on which the movie was based. The film follows it very closely.

Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler

I used to read Cussler in high school; pure bubblegum.

Crazy U by Andrew Ferguson

This is Ferguson's recounting of his travails in getting his son admitted to college. Very funny.

The New Concise History of the Crusades by Thomas Madden

I've been recalcitrant at keeping my reading log up to date. This book is an excellent short history of the Crusades, fair without the usual Enlightenment prejudices.