Voltaire and the Triumph of the Enlightenment

Audible.com download of a Great Courses lecture series by Prof. Alan Charles Kors. It is Kors interpretation of the Enlightenment as told through the history of Voltaire. Kors is a very engaging, even gripping, lecturer. Recommended.

Plato, Socrates and the Dialogues by Michael Sugrue

This was an audible.com download of a Great Courses lecture series. It is an excellent intro to Plato and Socrates. Prof. Sugrue clearly loves his subject.

Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver

A classic on philosophy and culture that I have been meaning to read for a long time. It lives up to the hype. Written in 1948, Weaver diagnoses the sickness in our culture, tracing it to the triumph of nominalism over realism way back in the late middle ages. The best aspect of the book, and vindicating its analysis, is its prophetic nature.

The Gray Ghost Murders by Keith McCafferty

Second in the Sean Stranahan series. A solid entry, I'll continue with the series.

The Big Picture by Sean Carroll

A defense of the materialist/atheist worldview. Carroll is an engaging writer, but his effort fails due to the usual problems with materialism.

Black Ice by Michael Connelly

Second in the Harry Bosch series. An excellent entry.

Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger

Next in the Cork O'Connor mystery series.  A decent entry and good enough for me to try the next one.

Bad Religion by Ross Douthat

Against the notion that our country is becoming increasingly secular, Douthat advances the thesis that it is as religious as ever - only that religion is no longer orthodox Christianity but a variety of Christian heresies. These heresies dispense with the tensions and demands of the traditional faith and, usually, replace it with some sort of self-affirming vacuity. There's a lot more to it than that. An insightful read.

The Royal Wulff Murders by Keith McCafferty

Good mystery novel set in the West and involving trout fishing. The "Royal Wulff" is a fishing lure.

Something Other than God by Jennifer Fulwiler

A riveting conversation story - could hardly put it down.

Paradise Valley by C.J. Box

I haven't been keeping up this blog lately... but I did just finish C.J.Box's latest, featuring Cassie Dewell and a final showdown with the Lizard King. Very good.

Vicious Circle by C.J. Box

The latest in the Joe Pickett series. This is essentially a coda to the prior book in the series, and resolves the storyline with the Cates family.

Methodical Realism by Etienne Gilson

A short but brilliant work on realist philosophy and its fundamental differences from idealism. I've been meaning to read it for years.

The Modern Scholar: A History of the Church in the Middle Ages by Thomas Madden

A series of lectures reviewing church history spanning the Middle Ages. Good but not great. Listened to this while running.

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

The first in the Harry Bosch series of detective novels. Bosch, a Vietnam vet and a "tunnel rat", finds an old Vietnam comrade dead in a pipe, murdered. The investigation leads him to discover a conspiracy involving a gang of vets and, as might be expected but that is nonetheless satisfying, has him once again battling the bad guys in tunnels. A solid book in the old style.

Strangers in a Strange Land by Archbishop Charles Chaput

Excellent book discussing how to live as faithful Catholics in a post-Christian America.

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

Excellent Vietnam novel by a decorated Marine Officer. Maybe the best Vietnam novel I've read (another good one is The 13th Valley). Although I was never in combat, or in the Marine Corps during time of war, I underwent the same infantry training as Marlantes (which he references periodically throughout the book), so I am familiar with the routine tasks of infantry platoon leadership like leading patrols, setting up defensive positions, setting out listening posts, periodic position checks during the night, etc. Marinates relates the responsibility that goes with all this, and the fatigue that results from never getting more than a few hours of sleep with something always to do - along with the stress and terror of combat on top of it. Highly recommended.

Socrates, A Man for Our Times by Paul Johnson

A good study of Socrates by the historian Paul Johnson. Since the subtitle was "A Man for Our Times", I was expecting more concerning the contemporary relevance of Socrates, but this is a simply a straightforward study of Socrates and Socratic philosophy. To the extent that Socrates is a man for all times - and he is - then naturally he is a man for our times.

I prefer the older book on Socrates by Romano Guardini, as Guardini is more philosophically sophisticated than Johnson. I think Johnson is also a little hard on Plato, but Johnson is still excellent.

Socrates meets Kant by Peter Kreeft

This is an excellent entry in the "Socrates meets ..." series from Kreeft. A good introduction to Kant.

Approaches to God by Jacques Maritain

A short work by the great Thomas philosopher on the "many ways to God." Includes - beyond the Five Ways of St. Thomas - a Sixth Way from Maritain himself based on the experience of the intellect. Maritain is always worth reading.

Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

A comprehensive look at human history for a resolutely secular perspective. Eh.

Socrates Meets Kierkegaard by Peter Kreeft

One of the many "Socrates Meets X" books written by Kreeft. These books are quick reads and offer some good insights into the thinker under question. This book is essentially a commentary on Kierkegaard Philosophical Fragments.

Fancying myself passably educated in things Kierkegaard, I didn't always agree with Kraft's interpretation of him. But I did get a different perspective on Kierkegaard and for that reason the book is a valuable read.

The Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson

Fascinating story of the hunt for the wreck of a 17th century pirate ship, the rarest of finds among modern treasure hunters. Listened to while running

Elijah in Jerusalem by Michael D. O'Brien

The sequel to O'Brien's Father Elijah. A much shorter book than the first and not as action-packed, the theme of the book being Elijah's witness to the truth in Jerusalem. In this book Elijah's task is not so much to convert the Antichrist as to bear witness against him. The story is essentially Elijah's attempt to confront the Man of Sin, and his encounter with and witness to various people along the way. A worthy successor to the excellent Father Elijah.

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly

I listened to this book from Audible while running. It's the latest in a long series featuring the detective Harry Bosch, an old-school hardboiled cop/private eye. This one has Harry hired by a wealthy man to discover whether or not he has an heir. An excellent story, I'll read more in this series.

Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture by Michael D. O'Brien

I've been a longtime opponent of the Harry Potter series, since the time I first read them many years ago to discover if they were appropriate for my children. Michael D. O'Brien's book, written in 2010, presents an insightful criticism of Potter world as well as a critique of contemporary fantasy in general.