Reading List March 2026

·      The Natural Order of Things, Antonio Lobo Antunes, translated by Richard Zenith. Another great stream of consciousness novel from Antunes, this time about two families falling apart in a crumbling Portugal. I love the labyrinth Antunes builds with his prose, how the confused relation between the characters slowly unfolds, and how we rapidly jump between the thoughts of different characters. Always a challenge but always rewarding.

·      Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times, Stephen Batchelor. An interesting nonfiction book that explores the similarities and differences in the teachings of Buddha and Socrates. Well thought out explanations and investigations addressing how the teachings of the two men could aid us in living an ethical life. Considering how radically uncertain things are today I’m not sure I left with any immediate steps I could take in that direction, but still, good to be reacquainted with their line of thinking.

·      The Sanity Inspectors, Friedrich Deich, translated by Robert Kee. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel published by Boiler House Press. Sinclair McKay asks in his introduction ‘When an entire society is in the grip of a murderous set of beliefs, how might individuals retain their own moral foundations?’ He was setting up the background for The Sanity Inspectors but it is a question I ask myself on a regular basis about current affairs. And it is the question the protagonist Robert Vossmenge, a German air force psychiatrist in the 30’s and 40’s, struggles with throughout the story. Along the way Vossmenge debates the line between sanity and insanity, the need for compassion to understand others, and the role one should take in opposing oppressive and violent regimes. Truly an illuminating discussion.

·      The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. The first time I read this book was while getting my undergraduate degree, the second during my years of my master’s degree, and the third this month. A good book to return to often to understand oppression and the role of education in freeing oppressed people. Pertinent today as much as when it was written in the 60’s, it’s like Freire is directly addressing the growing American Oligarchy and the oppressive administration. Great reading!

·      A Philosophy of Walking, Frédéric Gros, translated by John Howe. I took this book with me on my week-long walk on Germany’s Rennstieg and read it when I was not walking the trail. It is a great accompaniment to a week of slow hiking on a fantastic trail. Because my wife and I were not feeling well we dramatically slowed down our hiking pace and walked some distance apart. I felt exactly what Gros was talking about in his book: feeling embraced by the environment, escaping my identity, clearing my mind, and having nothing to do but put one foot in front of the other. Gros discusses prominent philosophers who incorporated walking into their daily routines along with accompanying thoughts about his own wanderings and a general history of walking. This is a very interesting read with plenty of insightful comments about the idea of walking and what it means to slow down and rebel against speed.

·      On Kindness, Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor. Through historical, philosophical and psychoanalytic investigations Phillips and Taylor offer answers to the question why kindness seems so dangerous. They support the view that contemporary society drives out the natural kindness of children and that kindness is now seen as a weakness. A good primer on kindness

·      Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Rebecca Solnit. This was a nice companion read alongside Gros’ book while walking the Rennsteig. Unlike Gros’ focus on long distance walking, Solnit’s is an exhaustive history of walking, from walking in gardens and cities, to pilgrimages and marches. The guiding message of these essays is that walking ‘is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned.’ But Solnit also gives fair amount of time to the increasing lack of walking in today’s society due in large part to ‘automobilization and suburbanization.’ Not quite as intriguing as Gros’ book but still worth the read.

Reading List February 2026

Like January, a mere five books read this month, however the Weiss and the de Beauvoir both took a lot of time and effort. Very impressed with the Weiss and have the second and third volumes on my ‘to read’ shelf.

·      The Ethics of Ambiguity, Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Bernard Frechtman.

·      The Secret of Evil, Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews and Natasha Wimmer.

·      The Will to Change, bell hooks.

·      Forensic Songs, Mike McCormack.

·      The Aesthetics of Resistance: Volume I, Peter Weiss, translated by Joachim Neugroschel.

Reading List January 2026

I’m not sure why I only read five books in January but there it is. Like December, I put off writing brief reviews a bit too long so here I provide simply a list of my January books.

·      Plain Pleasures, Jane Bowles.

·      Tremor, Teju Cole.

·      Mrs. S, K. Patrick, 4th Estate, 2023.

·      Kokoro, Natsume Soseki, translated by Edwin McClellan.

·      All That Man Is, David Szalay.

Reading List December 2025

No reviews here because I put it off too long. Just a list of the books I read in December 2025.

·      Midnight is Not in Everyone’s Reach, António Lobo Antunes, translated by Elizabeth Lowe.

·      The Insufferable Gaucho, Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews and Natasha Wimmer.

·      Repetition, Soren Kiergegaard.

·      The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, Maxwell King

·      The Forensic Records Society, Magnus Mills.

·      Lapvona, Ottessa Moshfegh.

·      Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut.

Reading List November 2025

·      A Different Kind of Power, Jacinda Ardern. One of several books I am reading to make sense of the lack of gentleness in our world and my desire to see it practiced more widely. Ardern’s memoir discusses what she would later term empathetic leadership during her years as New Zealand’s prime minister. Beautiful story about the power of kindness over brutal and caustic social and political behavior.

·      Overcome Hardness with Softness, Sam Choo. Nonfiction addressing gentleness, flexibility, and calm thought as a kind of strength. More of an overview of this approach than an in-depth analysis but nicely written with encouraging thoughts about the viability of gentleness.

·      Power of Gentleness: Meditations on the Risk of Living, Anne Dufourmantelle, translated by Katherine Payne & Vincent Sallé. Dufourmantelle was a philosopher and psychoanalyst and provided an incredible account of gentleness in this brief text. She cogently discusses the power of gentleness and what a risk it is to live a gentle life: a risk she argues is worth taking. I will return to this amazing work sometime soon.

·      The Man of Feeling, Henry Mackenzie. I chose this book to understand how the author characterized gentleness. Written in the 18th century the story presents the protagonist’s gentleness as a virtue as opposed to the common view of gentleness as a weakness. Overall a decent story of one man’s life spent fiercely clinging to his empathetic approach towards others.

·      The Last Novel, David Markson. The conclusion to the trilogy includes more author notes and reminisces about artists and the creative process. A greater focus on death this time as the Novelist approaches his own. An enjoyable and challenging trilogy.

·      Soft Power, Joseph S Nye. Non-fiction explaining the role soft power plays in successful world politics, with emphasis on the United States. Written in 2004 so the data is outdated and much has changed in the world since then. Still, a useful text in my exploration of gentleness.

·      Good and Evil and Other Stories, Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell. I could read Schweblin stories all day long. This collection explores the things we lose during our lifetimes, from our voices, to loved ones, to valuable relationships. In the end, the characters are left to themselves to understand their losses. Quite supreme!

·      Flesh, David Szalay. Novel which just won the Booker Prize, I read it to see how Szalay presented the male voice, something many critics discussed. Another story of a man’s life, this time growing up in Hungary, emigrating to London, and finally returning to Hungary. The protagonist has very little to say so we learn about him from the situations he falls into, his successes and his failures. One of the main characters says about the protagonist Istvan he “represents a primitive form of masculinity” which I found to be an apt description of the character throughout the text.

Reading List October 2025

·      The Unworthy, Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses. Another incredible novel from the author of Tender is the Flesh, one of my favorite reads of 2020. This time the story takes place in a dystopian convent ruled over by a cruel male leader and an equally cruel Superior Sister. It is a brutal hierarchical world of women with plenty of abuse at all levels. Great story exploring misogyny, faith, and masochism. Scary how it mirrors our current world.

·      Babel, Gabriel Blackwell. A short story collection attempting to unravel the confusion we experience when we confront ourselves and those around us. Some interesting characters and situations but lacking as a whole.

·      The Return, Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews and Natasha Wimmer. Another incredible short story collection from Bolaño. This time along with his regular themes there is a greater focus on death. Wonderful stories!

·      Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. A classic novel and a pleasure to reread as part of my research on book banning for a series of short stories I am working on. Should be required reading for the folks working so tirelessly banning books these days.

·      Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes. Story of an expat couple living their 20’s through 40’s as web designers. They make sense of their lives and attempt to find meaning by procuring the ‘right’ consumer goods only to discover how empty their lives are after an adulthood spent emulating the digital world.

·      The Man Who Cried I Am, John A. Williams. A 1967 novel about a black writer navigating the world of politics and journalism. Wonderful study of mortality and interracial relations, including a vicious government plot to deal with racial problems.  

·      Solito, Javier Zamora. Harrowing memoir about a nine-year-old boy migrating to the USA from El Salvador, including the impressive story about the humanity showed by those who helped him on his way. The author does not include discussion about the pros and cons of migration but rather uses the platform to share the plight of those in the process. Certainly a valuable story to include in those discussions.

Reading List September 2025

·      Last Evenings on Earth, Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews & Natasha Wimmer. The first of four Bolaño short story collections I plan on rereading. Struggling and failed writers populate these incredible stories. These are downtrodden exiled characters and there is a continual threat of violence which propels the narratives.

·      American Abductions, Mauro Javier Cárdenas. This novel from Ecuador is set in America in the near future but closely resembles the present despite its technological advancements. The novel explores the psychological and physical stress caused by the deportations of Latin Americans living and working in the USA. Frightening but intriguing experimental writing.

·      America: The Farewell Tour, Chris Hedges. Hedges nonfiction book examines what he sees as America’s decline with chapters addressing hate, work, freedom, addiction and more. Sober reading providing an interesting analysis of the main culprit, the corporate state.

·      Vanishing Point, David Markson. A continuation of Markson’s This is Not a Novel with a deeper focus on impending death. Presented as notes Author has collected on index cards mainly about the challenges of creative life. Looking forward to the final novel.

·      Death Takes Me, Christina Rivera Garza, translated by Sarah Booker & Robin Meyers. A literary crime narrative out of Mexico involving gendered violence and deeply steeped in an exploration of poetry. Incredible experimental writing.

·      Time: The Present, Tess Slesinger. Selected stories from Slesinger writing from the 1930’s. There are a handful of extremely excellent stories in this collection but overall I was impressed with Slesinger’s exploration of gender relations, worker exploitation, and race politics through her modernist style.

Tiny Points of Contact: My Latest Publication

My newest publication has dropped at Ivo Review. Tiny Points of Contact was included in their first themed issue exploring Connections. The story was inspired by a kayak trip I took decades ago observing manatees in the mango groves of Florida. I rewrote it several times and it is awesome to see it finally find a home. I hope you enjoy reading it as well as the other stories and poems in Ivo Review.

Criminalizing Words: Playing at Cruelty

I first began writing Playing at Cruelty between 2018 and 2019 in response to the executive orders and policies of the presidential administration. I imagined the things that could go wrong in the country with the push to curtail guaranteed freedoms and came up with this story. I reread it this weekend thinking about the current administration’s aggressive assault on freedom of speech and thought the storyline of Playing at Cruelty is not so farfetched. You can read the story in my collection Not So You’d Notice available at Amazon.

New Publication! Tiny Points of Contact

Ivo Review has accepted my story Tiny Points of Contact for October publication. They are including the story in their first issue titled Connections. I’m so pleased to be included in this journal and am looking forward to seeing Tiny Points of Contact online sometime in October.

I wrote this story in 2015 and first submitted it in 2016. I have received over 60 rejections and have done at least four major rewrites, as well as reading an excerpt at an open mike night. I’ve liked the idea of this story since the beginning so I persevered with it and kept rewriting and submitting. Very glad to see it finally receive a publication.