EnchiridionEpictetusNon-fiction, paperback “Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.” If Seneca’s writings (see below) are…
What I read: July 2023
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and MurderDavid GrannNon-fiction, hardback, book club “We all impose some coherence—some meaning—on the chaotic events of our existence. We rummage through the raw images of our memories, selecting, burnishing, erasing. We emerge as the heroes of our stories, allowing us to live with what we have done—or haven’t…
What I read: June 2023
The Unexpected Mrs. PollifaxDorothy GilmanFiction, audiobook “It struck her as extremely characterless for any human being to sit around waiting for execution. It wasn’t that she had so much character, thought Mrs. Pollifax, but rather that always in her life she had found it difficult to submit. The list of her small rebellions was endless….
What I read: May 2023
A Gentleman in MoscowAmor TowlesFiction, paperback, book club “And when the Count’s parents succumbed to cholera within hours of each other in 1900, it was the Grand Duke who took the young Count aside and explained that he must be strong for his sister’s sake; that adversity presents itself in many forms; and that if…
What I read: April 2023
Common SenseThomas PaineNon-fiction, audiobook “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity…