For a long time I’ve been meaning to make a list of all the books I’ve ever read. I started doing it years ago but lost interest. Nevertheless, it was a trip to see how many books I had read in my life once I had them all listed in one place (not that I’m sure I’ve remembered them all).
My plan is to add each book as I complete it, on an ongoing basis. I may add some books that I’ve read only partially, in which case I will mark it with a “+”. The asterisks after each title are my rating on a scale of 1 to 4 stars (* poor, ** fair, *** good, **** excellent).
The books listed below the horizontal line are not in chronological order, but are listed in the order in which I happened to remember them. The ones listed above the line should be in order (most recent on top), assuming I remember to list them as I read them.
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult by Joseph Bedier (trans. H. Belloc) **** (9/20)
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu *** (8/20)
The Forest Lovers by Maurice Hewlett **** (5/20)
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell **** (1/20)
Providence by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange **** (1/20)
Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen *** (10/19)
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern ** (10/19)
How to Get Things Really Flat by Andrew Martin ** (9/19)
The Narrow Way, A Brief, Clear, Systematical Exposition of the Spiritual Life, etc. by Peter Geiermann **** (8/19)
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon *** (7/19)
Uniformity with God’s Will by St. Alphonsus Liguori **** (5/19)
The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring *** (4/19)
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine by John Henry Cardinal Newman **** (4/19)
A Case of Conscience by James Blish **** (2/19)
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony * (2/19)
The Forest Farm: Tales of the Austrian Tyrol by Peter Rosegger *** (2/19)
The Eleventh Commandment by Jeffrey Archer *** (2/19)
Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy *** (1/19)
The Fall of Japan: The Final Weeks of World War II In the Pacific by William Craig **** (1/19)
The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum ** (1/19)
City under Siege: Sonnets and Other Verse by Mark Amorose **** (1/19)
The Catholic Church and the Appeal to Reason by Leo Ward *** (11/18)
The Twilight of Civilization by Jacques Maritain *** (11/18)
The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton **** (10/18)
The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson **** (9/18)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee **** (8/18)
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann **** (7/18)
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron *** (7/18)
The Paper Grail by James P. Blaylock *** (7/18)
Winter Tides by James P. Blaylock *** (7/18)
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman **** (6/18)
Movie Night with the Reagans by Mark Weinberg *** (6/18)
Night Relics by James P. Blaylock *** (6/18)
Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen *** (6/18)
The Rainy Season by James P. Blaylock *** (6/18)
Veritatis splendor by Pope St. John Paul II **** (5/18)
Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman *** (4/18)
Helena by Evelyn Waugh *** (4/18)
The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism by Michael J. Behe **** (4/18)
The Galton Case by Ross MacDonald *** (4/18)
Camino Island by John Grisham ** (4/18)
Dissent from the Creed: Heresies Past and Present by Richard M. Hogan *** (2/18)
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible by Robert J. Hutchinson *** (2/18)
St. John Fisher by E.E. Reynolds **** (2/18)
Belinda by Hilaire Belloc *** (2/18)
Medusa’s Web by Tim Powers *** (2/18)
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas **** (1/18)
The Narrow Way: A Brief, Clear, Systematical Exposition of the Spiritual Life for the Laity, and a Practical Guide Book to Christian Perfection for All of Good Will by Peter Geiermann **** (1/18)
Southern California Country: Island on the Land (American Folkways series) by Carey McWilliams **** (12/17)
What I Saw in America by G.K. Chesterton *** (12/17)
The Superstition of Divorce by G.K. Chesterton *** (11/17)
William Cobbett by G.K. Chesterton *** (11/17)
Prohibition and the Progressive Movement: 1900-1920 by James H. Timberlake *** (10/17)
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle *** (10/17)
The Cellars of the Majestic by Georges Simenon *** (10/17)
Twilight of Authority by Robert Nisbet *** (9/17)
The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin by Corey Robin ** (9/17)
East of Desolation by Jack Higgins ** (9/17)
Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake ** (9/17)
361 by Donald E. Westlake ** (9/17)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie *** (8/17)
The Rare Coin Score by Richard Stark *** (8/17)
The Black Bird by Richard Stark ** (8/17)
The Damsel by Richard Stark ** (8/17)
Ask the Parrot by Richard Stark *** (8/17)
Lemons
Never Lie by Richard Stark *** (7/17)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie *** (7/17)
Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker *** (7/17)
The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie *** (7/17)
Coconut Cowboy by Tim Dorsey ** (7/17)
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz **** (7/17)
Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill *** (6/17)
The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton *** (6/17)
Lunatics by Dave Barry * (6/17)
Dodgers (novel) by Bill Beverly *** (5/17)
The English Catholics in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth: A study of their politics, civil life and government, 1558-1580, from the fall of the old Church to the advent of the Counter-Reformation by John Hungerford Pollen, S.J. *** (5/17)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely ** (5/17)
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell ** (5/17)
The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine by Todd Kliman *** (5/17)
John Paul The Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father by Peggy Noonan ** (4/17)
The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History by Jason Vuic *** (4/17)
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine by George M. Taber *** (4/17)
Bottled Poetry: Napa Winemaking from Prohibition to the Modern Era by James T. Lapsley *** (4/17)
The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J. Mazzeo ** (4/17)
The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler *** (3/17)
Educating Peter: How I Taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot by Lettie Teague ** (3/17)
Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis **** (3/17)
Adventures Among Birds by W.H. Hudson *** (3/17)
The Wine Savant by Michael Steinberger *** (3/17)
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett ** (3/17)
Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer **** (2/17)
True Morality and Its Counterfeits by Dietrich von Hildebrand **** (12/16)
[The following bracketed titles are books that I read from September through December 2016 but neglected to log:
Nobody Runs Forever by Richard Stark *** (8/16)
The Man with the Getaway Face by Richard Stark *** (8/16)
The Letter of Marque by Patrick O’Brian *** (8/16)
Comrade Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi *** (8/16)
The Ivory Grin by Ross MacDonald **** (8/16)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President [assassination of President Garfield] by Candice Millard **** (8/16)
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot *** (7/16)
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris ** (7/16)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll *** (7/16)
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. *** (7/16)
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris *** (6/16)
The Far Side of the World by Patrick O’Brian *** (6/16)
Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta by Richard Grant **** (6/16)
Treason’s Harbor by Patrick O’Brian *** (6/16)
The Templars: The Dramatic History of the Knights Templar, the Most Powerful Military Order of the Crusades by Piers Paul Read *** (5/16)
The Ionian Mission by Patrick O’Brian *** (5/16)
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough **** (5/16)
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (re-read) **** (5/16)
The Surgeon’s Mate by Patrick O’Brian **** (4/16)
The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float by Farley Mowat *** (4/16)
Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian (re-read) **** (4/16)
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens (re-read) **** (3/16)
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O’Brian (re-read) **** (3/16)
HMS Surprise by Patrick O’Brian (re-read) **** (2/16)
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (re-read) **** (2/16)
Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian (re-read) **** (2/16)
Count to a Trillion by John C. Wright *** (1/16)
The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman **** (12/15)
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky **** (12/15)
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty *** (12/15)
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham *** (11/15)
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer *** (11/15)
Pontifex, Son & Thorndyke by R. Austin Freeman *** (11/15)
As a Thief in the Night by R. Austin Freeman **** (10/15)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers *** (10/15)
The Numerati: An urgent look at how a global math elite is predicting and altering our behavior at work, at the mall, and in bed by Stephen Baker *** (10/15)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown **** (9/15)
Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan *** (9/15)
School Days by Robert B. Parker ** (9/15)
Christian Science by Mark Twain *** (9/15)
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman ** (9/15)
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675 by Bernard Bailyn *** (8/15)
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers *** (8/15)
Characteristics from the Writings of John Henry Newman: Being Selections Personal, Historical, Philosophical, and Religious, from His Various Works by William Samuel Lilly, ed. **** (8/15)
Meet Me at the Morgue by Ross MacDonald *** (7/15)
The Gods of Revolution by Christopher Dawson *** (7/15)
The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald ** (7/15)
Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre *** (7/15)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre *** (6/15)
The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock *** (6/15)
The Rise of Rome by Anthony Everitt *** (6/15)
The Grammar of Architecture by Emily Cole *** (6/15)
Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick *** (5/15)
St. Thomas of Canterbury: The Holy and Blissful Martyr by Robert Hugh Benson *** (5/15)
Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome by Rodney Stark *** (5/15)
Liberty by Garrison Keillor *** (5/15)
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett *** (5/15)
The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather **
Sycamore Row by John Grisham ***
Newman: His Inner Life by Dr. Zeno ****
The Inferno by Dante (trans. by Anthony Esolen) ****
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom by Peter J. Leithart ***
For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery by Rodney Stark ***
The Enemy Within the Gate: The Catholic Church and Renascent Modernism by John McKee ***
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. ***
Humpty Dumpty in Oakland by Philip K. Dick ***
The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike by Philip K. Dick ***
The Stench of Honolulu by Jack Handy **
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian ****
Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian ****
HMS Surprise by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Mauitius Comand by Patrick O’Brian ****
Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Fortune of War by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Ionian Mission by Patrick O’Brian ****
Treason’s Harbour by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Far Side of the World by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Letter of Marque by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Thirteen-Gun Salute by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Commodore by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Hundred Days by Patrick O’Brian ****
Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O’Brian ****
Testimonies by Patrick O’Brian ****
The Catalans by Patrick O’Brian ***
Trouble in Paradise by Robert Parker **
Sixkill by Robert Parker **
Hush Money by Robert Parker **
Hugger Mugger by Robert Parker **
Melancholy Baby by Robert Parker **
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham ****
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham ****
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather ****
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather ****
The Professor’s House by Willa Cather ****
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn ****
The Consolation of the Devout Soul by Fr. Joseph Frassinetti ****+
The Tree of Appomattox by Joseph Altsheler **
The Last Superstition by Edward Feser ****
Aquinas (A Beginner’s Guide) by Edward Feser ****
The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace ***
Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman **
The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman **
The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman **
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman **
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene ***
Apologia Pro Vita Sua by John Henry Newman ****
The Man Who Made Gold by Hilaire Belloc ****
The Postmaster General by Hilaire Belloc ****
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis ****
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis ****
Until We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis ****
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis ****
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis ****
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis ****
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien ****
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis ****
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis ***
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis ***
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton ****
The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton ****
Tales of the Long Bow by G.K. Chesterton ***
The Club of Queer Trades by G.K. Chesterton ***
Manalive by G.K. Chesterton ***
The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc ***
The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc ****
The Crisis of Our Civilisation by Hilaire Belloc ****
Loss and Gain by John Henry Newman ***
Callista by John Henry Newman ***
The Dream of Gerontius by John Henry Newman ***
Instant Replay, the Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer by Jerry Kramer ***
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown ***
Black Boy by Richard Wright ***
The Moving Target by Ross MacDonald ***
The Drowning Pool by Ross MacDonald ***
The Ivory Grin by Ross MacDonald ***
Find a Victim by Ross MacDonald ***
The Barbarous Coast by Ross MacDonald ***
The Doomsters by Ross MacDonald ***
The Galton Case by Ross MacDonald ***
The Wycherly Woman by Ross MacDonald ***
The Zebra-Striped Hearse by Ross MacDonald ***
The Chill by Ross MacDonald ***
The Far Side of the Dollar by Ross MacDonald ***
Black Money by Ross MacDonald ***
The Instant Enemy by Ross MacDonald ***
The Goodbye Look by Ross MacDonald ***
The Underground Man by Ross MacDonald ***
Sleeping Beauty by Ross MacDonald ***
The Blue Hammer by Ross MacDonald ***
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy by Thomas Sowell ***
A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell ***
My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas ***
Legion by William Peter Blatty ***
The Warden by Anthony Trollope ***
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope ***
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope ***
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope ***
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ****
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens ****
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens ****
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens ****
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ****
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens ***
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens ****
Hard Times by Charles Dickens ***
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens ****
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens ****
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens ****
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens ****
Phantastes: A Fairie Romance by George MacDonald ***
The Gift of the Child Christ and Other Tales by George MacDonald ***
David Elginbrod (The Tutor’s First Love) by George MacDonald ***
Robert Falconer (The Musician’s Quest) by George MacDonald ***
The Marquis of Lossie (The Marquis’ Secret) by George MacDonald ***
Warlock O’Glenwarlock (The Laird’s Inheritance) by George MacDonald ***
Malcolm (The Fisherman’s Lady) by George MacDonald ***
How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) by Ann Coulter ***
Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right by Ann Coulter ***
What’s So Great About America by Dinesh D’Souza ***
The End of Racism by Dinesh D’Souza ***
Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus by Dinesh D’Souza ***
Modern Manners by P.J. O’Rourke **
Holidays in Hell by P.J. O’Rourke ***
Give War a Chance by P.J. O’Rourke ***
All the Trouble in the World by P.J. O’Rourke ***
Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut by P.J. O’Rourke **
Eat the Rich by P.J. O’Rourke ***
Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford by Thomas M. DeFrank ***
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian W. Toll ***
Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc by Joseph Pearce ****
C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church by Joseph Pearce ***
The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and the Church of Rome by Joseph Pearce ****
The King’s Good Servant but God’s First : The Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More by James Monti ****
The Liturgical Revolution, Vol. I Cranmer’s Godly Order, Vol. II Pope John’s Council, Vol. III Pope Paul’s New Mass, by Michael Davies ***
Silas Marner by George Eliot ***
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers ***
Lay Siege to Heaven (St. Catherine of Siena) by Louis de Wohl ***
The Quiet Light (St. Thomas Aquinas) by Louis de Wohl ***
Throne of the World (Attila the Hun and Pope Leo I) by Louis de Wohl ***
The Golden Thread (St. Ignatius Loyola) by Louis de Wohl ***
Set All Afire (St. Francis Xavier) by Louis de Wohl ***
Citadel of God (St. Benedict of Nursia) by Louis de Wohl ***
The Joyful Beggar (St. Francis of Assissi) by Louis de Wohl ***
The Last Crusader (Don Juan of Austria and the Battle of Lepanto) by Louis de Wohl ****
The Holy Sacrifice Of The Mass: Dogmatically, Liturgically And Ascetically Explained by Nicholas Gihr ****
The Spirit of Discipline by Francis Paget ****
The Being and Attributes of God by Francis J. Hall ****
Confessions by St. Augustine ****
A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation by St. Thomas More ***
In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by Ambrose Bierce ***
The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous ***
Transformation in Christ by Dietrich von Hildebrand ****
The Stand by Stephen King ***
The Dead Zone by Stephen King ***
Firestarter by Stephen King ***
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry **
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle ****
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain ****
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ****
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain ****
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers ***
Declare by Tim Powers ***
Last Call by Tim Powers ****
Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers ***
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers ***
Expiration Date by Tim Powers ****
Three Days to Never by Tim Powers ***
Dinner at Deviant’s Palace by Tim Powers ***
All the Bells on Earth by James P. Blaylock ***
Winter Tides by James P. Blaylock ***
The Rainy Season by James P. Blaylock ***
The Paper Grail by James P. Blaylock ***
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz **
The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block **
The Burglar in the Library by Lawrence Block **
The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart by Lawrence Block **
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian by Lawrence Block **
The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block **
Corpus Christmas by Margaret Maron **
The Ghostwriter by Robert Harris **
The Omen by David Seltzer ***
Jaws by Peter Benchley ***
Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler ***
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler ***
The High Window by Raymond Chandler ***
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler ***
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler ***
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett ***
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett ***
Beyond This Point Are Monsters by Margaret Millar ***
1984 by George Orwell ***
Animal Farm by George Orwell ***
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis ****
From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe ***
Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh ****
Life with Father by Clarence Day ***
Prey by Michael Crichton **
The Golden Age by John C. Wright ***
The Phoenix Exultant by John C. Wright ***
The Golden Transcendence by John C. Wright ***
The Odyssey by Homer ****
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ***
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ***
Ten Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer J. Adler ***
How to Think About God by Mortimer J. Adler ***
Catholicism and Modernity: Confrontation or Capitulation? by James Hitchcock ****
Spiritual Conferences by Frederick W. Faber ***
Letters to a Young Conservative by Dinesh D’Souza ***
Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey by David Horowitz ***
The Vision of Piers Plowman by William Langland ****
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ****
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen ****
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen ****
Emma by Jane Austen ****
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen ***
Persuasion by Jane Austen ****
Gentle Fury by Peter Thomas Rohrbach **
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams ***
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams ***
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams **
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams **
Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams **
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams **
The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton ***
The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton ***
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ****
Airframe by Michael Crichton ***
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton ***
The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton **
Sphere by Michael Crichton ***
State of Fear by Michael Crichton ***
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson ***
Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up by Dave Barry **
Dave Barry Turns 50 by Dave Barry **
Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits by Dave Barry **
Big Trouble by Dave Barry **
Insane City by Dave Barry **
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh ****
Theology and Sanity by Frank J. Sheed ***
Theology for Beginners by Frank J. Sheed ***
Monsignor Ronald Knox by Evelyn Waugh ***
Thy Will Be Done: Letters to Persons in the World by St. Francis de Sales ****
The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity and the Truth of Catholicism by John Saward ***
Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe ***
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell ***
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell ***
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell ***
The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning and Public Debate by Phillip Johnson **
Refuting the Attack on Mary by Fr. Mateo (pseudonym) ***
The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet by Thomas Dubay ***
Faith and Certitude by Thomas Dubay ***
The Restoration of Property by Hilaire Belloc ***
And Yet So New by Arnold Lunn ***
A Refutation of Moral Relativism by Peter Kreeft ***
Philosophy 101 by Socrates by Peter Kreeft ***
Socrates Meets Machiavelli by Peter Kreeft ***
Socrates Meets Marx by Peter Kreeft ***
Escape From Skepticism: Liberal Education as If Truth Mattered by Christopher Derrick
Sixty Saints for Boys by Joan Windham ****
Suds in Your Eye by Mary Laswell ***
The Movement of World Revolution by Christopher Dawson ***
The Glory of Thy People by Raphael Simon ***
Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard ***
Petty Armchair Popery 
A Patrick O’Brian fan, eh? I recently re-watched the movie “Master and Commander” and it got me thinking how I should give O’Brian another shot. I love that era of history. Starting in high school I went through a phase learning about the tall ships and read several Horatio Hornblower novels. For my birthday someone then gave me “Nelson’s Navy” by Brian Lavery. Even today it is enjoyable to look through it. A strange fascination for someone who grew up in the desert. 🙂
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The movie was a composite of plot points from various books in the series, but it was very well done. I can’t believe they didn’t do a sequel. Now when I read the books I always picture Russell Crowe as Captain Aubrey. He nails the character pretty well as he is supposed to be not all that sharp in terms of “book knowledge”, but at sea or in battle his instincts take over and he is deadly. I highly recommend the books as they are not only fastidiously historically accurate (though he may modify the facts on occasion to suit the story), but also highly engrossing on the human level. If you have a long commute, I also recommend the recorded versions narrated by Patrick Tull. The Hornblower books are enjoyable in their way, but IMHO O’Brian takes the genre to another level.
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You’ve reminded me that the Hornblower books are among the many that I’ve forgotten to list. Unfortunately I doubt that I can remember which ones I’ve read.
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Have you read any of the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell?
Also I would suggest models of the church by Avery Dulles
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I haven’t read any Cornwell. I also haven’t read any Dulles except some articles, which I thought were good. Thanks for the suggestions!
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