Joe Schlessinger

Book Log

I’ve been keeping a running log of books over the past few years or so. I’ll link to my thoughts on them (if any). I’ve rated them each from 1 to 5.

Here’s a visualization of this reading:

Title Author Start Date End Date Score
The Wright Brothers David McCullough June 21, 2025 June 27, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Day of Battle Rick Atkinson April 07, 2025 May 04, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War Raj Shah April 14, 2025 April 27, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An Army at Dawn Rick Atkinson March 06, 2025 April 05, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Odyssey Homer March 06, 2025 April 03, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Seeing Like a State James Scott January 17, 2025 March 01, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Decision in Normandy Carlo D’Este January 26, 2025 February 23, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bleak House Charles Dickens January 02, 2025 January 21, 2025 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Project Hail Mary Andy Weir December 28, 2024 December 30, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Life and Fate Vasily Grossman November 01, 2024 December 19, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Anabasis of Cyrus Xenophon October 22, 2024 December 12, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Education of Cyrus Xenophon September 09, 2024 October 21, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wool Hugh Howey September 24, 2024 September 28, 2024 ⭐️⭐️
Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond September 09, 2024 September 26, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
American Pastoral Phillip Roth August 19, 2024 August 28, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Red River to Appomattox Shelby Foote July 29, 2024 August 17, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Late Admissions Glenn Loury June 20, 2024 July 14, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fredericksburg to Meridian Shelby Foote May 27, 2024 June 29, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Achilles, Aeneas, Rustam and the Koran Bill Smyth May 22, 2024 May 25, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Freedom’s Forge Arthur Herman April 30, 2024 May 17, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fort Sumter to Perryville Shelby Foote April 21, 2024 May 17, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Journey to the End of the Night Louis-Ferdinand Celine March 08, 2024 May 15, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Tycoons Charles Morris April 04, 2024 April 22, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the Soul Plato March 10, 2024 April 19, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
His Very Best — Jimmy Carter, A Life Jonathan Alter February 29, 2024 April 18, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie April 10, 2024 April 17, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Path Between the Seas David McCullough March 19, 2024 March 25, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Anderson Cooper March 11, 2024 March 15, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nineties Chuck Klosterman February 26, 2024 March 15, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The House of Morgan Ron Chernow January 21, 2024 February 23, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes February 04, 2024 February 10, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Titan Ron Chernow December 29, 2023 January 18, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card January 13, 2024 January 15, 2024 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush John Meachem December 14, 2023 December 28, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century Beverly Gage October 22, 2023 December 18, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Magic Mountain Thomas Mann September 04, 2023 December 13, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Project Phoenix Gene Kim November 04, 2023 November 06, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Truman David McCullough September 22, 2023 October 20, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Poppy War R.F. Kuang October 04, 2023 October 06, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dracula Bram Stoker August 27, 2023 September 05, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
About Face David Hackworth August 10, 2023 August 27, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad August 01, 2023 August 02, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
King Leopold’s Ghost Adam Hochschild July 27, 2023 July 31, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy June 25, 2023 July 17, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dark Matter Blake Crouch July 13, 2023 July 15, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Glass Hotel Emily St. John Mandel July 10, 2023 July 13, 2023 ⭐️⭐️
The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov May 03, 2023 June 24, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wild Problems Russ Roberts June 12, 2023 June 17, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man from the Future Ananyo Bhattarcharya March 02, 2023 June 03, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case Against the Sexual Revolution Louise Perry June 01, 2023 June 02, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak April 10, 2023 April 24, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Half the Way Home: A Memoir of Father and Son Adam Hochschild March 16, 2023 March 16, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Daniel Deronda George Eliot January 10, 2023 March 05, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele Olivier Guez February 15, 2023 February 15, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Moby Dick Herman Mellville August 26, 2022 December 11, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stolen Focus Johann Hari July 29, 2022 August 15, 2022 ⭐️⭐️
Greenlights Matthew McConaughey July 10, 2022 July 13, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Books of Jacob Olga Tokarczuk April 26, 2022 May 18, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville February 02, 2022 April 19, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe March 31, 2022 April 07, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown March 23, 2022 March 30, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen January 26, 2022 February 26, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Money Magic Laurence Kotlikoff February 02, 2022 February 03, 2022 ⭐️⭐️
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger January 15, 2022 January 19, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Sweet Spot Paul Bloom January 07, 2022 January 17, 2022 ⭐️⭐️
Being Mortal Atul Gawande January 03, 2022 January 10, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Splendid and the Vile Erik Larson December 04, 2021 December 25, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Simon Robert Hilburn December 18, 2021 December 22, 2021 ⭐️⭐️
Where is my Flying Car? J. Storrs Hall December 13, 2021 December 17, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
American Judaism Jonathan Sarna October 07, 2021 November 28, 2021 ⭐️⭐️
Dune Frank Herbert November 05, 2021 November 11, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift September 01, 2021 September 13, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Churchill: Walking With Destiny Andrew Roberts June 27, 2021 August 01, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis June 21, 2021 June 24, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond March 24, 2021 April 03, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Complacent Class Tyler Cowen March 14, 2021 March 17, 2021 ⭐️⭐️
Once an Eagle Anton Myer February 24, 2021 March 13, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A History of the Jews Paul Johnson January 18, 2021 February 24, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles January 22, 2021 January 26, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Fountainhead Ayn Rand January 08, 2021 January 16, 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Portnoy’s Complaint Phillip Roth November 21, 2020 November 30, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Get Together Bailey Richardson November 22, 2020 November 23, 2020 ⭐️
Jump-Starting America Jonathan Gruber November 08, 2020 November 14, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory David Graeber October 08, 2020 November 10, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
Dreamland Sam Quinones October 30, 2020 November 07, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stubborn Attachments Tyler Cowen October 27, 2020 October 30, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
The Three Languages of Politics Arnold Kling October 19, 2020 October 22, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Cult of Smart Fredrik deBoer September 22, 2020 October 09, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Very Important People Ashley Mears September 18, 2020 October 01, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie August 29, 2020 September 07, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I and Thou Martin Buber August 09, 2020 August 26, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Winning the Next War Stephen Rosen August 09, 2020 August 25, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson August 14, 2020 August 17, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software Nadia Eghbal August 09, 2020 August 12, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson August 03, 2020 August 06, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Revolt of the Public Martin Gurri July 29, 2020 August 02, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Second Machine Age Erik Brynjolfsson July 22, 2020 August 01, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
Martin Buber’s I and Thou: Practicing Living Dialogue Kenneth Kramer July 20, 2020 July 29, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pornography and Silence Susan Griffin July 13, 2020 July 17, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
The Decadent Society Ross Douthat July 10, 2020 July 14, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How Innovation Works Matt Ridley June 22, 2020 July 08, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bad Religion Ross Douthat June 02, 2020 July 07, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Innovator’s Dilemma Clayton Christensen June 13, 2020 June 21, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering Richard Hamming June 02, 2020 June 08, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Power Broker Robert Caro May 18, 2020 May 31, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Range David Epstein May 26, 2020 May 31, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Last Man Who Knew Everything David Schwartz May 04, 2020 May 22, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beloved Toni Morrison May 13, 2020 May 16, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky May 06, 2020 May 12, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
History of the Pelopponesian War Thucidydes April 27, 2020 May 05, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Adventures of Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes April 20, 2020 April 26, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tortilla Flat John Steinbeck April 18, 2020 April 19, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
Losing Ground Charles Murray April 16, 2020 April 17, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas April 09, 2020 April 14, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez April 04, 2020 April 07, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Candide Voltaire April 02, 2020 April 02, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Innovators Walter Isaacson March 29, 2020 March 31, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fathers and Sons Ivan Turganev March 23, 2020 March 24, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
World Without Mind Franklin Foer March 21, 2020 March 22, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
The Plague Albert Camus March 18, 2020 March 20, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#Republic Cass Sunstein March 15, 2020 March 17, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe January 23, 2020 March 14, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bobos in Paradise David Brooks February 24, 2020 March 12, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tribe Sebastian Junger February 22, 2020 February 24, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to Hide an Empire Daniel Immewahr January 10, 2020 January 22, 2020 ⭐️⭐️
Pachinko Min Jin Lee December 26, 2019 January 03, 2020 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Plot Against America Phillip Roth December 19, 2019 December 26, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe November 11, 2019 December 19, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dead Souls Nikolay Gogol October 18, 2019 October 25, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Assault on American Excellence Anthony Kronman October 15, 2019 October 18, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
Stillness is the Key Ryan Holiday October 11, 2019 October 14, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Super Pumped Mike Isaac October 06, 2019 October 10, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Meritocracy Trap Daniel Markovits September 23, 2019 October 05, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dignity Chris Arnade September 10, 2019 September 10, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman September 05, 2019 September 08, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Rational Optimist Matt Ridley August 30, 2019 September 03, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez August 22, 2019 August 30, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Meditations Marcus Aurelius August 18, 2019 August 21, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Catch-22 Joseph Heller August 11, 2019 August 17, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Average is Over Tyler Cowen August 05, 2019 August 09, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov July 29, 2019 August 01, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene July 20, 2019 July 28, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Journey to the End of the Night Louis-Ferdinand Celine June 01, 2019 June 28, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Castle Franz Kafka May 01, 2019 May 08, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway April 29, 2019 May 03, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother Amy Chua April 25, 2019 April 29, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Road to Serfdom F.A. Hayek March 28, 2019 April 25, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Homage to Catalonia George Orwell April 10, 2019 April 23, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Endurance Alfred Lansing April 09, 2019 April 10, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Black Hearts Jim Frederick March 25, 2019 April 10, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Diversity Delusion Amy McDonald March 25, 2019 April 01, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Alexander Solzhenitsyn March 21, 2019 March 28, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Like War Emerson T. Brooking March 03, 2019 March 21, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
In The First Circle Alexander Solzhenitsyn February 11, 2019 March 02, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Platoon Leader James McDonough February 12, 2019 February 21, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Industries of the Future Alec Ross January 20, 2019 February 04, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
The Return of Tarzan Edgar Rice Borroughs January 14, 2019 January 16, 2019 ⭐️⭐️
Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Borroughs January 12, 2019 January 14, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy December 23, 2018 January 11, 2019 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow October 15, 2018 November 06, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Excellent Sheep William Deresiewicz October 08, 2018 October 12, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Young Washington Peter Stark July 23, 2018 July 31, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Road to Wigan Pier George Orwell July 22, 2018 July 23, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dataclysm Christian Rudder July 18, 2018 July 22, 2018 ⭐️⭐️
Ordinary Men Christopher Browning July 15, 2018 July 18, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fahrenheight 451 Ray Bradbury July 14, 2018 July 15, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Weapons of Math Destruction Cathy O’Neill July 11, 2018 July 13, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway July 04, 2018 July 11, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Country Dark Chris Offutt June 20, 2018 July 04, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
To Save Everything, Click Here Evgeny Morozov June 30, 2018 July 03, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Goldfinch Donna Tartt June 19, 2018 June 30, 2018 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Past book list (prior to JUN2018 but starting in 2016), before I started freakishly recording things: