Books I've read

Introduction

This section of the site is where I keep a list of books I've read along with short reviews. I was inspired by the story of Dan Pelzer, an American who kept a list of read books for more than 60 years. His relatives digitized and released the list after his death, and I was amazed by the legacy he left.

For me, it's a way to reflect on what I just finished reading, capture my thoughts and emotions while they're still fresh, and just look back into my recent past and remind myself how much work has already been done (reading books can be laborious in itself, so each finished book is a real achievement!) For you, my dear readers, it will be, first of all, fun to learn what books I like and what I think about them, and there's also the possibility that you will discover some new books for yourself. We live under the rule of algorithmic recommendations, where megacorporations are very keen to tell us what we must love, and it feels especially important to me right now to share our honest thoughts and emotions with other people, and recommend each other cool things without help from digital middlemen.

Rules

(which I've made for myself only and are not set in stone, again this is just for fun)

What counts as a book

• A traditionally published book with an ISBN number. For example: Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
• An unpublished, self-published or otherwise distributed book that doesn't have an ISBN number but still resembles a traditionally published book. For example, if I've read Andy Weir's The Martian from his website, before it was officially published, it would still count.
• Screenplays
• An audiobook or radio play version of a published book, either unabridged or abridged or adapted as long as it's still clearly based on the book. For example, I recently listened to a Soviet radio adaptation of Jules Verne's 20000 leagues under the sea, and decided to include it despite it being heavily abridged and taking a lot of creative liberties.
• Short stories, even those always published together, count as one entry each as long as each story can be read as a complete narrative. For example, Mikhail Bulgakov's A Young Doctor's Notebook is a collection of 6 to 8 stories (dependending on who you ask) of which I've read 7.
• A text book and its associated audiobook count as one entry, not two, given that they're essentially the same book, just in different mediums.

What doesn't count as a book

• Comics, both traditionally printed (for example, Art Spiegelman's Maus) and webcomics (for example, Sarah Welch's Signs of Three)
• Fanfics, even ones as long as a book (for example, ErinPtah's He Says He Is An Experimental Theologian. This is not because I do not appreciate comic books or fanfics - quite on the contrary, it is precisely because I feel they are too unique to be included in this list. I read fanfics and comics for different reasons and with a different mindset that I do books. Perhaps in the future they'll get list pages of their own.
• Blog posts and articles, again because the format is too different.
• Podcasts and radio plays NOT based on existing books. The Welcome to Night Vale podcast doesn't count, but the Welcome to Night Vale novel, or its audiobook version narrated by Cecil Baldwin, does.

Fiction

1. [EN] Terry Pratchett - Soul Music (1994)
   

   This is book 3 of Discworld's Death cycle. My review of book 1, Mort, can be found on the 2025 books page, but what it comes to book 2... well, I'm yet to read it. Things went a bit wrong with the reading order. Oh well, Discworld books are famously lenient about that.

   For me this was a much more dull read than Mort. It's probably much funnier if you're more into rock-n-roll culture. Some characters were cool, and some pop culture references were pretty hilarious, but overall I was not very hooked. Susan is an absolute blank slate of a protagonist. She does things too... correctly. She accepts new concepts and things very quickly, she's not experiencing much mental torment, even her trying to save Buddy seems like a very logical and uneventful step. (Even though the two barely interacted throughout the story. Why, why, why does there always have to be a "boy protagonist" and a "girl protagonist" and always some sort of romantic tension between them...) But it was very nice to see Albert again!

2. [EN] Terry Pratchett - Reaper Man (1991)
   

   Book 2 of Discworld's Death cycle. Much, much better than Soul Music, but still lacking something for me. I think that I'm missing some of the cultural references again, or I do but the references just haven't aged well. I did enjoy the subplot about Bill Door a lot, it was charming and at times truly profound, but the other subplots that take place in Ankh-Morpork are too chaotic and confusing in comparison.

   This is the last Pratchett I'll be reading for a while. I really really tried to delve more into the Discworld, but it just doesn't stick with me.

Nonfiction

1. [EN] Lundy Bancroft - Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men (2002)
   

   Probably one of the most well-known books about partner abuse. It's often recommended reading for victims of abusive men, either as an instruction for escape or as a guide to recovery and inner peace. I think this will also be a valuable book for those who have never been in this sort of relationship. The author explains, in very approachable terms yet in much detail, that abuse does not always look like shouting, bruises or sexual violence; sometimes the most outwardly nice and calm man can make his partner's life a living hell, without once getting physically violent or even raising his voice.

   The information in this book is useful for recognizing the abuse in one's own life, and also in the lives of friends and family. The ability to understand where abuse comes from, and what tactics abusive people use, can be applied to situations outside of personal relationships; in schools, at work, within government systems and in many other places, there are a lot of people who are desperate for control.

   The book does have a weak point, though it's understandable because of its focus: the author does not speak at all about abusive women. Of course, within hetero relationships male abuse is much more common, and yet male victims of abuse are left entirely outside the scope of the book. The author acknowledges several times that abuse also exists in same-sex relationships, and advises gay men and lesbians who are trapped in an abusive relationship to make use of information in his book, yet keeps absolutely silent about hetero men in the same situation. Apart from this narrative disbalance, the book an invaluable resource.