I’m far too easily distracted by the quick satisfaction of TV, movies, music and the like. I also enjoy sports and other activities. But I do try to read. I have read some excellent books, both political and otherwise, and I have a few books in the pipeline.
For the sake of interest, I've decided to publish a list of books in my library. I’ve opted to include only some books from required readings lists I had while at University (I didn’t read most of my required readings anyway!). I think there are more books I’ve read, so as I come across them, I’ll put them on the list.
For now, I will simply sort my library alphabetically by author, Dewey Decimal System be damned. Here follows the growing list:
Currently Reading:
- Peter Aucoin, Mark D. Jarvis, and Lori Turnbull, Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government (2011)
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1986)
- Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles: All These Years, Vol. 1: Tune In (2013)
- Hans J. Michelmann, Donald C. Story, and Jeffery S. Steeves (eds), Political Leadership and Representation in Canada: Essays in Honour of John C. Courtney (2007)
In the Pipeline:
- John English, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1968-2000 (2009)
- Homer, The Odyssey (c 700 BCE)
- Janet Byrne (Ed.), The Occupy Handbook (2012)
- Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks, The Trouble with Billionaires, (2010)
Non-Fiction:
- Jason Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2012)
- Michael Adams, Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada, and the Myth of Converging Values (2003)
- Michael Adams, Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Multiculturalism (2007)
- Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (2013)
- Lloyd Axworthy, Navigating a New World: Canada’s Global Future (2003)
- Sebastian Balfour, Castro (Second Edition) (1995)
- Bob Blaisdell (ed.), The Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings: Marx, Marat, Paine, Mao, Ghandi, and Others (2003)
- Shaun Breslin, Mao (1998)
- Thomas Cahill, Heretics and Heroes: How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World (2013)
- Andrew Cohen, Extraordinary Canadians: Lester B. Pearson (2008)
- Andrew Cohen, While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World (2004)
- Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1997)
- Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005)
- David Dyment, Doing the Continental: A New Canadian-American Relationship (2010)
- Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution (Second Edition) (1994)
- Richard Florida, Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life (2008)
- J.L. Granatstein, Whose War Is It?: How Canada Can Survive in the Post-9/11 World (2007)
- Chris Hadfield, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth (2013)
- Homer, The Iliad (c 700 BCE)*
- Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization (2006)
- Holger H. Horwig, The Outbreak of World War I (Sixth Edition) (1997)
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)
- Scott Miller, Music: What Happened? (2010)
- Robert C. Paehlke, Some Like It Cold: The Politics of Climate Change in Canada (2008)
- Raj Patel, The Value of Nothing: Why Everything Costs So Much More than We Think (2009)
- Jeremy D. Popkin, A Short History of the French Revolution (Third Edition) (2002)
- Keith Richards, Life (2010)
- Jeffrey D. Sachs, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (2006)
- Jeffrey Sachs, The Price of Civilization: Economics and Ethics After the Fall (2011)
- Kerwin Swint, The King Whisperers: Power Behind the Throne, from Rasputin to Rove (2011)
- Pete Townshend, Who I Am (2012)
- Alan Weisman, The World Without Us (2007)
- Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace (2012)
Excerpts of:
- Reinhard Drifte, Japan’s Foreign Policy for the 21st Century: From Economic Superpower to What Power? (1998)
- Patrick Monahan, Constitutional Law (Second Edition) (2002)
- Kim Richard Nossal, The Politics of Canadian Foreign Policy (Third Edition) (1997)
- Jerel A Rosati, Readings in the Politics of United States Foreign Policy (1998)
- Brian Tierney, Western Europe in the Middle Ages: 300-1475 (Sixth Edition) (1999)
Fiction:
- Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (2003)
- Stephen Coonts, Hong Kong (2000)
- Jack Higgins, Flight of Eagles (1998)
- Jack Higgins, Pay the Devil (1999)
- Richard North Patterson, No Safe Place (1998)
Started but Abandoned (for now):
- Noam Chomsky, Pirates and Emperors, Old and New: International Terrorism in the Real World (1986)
- Susan Delacourt, Juggernaut: Paul Martin’s Campaign for Chretien’s Crown (2003)
- Thomas L. Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How it can Renew America (2008)
- Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World (2003)
Notes:
* This book is included in the non-fiction section because…I don’t know. Some historians argue it is a fanciful account of an actual event. Others argue it is merely a story that references real places. You can decide for yourself, but I’m leaving it in the non-fiction section because that’s where I originally put it.
