What is Peter Reading?

Most of my reading is on the internet, as my prolific Link Roundup category shows. But I do also like to read offline paper books. So I’ve decided to keep a list, starting from the beginning of July 2011, and documenting all the books that I’ve read, the book I’m currently reading, and all the books I plan to read.

You can find a fancy view of these books via LibraryThing, though it’s now out of date and I don’t really feel like updating it. (thanks cdogzilla!)

Eventually, if I get around to it, I also plan to write blog posts reviewing all the books on this list that I’ve read. But that goal may be too lofty. I don’t read books very fast, and I review them even slower… Time will tell. My “have read” list is at the bottom of this page.

If you have any suggestions for books to read, feel free to recommend some in the comments section!

 

Also,
[GOT] means that I personally own the book.
[GETTING] means I am in the process of getting the book and have it taken care of.
[LIB] means the book is available to me via my university library.
[LIB-GOT] means that I have the book checked out from my university library.
[NEED] means that I need to buy the book. (See all of these in my Amazon Wishlist if you’re looking for gift ideas for me!)

Last updated: 23 April 2013

 

Currently Reading

A Theory of Justice by John Rawls

 

Intend to Read

    ~ Meta-Ethics ~

  1. Contemporary Ethics: Taking Account of Utilitarianism by William Shaw [GOT]
  2. Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit [LIB-GOT]
  3. The Moral Society: Its Structure and Effects by Ian Hinckfuss [GOT]

    4. ~ Happiness Science / Self-Improvement ~

  4. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert [LIB-GOT]
  5. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative by Roger von Oech [GOT]
  6. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen [LIB]
  7. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy [LIB]
  8. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
  9. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie [LIB]
  10. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein [GOT]
  11. The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky [GOT]
  12. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by
    Martin E. P. Seligman [LIB]

    13. ~ Moral Science ~

  13. Moral Psychology: The Evolution of Morality by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong [LIB]
  14. Moral Psychology: The Cognitive Science of Morality by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong [LIB]
  15. Moral Psychology: The The Neuroscience of Morality by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong [LIB]
  16. The Science of Giving: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Charity by
    Daniel M. Oppenheimer and Christopher Y. Olivola [NEED]
  17. Altruism in Humans by C. Daniel Batson [LIB]
  18. The Moral Brain: Essays on the Evolutionary and Neuroscientific Aspects of Morality by Jan Verplaetse, Jelle de Schrijver, Sven Vanneste, and Johan Braeckman [LIB]
  19. Moral Minds: The Nature of Right and Wrong by Marc Hauser [GOT]
  20. Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality by Patricia S. Churchland [LIB]
  21. The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation  by Matt Ridley [LIB]
  22. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt [LIB]
  23. The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science and Reality by Chris Mooney [GOT]
  24. Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce [LIB]
  25. When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy [LIB]

    26. ~ Community / Society / Practical Ethics ~

  26. The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason [GOT]
  27. Compassion, by the Pound: The Economics of Farm Animal Welfare by F. Bailey Norwood and Jayson L. Lusk [GOT]
  28. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms by Thomas W. Pogge [LIB]
  29. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam [LIB]
  30. What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J. Sandel [LIB]
  31. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future by Joseph E. Stiglitz [LIB]
  32. How Much is Enough?: Money and the Good Life by Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky [GOT]
  33. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker [LIB]
  34. Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World by Bruce Schneier [LIB]
  35. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch [LIB]
  36. Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn [LIB]
  37. No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn [LIB]
  38. Lying by Sam Harris [GOT]

    39. ~ Persuasion Science ~

  39. Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change by Nick Cooney [GOT]
  40. Influence: Science and Practice (4th Edition) by Robert B. Cialdini [LIB]
  41. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath [GOT]
  42. Principles of Marketing (13th Edition) by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong [GOT]

    43. ~ Bayes Theorem, Probability, and Philosophy of Science ~

  43. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn [LIB]
  44. Proving History: Bayes’s Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus by Richard Carrier [GOT]
  45. Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment by Michael A. Bishop and J. D. Trout [LIB]
  46. Probability Theory: The Logic of Science by E. T. Jaynes [LIB]
  47. Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference by Judea Pearl [LIB]

    48. ~ Cognitive and Decision Science ~

  48. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman [LIB]
  49. Thinking and Deciding by Jonathon Baron [LIB-GOT]
  50. How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker [GOT]
  51. An Introduction to Decision Theory by Martin Peterson [LIB]
  52. Judgment in Managerial Decision Making by Max H. Bazerman and Don A. Moore [NEED]
  53. Three Faces of Desire by Timothy Schroeder [GOT]
  54. How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom [LIB]
  55. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer [GOT]
  56. Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind by Gary Marcus [GOT]
  57. Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson [GOT]
  58. Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind by Robert Kurzban [LIB]
  59. Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely [LIB]
  60. The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely [LIB]
  61. What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought by Keith E. Stanovich [LIB]
  62. Free Will by Sam Harris [LIB]

    63. ~ Politics and Economics ~

  63. The Ethics of Voting by Jason Brennan [LIB]
  64. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins [LIB]
  65. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin [LIB]
  66. A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution, and Cooperation by Peter Singer [LIB]
  67. The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism by David Friedman [GOT]
  68. The Rhetoric of Economics by Deirdre N. McCloskey [LIB]
  69. Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman [LIB]
  70. The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers by Robert L. Heilbroner [LIB]
  71. Peddling Prosperity by Paul Krugman [LIB]
  72. The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman [LIB]
  73. Armchair Economist: Economics & Everyday Life by Steven E. Landsburg [LIB]
  74. Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics by P. J. O’Rourke [LIB]
  75. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel [LIB]
  76. Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets by John McMillan [LIB]
  77. Law’s Empire by Ronald Dworkin [LIB]
  78. The Conservative Assault on the Constitution by Erwin Chemerinsky [LIB]

    79. ~ Foreign Aid & Development Economics ~

  79. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo [LIB]
  80. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo [LIB]

    81. ~ Religion: Theology & Sociology ~

  81. Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel Dennet [LIB]
  82. Aquinas: Beginner’s Guide by Edward Feser [NEED]
  83. The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism by Edward Feser [NEED]
  84. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by Robert D. Putnam and David E Campbell [GOT]
  85. Dynamics of Faith by Paul Tillich [LIB]

    86. ~ Uncategorized ~

  86. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter [GOT]
  87. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis [LIB]
  88. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman, et al. [LIB]
  89. The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century by Dr. Dickson Despommier [LIB]

Continued in: The Books I Have Read: Ratings, Reviews, and Summaries

-

I now blog at EverydayUtilitarian.com. I hope you'll join me at my new blog! This page has been left as an archive.

On 4 Aug 2011 in All, Me. 9 Comments.

9 Comments

  1. #1 cdogzilla says:
    7 Aug 2011, 5:19 pm  

    You’ve got most of what I was going to recommend already covered. One book that might complement Rawls when you get to A Theory of Justice is Dworkin’s Law’s Empire. I’d also recommend Chemerinsky’s The Conservative Assault on the Constitution. Are you on Librarything?

    Also want to mention that I’m trying to get as many secularist/humanist/atheist bloggers as I can to request a pin on the Atheist Blogmap [submissions here]. Hope you consider it!

    Cheers,
    Chris (aka cdogzilla)

  2. #2 Peter Hurford (author) says:
    7 Aug 2011, 11:07 pm  

    One book that might complement Rawls when you get to A Theory of Justice is Dworkin’s Law’s Empire. I’d also recommend Chemerinsky’s The Conservative Assault on the Constitution.

    They both sound like good titles and aren’t that expensive, so they’re added to the list. Thanks!

    Are you on Librarything?

    No, I hadn’t heard of it. But I just checked it out and it looks great, so I made an account.

    Also want to mention that I’m trying to get as many secularist/humanist/atheist bloggers as I can to request a pin on the Atheist Blogmap

    Sure thing; submission made. Looks like a cool service.

  3. #3 cdogzilla says:
    8 Aug 2011, 10:38 pm  

    Cool, I’ve got your pin added. Thanks!

  4. #4 Michael Dickens says:
    30 Oct 2012, 1:01 pm  

    Is your reading list sorted by priority?

  5. #5 Peter Hurford (author) says:
    30 Oct 2012, 4:16 pm  

    They are currently sorted into topics, and the topics are sorted by priority. Thoughts?

  6. #6 Boris Yakubchik says:
    19 Nov 2012, 9:46 pm  

    Oh what a beautiful list! I would want to up-vote mane of the books on the list, but one that’s really good is “Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment” by Michael A. Bishop and J. D. Trout. REALLY GOOD. There is an excellent short essay by Michael Bishop: “In praise of epistemic irresponsibility: How lazy and ignorant can you be?” which contains an important argument you’ll see in the book; the essay is an eye-opening must-read.

    I’m glad to see lots of Peter Singer and Jonathan Haidt on here :)

    Nudge, Stumbling on Happiness, The How of Happiness, Predictably Irrational, Reasons and Persons, Thinking Fast and Slow, Getting Things Done … all excellent choices.

    I suggest “Eat that Frog” (like GTD) and “Rapt”, neither on your list.

    Glance at some of my suggestions: http://yboris.com/reading.php

  7. #7 Peter Hurford (author) says:
    22 Nov 2012, 11:01 pm  

    I would want to up-vote many of the books on the list, but one that’s really good is “Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment” by Michael A. Bishop and J. D. Trout. REALLY GOOD.

    I’ll have to look forward to it. I think, more importantly, are there any books on this list that strike you as a waste of time? I think that could be equally important, if not more important, feedback.

    ~

    There is an excellent short essay by Michael Bishop: “In praise of epistemic irresponsibility: How lazy and ignorant can you be?” which contains an important argument you’ll see in the book; the essay is an eye-opening must-read.

    I read it on your recommendation. It was a compelling read.

    ~

    I suggest “Eat that Frog” (like GTD) and “Rapt”, neither on your list.

    I’ll add them.

    ~

    Glance at some of my suggestions: http://yboris.com/reading.php

    I’m looking through them now. Some of them should end up on my list. But right now, I’m trying to be intentional about making my list shorter. I imagine I could get virtually the same benefit from reading significantly less books.

  8. #8 Boris Yakubchik says:
    10 Dec 2012, 6:09 pm  

    Shortening the list seems like a good strategy – especially once you ‘level up’ enough ;) I’ve found that after reading enough books in the rationality genre like “Predictably Irrational” they began to repeat the psychological findings. So make sure you read the (per-genre) best first: “Thinking, Fast and Slow” goes first.

    It took me a while to realize I don’t need to read every paragraph/chapter when I read a book – there is limited value to reading a re-description of a psychological experiment (though there is some good value even in that – depending on your goals).

    I’m reading Thomas Pogge’s “World Poverty and Human Rights” and even without having finished it urge others to read it. I think it’s right up your alley ;)

    Keep in mind there are audio-book versions of many books!

  9. #9 Peter Hurford (author) says:
    10 Dec 2012, 8:39 pm  

    I did some tweaking to trim down on each category. You’re right about not reading every paragraph — I do tend to hunt and peck when reading to speed things up.

    I added “World Poverty and Human Rights”.

    Also, I don’t really like audio books, but it’s a good suggestion.

Leave a Reply

Comment HTML: You can use HTML in comments. I recommend <blockquote>Quote</blockquote> for quoting what others have said. <b>Text</b> is for bold, <i>Text</i> is for italic, and <a href="url">text</a> is for making links.