I’ve hit a bit of a slowdown in my reading as the summer got busy, but have still made some progress on the book pile…

• Porcelain: A Memoir by Moby - Interesting stories, but what a sad trajectory. From the struggling musician trying to make his way in the world to an addict who makes light of being drunk and missing his mother’s funeral, and brags about getting sexual favors from models in strung-out parties. Here’s hoping God has a third act in plan for this guy’s life.
• Shaker by Scott Frank - A not-particularly-memorable detective novel.
• The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding by Robert Hughes - How awful was the culture around dealing with criminals in the 1700s in England? Awful. Maybe worse. First eye-opening, then disturbing, then almost tiresome… you can only read so much about how horrible things were for everyone (prisoners, guards, and aboriginals alike) without having to just stop.
• Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda - notes and pictures about the Broadway production. Love it.
• The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman - Wanna hate a self-absorbed protagonist? This is the book for you.
• You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K. A. Smith - A lay-level treatment of his big Kingdom book. Makes me want to go join a church that’s serious about catechesis and liturgy.
• Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey series, Book #1) by Dorothy Sayers - I’d never heard of this series before, but a couple librarian friends recommended it, and book 1 was enjoyable. Currently reading book 2.
• Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton - continues the remarkable Humans of New York photo series, but enhanced with comments and stories from those photographed. A wonderful (and sometimes sobering) celebration of the joyous diversity of the human experience.
• Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older - an interesting little novel postulating a future where an all-reaching Information service drives micro-democracies. As ever, the question is this: who watches the watchers?

In addition to the second Sayers novel, I’m slowly working my way through Volume 1 of Pelikan’s church history series and more quickly devouring Isabel Wilkerson’s excellent The Warmth of Other Suns. More on that later.