JackSwingle.com

Books

This is a list of the books I've read since high school.

This is auto generated from a csv file. A python script looks up the wikipedia page for the book and author and converts it to json. Then the json is read to render this page.

Note: The script does it's best, but some books don't have articles or have ambiguous names so the links don't always go where they should. 🤷‍♂️

In progress:

210. Surfaces and Essences by Douglas Hofstadter & Emmanuel Sander

204. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

203. Lingua Latina per se Illustrata by Hans Ørberg

202. Men of Mathematics by E.T. Bell

Finished:

2025

212. Foundation by Isaac Asimov

211. The Life of Pythagoras by Iamblichus

209. A Mathematical Theory of Communication by Claude Shannon & Warren Weaver

160. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

145. Tutankhamun: The Untold Story by Thomas Hoving

143. The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton

141. Hannibal by Harold Lamb

138. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

137. My Inventions by Nikola Tesla

136. The Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour

134. The World of Late Antiquity by Peter Brown

108. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

103. Mowgli's Brothers by Rudyard Kipling

67. Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows

31. The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue by Unknown

23. Annals by Tacitus

17. The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

7. The Republic by Plato

2024

181. The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas

176. Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore

173. Essays by Michel de Montaigne

166. Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins

157. The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous

154. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn

153. Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark

152. Breath by James Nestor

151. The Molecule of More by Daniel Lieberman

150. Science Set Free by Rupert Sheldrake

142. Modern Times by Paul Johnson

140. Lives by Plutarch

133. SPQR by Mary Beard

132. The Histories by Herodotus

130. Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant

121. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

106. VALIS by Philip K. Dick

105. Ubik by Philip K. Dick

104. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

102. The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges

93. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

74. The Great Chain of Being by Arthur Lovejoy

73. The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist

72. Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb

71. Antifragile by Nassim Taleb

65. The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade

64. Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon

63. The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley

59. Meetings with Remarkable Men by Gurdjieff

57. The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

47. The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche

42. The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution by Ouspensky

40. Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson

38. The Portable Jung by Carl Jung

34. The Arabian Nights by Unknown

22. Theogony by Hesiod

21. The Homeric Hymns by Unknown

20. The Aeneid by Virgil

11. Letters & Essays by Seneca

2023

207. The Masks of God Volume 1: Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell

198. The Pragmatic Programmer by Andy Hunt

197. Clean Code by Robert Martin

187. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

179. Anam Cara by John O'Donohue

171. The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

100. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

95. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

94. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

92. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

66. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

56. Lectures on Ancient Philosophy by Manly P. Hall

55. The Sovereignty of Good by Iris Murdoch

44. Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff

43. King Warrior Magician Lover by Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette

41. Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

37. Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung

36. Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious by Carl Jung

28. Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles

14. The Dhammapada by Unknown

12. The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

9. Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

2022

208. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

192. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

191. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

190. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

180. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

172. Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

170. The One Thing by Gary Keller

168. Mastery by Robert Greene

165. Atomic Habits by James Clear

156. The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson

116. Island by Aldous Huxley

110. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

101. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

90. Faust Part One by Goethe

89. Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun

87. The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse

84. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

69. A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber

68. A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber

61. Introduction to the Cabala by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi

60. Asclepius by Hermes Trismegistus

53. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

45. Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

35. The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes

32. The Golden Ass by Apuleius

26. Oresteia by Aeschylus

25. Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus

24. The Persians by Aeschylus

16. What is Ancient Philosophy? by Pierre Hadot

15. Early Greek Philosophy, Penguin Classics by Unknown

13. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

8. Alcibiades I by Plato

6. Gorgias by Plato

4. Phaedo by Plato

2021

199. How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

155. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

147. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

139. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

115. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

113. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

96. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

88. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

78. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

70. Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse

62. The Feeling is the Secret by Neville Goddard

58. The Kybalion by Three Initiates

52. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

39. Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson

33. Popol Vuh by Unknown

29. The Epic of Gilgamesh by Unknown

27. The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles

19. The Iliad by Homer

5. Meno by Plato

2020

206. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

205. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

201. 1984 by George Orwell

188. The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

186. The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

184. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

178. No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton

177. Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace

175. The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore

169. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

167. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

164. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

163. Deep Work by Cal Newport

162. So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

161. How to Win at College by Cal Newport

159. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

149. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker

148. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

146. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

135. The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

131. The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

129. The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant

126. Complete Works by H.P. Lovecraft

123. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

117. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

112. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

109. Neuromancer by William Gibson

99. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

98. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

91. Candide by Voltaire

86. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

85. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

83. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

80. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

77. The Pearl by John Steinbeck

76. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

54. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

51. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

50. The Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky

49. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

48. The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

30. Beowulf by Unknown

10. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

3. Crito by Plato

2. Apology by Plato

1. Euthyphro by Plato

2019

200. Animal Farm by George Orwell

196. The Heavenly Life by James Allen

195. The Way of Peace by James Allen

194. Eight Pillars of Prosperity by James Allen

193. As A Man Thinketh by James Allen

189. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

185. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

183. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari

182. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

174. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

158. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

144. A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

128. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

127. The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

125. The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

124. From Beyond by H.P. Lovecraft

122. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

120. The Martian by Andy Weir

119. The Egg by Andy Weir

118. Artemis by Andy Weir

114. The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

111. A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

107. Dune by Frank Herbert

97. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

82. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

81. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

79. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

75. The Road by John Steinbeck

46. Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche

18. The Odyssey by Homer