What I’ve been reading

1. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula LeGuin.  I hadn’t read this since I was fourteen, but it held up surprisingly well and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  This time around I could see how much the author is the daughter of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber.

2. My Blood Approves, by Amanda Hocking.  A landmark in the history of e-publishing, and a real button-clicker too.  But I can’t say I actually think it’s good.  Still, I finished it.

3. Patrick French, India: A Portrait.  Consistently thoughtful.  I didn’t love it, but a reader could do much worse.  I finished it.

4. John Gimlette, Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge.  Yes, this book covers Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.  A revelation, I loved it.  Could Gimlette be my favorite current travel writer?

5. Richard White, Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America.  I like the first hundred pages very much, so you’ll probably be hearing more about this one, which is a major study of its topic, with a good deal of coverage of Canada and Mexico too, often from a comparative perspective.

Also in my pile is Menzie D. Chinn and Jeffry A. Frieden, Lost Decades: The Making of America’s Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery.