2009 H2 reading and audiobook results

In the second half of 2009 (July–December), I read 4,276 pages and listened to 31.5 hours of audio books. Asterisks indicate standouts from the list (though the lack of an asterisk does not necessarily imply non-recommendation). Two asterisks for the top three. For recommendations, click over to statefree-learning.org and explore the Bookfinder.

Books and audiobooks in order consumed:
The Hobbit (BBC Radio Dramatisation)
** Voyage From Yesteryear (Hogan)
Tom Paine Maru
The Lord of the Rings (BBC Radio Dramatisation)
** Investment Banking: Institutions, Politics, and Law
** Techniques of the Selling Writer (Swain)
* Little Brother (Doctorow)
Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics
Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Plot & Structure
Needful Things (King)
The Gods Themselves (Asimov)
* The Greatest Show on Earth (Dawkins)
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
A Gift for My Children (Rogers)
* Crashproof 2.0 (Schiff)
* The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Jacobs; first two-thirds only; this has amazing information in it, but is repetitive and begins to drag at some point; the best parts seem to be in about the first half)

Pages read was equal to the first half of 2009 at just over 4,000. Audiobook time was down for two reasons. First, I spent more time writing and note processing. I reviewed, reorganized, and annotated about 70,000 words of notes and ideas that I had recorded over the preceding two years into a journal tool that also made the material much more accessible for future reference. Second, I watched the first five and a half seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as I continue to investigate what has been done so far with the use of science fiction to explore social organization and moral issues. This proved so relevant to the task that I count it as a suitable excuse for the reduction in audiobook time (as an exception!). There was even some entertainment effect (a mere uninvited side-effect for a Vulcan ;-).