Hail Mary - Andy Weir. This is an Andy Weir-style book, if you liked the last two, you'll like this one, I think even more. I won't say any more. If you read it let's have coffee!

World Travel - Anthony Bourdain. An unusual book, and some will criticize co-author Laurie Woolever for going ahead with the collaboration after Bourdain passed away. I'm glad she did, because the long Bourdain quotes and hearsay and wisdom are well-worth the effort of skipping past the filler material about airports. Bourdain was so incisive that even a small dose is worthwhile.

How Life Imitates Chess - Garry Kasparov. I'll read anything by Kasparov, and I love the anecdotes about his career. The MBA-style vague chess analogies like "always attack!" are perfectly fine. If you read one prose book by Kasparov I preferred Deep Thinking about the Deep Blue match and machine intelligence in general.

Mind Master - Vishy Anand. If you like chess world champion autobiographies, you'll like this one! It is truly unbelievable that the first grandmaster from India became world champion, held his crown for so long, and passed along every bit of his good fortune to the next generation. One of the most incredible people active in the world today.

The 4-Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss. (reread, as I regularly do.) This is my bible. It can be hard to remember when reading it that it was written so long ago in 2009 (except the dated parts about magazine ads!) Tim recently made a really nice podcast episode where he answered questions about himself and his routines which I enjoyed very much. Read this to get out of a rut.

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan) - Arkady Martine. The author was at U of C at the same time as me! I didn't know her, but I absolutely loved the story (so fresh and creative) and her success is a kick in the pants that I need to get my creative work out in front of people.

The Two-State Delusion - Padraig O'Malley. (2016). An attempt at an impartial telling of the story of Zionism, the many parties involved, the inculcation of children, and what outcomes are possible. The author is an Irishman with extensive experience covering intractable conflict in Northern Ireland. I read this during the recent fighting between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and the subject of Israel being raised in the NYC mayoral race. Recommended, although the conclusion is bleak is born out by the intervening years.

The Time Machine Did It. and How I Conquered Your Planet by John Swartzwelder. I picked these up after reading the recent New Yorker interview with the author. He's an absolute legend among Simpsons fans (like me) and the books were a cut above, unlike any comic writing I've ever read, absolutely worth their weight in gold. Up there with A Confederacy of Dunces.