Books Read

(reverse chronological order; so, books read most recently first)

2025

1. poyums by Len Pennie
2. The Ministry of Time by Kalaine Bradley
3. The Walking Man: Expanded Edition by Jiro Taniguchi (graphic novel)

2024

1. The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
2. The Colossus and Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
3. Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach
4. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
5. Next Stop by Debbie Fong (graphic novel)
6. Zen Master Tales: Stories from the Lives of Taigu, Sengai, Hakuin, and Ryokan by Peter Haskell
7. In: A Graphic Novel by Will McPhail
8. Wait: A Love Letter to Those in Despair by Cuong Lu
9. A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley (audiobook, read by Jay Smooth)
10. Endpoint and Other Poems by John Updike
11. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
12. Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones (audiobook)
13. Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta by Bill "Blade" Hotel with Hélène Lee
14. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
15. Saint Young Men Omnibus 6 (Vol. 11-12) by Hiraku Nakamura
16. The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out: Poems by Karen Solie
17. The Story of Phil: A Great Kid with a Warped Mind by Phillip Pekala
18. There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Adurraqib
19. A Recipe for Writing Family History by Devon Noel Lee and Andrew Lee
20. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
21. Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life by James Curtis
22. Library by Ben Brown
23. On Lighthouses by Jazmina Barrera (trans. Christina MacSweeney)
24. Spring Cannot Be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy by Martin Gayford
25. Yé-Yé Girls of '60s French Pop by Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe
26. Turtles All the Way Down by John Greene
27. Your Utopia by Bora Chung (trans. Anton Hur)
28. Embracing Your Boundless Heart: Cultivating Lovingkindness, Gratitude, and Joy by Sharon Salzberg (audiobook)
29. Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
30. Requiem for a Manual Typewriter by Jonas Mekas
31. Timecode of a Face by Ruth Ozeki (audiobook)
32. The Mountains of Parnassus by Czeslaw Milosz
33. Winter Recipes from the Collective: Poems by Louise Glück

2023

1. The Golden Girls: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Francesco Sedita
2. Zen in the Age of Anxiety: Wisdom for Navigating Our Modern Lives by Tim Burkett (ed. Wanda Isle)
3. The God Desire by David Baddiel
4. Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart by Patricia Donegan
5. Summer On the Lakes by Margaret Fuller
6. Saint Young Men Omnibus 5 (Vol. 9-10) by Hiraku Nakamura
7. Musical Tables: Poems by Billy Collins
8. Not Here by Hieu Minh Nguyen
9. How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis
10. In Pursuit of Spring by Edward Thomas
11. The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise by Pico Iyer
12. Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru (graphic novel)
13. The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture: A Journey of Selfless Discovery by Jeremy White
14. The History of Jazz (Third Edition) by Ted Gioia
15. A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997 by Wendell Berry
16. The Emissary by Yōko Tawada
17. Haunted Southern Nevada Ghost Towns by Heather Leigh
18. Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck (ed. Steve Smith)
19. Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures by Jason Adam Katzenstein (graphic novel)
20. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
21. Don't Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk by Shunmyō Masuno
22. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (re-read)

2022 (deep dive: Ryokan)

1. The Zen Poems of Ryokan by Nobuyuki Yuasa (re-read)
2. Sourdough by Robin Sloan
3. Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer
4. Kakurenbo: Or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan by Eido Frances Carney (re-read)
5. The Anthropocene Reviewed (Signed Edition): Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
6. Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz (audiobook, re-read sorta)
7. Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them by Dan Bouk
8. These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World by Grady Hendrix and Chris Poggiali
9. Love, an Index by Rebecca Lindenberg
10. Saint Young Men Omnibus 4 (Vol. 7-8) by Hikaru Nakamura
11. The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey (audiobook)
12. Beyond the Curve by Kōbō Abe
13. The Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being by Brad Warner
14. Great Fool: Zen Master Ryōkan; Poems, Letters, and Other Writings by Ryōkan (Author), Ryūichi Abe (Translator), Peter Haskel (Translator)
15. The Cartographers: A Novel by Peng Shepherd
16. The Cat Who Saved Books: A Novel by Sosuke Natsukawa
17. Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
18. A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
19. Saint Young Men Omnibus 3 (Vol. 5-6) by Hikaru Nakamura
20. One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan by Ryōkan (trans. John Stevens) (re-read, initially in 2008, but don't see listed here)
21. The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges (trans. Andrew Hurley)
22. Peaceful Heart: The Buddhist Practice of Patience by Dzigar Kongtrul
23. Klara and the Sun: A novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
24. Incredible Good Fortune: New Poems by Ursula K. Le Guin
25. Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers by Frank X Walker
26. Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan by Kazuaki Tanahashi (re-read)
27. The Amateur: The Pleasures of Doing What You Love by Andy Merrifield

2021 (deep dive: Theodore Roethke)

1. The Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories by Nicholas Gurewitch (comics) (re-read)
2. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
3. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Eric Shanower (graphic novel) (with the boy)
4. Hark by Sam Lipsyte
5. Hits and Misses by a Simon Rich
6. The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information by Craig Robertson
7. The Miraculous Barber by Marcel Aymé
8. Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom edited by Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles
9. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Eric Shanower (graphic novel) (with the boy)
10. Straw for the fire : from the notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63 by Theodore Roethke (edited by David Wagoner)
11. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (with the boy)
12. China Root: Taoism, Ch’an, and Original Zen by David Hinton
13. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane
14. The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (trans. Flora Thomson-DeVeaux)
15. On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose (Writing Re: Writing) by Theodore Roethke
16. Beasts Head for Home by Kōbō Abe
17. A Field Guide to the Poetry of Theodore Roethke by William Barillas (Editor)
18. My Fence is Electric: and Other Stories by Mark Newman
19. Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai by Jim Colucci
20. Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
21. Incredible Doom by Matthew Bogart (graphic novel)
22. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
23. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (graphic novel)
24. Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
25. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
26. Thank You and Okay: An American Zen Failure in Japan by David Chadwick
27. The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei (trans. Canaan Morse)
28. The Gate by Natsume Sōseki (trans. William F. Sibley)
29. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix... by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
30. They Will Drown in Their Mothers' Tears by Johannes Anyuru (trans. Saskia Vogel)
31. Whale Day and Other Poems by Billy Collins
32. Thirteen Time Travel Templates by Joseph E. Pluta
33. The Glass House: The Life of Theodore Roethke by Allan Seager (re-read)

2020

1. Einstein's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit by Krista Tippett
2. Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna
3. Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
4. The Green Mare by Marcel Aymé
5. The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
6. We Have Been Waiting Too Long: The Struggle Against Racial Segregation in Loudoun County, Virginia by Matthew Exline
7. Saint Young Men Vol. 2 by Hikaru Nakamura
8. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono
9. Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
10. America & Other Poems by Aykawa Nobuo (trans. Shogo Oketani & Leza Lowitz)
11. Saint Young Men Vol. 1 by Hikaru Nakamura
12. Tita by Marie Houzelle
13. Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
14. Cardinal Black by Robert McCammon
15. Tea: A User's Guide by Tony Gebely
16. Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt
17. Invincible Summer 2 by Nicole Georges
18. Invincible Summer: An Anthology (second edition) by Nicole Georges
19. My Wonderful World in Slapstick by Buster Keaton
20. Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry by Julian Peters
21. Figuring by Maria Popova
22. Of Walking in Ice: Munich-Paris, 23 November-14 December 1974 by Werner Herzog
23. A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
24. Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir by Nicole J. Georges
25. Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (youth, with the boy)
26. Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records by Ben Merlis

2019

1. Basho: The Complete Haiku by Matsuo Basho (trans. Jane Reichhold)
2. How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia
3. While the Clock Ticked (Hardy Boys, Book 11) by Franklin W. Dixon (with the boy)
4. Hotel Iris: A Novel by Yoko Ogawa
5. The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
6. Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen by Brad Warner
7. Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
8. It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh
9. Intimate Notebook 1840-1841 by Gustave Flaubert
10. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
11. Sanshiro by Natsume Soseki
12. The Art of Simple Living: 100 Daily Practices from a Japanese Zen Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy by Shunmyo Masuno
13. Beautiful Image by Marcel Aymé
14. Help! I’m A Prisoner In The Library by Eth Clifford (youth, with the boy)
15. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
16. Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E.E. Cummings by Richard S. Kennedy
17. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
18. Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer
19. The Border by Robert McCammon
20. The Rain in Portugal: Poems by Billy Collins
21. Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel Smith
22. Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz
23. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
24. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
25. Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza (photo bio)
26. Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero (graphic novel)

2018

1. Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett
2. How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North
3. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
4. Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol (graphic novel)
5. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the boy)
7. Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk
8. North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail by Scott Jurek
9. Inter Ice Age 4 by Kōbō Abe
10. Ten Days in A Mad-House: Illustrated and Annotated: A First-Hand Account of Life At Bellevue Hospital on Blackwell’s Island in 1887 by Nellie Bly
11. Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet by Joan Halifax
12. Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir & Steenz (graphic novel)
13. It Came from Beyond Zen!: More Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) by Brad Warner
14. Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City by Julia Wertz
15. Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet by Claire L. Evans
16. The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy by Stanislaw Lem
17. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
18. Here by Richard McGuire
19. Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon
20. Sequential Drawings: The New Yorker Series by Richard McGuire
21. Harvest in Poland by Geoffrey Pomeroy Dennis
22. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson

2017

1. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
2. This Present Moment: New Poems by Gary Snyder
3. Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman
4. Absolutely on Music: Conversations by Haruki Murakami
5. The Stranger in My Genes: A Memoir by Bill Griffeth
6. Aleksandra Waliszewska: 2000 Words by Aleksandra Waliszewska
7. The Theory and Craft of Digital Preservation by Trevor Owens
8. This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War by Bruce Catton
9. Our Campaigns, 1861-1864: The Second Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteers, 1861-1864 by Evan Morrison Woodward
10. Always Too Much and Never Enough by Jasmin Singer (audiobook)
11. Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home by Nicole J. Georges
12. Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen to Music in an Age of Musical Plenty by Ben Ratliff
13. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
14. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
15. The Man who Walked Through Walls by Marcel Aymé
16. Triangle by Hisaki Matsuura
17. The Box Man by Kōbō Abe
18. Ongoingness: The End of a Diary by Sarah Manguso
19. The Ruined Map by Kōbō Abe
20. The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
21. The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine T. Bettinger
22. Freedom of the Mask by Robert McCammon
23. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks

2016

1. Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tōsui by Menzan Zuihō, translated by Peter Haskel
2. Time Travel: A History by James Gleick
3. The Family Tree Polish, Czech And Slovak Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Eastern Europe by Lisa A. Alzo
4. The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber
5. Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich
6. On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
7. The System of Dante’s Hell by Amiri Baraka
8. Spoiled Brats by Simon Rich
9. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
10. Organize Your Genealogy: Strategies and Solutions for Every Researcher by Drew Smith
11. The Ark Sakura by Kōbō Abe
12. Black Fire! New Spirits!: Images of a Revolution: Radical Jazz in the USA 1960-75 by Stuart Baker
13. Lotus of the Heart: Living Yoga for Personal Wellness and Global Survival by Tracey Winter Glover
14. The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965 by Sam Stephenson
15. I Travel by Night by Robert McCammon (novella)
16. Don’t Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dōgen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master by Brad Warner
17. Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz
18. Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem by Paula Williams Madison
19. Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan by Kazuaki Tanahashi
20. Preserving Your Family’s Oral History and Stories by Thomas MacEntee
21. Essays After Eighty by Donald Hall
22. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

2015

1. The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World by Robert McGhee
2. Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries by Maureen A. Taylor
3. Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell by Phil Lapsley
4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (audiobook version)
5. Bream Gives Me Hiccups & other stories by Jesse Eisenberg
6. Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami
7. Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
8. The Zen Poems of Ryokan by Nobuyuki Yuasa
9. Pursuing Preservation by Kevin Driedger
10. Photo Organizing Practices: Daguerreotypes to Digital by Maureen A. Taylor
11. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman
12. The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality and Gender by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
13. A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt by Tom Wicker
14. A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power by Paul Fischer
15. Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio by Jessica Abel
16. The Seventh Day by Yua Hu
17. Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus by Gene Santoro
18. Will Travel for Vegan Food: A Young Woman’s Solo Van-Dwelling Mission to Break Free, Find Food, and Make Love by Kristin Lajeunesse
19. “Don’t tell white folks” : or light out of darkness by James T. Still (pamphlet)
20. Early Recollections and Life of Dr. James Still by James Still
21. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
22. Kangaroo Notebook by Kōbō Abe
23. Kakurenbo: Or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan by Eido Frances Carney
24. The Wolf’s Hour by Robert R. McCammon
25. Ballistics: Poems by Billy Collins

2014

1. Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
2. Nine Horses: Poems by Billy Collins
3. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
4. Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Joan Halifax
5. Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year by Tavis Smiley (with David Ritz)
6. The New Kings of Nonfiction by Ira Glass
7. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A novel by Haruki Murakami
8. The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by Matthew Inman
9. The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations translated by Gil Fronsdal
10. The Fun Parts by Sam Lipsyte
11. The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki
12. Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn
13. The River of Souls by Robert McCammon
14. The Late Starters Orchestra by Ari L. Goldman
15. Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl
16. 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day by Dorian Lynskey
17. A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power by Jimmy Carter
18. The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin’ Sad by Adam Gnade (zine)
19. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
20. Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac (From Works of Eugene Field Vol VII) by Eugene Field
21. A Straight Road with 99 Curves: Coming of Age on the Path of Zen by Gregory Shepherd

2013

1. Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins
2. Odyssey of an Octopus Junkie: A Dysfunctional Love Story by t.w. glover
3. Time and Again by Jack Finney
4. Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly
5. The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
6. Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek
7. How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman
8. Petropolis by Anya Ulinich
9. The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment by Roshi Philip Kapleau
10. Root For The Villain: Rap, Bull$hit, and a Celebration of Failure by J-Zone
11. Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman
12. Preachin’ the Blues: The Life and Times of Son House by Daniel Beaumont
13. There Is No God and He Is Always with You: A Search for God in Odd Places by Brad Warner
14. Attempting Normal by Marc Maron
15. Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music by Kevin O’Brien Chang and Wayne Chen
16. The Face of Another by Kōbō Abe
17. The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
18. The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us by James W. Pennebaker
19. Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir by Nicole J. Georges
20. The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
21. Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century Parenthood by Drew Magary
22. Chinese Tea by Tong Liu
23. The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe
24. The Worst Years of Your Life: Stories for the Geeked-Out, Angst-Ridden, Lust-Addled, and Deeply Misunderstood Adolescent in All of Us edited by Mark Jude Poirier
25. Guns (Kindle Single) by Stephen King

2012

1. The Boombox Project: The Machines, the Music, and the Urban Underground by Lyle Owerko
2. Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
3. The Providence Rider by Robert McCammon
4. Bootstrapping an Online Tea Business by Tony Gebely
5. Hardcore Zen Strikes Again by Brad Warner
6. A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip-Hop by Shawn Livernoche
7. Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality by Brad Warner (audiobook version)
8. Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki by David Chadwick
9. Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
10. Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists by Courtney E. Martin
11. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
12. Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
13. The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
14. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats by Grandmaster Flash
15. Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara by Colleen Morton Busch
16. There’s Gotta Be A Pony (Considerations on a Journey of Mastery) by Jim Perry
17. Coltrane on Coltrane: The John Coltrane Interviews by Chris DeVito
18. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
19. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
20. The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
21. My Seinfeld Year (Kindle Single) by Fred Stoller
22. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
23. Taft 2012: A Novel by Jason Heller
24. The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter by Matt Paxton
25. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
26. The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records by Ashley Kahn
27. The Ask: A Novel by Sam Lipsyte

2011

1. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
2. The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw
3. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A Book by Patton Oswalt by Patton Oswalt (audiobook version)
4. Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki
5. The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate by Susan K Greenland
6. The Vegan Revolution… with Zombies by David Agranoff
7. A Confession by Leo Tolstoy
8. Edible Secrets: A Food Tour of Classified US History by Michael Hoerger
9. Where the Hell Am I?: Trips I Have Survived by Ken Levine
10. A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
11. A Widow’s Story: A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates
12. 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides) by Matthew Inman
13. Fuzzy Logic Get Fuzzy 2 by Darby Conley
14. 1975 and the Changes to Come by Arnold Barach
15. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with the girl)
16. I Found This Funny: My Favorite Pieces of Humor and Some That May Not Be Funny At All by Judd Apatow
17. Beware Dangerism! (Kindle Single) by Gever Tulley
18. Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets by Cadillac Man
19. Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty: Poems by Tony Hoagland
20. Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich
21. Vegan Pregnancy Survival Guide by Sayward Rebhal
22. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
23. The Five by Robert McCammon
24. Nothing Is Hidden: Essays on Zen Master Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook by Shohaku Okumura
25. The Issue At Hand: Essays On Buddhist Mindfulness Practice by Gil Fronsdal
26. Mile 81 (Kindle Single) by Stephen King

2010

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
2. Home Land: A Novel by Sam Lipsyte
3. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
4. Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas by Sarah Brown
5. The Smart Traveler’s Passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers by Erik Torkells
6. The Old Tea Seller: Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto by Baisao
7. What Matters Now by Seth Godin
8. Party of One: The Loners’ Manifesto by Anneli Rufus
9. Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon
10. Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise by Wil Wheaton (audiobook version)
11. I Got Somebody in Staunton: Stories by William Henry Lewis
12. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
13. The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook: A Guide to the World’s Best Teas by Mary Lou and David (?) Heiss
14. In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time by Peter Lovenheim
15. iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It by Steve Wozniak (audiobook version)
16. Living And Dying In Zazen: Five Zen Masters Of Modern Japan by Arthur Braverman
17. Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D. Roth
18. Sex, Sin, and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between by Brad Warner
19. Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor
20. Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music by Greg Milner
21. Secret Rendezvous by Kōbō Abe
22. The Korean Way of Tea by Hong Kyeong-hee and Brother Anthony of Taize
23. The Elephant Vanishes: Stories by Haruki Murakami

2009

Not a single work of fiction finished this year.

1. Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic. by David Nadelberg
2. Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma by Brad Warner
3. Mortified: Love Is a Battlefield by David Nadelberg
4. The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Ellen and Robert J. Heiss
5. WrestleCrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling by R.D. Reynolds
6. Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It’s Becoming, and Why It Matters by Scott Rosenberg
7. Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief by Dale McGowan
8. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis
9. Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries by Noah Levine
10. The Empty Mirror by Jan Van De Wetering
11. The Vegan Monologues by Ben Shaberman
12. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
13. It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather Armstrong
14. Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell
15. Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems by David Rakoff (my sole audiobook of the year)

2008

1. Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies by Brian Coleman
2. Revolution Summer by Josh Hooten
3. Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small Town America by Bill Geist
4. Collections of Nothing by William Davies King
5. It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh
6. Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism by Mark Hawthorne
7. BFF by Nate Beaty
8. Doo Wop Motels: Architectural Treasures of the Wildwoods by Kirk Hastings
9. Invincible Summer 2 by Nicole Georges
10. Welcome To The Dahl House: Alienation, Incarceration, and Inebriation In The New American Rome by Ken Dahl
11. Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
12. Things I Learned About My Dad: Humorous and Heartfelt Essays, edited by the creator of www.dooce.com by Heather B. Armstrong
13. The Jersey Devil by James F. McCloy
14. The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon
15. Zen to Done: The Ultimate Simple Productivity System by Leo Babauta
16. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

2007

1. Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama by Diane C. Fujino
2. Constant Rider Omnibus: Stories from the Public Transportation Front by Kate Lopresti
3. Coffeeshop Crushes by Nicole J Georges
4. How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment by Eihei Dogen
5. 1000 Journals Project by Someguy
6. Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary by Kathy Stevens
7. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks
8. Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Barbara Sher
9. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
10. Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma by Brad Warner
11. My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure by Shawn Decker
12. Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American by Jean-Robert Cadet
13. Dream Whip: No. 14 by Bill Brown
14. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
15. The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom by Dean Sluyter
16. Capers in the Churchyard: Animal Rights Advocacy in the Age of Terror by Lee Hall

2006

1. The Art of Just Sitting : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza by John D Loori
2. Pleasurable Kingdom : Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good by Jonathan Balcombe
3. The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
4. I Cried, You Didn’t Listen: A Survivor’s Expose of the California Youth Authority by Dwight Edgar Abbott
5. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
6. Invincible Summer by Nicole J. Georges
7. Behind the Beat: Hip Hop Home Studios by Raph
8. Dispatches from Hell: A Vegan’s Guide to Love, Sex, Relationships, and Other Suicidal Tendencies by Daniel Peyser
9. Crouching Father, Hidden Toddler by C.W. Nevius
10. Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth About Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and… by Lori Leibovich
11. Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality by Brad Warner
12. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
13. Living at the Edge of the World: How I Survived in the Tunnels of Grand Central Station by Tina S.
14. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren
15. The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
16. On bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt
17. Four Hundred Words by Katherine Sharpe
18. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima

2005

1. Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
2. Saffron Days in L.A.: Tales of a Buddhist Monk in America by Bhante Walpola Piyananda
3. On Subbing: The First Four Years by Dave Roche
4. Star Dog by A.M. Lightener
5. Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square by Bill Landis, Michelle Clifford
6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (audiobook version)
7. Murder in Clichy by Cara Black
8. The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City by Jennifer Toth
9. Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John Porcellino
10. Out on the Porch: An Evocation in Words and Pictures by Clifton Dowell
11. Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World by Bob and Jenna Torres
12. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity by Lawrence Lessig
13. Vinyl Junkies: Adventures in Record Collecting by Brett Milano
14. The Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki
15. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation by Jeff Chang
16. Superstud, or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin by Paul Feig
17. Doris #1-18 Anthology 1991-2001 by Cindy Gretchen Ovenrack Crabb
18. The Pig Who Sang to the Moon by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
19. Making Kind Choices: Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living by Ingrid Newkirk
20. Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys by Dave Barry
21. Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller
22. McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern Issue 13 (it’s a magazine, technically, but big enough to be a book, alright?)
23. The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
24. Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat by Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol

2004

1. Santa’s Twin by Dean Koontz
2. The Vegan Sourcebook by Joanne Stepaniak
3. Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt by Jack Olsen
4. Waking Up: A Week Inside a Zen Monastery by Jack Maguire
5. In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki
6. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
7. Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money by Erik Marcus
8. The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights by Norm Phelps
9. Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren