Current Reading List

These are the books I’ve read or listened to in 2024.

  1. Regeneration, by Pat Barker

  2. How to Relax, by Thich Nhat Hanh

  3. Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood, by Bradley Sides

  4. Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina

  5. The Woman in the Sable Coat, by Elizabeth Brooks

  6. The Eye in the Door, by Pat Barker

  7. Maigret’s Holiday, by Georges Simenon

  8. Between Two Kingdoms, by Suleika Jaouad

  9. Blind Man’s Bluff, by Baynard Kendrick

  10. Noonday, by Pat Barker

  11. How to Build Stonehenge, by Mike Pitts

  12. Something I Might Say, by Stephanie Austin

  13. HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience, edt. Ayesha Rascoe

  14. Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

  15. Foster, by Claire Keegan

  16. The Family Izquierdo, by Rubén Degollado

  17. Maigret, by Georges Simenon

  18. The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang

  19. The Curators, by Maggie Nye

  20. Unraveled: A Climber’s Journey through Darkness and Back, by Katie Brown

  21. Death by His Grace, by Kwei Quartey

  22. Yawn: Adventures in Boredom, by Mary Mann

  23. Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, by Annalee Newitz

  24. Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, by Jen Sookfong Lee

  25. A Way of Life, Like Any Other, by Darcy O’Brien

  26. Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

  27. Early Humans, by Nick Ashton

  28. My Friend Maigret, by Georges Simenon

  29. Wild Plums, by Patricia Q. Bidar

  30. Weird: The Power of Being An Outsider in an Insider World, by Olga Khazan

  31. The Woman in Me, by Britney Spears

  32. The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker

  33. Lives of Weeds: Opportunism, Resistance, Folly, by John Cardina

  34. Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman

  35. Midnight Riot, by Ben Aaronovitch

  36. The North Woods, by Daniel Mason

  37. Extreme North: A Cultural History, by Bernd Brunner

  38. Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

  39. Burmese Days, by George Orwell

  40. The School for Good Mothers, by Jessamine Chan

  41. The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia Kadohata

  42. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, by Bettany Hughes

  43. Honestly Elliott, by Gillian McDunn

  44. The Woman Next door, by Yewande Omotoso

  45. In Search of a Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea

  46. The Talented Miss Farwell, by Emily Gray Tedrowe

  47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

  48. The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones

  49. The Coaster, by Eric Wurster

  50. The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty, by Jean Zimmerman

  51. Bad Kids, by Zijin Chen

  52. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson

  53. A Refiner’s Fire, by Donna Leon

  54. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

  55. Hispanic America, Texas, and the Mexican War: 1835-1850, by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier

  56. The World At Night, by Alan Furst

  57. The Spies of Warsaw, by Alan Furst

  58. Pilgrims and Puritans: 1620-1666, by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier

  59. The Foreign Correspondent, by Alan Furst

  60. Clash of Cultures: Prehistory-1638, by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier

  61. Night Soldiers, by Alan Furst

  62. GLASS/FIRE, by Mandira Pattnaik

  63. The Book of Eels, by Patrick Svensson

  64. Dark Star, by Alan Furst

  65. Death Threats, by Georges Simenon

  66. Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune, by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

  67. Losing Music, by John Cotter

  68. How to Say Babylon, by Safiya Sinclair

  69. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and A Dangerous Obsession, by Michael Finkel

    • Last updated Nov. 19, 2024

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 Georges simenon

The summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, I lived in Berkeley, California. I was in an intensive Ancient Greek program at the university, living in the dorms, wanting desperately to seem cool. Part of this effort involved going to a small theater and watching movies in French (obvs). Well, one of them was The Cat (1971), directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre, based on the novel by Georges Simenon.

I loved this movie. It was 100% pathos, hatred, disgust, played to a level of absurdity. I loved it, and not because I was supposed to, but because it was also funny and strange and entertaining, unlike the other movies I saw that summer, which were serious and confusing and naked, but not in a fun way.

That was 2002. I’m not sure when I read my first Simenon, since I didn’t start counting for five more years, but I read The Cat in 2008, and I’ve read bunches more since then. Since he wrote around 400 novels, I’ve quite a ways to go.

Usually, I can find one or two Simenons in bookstores. They’re often the latest Penguin reissues, and I find myself puzzling over their titles and trying to remember, based on a frustratingly spare book flap, whether I have read them. (And, to be completely honest, I also read them quickly. They are like string cheeses to me, delightful to consume but impossible to linger over.) Another complication: sometimes, translators will translate the title differently from the previous edition. I’ve been getting into the habit of finding old ones around used bookstores, too, which complicates matters.

Below, I have done my best to include the English title(s) and the original French. Novels featuring Inspector Maigret come first, in date order, followed by Simenon’s other novels, also ordered by date. If I have read it, the title has a strike-through.

I hope this list will help me the next time I’m in a bookstore or library and I come across one that I (really hope) I haven’t read. Maybe it will help you, too.

NOVELS FEATURING INSPECTOR MAIGRET

  1. Pietr the Latvian/ Pietr-le-Letton (1931)

  2. Maigret Meets a Milord [The Carter of La Providence]/ Le Charretier de “la Providence” (1931)

  3. The Late Monsieur Gallet/ M. Gallet décédé (1931)

  4. The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien [Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets]/ Le Pendu de Saint-Pholien (1931)

  5. Maigret’s War of Nerves [A Man’s Head]/ La Tête d'un homme [L'homme de la Tour Eiffel] (1931)

  6. The Yellow Dog [A Face for a Clue]/ Le Chien jaune (1931)

  7. The Night at the Crossroads [The Crossroads murders] / La Nuit du carrefour (1931)

  8. Maigret in Holland [A Crime in Holland]/ Un crime en Hollande (1931)

  9. The Grand Banks Café/ Au rendez-vous des Terre-Neuvas (1931)

  10. Maigret at the Gai-Moulin [The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin]/ La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin (1931)

  11. The Two-Penny Bar [The Bar on the Seine]/ La Guinguette à deux sous (1932)

  12. The Shadow Puppet [Maigret Mystified]/ L'Ombre chinoise (1932)

  13. Maigret Comes Home [Maigret Goes Home] [The Saint-Fiacre Affair]/ L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (1932)

  14. The Flemish House/ Chez les Flamands (1932)

  15. The Misty Harbour/ Le port des brumes (1932)

  16. The Madman of Bergerac/ Le Fou de Bergerac (1932)

  17. Liberty Bar [Maigret on the Riviera]/Liberty Bar (1932)

  18. Lock No. 1 / L'Écluse no. 1 (1932)

  19. Maigret [Maigret returns]/ Maigret (1934)

  20. The Unlikely M. Owen/ L'improbable Monsieur Owen (1938)

  21. The Group at the Grand Café/ Ceux du Grand Café (1938)

  22. Maigret on the Riviera (1940)

  23. The Hotel Majestic [the Cellars of the Majestic] [Maigret and the Hotel Majestic]/ Les Caves du Majestic (1942)

  24. The Judge’s House/ La Maison du juge/ Maigret in Exile [1942]

  25. Maigret and the Spinster [Cecile is Dead]/ Cécile est morte (1942)

  26. Death Threats/ Menaces de mort (1942)

  27. Two Bodies on a Barge [Inspector Maigret thinks]/ La Péniche aux deux pendus (1944)

  28. The Mysterious Affair in the Boulevard Beaumarchais/ L'Affaire du Boulevard Beaumarchais (1944)

  29. The Open Window [Inspector Maigret Smokes His Pipe]/ La Fenêtre ouverte (1944)

  30. Jeumont: 51 Minutes’ Wait/ Jeumont, 51 minutes d'arrêt (1944)

  31. Death of a Woodlander/ Les Larmes de bougie (1944)

  32. In the Rue Pigalle/ Rue Pigalle (1944)

  33. Maigret’s Mistake/ Une erreur de Maigret (1944)

  34. Madame Maigret’s Admirer/ L'Amoureux de Madame Maigret (1944)

  35. Four on Maigret: Mr. Monday / Maigret's Pipe / Maigret's Mistake / The Drowned Men's Inn (1944)

  36. Stan the Killer/ Stan le tueur (1944)

  37. At the Étoile du Nord/ L'Étoile du Nord (1944)

  38. Storm in the Channel/ Tempête sur la Manche (1944)

  39. Mademoiselle Berthe and her Lover/ Mademoiselle Berthe et son amant (1944)

  40. The Three Daughters of the Lawyer/ Le Notaire du Châteauneuf (1944)

  41. Maigret and the Fortuneteller/ Signé Picpus (1944)

  42. Maigret’s Rival [Inspector Cadaver]/ L'Inspecteur Cadavre (1944)

  43. Maigret and the Toy Village (Felicie)/ Félicie est là (1944)

  44. Maigret Gets Angry [Maigret’s retirement]/ Maigret se fâche (1947)

  45. Maigret in New York/ Maigret à New York (1947)

  46. Death of a Nobody/ On ne tue pas les pauvres types (1947)

  47. The Evidence of the Altar-boy/ Le Témoinage de l'enfant de chœur (1947)

  48. The Most Obstinate Customer in The World/ Le Client le plus obstiné du monde (1947)

  49. Maigret and the Surly Inspector/ Maigret et l'inspecteur malgracieux (malchanceux) (1947)

  50. Maigret’s Holiday [No Vacation for Maigret]/ Les Vacances de Maigret (1948)

  51. Maigret’s Dead Man/ Maigret et son mort (1948)

  52. Maigret's First Case/ La première enquête de Maigret, 1913 (1948)

  53. My Friend Maigret/ Mon ami Maigret (1949)

  54. Maigret at the Coroner’s/ Maigret chez le coroner (1949)

  55. Maigret and the Old Lady/ Maigret et la vieille dame (1949)

  56. Madame Maigret’s Friend [Madame Maigret’s Own Case]/ L'Amie de Mme Maigret (1950)

  57. The Man in the Street [Inspector Maigret Pursues]/ L'Homme dans la rue (1950)

  58. Maigret's Christmas/ L'Homme dans la rue (1951)

  59. Maigret's Memoirs/ Les Mémoires de Maigret (1951)

  60. Maigret at Picratt’s [Maigret in Montmarte]/ Maigret au "Picratt's" (1951)

  61. Maigret Takes a Room/ Maigret en meublé (1951)

  62. Maigret and the Burglar’s Wife/ Maigret et la grande perche (1951)

  63. Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters [Maigret and the Gangsters]/ Maigret, Lognon et les gangsters (1952)

  64. Maigret’s Revolver/ Le Revolver de Maigret (1952)

  65. Maigret and the Man on the Bench [The Man on the Boulevard]/ Maigret et l'homme du banc (1953)

  66. Maigret is Afraid/ Maigret a peur (1953)

  67. Maigret Goes to School/ Maigret à l'école (1954)

  68. Maigret and the Dead Girl/ Maigret et la jeune morte (1954)

  69. Maigret and the Minister/ Maigret chez le ministre (1954)

  70. Maigret and the Headless Corpse/ Maigret et le corps sans tête (1955)

  71. Maigret Sets a Trap/ Maigret tend un piège (1955)

  72. Maigret’s Failure/ Un échec de Maigret (1956)

  73. Maigret Enjoys Himself [Maigret’s Little Joke]/ Maigret s'amuse (1957)

  74. Maigret Travels [Maigret and the Millionaires]/ Maigret voyage (1958)

  75. Maigret’s Doubts [Maigret Has Scruples]/ Les Scrupules de Maigret (1958)

  76. Maigret and the Reluctant Witness/ Maigret et les témoins récalcitrants (1959)

  77. Maigret in Court/ Maigret aux assises (1960)

  78. Maigret and the Old People [Maigret in Society]/ Maigret et les vieillards (1960)

  79. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar/ Maigret et le voleur paresseux (1961)

  80. Maigret and the Black Sheep [Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse]/ Maigret et les braves gens (1962)

  81. Maigret and the Saturday Caller/ Maigret et le client du samedi (1962)

  82. Maigret and the Tramp/ Maigret et le clochard (1963)

  83. Maigret's Anger [Maigret Loses His Temper]/ La Colère de Maigret (1963)

  84. Maigret and the Apparition/ Maigret and the Ghost/ Maigret et le fantôme (1964)

  85. Maigret Defends Himself [Maigret on the Defensive]/ Maigret se défend (1964)

  86. Maigret Bides His Time [Maigret’s Patience]/ La Patience de Maigret (1965)

  87. Maigret and the Nahour Case/ Maigret et l'affaire Nahour (1966)

  88. Maigret's Pickpocket [Maigret and the Pickpocket]/ Le Voleur de Maigret (1967)

  89. Maigret in Vichy [Maigret Takes the Waters]/ Maigret à Vichy (1968)

  90. Maigret's Boyhood Friend/ L'Ami d'enfance de Maigret (1968)

  91. Maigret and the Killer/ Maigret et le tueur (1968)

  92. Maigret and the Wine Merchant/ Maigret et le marchand de vin (1970)

  93. Maigret and the Madwoman/ La Folle de Maigret (1970)

  94. Maigret and the Loner/ Maigret et l'homme tout seul (1971)

  95. Maigret and the Informer [Maigret and the Flea]/ Maigret et l'indicateur (1971)

  96. Maigret and Monsieur Charles/ Maigret et Monsieur Charles (1972)

Alan Furst

I haven’t been this excited about an author since Monsieur Simenon! I found The World At Night in a little library and have been eating them whole since. Here’s the list, with those I’ve read crossed out. Yay!

Night Soldiers Series

   1. Night Soldiers (1988)

   2. Dark Star (1991)

   3. The Polish Officer (1995)

   4. The World at Night (1996)

   5. Red Gold (1999)

   6. Kingdom Of Shadows (2000)

   7. Blood of Victory (2002)

   8. Dark Voyage (2004)

   9. The Foreign Correspondent (2006)

   10. The Spies of Warsaw (2008)

   11. Spies of the Balkans (2010)

   12. Mission to Paris (2012)

   13. Midnight in Europe (2014)

   14. A Hero of France (2016)

   15. Under Occupation (2019) 

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recovery

In no particular order, here are some of the books I recommend about recovering from drug and alcohol use:

  • Drinking, a Love Story, by Caroline Knapp

  • Lit, by Mary Karr

  • Stash, by Laura Cathcart Robbins

  • Quit Like a Woman, by Holly Whitaker

  • The Urge: Our History of Addiction, by Carl Erik Fisher

  • Quitter: A memoir of drinking, relapse, and recovery, by Erica C. Barnett

  • Undoing Drugs: How Harm Reduction Is Changing the Future of Drugs and Addiction, by Maia Szalavitz

  • Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget, by Sarah Hepola