New books I’ve obtained over the holidays… so far

27 Dec 2014 » 1 min read » Filed under: Reading & Books

Iam, apparently, still on my nonfiction kick for the most part. I will finish up my re-reading of Caesar and Christ today, and begin a long-awaited re-read of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. After that, I think it is back to nonfiction, and here is some of the nonfiction that I’ve acquired around the holidays to fortify me.

  • The Autobiography of Mark Twain (Volumes 1 & 2) by Mark Twain
  • No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli1
  • The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
  • I, Claudius by Robert Graves

I can’t say this with certainty, but I am beginning to get the feeling that I write better fiction when I am reading nonfiction. I think when I am reading fiction, I am too liable to fall into the trap of trying to imitate the style of whatever author I happen to be reading.

In any case, I am looking forward to all of these books in the new year.

  1. I read this in college, and even wrote a paper on it, but I have no memory of it today.

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One response to “New books I’ve obtained over the holidays… so far”

  1. Paul Weimer (@PrinceJvstin)

    You might be amused that I was looking avariciously at an old set of Gibbon at a local independent bookstore today. Didn’t pull the trigger, but nearly did.

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