On Revolution by Hannah Arendt

I think this book is fantastic. Arendt attempts to provide a theoretical framework for reading revolutions using both the American and the French Revolutions. In addition to her useful distinctions between liberation and freedom, Arendt usefully and skillfully draws examples from history and literature. Literate, engaging, and articulate, Arendt makes you feel like you're engaging in a great conversation with a smart friend.

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

This novel, the third in the Earthsea cycle, offers an ending to the first three books. It's about the line between death and life, and the necessity of death to make life meaningful. It's also a coming-of-age story, as Arren grows into his kingly self. Le Guin takes the story as far as it needs to go and doesn't waste a lot of time wrapping it up or writing epilogues (although she has written three Earthsea books since this one ended the trilogy).

Zofloya by Charlotte Dacre

This gothic novel is not as compelling as The Monk; the plot comes together too quickly--which is to say, it starts with the destruction of a family of four, narrows its focus to the sister, and then brings the brother back in halfheartedly at the very end. Indeed, the book becomes more interesting for its flaws than for its successes. Although there's a seduction by the devil, the bargain is never explicitly Faustian--and the devil, Zofloya, isn't introduced until Victoria is already well on her way to wickedness.

Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita

Although this novel seemed a bit too pat, too forced at times, I enjoyed reading it. Yamashita has arranged her story over the course of a week, from the perspective of seven characters, and each character has a chapter a day. Everything seems to converge, or almost to converge at the end, and while she doesn't tie everything entirely up, there were moments when I felt like the deck was stacked against the reader. Otherwise, I enjoyed following angels, oranges, and maps across the apocalyptic landscape of Los Angeles (almost a character in its own right).

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

It was an unequivocal pleasure to return to this book after nearly a decade. I found it more intriguing and more tragic than ever. One cannot help loving Tess, even as she remains veiled from Angel and from her readers. This time through, I found the series of bad omens and the investigation of inheritance and family particularly compelling.

The Quest for Middle-earth by Dirk Vander Ploeg

I am having a hard time thinking of anything kind to say about this book, unless kindness consists of warning readers away. Its sloppy grammar, inconsistency and inaccuracy in its citations, and wildly ineffective and inappropriate transitions make the act of reading difficult. As one wades through the bad prose, one realizes that the content is even worse. Vander Ploeg's selective use of a broad range of mythic, scientific, Biblical, archaeological, historical, and fictional sources demonstrates his poor understanding of all of these sources at best, and a deliberate attempt to construct evidence which simply does not exist at worst. Save yourself the hassle and enjoy Tolkien himself instead.

The Monk by Matthew Lewis

I really enjoyed this gothic novel. Although there are definitely campy moments (and Lewis was only 19, after all, when he wrote the book), the books is a lot of fun to read. I particularly enjoyed the story of the Bleeding Nun. There's an obvious vein of the Faust story running through the text. Even the supposedly "happy" bits of the ending are quite disturbing and the final image is no less than a reversal of the creation story in Genesis. Overall well worth the read.