Here are the books I finished reading in 2025.

“And so they lived many happy years, and the promised tasks were accomplished. Yet long afterward, when all had passed away into distant memory, there were many who wondered whether King Taran, Queen Eilonwy, and their companions had indeed walked the earth, or whether they had been no more than dreams in a tale set down to beguile children. And, in time, only the bards knew the truth of it.”

Excertp from the High King by Lloyd Alexander

commonplace.7robots.org/x/610E8CF…

Winter Wonder Photo Challenge Day 1: Frost ❄️📷

Finished reading: City by Clifford D. Simak 📚 4 stars. This year, I’ve really come to appreciate Simak’s pastoral sci-fi. This one has some serious reach and span … and dogs!

Finished reading: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson 📚 3 stars - a very quick read. Good thesis but I wanted more.

Finished reading: Into the Unknown by Kelsey Johnson 📚

4 stars — great framing of the big questions in Astrophysics and a thoughtful exploration of the possibilities just outside the lab.

I was reading a book today and reminded of Conway’s Game of Life. It was a fascinating exploration of both evolution and complexity theory from the early 1970s. There are still online communities today that explore, document, and share the various artificial lifeforms that emerge from the simple rules of the game.

I thought I’d take a crack at having Claude re-create the game as an Artifact. Here you go!

Claude: Conway’s Game of LIfe

Last night, the aurora put on a spectacular show in New England!

Finished reading: Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean 📚 4 stars. An engaging and entertaining intro to experimental archaeology. Also helpful for this year’s FLL innovation project topic!

I finished reading: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 📚 5 stars. Exceptional book. Immersive, very well-written, and heartbreaking. Looking forward to the movie adaptation.

Finished reading: Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami 📚 4 stars - one of Murakami’s better novels. While it contains (or repeats) several of the motifs that he often employs, it is well-written and compelling.

Finished reading: Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull 📚5 stars Fantastic intermediate fantasy book

I finished reading: The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander 📚 3 stars, probably not quite good in reality, but the nostalgia is real.

Finished reading: Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert 📚 3 stars. Herbert over-estimated how much his readers (or me anyway) would be interested in the political plotting of the first half of the book. However, it had a really strong, memorable ending.

My first time to re-read the book since the 80’s.

I finished reading: Love Letter to the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh 📚 5 stars

I finished reading: My Education by Susan Choi 📚 3 stars

I finished reading: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane 📚 4 stars

I finished reading: The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown 📚 3 stars

I finished reading: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 📚 5 stars. Second read. Looking forward to the movie adaptation!

I finished reading: Pure Colour by Sheila Heti 📚 3 stars