[Jach]

Finally got around to The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson (https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Brain-Hidden-Motives-Everyda...), I think it's my favorite this year. It's a fun psychology/sociology book and gives a pretty convincing explanation for some seeming puzzles across several areas of human behavior and policy. It's also fun to explicitly introspect my own motives from the assumption that some things I've done or planning to do are a lot more for self-serving reasons than I like to admit.

On the fiction side from this year that I'd recommend, I reread Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion and read Unfinished Tales for the first time, all were great. I've read Tolkien as a kid, a teen, and now an adult, enjoyed him each time but I think I got even more out of some things this time around. I also liked Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and in the last month or so I read two enjoyable tearjerkers: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and Still Alice by Lisa Genova.