Books read in 2015

I read a bit more than usual this year, but my big accomplishment was reading more books in Portuguese. Since I finished my novel this summer, I'm curious to see what sort of nonfiction I'll be reading in 2016.

January

-Portuguese Society in the Tropics: The Municipal Councils of Goa, Macao, Bahia, and Luanda, 1510-1800, C.R. Boxer (1.3.15)
C.R. Boxer never disappoints, even in fairly small doses such as this, wherein he displays, once again, that Portuguese colonial politics were not a simple matter.
-The Heart of the Revolution: The Buddha's Radical Teachings on Forgiveness, Compassion, and Kindness, Noah Levine (1.16.15)
I picked this up when I heard the Houston Dharma Punx were meeting again. It's typical Noah Levine, which is to say he tries a little too hard to sound punk rock but does a pretty good job of applying the Buddhadharma to daily life.
-The Land of the Great Image, Maurice Collis (1.26.15)
Real-life tales of the Portuguese presence in early modern Burma. It felt somewhat dated, but that's because it was published in the 1940s (if memory serves).
-The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson (1.29.15) (reread)
Re-read this, for the first time since the late '90s, for our sci-fi book club. Good stuff.

February

-Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Chögyam Trungpa (2.18.15)
Buddhist teachings from the (in)famous Tibetan teacher who came to the West in the '60s. Some really good insights, and fairly sharp writing.
-Kaleidoscope of Women in Goa, Fatima da Silva Gracias (2.26.15)
This book is in desperate need of an editor, and rather thin, informationally speaking. I did enjoy her book Cozinha de Goa a lot.

March

-The Radetzky March, Joseph Roth (Joachim Neugroschel, trans.) (3.21.15)
This was a fantastic novel. There's a sequel I can't decide if I want to read, but I can't remember why; maybe it has a different translator. Neugroschel's work here is of the highest caliber.

April

-Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition, Luís de Camões (William Baer, trans.) (4.2.15)
Some day I'll read Camões' epic in Portuguese, or so I tell myself. These sonnets were difficult enough, and I'm glad Baer did such a good job of translating them.
-Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680, vol. 2: Expansion and Crisis, Anthony Reid (4.3.15)
Finally finished this after enjoying the first volume.
-The Book in the Renaissance, Andrew Pettegree (4.8.15)
A thorough investigation into Renaissance/early modern book culture, and a lot of fun to read.
-The Ballad of a Small Player, Lawrence Osborne (4.22.15)
I burned through this in less than a day. I got it from the library because it's set in Macau, which the author represents fairly accurately, at least most of the time. A good story about gambling and self-imposed exile.
-The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde (4.29.15)
The first thing of Wilde's I've ever read. I liked it, but not so much that I've felt compelled to seek out more of his work.

May

-The Portuguese and the Straits of Melaka, 1575-1619: Power, Trade and Diplomacy, Paulo Jorge de Sousa Pinto (Roopanjali Roy, trans.) (5.6.15)
Informative and well-researched, but dry and, for reasons the author explains, narrowly focused. It was still worth my time.
-Zen Masters of China: The First Step East: Zen Stories Collected and Retold, Richard Bryan McDaniel (5.12.15)
A whole lotta short biographies and pithy sayings. In some ways not a bad little collection, but the contents run together in a way that makes differentiation between one Chan teacher and the next difficult.
-Twisted In Dream: The Collected Weird Poetry of Ann K. Schwader, Ann K. Schwader (5.15.15)
I wish I had the discipline to learn how to write formal poetry. Ann Schwader does an excellent job of it, and with killer subject matter to boot.
-Os Cus de Judas, António Lobo Antunes (5.22.15)
O inferno da guerra colonial em Angola, escrito por um autor português cujos livros preciso ler mais.
-White Is For Witching, Helen Oyeyemi (5.29.15)
Unsettling in myriad ways, and beautifully written. Read this.
-The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon (5.31.15) (reread)
I may reread this again in 2016, I like it so much.

June

-Camões Esteve em Macau, Padre Manuel Teixeira (6.1.15)
One of Macau's foremost historians weighs in on the debate about Camões' presence in Macau. The title gives away his position on the matter.
-Legends of Goa, Mário Cabral e Sa (6.8.15)
Self-explanatory. Neat art by Mario de Miranda.
-Crime Wave: Reportage and Fiction from the Underside of L.A., James Ellroy (6.17.15)
I periodically grab a couple previously unread Ellroy books and read them back to back to remind myself how awesome he is, and in the process burn myself out. It's not a bad feeling.
-Wrapped In Plastic: Twin Peaks, Andy Burns (6.23.15)
There was something in here that stood out in terms of Twin Peaks analysis/commentary, but I can't remember what it was.
-The Visitor: André Palmeiro and the Jesuits in Asia, Liam Matthew Brockey (6.28.15)
Brockey provides a fantastic picture of 16th/17th-century religious and secular life in Portuguese Asia and beyond. His book about the Jesuits in China was excellent too, but this is a real treat.
-Os Javalis de Codval, Epitácio Pais (6.30.15)
Short stories from a Goan who wrote in Portuguese, even decades after the Portuguese left Goa. Very good; it's a shame he didn't publish more. That said, see below.

July
-The Big Nowhere, James Ellroy (7.12.15)
Burned through this in a few days and finished it in a Hong Kong hotel room, where it may still be, since I left it behind.
-Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon (7.28.15) (reread)
I like all of Pynchon's work, but there's something about this book that's just such a joy to read.

August

-Aquele Que Repousa Na Eternidade, Luís Felipe Silva (8.1.15)
Lovecraftian pastiche involving Fernão de Magalhães, AKA Ferdinand Magellan, and Arthur Machen, among other things. A neat read, and something that'd be good to see translated into English.
-The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein (8.4.15)
Prior to this I'd only read Starship Troopers, which left me cold. Despite some of its politics, this book did not have that effect. A fun read, and it made for good discussion at the sci-fi book club.
-The Tijuana Book of the Dead, Luis Alberto Urrea (8.11.15)
Solid, solid poetry, mostly about the Latino experience in the US.
-Love is the Law, Nick Mamatas (8.16.15)
I missed my chance to meet Nick Mamatas this summer by about three minutes. It's a shame, because I've always liked his writing, and this tale of suburban misery, Marxism, and occultism further cements his reputation in my mind.
-The Free-Lance Pallbearers, Ishmael Reed (8.16.15)
This shit was wild!

September

-Colonial Latin America, Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson (9.15.15)
A good overview of the subject. Not much else to say, but that's not a bad thing.
-Reflected in Water: Writings on Goa, Jerry Pinto, ed. (9.17.15)
Essays and short fiction about Goa, by Goans and others. It would serve as a good introduction to the place for those who know little about it.
-Wenceslau de Moraes: O Profeta do Orvalho, José Jorge Letria (9.30.15)
Um volume de poesia que comprei em Macau. Muito bom.

October

-No Centenário de Luís Gonzaga Gomes, Jorge A.H. Rangel (10.7.15)
A short essay on the commemoration of the centenary of one of Macau's best-known historians and advocates.
-Children of the Black Sabbath, Anne Hébert (Carol Dunlop-Hébert, trans.) (10.9.15)
A tale of demonic possession in a Quebecois abbey. Not quite as scary as I'd hoped, and the translation was a bit clunky, but a good read nonetheless.
-The Green Man, Kingsley Amis (10.18.15)
My first Kingsley Amis novel, and a good choice. William Gibson spoke highly of it when I met him a few days prior to starting the novel, though (for once) it wasn't his recommendation that led me to it.
-The Three-Body Problem, Liu Cixin (Ken Liu, trans.) (10.23.15)
Everyone in the sci-fi book club liked this. I bought a copy in Chinese, too, but haven't read more than a few pages.

November

-Tapping the Source, Kem Nunn (11.2.15)
While I have some doubts about the finale, there's no denying that this was a really, really good read. Tightly plotted, and lived up to its name in ways unrelated to the subject matter. Nunn hit paydirt.
-Preia-Mar, Epitácio Pais (working title, photographed manuscript copy, Paul Melo e Castro, ed.) (11.4.15)
Turns out the author of Os Javalis de Codval wrote a novel (in Portuguese) that never got published, and I was invited to help with the proofreading/editing process. It'll be published in January 2016 by Goa 1556.
-Fear and Trembling, Søren Kierkegaard (Edward H. Hong and Edna V. Hong, ed./trans.) (11.18.15)
I've been interested in Kierkegaard for years, for some reason. He's hard to read, but rewarding in a way I can't quite describe.
-The History of Costa Rica, Iván Molina & Steven Palmer (11.22.15)
A short book I read in... Costa Rica. I learned some new things, which was all I hoped for.
-An Insular Possession, Timothy Mo (11.29.15)
An astoundingly good book about Macau, Canton, the First Opium War, the founding of Hong Kong, and friendship. Easily on par, if not superior in some ways, to Amitav Ghosh's Ibis trilogy, this is a book I would recommend to everyone.

December

-Taoism: The Road to Immortality, John Blofeld (12.7.15)
Blofeld's endless enthusiasm for the topic made this book a lot of fun to read, most of the time- some of the material on Taoist yoga wasn't my cup of tea, but the rest was good.
-Macao: Mysterious Decay and Romance, Donald Pittis and Susan J. Henders, ed. (12.11.15)
Similar to Reflected in Water, here we have a collection of anecdotes and stories about Macau, almost exclusively from non-Portuguese sources. More dross than gold if you're familiar with the corpus of writing on the city, but a good overview otherwise.
-We, Yevgeny Zamyatin (Mirra Ginsburg, trans.) (12.13.15)
(Anti-)Soviet science fiction. Not bad, but reads like A Novel With A Message, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.
-The Human Factor, Graham Greene (12.18.15)
Bleak, well-crafted, insightful- what you'd expect from Greene.
-The Forever War, Joe Haldeman (12.19.15)
I read this book before giving it to my brother for Christmas. Turned out he'd already read it. We both liked it.
-Era Uma Vez em Goa, Paulo Varela Gomes (12.20.15)
Outro livro que comprei em Macau. Foi um dos melhores livros que li este ano, sem dúvida.
-Mardi, Herman Melville (12.22.15)
This was not an easy read, but worthwhile for the insight it provided w/r/t Melville's progression as a writer. In some ways it's Moby-Dick without the focus.
-Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, Ross Gay (12.30.15)
This pleasant volume of thoughtful, exuberant poetry was a nice way to close out the year.


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