Category Archives: Book Notes

William MacAskill, WHAT WE OWE THE FUTURE

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(Basic Books, August 2022, 333pp, including 83pp of acknowledgements, appendices, figure credits and data sources, notes, and index) This book, which I read shortly after its publication in 2022, is by a young Oxford philosopher who is at the center … Continue reading →

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Neil deGrasse Tyson, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

Posted on Sunday 21 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter (Simon & Schuster/Simon Six, May 2026, 226pp, including 28pp of acknowledgements, notes, index, and image credits) This latest by Tyson is irreverent and casual, even lightweight, in the way Tyson’s books often are, … Continue reading →

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Dan Barker, CONTRADUCTION

Posted on Wednesday 13 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(UK: Hypathia Press, 2024, 111pp, including References but no index) Dan Barker (Wikipedia) is an atheist writer who was once an evangelical Christian pastor. I read one of his earlier books, LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE (review here), which challenged Rick Warren’s … Continue reading →

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Rutger Bregman: MORAL AMBITION

Posted on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (2024 in Dutch; Little, Brown, 2025, 285pp, including 53pp of Thanks, Notes, and Index) Here’s the third book by Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian and thinker. First was UTOPIA FOR … Continue reading →

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Michael Shermer: TRUTH

Posted on Sunday 3 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters” (John Hopkins University Press, Jan. 2026, 370pp, including 50pp of acknowledgments, notes, and index) The title of this latest book by Michael Shermer, following CONSPIRACY (2022) (reviewed … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS…

Posted on Tuesday 14 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life (Scribner, 2025, xv + 364pp, including 64pp of notes, references, and index.) This latest Pinker book, which follows ENLIGHTENMENT NOW and RATIONALITY, seems at first glance a bit … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari: NEXUS

Posted on Friday 3 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI (Random House, Sept. 2024, xxxii + 492pp, including 88pp of acknowledgements, notes, and index; but no bibliography) This is Harari’s fourth big book, following SAPIENS, HOMO DEUS, … Continue reading →

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David Brin, THE TRANSPARENT SOCIETY

Posted on Saturday 28 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (Addison Wesley, April 1998, 378pp, including 42pp of notes, follow-up, acknowledgements, index, and about the author.) Here is a book that has sat my shelves for over a quarter … Continue reading →

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Bobby Azarian: THE ROMANCE OF REALITY

Posted on Tuesday 24 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How the universe organizes itself to create life, consciousness, and cosmic complexity. (BenBella Books, June 2022, 306pp, including 26pp of acknowledgements, notes, and index) This is the third of three books I read this past January, all with vaguely … Continue reading →

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Ziya Tong; THE REALITY BUBBLE

Posted on Saturday 21 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape Our World (Penguin Canada: Allen Lane, 2019, 366pp, including 15pp of acknowledgements and index.) This is a pleasant enough book by a Canadian journalist. Her broad point is that … Continue reading →

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