In the Time of Madness by Richard Lloyd Parry

Finally, someone writes in the past tense. Good writer, but I would have preferred something more journalistic and less memoir-like.

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

Quite good economics as far as I can tell, but the book really should have had a real writer writing it.

Indonesia: An Eyewitness Account by Michael Maher

A journalist writing a journalistic account of Indonesia's troubled turn into a democracy.

Ordinary but competent.

The People Next Door by Duncan Graham

Somehow, this poor book got a foreword by Wahid and Geoff Gallop.

Even more somehow, the author has a M Phil and a Walkley Award.

Staggering considering some of the insipid comments and terrible writing.

The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society by James Sneddon

So many interesting facts so poorly expressed.

One would think a linguist could string decent sentences together, and if one were thinking of Guy Deutscher as the linguist, you'd be right!, but Sneddon ain't got what it takes.

Indonesia by Sylvia McNair

Although it's not meant for an adult reader and is full of photos, the writing is execrable nonetheless.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier by Alan Moor

Absolutely terrible.

Worse than the worst of comics.

Very strange given who the author is.

Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped by Tony Perrottet

Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation by Umberto Eco

The erudition on display is humbling. The amount of literary allusions in his works generally, astonishing.

Ozonomics by Andrew Charlton

The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher

Brilliant. Entertaining and wonderfully written.

Preacher Vol. 1 by Garth Ennis

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca

Kant on Representation and Objectivity by AB Dickerson

So I'm parochial: an Australian has just written a brilliant book on Kant.

The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Díaz de Castillo

Wow.

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt

Fun.

Nudge by Richard Thaler

Interesting application of Donald Norman-type ideas to public policy, in this instance referred to as choice architecture and an overall political position of libertarian paternalism.

Suffers from being overwritten, too friendly and too inoffensive in tone, though.

Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Brilliant book about the probabilities and the randomness. If only the author was humble enough to accept the emendations of his editors...

Parkinson's Law or The Pursuit of Progress by C Northcote Parkinson

Laboured but kind of humorous look at bureaucracy that makes some good points.

The Kiss and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

My first impressions of the literary impressionist: delightful, tender, delicate.