Early 2014 Reading Goals

Every year, I think that I'm going to spend a lot more time reading than I did the prior year. Every year, I fail miserably. I expect this year to be no different. Even so, there are some books I hope to read.

First and foremost, there are five books on Middle Eastern history, some of which were assigned many years ago by one of my undergraduate history professors, that I'd like to read in order to refresh my memory and/or expand my existing knowledge on the topic. All those years ago, my professor assigned The Age of the Caliphs by Bertold Spuler, Islam: The View from the Edge by Richard Bulliet, and Globalized Islam by Olivier Roy, and I'd like to get those read.

He also discussed What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis and Orientalism by Edward Said; and while Said's authority is controversial at best, his work has been influential and I probably ought to read it. He also assigned The Modern Middle East: A History by James Gelvin for a course I audited years later, so I may add that to the agenda as well.

My postgraduate advisor in Aberdeen also used to run an MSc program in Middle Eastern Security. The program is no longer offered, but my advisor tends to keep his old files, so I'm hoping to get a reading list from him.

I may try to throw in some leisure or fiction selections as well, but those items are yet to be determined, if they happen at all.