Cousin Henry by Anthony Trollope - First Trollope book that I have ever read. Character sketch: Henry is weak in courage and morals. Isabel is a self-righteousness, self-inflicted martyr. Neither are exactly likable, but the author does make you feel sorry for Henry when he fails as expected at the climax. Trollope missed an opportunity for some delicious irony at the end. Average overall.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman - This is a polemical work against television. The thesis of the author is that television as a mode of communication is inherently unsuited for serious discourse. I don't think Postman achieves this objective but does a very good job at convincing the reader of the danger in the current state of mass media television. He seems to have a particularly strong dislike for news (possibly based on an utilitarian understanding of information). Overall, a good read and worth the time.

The Confessions by Augustine - Passionate is the best one word description that I have for this book. The first nine sections are an autobiography focused on his journey to conversion with recounted stops in sinful self-indulgence and heterodoxy. It was actually his keen mind for mathematics and for what I would call the beginnings of science that helped him to escape Manichaeism. The last four sections delve into philosophical topics such as memory and time. Scripture was such a part of Augustine that when he wrote he seamlessly integrated it into his thoughts. Worth reading again.