book learning

i tend to have two or three or every how many books going simultaneously, one to fit every mood i guess although at some point some you know deep down are not ever going to be finished --- one i finished, this evening, is russell shorto's descartes' bones: a skeletal history of the conflict between faith and reaon (2008) --- using the saga of descartes' skull as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the enlightenment --- he's written great histories of amsterdam and new york, too, which should be on everyone's reading list --- a few days ago, i also finished my first not-an-ebook book, goodman and soni's rome's last citizen, the life and legacy of cato, mortal enemy of caesar (2012) --- a period of which i knew little, but now know, among other things, that caesar's assassin brutus was the son of cato's half sister ---