For fiction, I don’t restrict myself by genre, but lean towards horror, thrillers, science fiction, and historical fiction. Peter Straub is a favorite. His horror novels are genuinely unnerving, and his mysteries are some of the best thrillers I’ve read, dealing with murders and secrets and how crimes of the past affect the present. I read nonfiction too—history, philosophy, religion, science, or anything that catches my eye. I especially enjoy books that challenge well-established ideas. In the list below, for example, Sam Harris’s book suggests that free will is an illusion, even though it’s something we all experience and take for granted. Ivan Eland ranks the U.S. presidents based on their adherence to constitutional principles, rather than their management style and popular appeal. Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman argue that college campuses must support liberal diversity without restricting the free expression of ideas in the process, and unfortunately the greatest threats to free speech come from the left (as a leftist myself I agree).

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