I was prompted by my request for suggested reading for my son, a 20 year old student of philosophy, politics and economics – and the suggestions made in comments – to look back at the list of my own reading at his age. Here are some highlights from my second academic year taking the same course. It was 1979/80:

Socialism – R.N. Berki
The Second Sex – Simone de Beauvoir
All The President's Men – Carl Berstein and Bob Woodward
Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler
The English Constitution – Walter Bagehot
Essay Concerning Human Understanding – John Locke
Control of the Money Supply – A.D.Bain
Autobiography – Bertrand Russell
Economic Philosophy – Joan Robinson
Descartes – Bernard Williams

No doubt most of these were on reading lists that also included chapters of other books and papers in journals. It seems, though, a pretty eclectic mix looking back. And it was accompanied by a ton of detective novels too.

Meanwhile, on the theme of lists, here are some more annual round-ups – one from The Economist and the top two recommendations from Infectious Greed. There were others included in my previous post on my top books of 2010.