About Michael
I am a retired physician and hospital executive who loves to read, walk, meditate, garden, spend time with my family, and share conversation with friends. I read for pleasure, wisdom, information, and connection. I read in Cambridge and Vermont, on planes, trains, and buses, in libraries, bookshops, coffee shops, and on park benches. I love essays, poetry, 19th C British novels, and mysteries, and a major part of my enjoyment of reading is sharing those reading experiences with others.
I began a Book Journal to record the books I’ve read in 1978 and have since then, without fail, entered the names, authors, dates of publication, and date of completion of every book in some form of journal that now has logged more than 3300 books. Eighteen years ago, I began to send my reading list to my immediate family. Several years later, the distribution list began to expand, and I started to include reviews of the year’s books as well as an essay that was stimulated by the year’s reading. Eight years ago, I began to summarize my month’s reading with a BookMarks Update. The February, 2026 version was the 91st, and the distribution for that list has now exceeded 1000 people. Amazingly, more than 80% of you open the Update each month.
The BookMarks web site now allows me to share my reading with a broader audience in real time. I hope that you enjoy it, and I hope I hear from you.