A list. From me to you to yours. Pick one, none, some. Pick what seems interesting from what I found interesting. Out of the 200 some I read this year, these were my favorite. I tried to pick a variety of topics, themes, styles, etc.
I finally read Plato. We should all read Plato. It’s a cop out to say Plato is a best of the year. Same with Kafka, Neitzschers, Freud, and Toni Morrison. If you haven’t, pick them up. Or don’t. Whatever. Not trying to recommend books everyone else can and has, thats lazy.
Thinking books. Nonfiction mostly, with two fiction that really knocked my hair back, but stuff that I found myself considering and processing long after I finished reading.
Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Book of the year for me. Rhodes documents one of the most impressive projects humanity has ever undertaken. I was swept up in the Oppenheimer hype and read a couple related books. This is the best one. It makes me want to quote William Ernest Henley. It makes me proud to be human.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
Good book about where the materials for our devices come from. How American companies subvert regulations and standards. And the harrowing personal cost to mining rare earth metals.
Catch 22
We try things. We fail. Life laughs.
Flowers for Algernon
Surprised this isn't more popular. An easy read. One of the best depictions of intelligence and how it combines with being a kind and decent person. I know we all were supposed to read this as kids. It's still (maybe more) impactful to read as an adult.
The Politics Industry by Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter
Selfish recommendation. I'd like this to have more visibility as it's an attempt to work through political gridlock to improve lives. A good overview of the system. Reasonable attempt at solution.
Next up, two fun reads in Circle of Greed and The Fund. Palate cleansers. I read both of these in less than a day. Both were great. Both gave a ton of insight into industries and companies I had been largely unfamiliar with and that don’t seem to get a lot of press.
Circle of Greed by Patrick Dillon and Carl M. Cannon
A sort of tabloid examination of high powered business dealings. In Circle of Greed we get a deep dive into William Lerach, a private attorney who sued what appeared to be the vast majority of public companies for about 30 years. He ends up losing his license and going to jail for illegally soliciting clients. Basically paying them a kickback above and beyond what is legally appropriate. It’s quite the racket.
Nestled in that story of corporate crime drama are lessons about consolidation and how the legal system works that I found fascinating. A reasonable read that shouldn’t tax the reader too much.
The Fund by Rob Copeland
It’s not the best book. Again, tabloid sensationalism at times, more so than Circle of Greed.
I’ve followed Dalio for years. He held up as a bastion of rationality in an uncertain world. This book is yet another example of how what we see from the outside is very different than what is going on inside an organization. It was fascinating to read about the mechanisms and plotting behind the scenes at the worlds largest hedge fund.
And my last recommendation. Breaking my earlier snark about not recommending shit that everyone else had recommended, but also because if youre the type of person to like my other recommendations, this book will be great for you.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
I waded into quite a few “feminist” works this year.
Many were bad. bell hooks is overrated.
Some were thought provoking. Some just sort of flailed about in untapped angst.
Theres a great line in Monsters by Claire Dederer that I think encapsulates much of what I read,
“Trump had been in office for months. People were unsettled and unhappy, and by people I mean women, and by women I mean me”
People are so quick to project their experience onto the world. And the trend is if we say things loud enough we can force the world to conform to our expectation and in the process somehow prove we are ok. It’s interesting. It doesn’t make good reading.
I think I have been searching for the voices that transcend their personal plight and make sense of more. What do we do about this pain and anguish? What does it mean? It’s sport now to show off your wounds. Where are those seeking health?
I find myself hoping for answers and often finish these books disappointed.
But, as has often been my case, following one voice led me to another. I found Free Women, Free Men by Camille Paglia. A collection of mostly meandering essays with a few high points that left me frustrated. But that led me to trying to understand Cemile’s worldview through her gigantic book Sexual Personae. Paglia has made her living by being a sort of critical, independent voice around academic feminism. Sexual Personae was fascinating at times, but denser than a tungsten cube. It can be summarized as “don’t forget that we have sex.” I can’t in good faith recommend it to anyone unless you’re really curious. It winds through literature and femininity through history. Making a compelling point, but really, it is opaque. Trust me. But Paglia speaks so highly of Beauvoir, that I had to pick up The Second Sex afterwords. And that was the real payoff.
Simone de Beauvoir. Beauvoir writes beautifully about what it means to be a woman, the trials, the struggles, and her hopes for a better future. She starts with science and ends with philosophy. She mocks, laughs, cajoles, and runs circles around her ideas. The book can be dated at times, but it’s still the most comprehensive examination of womanhood and society out there.
It’s amazing how relevant it still is so many years later. I find myself laughing at dating takes on Twitter. So many modern culture takes fall away as nonsense after reading. It’s like seeing the wizard behind the screen. It’s like having NVG’s to play hide and seek. Unfair, all the other rubes are outclassed. It’s a tremendous book.
So in all. Good year. Lots of books. Pick one, let me know how it goes. Hit me with your own few favorites.