Pushing 200 completed books for the 6th year now, I read a combination of ebooks, paper books, and audiobooks, pretty evenly split. Reading this year tended to sort itself along more of a heavy, technical axis or towards escapist fiction.
Generally I am finding that I am less excited to hate read modern pop stuff as I have been in the past. Still entertaining some, I found the worst book I read was “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” Tomorrow (x3) is a terrible book, one that is best exemplified from a quote from Anton Chekhov describing a play by Henrik Ibsen. Chekhov reportedly said Ibsen “doesn't know life; in life it simply isn't like that.” The same could be said of Zevin.
On to the good stuff. I am splitting this list into Non-fiction and Fiction. The non-fiction was mind expanding in a good way, and drifted into sort of weird crank territory at times with the more philosophical works. Some of it is darker than what I have typically recommended in the past, so if something seems to disagree with your humors, trust that instinct. Don’t force yourself to read things that you don’t enjoy, unless you enjoy not enjoying them.
Lets begin
Non-fiction
Materialism is Baloney by Bernardo Kastrup
Personally my book of the year, but one I'm reluctant to recommend casually. It's an obscure and challenging work of technical philosophy that examines how our modern perception of consciousness might be fundamentally flawed. I am a sucker for a book that challenges my generally accepted worldview, and this book is challenging. The density of the writing had me rereading whole chapters muttering "what is this mfer trying to say?" But if you enjoy wrestling with complex ideas, it's more accessible than Kant and potentially more illuminating (though I'll admit, I barely understand Kant beyond "morality is absolute or something").
Locked In by John F. Pfaff
On the theme of “challenging generally accepted worldview” this book is excellent. I found this book to be a masterclass in critical thinking and statistical literacy. It engages with common narratives about mass incarceration by examining how statistics can be manipulated to support predetermined conclusions. What makes it particularly valuable is how it demonstrates that even well-intentioned advocacy can sometimes rely on flawed data analysis.
The book resonated deeply with my growing interest in understanding truth at a more fundamental level. We all carry beliefs and narratives about social issues, but how can we verify their accuracy in any meaningful way? And perhaps more importantly, how do these beliefs serve us and shape our approach to complex problems?
When it comes to criminal justice reform and similar movements, I've found myself increasingly cautious about taking strong stances. Not because these issues aren't important, but because I've witnessed how methodological flaws can undermine even the most well-meaning research. The book exposes how many studies in this field begin with conclusions and work backwards to find supporting evidence – a practice that's unfortunately common in social research.
LBJ Series by Robert Caro
I spent the summer reading 3 out of 4 of these tomes. A masterwork of political biography that reads like a novel. Caro's attention to detail and narrative skill bring Johnson's rise from rural poverty to political power to vivid life. Caro spend close to a decade living and breathing this work and the way Caro weaves together individual ambition, institutional power, and social change creates a tapestry that illuminates not just LBJ, but American democracy itself. LBJ has been called a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s ever been called uncomplicated. This sweeping series is possibly the single most impressive thing I’ve read that unspools the web of his life into a linear thread.
Dismantling Mass Incarceration by Premal Dharia
A fascinating collection of essays examining our criminal justice system through the lens of police, prosecutors, judges, and systemic issues. After reading Foucault and similar works on justice and crime this year, I've really felt that surface-level answers rarely suffice. Like "Locked In" (whose author contributes an essay to the book), this book challenges common assumptions - such as the notion that drug charges drive most long-term incarceration. It offers a nuanced, ground-level view of how our justice system actually functions, combined with arguments for “remove all police” essays that I ultimately disagreed with but found productive to think and reflect on. The essays seem to be written in good faith and are well presented, with digressions for context. Overall a very solid book.
Greedy Bastards by Sheryl Sculley
This hit close to home, offering a fascinating look at San Antonio's city manager and her conflicts with municipal unions. It's a reminder that while we focus on national politics, local governance often has a more direct impact on our daily lives. The book provides an illuminating glimpse into the machinery of city management.
The author writes clearly and succinctly about her time as San Antonio city manager. Wrestling with unions, repairing potholes, kissing babies, the whole 9 yards. The crux of the book is her negotiation with the police and fire unions. However, the details are fairly short beyond the most generic of overviews. Rare book that I wish had been longer. Still a good read.
The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Henrich
Rarely does a book fundamentally shift my worldview, but this one changed how I think about human socialization and progress. And I know the worst-manager-you-know is out there recommending “the go giver” or similar such tripe to encourage you to give selflessly and neglect your own self respect in favor of working more unpaid overtime. This book is not that.
The most salient point from this sprawling book is how human advancement depends more on our ability to cooperate and share information than on individual brilliance. It falls into the trap of many nonfiction books, burying the good points among a compost pile of other ideas, but the good points make it worth it.
Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti
Horror for smart people. Nonfiction, to be technically correct. But it reads like prose. Another dark, psuedo-non-fiction philosophical work that led me to "Materialism is Baloney." It's a challenging but rewarding exploration of consciousness and existence. Not a happy read, not recommended for the already morose or those suffering from seasonal depression, but this book was a bit of a refreshing sort of gloom without hitting too many cliches. As best I can tell, the ultimate unanswerable question is “why bro?” and this book attempts to joust at that windmill in a dark and unique way.
Fiction
The more I read, the more I appreciate good fiction. Books like The Secret of Our Success really emphasize how central social interaction and cultural structures are to modern life. And how culture can be advanced and updated like technology. That said, my impression is that the means of transmission for culture is so often story and narrative. Good stories are entertaining and bonding. Great stories are transformational.
A new trend this year is in my enjoyment of an audio beach read. Ishiguro, Grisham, even some Colleen Hoover. They’re not literature, but they are easy reads and entertaining for what they are. I had a Hemingway phase over the summer and working through most of his catalog I found it…. kind of flat and misogynistic. I was disappointed that despite exploring more of his work, it seems like Steinbeck has only two things I like, The Pearl and Cannery Row were both entirely forgettable this year. But there are some nuggets of gold in the mix. So, that said, the following are books I would consider to be the sifted through product of this years panning for gold.
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
Yes, I know - Pynchon. Set aside your pitchforks and preconceptions. I read plenty of crime and legal thrillers this year (Grisham, Lincoln Lawyer, etc.), this towers above them all while remaining similarly readable. It's a weird, drug-fueled noir set in Los Angeles that manages to be both profound and laugh-out-loud funny. Raymond Chandler meets Hunter S. Thompson.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
A genuine masterpiece that transcends its genre trappings. Epic Western that captures both the grandeur and brutality of the American frontier while delivering some of the most memorable characters in literature. It’s long and winding,
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
I picked this up from the NYT "Best of the 21st Century" list, where it stood out among some less impressive selections. N.K. Jemisin's world-building and prose are extraordinary, creating a unique fantasy that grapples with profound themes of power, oppression, and survival. It’s up there with other epic fantasy (more readable than GoT, less technical than LoR) for incredible worldbuilding and I tore through the whole series in less than a week.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
My first time reading this classic. It shares DNA with "Catch-22" in its darkly humorous examination of institutional power and individual rebellion. The narrative voice is unforgettable. Nurse Ratched is up there with Gus McCrae from Lonesome Dove as an all time character. Worth a read.
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
For those intimidated by McCarthy's more brutal works like "Blood Meridian," this serves as an excellent entry point after The Road. It maintains his gorgeous prose while telling a more accessible (though still powerful) story about friendship, love, finding meaning and oneself through moral effort and living well. I found it a little less impactful than BM ultimately, but it is a close second.
Blindsight by Peter Watts
If someone said "vampires in space," I’d think it sounds like bad pulp fiction. But this novel was a mind-bending exploration of consciousness, intelligence, and what it means to be human, wrapped in hard science fiction wrapper. It’s a hard read at times with its technical leanings, but it’s unlike anything else in the genre, and was easily the best Sci-Fi read of the year for me. First contact with vampires. Watts is a madman
Fin.