The 2024 Reeding List

Put those gift cards to work!

Trinity College Library. Dublin, Ireland

Before we get back to the business of righting the good ship America, I present a list of some of the best books I read this year. I’ve included links to where you can find them and their authors. If you can, check these out at your local library! If Amazon and Barnes & Noble are your jam, terrific. If there’s a local bookseller you favor, they’re always my favorite option.

The 2024 Reeding List (in some order, but not a particular one…)

Nexus - Yuval Noah Hariri

Hariri has a gift for taking complicated philosophical and historical ideas and making them both understandable and usable. From clay tablets to generative artificial intelligence, he takes us through the history of communications networks and why more information doesn’t necessarily conquer bad information.

The Handover - David Runciman

In a similar vein to Hariri, British professor David Runciman examines how much individual and collective power we’ve freely given to large, unweildy, and uninterested power-centers. A solid, necessary exploration of where the individual fits in the 21st century.

The New Leviathans - John Gray

Gray takes us on a parallel journey between the world we live in, in which increasingly large governments and organizations make choices for us, and that described by Jonathan Hobbes in Leviathan. The similarities are a wake up call.

The Establishment - Owen Jones

We see it all around us. We read about it everyday. Some on the right call it the ‘deep state’ for others, the ‘establishment’ will do. Written a decade ago, Jones dissects the British elite’s cozy relationship with itself at the expense of just about everyone else. Though he’s writing about the UK, Jones’ work is readily transferrable to America, circa 2025.

Kingdom of Rage - Elizabeth Neumann

Written by a former George W. Bush and Donald Trump national security official, Neumann returns to her upbringing in the evangelical church and provides a primer on how religion and politics have led to extremism and radicalization in America today.

The Trackers - Charles Frazier

Whew. A breather! The Trackers is a terrific yarn dating back nearly a century, to the artists of the Great Depression, the open West, and family secrets. If you’re looking for something to take your mind off things, Frazier’s tale is a worthy distraction.

The Demon of Unrest - Erik Larson

Larson’s position as America’s narrative storyteller remains unmatched. His latest work takes us to Fort Sumter, just as the Civil War is about to begin. Sketching daily life in Charleston, South Carolina, the aftermath of Lincoln’s 1860 election, and the Union soldiers who manned the fort until April 12, 1861, Larson reminds us how quickly overheated rhetoric and bad intentions can lead to calamity.

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams - Stacy Schiff

His cousin John Adams was Vice President, President, and had a mini-series made about him. Samuel Adams is rarely thought us now unless you’re looking at a beer label. Schiff takes us through pre-revolutionary America, Boston specifically, and to the story of the elder Adams who found success only later in life and then as an instigator, publisher, and insurgent who understood that getting one’s hands dirty is a crucial part of overturning an empire.

How to Stand Up to A Dictator - Maria Ressa

Maria Ressa defines “fighting” and “resistance.” A Filipino journalist, Ressa began her own news network then watched as an authoritarian leader, Rodrigo Duterte, arrived and began clamping down on free expression and individual liberty. Ressa was detained, indicted and convicted by a Filipino court for her unwillingess to yield. For her actions, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Autocracy, Inc. - Anne Applebaum

Applebaum is a brilliant writer and observer of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. Her latest work is lays out how in many countries we’re beying ideology and simply bad people in power making as much money as they can. We sometimes over-complicate things. Applebaum carves away the BS to show that many of today’s worst leaders are simply gangsters.

Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck

I’m a lifelong John Steinbeck fan. For years my favorite book was Sweet Thursday, the follow-up to his classic Cannery Row. In this buddy tale, Steinbeck and his loyal pooch load up and his the road aboard his camper-laden pickup truck. Written in 1960, Steinbeck’s observations, complaints, and individual interactions are as valid today as they were 60 years ago.

Challenger - Adam Higginbotham

If you were old enough to remember January 28, 1986, you know exactly where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff. Higginbotham, who also wrote the definitive narrative history of the Chernobyl explosion (also a worthy read) is a master of bring multiple perspectives to bear, creating three-dimensional sketches of the subjects of his story, and distilling the highly-techincal aspects of the space shuttle program, and its practical and human failings.

Knife - Salman Rushdie

Having been target of a fatwah, or ruling, demanding his execution by the Ayatollah Khomenei since 1989, Rushdie had no idea he’d come face to face with death in a sleepy Pennsylvania town during a book festival. An honest, heartfelt testament about life, death, and the reality of facing one’s mortality, Rushdie pulls no punches and spares no feelings, but still reinforces the need to rage againt the dying of the light.

Win Every Argument -

Mehdi Hasan

Known for his gleeful dismantling of political sparring partners, Medhi Hassan simple formula for winning arguments, keeping audiences in the palm of your hand, and thinking through your fight before you put the gloves on is a master class in public persuasion. I killed a highlighter on this one.

News and Notes:

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