I read a -lot- of fiction, and was feeling guilty about it. “I should be expanding my awareness of the world!”. (Rather than taking care of my mental health by reading novels for pleasure that allowed me to escape for hours on end….)
Part of the issue is that my recent efforts at reading non-fiction resulted in quickly losing interest and abandoning the book 25% of the way through. What to do, what to do?
Crowd source it. I’ve a fairly eclectic group of friends and the list below reflects that. I’ll add personal commentary as I finish a book, otherwise it is just title, author, and maybe a quick comment.
Please feel free to suggest additions!
Books I’ve Read and Recommend
- Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond
- I read this years ago and was captivated. It read like a world and time-spanning novel. It was a great and memorable read.
- There are discussions about the validity of his approach which may be worth reading. Here is one – https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/wd6jt/what_do_you_think_of_guns_germs_and_steel/
- Devil in the White City – Eric Larson
- “Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson’s spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men–the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World’s Fair, striving to secure America?s place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.”
- It lives up to the quote on the inside flap. Go read it.
- A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
- I read this in my … 30s, I think … after spending a few years living in New England. His books are -fun- and captivating and educational.
- In a Sunburned Country – Bill Bryson
- The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice – Trevor Corson
- I read this shortly after finding really good sushi in San Francisco. It tells two stories – the story of sushi’s history and the story of sushi in America. A good read for foodies, and for sushi lovers.
- The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean – Trevor Corson
- A wonderful dive (get it?) into what the title says. A well researched story about something we think we know, but really do not.
- Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character – Richard P. Feynman , Ralph Leighton , et al.
- I read this many years ago and remember it fondly, though I do not recall any details of why. Go discover “why” for yourself.
- Any Given Tuesday – Lis Smith
- She is a Dartmouth graduate, though was there after I left. She is also a political operative of the first order. Her character could have appeared on West Wing and fit right in with the passionate characters who believe in sacrificing much for “Democracy”. A great read.
- The Objective in War – Capt. B.H. Liddell Hart
- I downloaded this paper just to find the context for the quote: “The object in war is a better state of peace.” I stayed because it was a very interesting read, and one still (or perhaps more) relevant now than when it was written in 1952. Among other things, it carefully de-mythologizes Cluasewitz (the author of “On War”) but it also covers the differences between political objectives and military objectives, military vs civilian (or infrastructure) targets, and why you might not want total victory. It is a short and quite readable paper, very much worth the time.
- Enough – Cassidy Hutchinson.
- I’m listening to this as an audiobook. This is a superb first hand account of how our government functions from a first person view just before and then during the Trump administration. Cassidy comes off as incredibly capable, driven, and idealistic all while neatly avoiding even a hint of egotism. Very worth reading.
- Danziger’s Travels – Nick Danziger
- I read this many years ago and it may have inspired me to read more “adventure travel” books, and to do some of it myself. Beautifully written by a guy who “… With minimal equipment and disguised as an itinerant Muslim, he hitch-hiked and walked through southern Turkey, and the Iran of the Ayatollahs, entering Afghanistan illegally in the wake of a convoy of Chinese weapons and then spent months dodging Russian helicopter gunships with the rebel guerillas. He was the first foreigner to cross from Pakistan into the closed western province of China since the revolution on 1949.”
- The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia – Peter Hopkirk
- A must read for anyone interested in what is going on in Central Asia and parts of the Middle East. To quote a review: “The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road—both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to twenty miles at some points. Now, in the vacuum left by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there is once again talk of Russian soldiers “dipping their toes in the Indian Ocean.”
The As Yet Unread Reading List
- Sapiens – Jared Diamond
- Collapse – Jared Diamond
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus – Charles C. Mann
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Gathering Moss – Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Redeployment – Phil Klay. Short stories on the military. “Incredible”
- Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation – Kristin Kobes Du Mez
- Preparing for War – Bradley Onishi
- How Civil War Starts – Barbara F. Walter
- Zero Fail – Carrol Lenning
- Inside Delta Force – Eric Haney
- The Federalist Papers
- Palenstine – Jimmy Carter
- Red Notice – Bill Browder
- Freezing Order: Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath – Bill Browder
- The Red Hotel – The Red Hotel: Moscow 1941, the Metropol Hotel, and the Untold Story of Stalin’s Propaganda War – Alan Philps
- Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation – Joseph J. Ellis
- Preventable – Andy Slavitt
- The Breach – Denver Riggleman
- Blowback – Miles Taylor
- Enough – Cassidy Hutchinson
- Shattered Sword – The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway – Jonathan Parshall, Anthony Tully, et al.
- Moon Lander – Tom Kelly
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI – David Grann
- Innovators – Walter Isaacson
- Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History – Sidney W. Mintz
- The Prize – Daniel Yergin
- Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World – Mark Kurlansky
- Salt: A World History – Mark Kurlansky
- The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance – Henry Petroski
- 52 Loaves: One Man’s Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust – William Alexander
- The River and the Gauntlet – S.L.A. Marshall
- The Wordy Shipmates – Sarah Vowell
- Unfamiliar Fishes – Sarah Vowell
- Lafayette in the Somewhat United States – Sarah Vowell
- Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell
- The Church of Baseball – Ron Shelton
- Reading the Glass: A Captain’s View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships – Elliot Rappaport
- Wilding – Isabella Tree
- The Wager – David Grann
- Guardians of the Trees: A Journey of Hope Through Healing the Planet: A Memoir – M.D. Webb, Kinari
- Fire Weather – John Vaillant
- The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next – Stephen J. Pyne
- Anything by John McPhee – (Start with The Founding Fish)
- Anything by Thomas Sowell
- The Aviators – Winston Groom
- Isaac’s Storm – Erik Larson
- Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania – Erik Larson
- The Good Soldier Schweik – Jaroslav Hašek (Possible source for Catch 22)
- The Edge of the Plain- How Borders Make and Break Our World – James Crawford
- A Hawk in the Woods – Carrie Laban (Deeply creepy)
- Endurance. The Ernest Shackleton Story. (Fabulous tale of will to succeed and commitment as a leader.)
- Twilight of Democracy – Anne Applebaum (Not very well written but at only 95 pages, worth reading)
- Add these – https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2023/11/how-technology-building-plane-engineering-works-books/675905/?utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20231111&lctg=6050e71e4953a53f14887553&utm_term=The%20Atlantic%20Daily