Chris, as I am every year, I am in awe of both the number of books of you read and the diversity of their content.
My rather slim list of my best books of 2023 includes:
--Nonfiction page turners: "Dead in the Water" and "The Wager." Both are true stories that read like fiction. Let's see what you all think of the British Government's ultimate handling of what happened before and after the shipwrecking of HMS Wager.
--Historical works: "Our Man" and "Confronting Saddam." Our Man is a biography of Richard Holbrooke (the irony between Richard's Vietnam experience and his work on Afghanistan is jarring). Confronting Saddam is the first serious work that looks at the policy side of the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003 vs. the intelligence side.
--Fun nonfiction: I could not put down "What the Dead Know," an autobiography of a New York City Death Investigator. You will walk away with a new appreciation of dogs vs. cats.
--Fiction that could be nonfiction: "Hail Mary" -- written by Andy Weir, the author of The Martian -- is what I imagine we would find if we actually ran into other life in the universe.
--Historical fiction: "The Able Archers." Although fiction, this is the story of actual events -- the closest the Soviet Union and the United States ever came to nuclear war. Spoiler: It was not/not the Cuban Missile Crisis.
--I was also a regular reader of thrillers. It's my outlet from geopolitics. The list is long and includes: "The Man Who Died," "The Chestnut Man," "A Flicker in the Dark," "The Island," and "The Plot."
Thank you, Christopher, for yet another wonderful, informative list! I await your list each year-end, and I am always enriched by and grateful for your selections! My goal is to emulate you (on a smaller scale!!) SOME day! Happy Holidays! 🥰
Thank you for the list.
ANnother one: a beautiful, lived-experience Venn diagram of the ives of poor people in the north of England (where she grew up), Russia (which she studied) and the US (which she learned about while working for Trump as Russia advisor). https://www.harpercollins.com/products/there-is-nothing-for-you-here-fiona-hill
Happy New Year!
Esther
What a wonderful recommendation and I've ordered it. Also you will see in my list one of my favorite reads was your father's memoir!
Any and all books found here! They represent the best tomes that I have read in my thirty-one years on Earth: https://www.tomwhitenoise.com/bookshelf
Please tell me you have written down somewhere what your reading process looks like that helps you go through so many books a year.
Thank you for sharing, Chris. This is always a highlight of the end of the year. Cheers my friend, and happy reading in 2024!
great list!
Here are some of mine in 2023:
* Roughing It, Mark Twain. So good, about his move from Missouri to California during the Gold Rush. Connections to startup booms abound.
* Never Split the Difference. First time I read it; and it was an excellent book on negotiation, from a guy who used to run FBI hostage negotiations
* Bolivar: American Liberator. Massive hero in Hispano-America, but relatively unknown outside (even in non-hispano LATAM).
Chris, as I am every year, I am in awe of both the number of books of you read and the diversity of their content.
My rather slim list of my best books of 2023 includes:
--Nonfiction page turners: "Dead in the Water" and "The Wager." Both are true stories that read like fiction. Let's see what you all think of the British Government's ultimate handling of what happened before and after the shipwrecking of HMS Wager.
--Historical works: "Our Man" and "Confronting Saddam." Our Man is a biography of Richard Holbrooke (the irony between Richard's Vietnam experience and his work on Afghanistan is jarring). Confronting Saddam is the first serious work that looks at the policy side of the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003 vs. the intelligence side.
--Fun nonfiction: I could not put down "What the Dead Know," an autobiography of a New York City Death Investigator. You will walk away with a new appreciation of dogs vs. cats.
--Fiction that could be nonfiction: "Hail Mary" -- written by Andy Weir, the author of The Martian -- is what I imagine we would find if we actually ran into other life in the universe.
--Historical fiction: "The Able Archers." Although fiction, this is the story of actual events -- the closest the Soviet Union and the United States ever came to nuclear war. Spoiler: It was not/not the Cuban Missile Crisis.
--I was also a regular reader of thrillers. It's my outlet from geopolitics. The list is long and includes: "The Man Who Died," "The Chestnut Man," "A Flicker in the Dark," "The Island," and "The Plot."
Michael
Thank you, Christopher, for yet another wonderful, informative list! I await your list each year-end, and I am always enriched by and grateful for your selections! My goal is to emulate you (on a smaller scale!!) SOME day! Happy Holidays! 🥰