A bunch of books I've read
EDIT: See my new books post with any newer books I've read
Oh boy I've read a lot more books than I realized. I hope to update this later organized by category. I also might add a feed to this page to auto-include any blog posts I write about books. Hmmm.
Shout out to my library for loaning me 89 books over the last 3 years (many that I didn't finish, some I didn't start) & also for keeping a list of those books!
Making this list was actually inspired by Jordan Peterson. I watched a Youtuber yap about him today & I thought having a reading list was one of Peterson's few good ideas.
Fiction
- Lab Girl by Hope Jahren - Autobiography that feels like fiction. Story of her life in regard to her science and her best friend Bill who worked alongside her. Big focus on plant life, on trees, and on digging. It's a really interesting story with good interpersonal relations, understanding of university-professor struggles (most of them financial, some sexism), and some very digestible science about trees, among other things.
- The Conjurer by Luanne G. Smith - Witches and magic and stuff. It's good. 3rd of the Vine Witch Series and probably my favorite.
- Resistant by Rachael Sparks - I don't remember it super clearly, but I remember liking it.
- The Lies of Locke Lamora - thievery & plotting & thick book
- The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman - Reminded me of Lies of Locke Lamora. Little book.
History, Politics
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein - History of the Federal Housing Administration's effort to help Americans own homes, and the legal efforts used to prevent black people from benefiting from this effort.
- Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Political Activism - A prominent political figure who worked in a presidential administration, helped build a school for black kids in her personal life (was it a college? Idr). She did a lot for black people in America. She also sounds like she was an asshole, but that's not the important part.
- The U.S. House of Representatives: the fundamentals of American government - Really detailed look at how the U.S. House of Reps works, told in a couple-hundred pages & a pretty easy read.
- How the pro-choice movement saved America : freedom, politics, and the war on sex
Educational?
- Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges by Bryan Garner and Antonin Scalia - I feel like it really expanded my understanding of the law and how it's actually applied. It focuses, essentially, around how judges make decisions. Most of it is legal stuff that seems super legit, but other recommendations include saying words how the locals do, to keep the judge happy with you. One of my highest recommendations. Some stuff was over my head, but I think it's pretty approachable.
- Let Them Eat Dirt - About the many bacteria that live within us & how important gut bacteria are to personal health.
- Stuff matters : exploring the marvelous materials that shape our manmade world : Miodownik, Mark - Extremely engaging book about the materials that make up our world. Written in a story-telling style. Talks about the steel that makes a knife blade that stabbed him, early plastic billiards balls being explosive, and a bunch of other interesting stories.
- What the Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell - Just a very nice read talking about lots of different topics.
Other
- Never Enough by Judith Grisel - a book about addiction by someone who is an addict and used lots of hard drugs for years. She's been sober for 30 years and went into neuroscience. She talks about a lot of different drugs.
- Patience by Allan Lokos - The only book or content in the self-help space that I think I actually like.
- Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe - An incredible expression of what it's like to experience the gender binary in teen-hood after a long childhood of just not knowing about gender roles, and the journey to becoming nonbinary thereafter.
Honorable Mentions
- Thirty-seven by Stenson, Peter - people giving themselves chemo treatments to make themselves sick for some sort of spiritual connection. Unsettling, but compelling.
- How to change your mind: what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence by Michael Pollan - There's a lot of psychedelic history, including professional research for both treating mental illness and improving life for "healthy normals", and there may be some promise with some of them. Having an experienced guide whom you trust is highly recommended, and casual or frequent recreational use does not seem to be recommended.
Interested In
- Liquid rules: the delightful and dangerous substances that flow through our lives - I checked this one out, but don't think I ever read it. It's by the 'Stuff Matters' guy so I should. Stuff Matters was great.
- Nation on the take: how big money corrupts our democracy and what we can do about it by Potter, Wendell - A detailed look at influence networks in D.C. I read like like half of it? Idk.
- Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America's Progressive Elite by Peter Schweizer - The few things I looked up seemed substantiated by news reports & there was a lot of funny money or politics with Biden and Corey Bush and Kamala Harris and idr who else. I read a third of it probably.
- Untouchable: how powerful people get away with it by Elie Honig - Mob bosses are insulated from legal accountability because they keep some distance from the crimes their lackeys do, and may avoid explicit commands to maintain deniability. The best part may have been learning about the Southern District of New York Prosecutor's office & politics with the DOJ. The internal politics regarding Trump (DOJ doesn't allow prosecution of a sitting president) were really interesting. The last chapter detailing all of Trump's alleged crimes was boring and I just didn't really care. I'm convinced enough and powerless and I don't need more deats. So I didn't finish that chapter.
- Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything by Steven D. Levitt - He strikes me as kind of a hack, but certainly not without insight or perspective or some kind of talent. I enjoy his writing style. He paints some interesting pictures about a corporate bagel delivery business and a teacher cheating scandal. In other chapters, he starts with assumptions or jumps to conclusions. I think its worth a read. But I also don't think his conclusions should be taken too seriously.
Books to add links & descriptions for later
- American Marxism Levin, Mark R. (Mark Reed), 1957- author. (I didn't finish it & I don't like it, but I recommend it)
- An African American and Latinx history of the United States Ortiz, Paul, 1964
- Capitalism, communism, and coexistence : from the bitter past to a better prospect Galbraith, John Kenneth, 1908-2006
- Superpower illusions : how myths and false ideologies led America astray-- and how to return to reality Matlock, Jack F.
- Truth : how the many sides to every story shape our reality MacDonald, Hector, author.
- Walkable city : how downtown can save America, one step at a time Speck, Jeff.
- Palaces for the people : how social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life Klinenberg, Eric, author.
- Lethal passage : how the travels of a single handgun expose the roots of America's gun crisis Larson, Erik. 1954-
- Making your case : the art of persuading judges Scalia, Antonin. 1936-2016
- Understanding power : the indispensable Chomsky Chomsky, Noam.
- We're not broken : changing the autism conversation Garcia, Eric, 1990- author.
- Can't just stop : an investigation of compulsions Begley, Sharon, 1956-2021 author.