These are some of the nonfiction books I read this year that I liked most. Many of them were published prior to 2023, but they affected me this year, which is what counts. There’s no ranking, and no fixed number of books. These are just the books that hit me hardest this year.
Artificial: A Love Story by Amy Kurzweil
This graphic memoir delivered on the premise and in a lot of other ways. Thought provoking long after it’s over.
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Almost 40 years old and as current as if it’d been published this year. I’ve yet to discover today’s version of Postman — he was an absolute giant.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Essential reading on American history (and America’s present). Will change the way you see the world.
Limbo: Blue Collar Roots, White Collar Dreams by Alfred Lubrano
Flagged so much of this book for truth — it describes me and people I grew up with in ways I could never put together. It validated so much about my adulthood it was almost embarrassing.
How not to Kill Yourself by Clancy Martin
Yikes. Clancy Martin doesn’t play — this book is serious, difficult stuff that’s impossible to look away from.
Number Go Up by Zeke Faux
Zeke Faux eating Michael Lewis’ lunch.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
Eye-opening and shocking, though ultimately not terribly surprising. This will make you angry and cynical about the world we live in.
The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market by Naomi Orestes and Erik M. Conway
Blows a hole in the sentiment that ‘the free market’ has ever exists. A long trail of capitalisms lies and deceit. Another one that’ll change your lens on the world.
I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World by Rachel Nuwer
Michael Pollan on ecstasy. This is going to seem very prescient in a few years. Excellent research, easy to read and will make you want to write your elected officials.
Dilla Time by Dan Charnas
Charnas writes about music in a way that just makes sense, and the accompanying website has a Listening Guide that is a rabbit hole all its own. This was fun history and introduced me to a whole bunch of artists I hadn’t heard before, and somehow also changed the way I listen to hip-hop.
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller
Exceeded my expectations, and provided a good grounding for understanding the issues that the West has with Chinese tech companies. Like a tech geopolitics 101 with a fantastic instructor
Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century by Josh Rogin
Not so much a Trump book, though it’s pitched as one. I read this right after Chip War and it was like the 201 course. Deeper, broader, but after these two I understand the present much better.
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant
Kind of the nonfiction companion to The MANIAC. Merchant’s very readable narrative of the original Luddites sheds a lot of light on the similarities between the textile makers and today’s big tech companies.