The Books I Loved Reading (or just read) in 2023.

The Year in Review. From ChatGPT to Lord Byron.

reading a book

Hi Everyone,

In no particular order, here’s a list of books I’ve read—or am reading—over the last year. Any book listed below means I’ve read substantial sections of it, if not in entirety. Some, like Byron’s excellent but seemingly endless biography, I’m still working on. I hope you enjoy. And I wish you all happiness in the New Year.

History

A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution, by Jeremy Potkin (2019)

Easily the second best history of the French Revolution, Potkin includes the rise of Napoleon and meticulously recounts the key moments of the revolution that changed the world forever. Why did I read it? Unclear. I originally intended it as background reading for my second book: The Big Chill: How the 21st Century is Marching Us Into a Global Winter.

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, by Simon Schama.

Schama’s account of the French Revolution is nothing short of splendid. Superbly researched and beautifully written, it’s worth a read if for no other reason than you want to experience great historical writing. One of the best written and most engaging histories I’ve encountered.

American Studies, by Louis Menand

Ever since my ex-wife recommended Menand’s stupendous achievement, The Metaphysical Club, I’ve been a Menand fan. American Studies is typically Menand—which is to say, well-written, informative, humorous at times, and witty—and covers juicy topics like “T.S. Elliot and the Jews.” Read it!

The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War, by Louis Menand

Like American Studies, only better. From Hannah Arendt to Elvis, it’s one heck of a great modern history book written with Menand’s inimical prose.

The Fifties, by David Halberstam.

Well-written and frequently engaging history of the 50s. Halberstam, a former New York Times writer, ventures through the main episodes of the “forgotten” century, from the Korean War to Holiday Inns. I confess I feel as if I now know more about the 1950s than someone living in 2023 should. Then again, why not?

Rise of the Machines, by Thomas Rid.

A wonderful historical account of the development of cybernetics and how it contributed to much of the research and mindset of 20th century science.

A History of the Modern Fact, by Mary Poovey

A gem of a book. Poovey explains the origin of the concept of a “fact,” from early accounting practices to its use in philosophy and later science. Fascinating. If you want to know what a “fact” is, Poovey tunnels deep.

War, by Sebastian Junger

I was struck emotionally by this quite riveting account of the Special Forces and Rangers who defended the uber-violent Korengal Valley from insurgent Taliban in the early years of the 21st century in Afghanistan. I don’t know how Junger managed to embed himself in the middle of what was often a maelstrom of murderous and terrifying fire fights, but he did. His account is absolutely fantastic—and scary.

SPQR, by Mary Beard

The book on the history of the early Roman Empire, written by one of the world’s foremost experts.

Sociology

The Lonely Crowd, by David Riesman

The definitive account of how we’re changing in relation to each other in modern society. We’re now outward focused, and perpetually obsessed with what others in our peer group or the world at large think about us. Think about a principled life, remove the “principled,” and you have Riesman’s analysis of 20th century character. I suspect his insights are even more trenchant and valuable in our age of social media.

The Post-Emotional Society, by Stjepan Meštrović

A lesser known but I think still useful account of how we “simulate” emotions for each other now, rather than just having them. Fits nicely with other skeptical accounts like the aforementioned book by Riesman.

Business-y Stuff

Loonshots, by Sahi Bakhal

A reasonably convincing account of how ideas deemed crazy by management have changed the world. I say “reasonably” because Bakhal in my opinion doesn’t go far enough. Loonshots should get you your own company or fired by your boss. Truly great ideas always represent a break with the existing mindset.

Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, by Carlotta Perez.

Something of a classic now, “Tech revolutions” is a fantastic documenting of the roughly five decade cycle of radical technical innovation. Our latest was the microchip, in 1971. What’s next?

The Managerial Revolution, by James Burnham

Listen to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen’s machine gun fire monologues long enough and you’ll end up with a James Burnham book. See also The Machiavellians by same author. Take away? The world is full of managers now who don’t take risks. Indeed, it’s their job to avoid risks for the companies they work for. What else can we expect?

Zero to One, by Peter Thiel (with Blake Masters)

Pretty much a must read for anyone interested in starting a company. The paradox of entrepreneurship is every entrepreneur’s goal is (or should be) market capture rather than endless competition. That leaves us, eventually, with big slow-moving behemoths, the opposite of entrepreneurship. Read the book. Think about the issues.

The Search: How Google and its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture, by John Battelle

To understand the present and the future, maybe we should spend more time reading about the significant events of the past. What’s more significant in the annals of 21st technology than Google search? The list would be short. I had read this book before but read it again this year in preparation for writing my second book. It’s dated now, sometimes comically so, but still an important informational resource about one of the web’s great success stories.

Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money, Nathaniel Popper

If you want a practical guide on crypto investing, this isn’t your book. It is however a decent recounting of the key moments that brought us bitcoin and spread it around the world.

Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the US Stock Market, by Scott Patterson.

Title is pretty self-explanatory. A decent recounting of the move from manual to “AI” trading, and all the misery it’s caused.

Dabbling in Economics

Average is Over, by Tyler Cowan

Despite rambling on too long about playing chess and its lessons for AI, Cowan as is typical makes a good case that the 21st century economy threatens the middle class. Says Cowan, the jobs are headed for the machines, and there’s not much we can do about it other than adjust.

Capital in the 21st Century, by Thomas Pinkety

If you can understand—I mean really understand—what Pinkety is arguing in his now famous “Capital,” you got a very high score on your SATs. A dense but important read on the concentration of financial capital and wealth this century. Is he right? Probably. Should we become Marxists? Probably not.

Sooooo Political.

The Age of Reform, by Richard Hofstadter

An oldy but goody, The Age of Reform traces the rise of populism in the United States and the growth of the corporation. The “reform” becomes, ultimately, the New Deal and a welter of power checking court rulings. I found this book poking around an open air book sale in Santa Cruz. It sat on my shelf for almost a decade before I plucked it and read it this year. Can’t say I recommend it, but it’s among the books that I (mostly) read in 2023.

Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, by Francis Fukuyama

Fukuyama famously declared that liberal democracy represented the end of history in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much illiberal politics and governments followed, but as a theoretical point he’s perhaps on more solid ground. His 2019 foray into making sense of Trump populism and identity politics is insightful and clear.

Science and Technology

What is ChatGPT Doing? And Why Does it Work?, by Stephen Wolfram

A concise, technically accurate description of how ChatGPT actually works, written by an author with a long distinguished career in AI and search.

Sun in a Bottle: The Science of Fusion and the Strange History of Wishful Thinking, by Charles Seife

I recently podcasted on this topic. Seife is a first-rate science writer who pulls no punches explaining how things work—or don’t.

How the World Really Works, by Vaclav Smil

Really clear and compelling account of how stuff other than digital technologies makes the world go round, from fertilizers for growing food to materials like steel for building nearly anything. Smil is great. Read him.

Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure, by Vaclav Smil

Ditto for Smil’s latest, which explains the end of Moore’s Law and why, for instance, commercial supersonic transport is still a pipe dream, as are cheap and super-powerful batteries. If you’re of the mind that we should first make machines super smart, then ask them how to solve problems continuing to plague us like world hunger, you should read Smil.

The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, by Iain McGilchrist

A fascinating account of the differences between our left and right brain hemispheres by an Oxford neuroscientist. McGilchrist claims we’re overly left-brain dominant today in the West, and as such we have difficulty creating humanistic solutions to problems, and tend to see society and indeed ourselves as the products of commercial and technological power. Whereas so-called “lateralization research” of yesteryear suffered from pop psychological treatments, the latest research on hemispheric differences paints an accurate and scientific picture of how we’re, quite literally, of two minds. Which one will win? McChrist argues persuasively that we need more contribution from the right, more holistic, hemisphere. An excellent and utterly fascinating read.

Philosophy

Persecution and the Art of Writing, by Leo Strauss

How writers have written meaningful content “between” the lines of their manuscripts attempting to avoid persecution by the powers that be. A bit dry, but worth some perusal.

Natural Right and History, by Leo Strauss

If you know of Strauss, you’ll likely understand why I’m reading him. This isn’t summer beach reading. It is an “objectivist” take on key philosophical concerns, like the fact/value distinction.

On Revolution, by Hannah Arendt

Arendt never fails to deliver an insightful and even brilliant treatment of subjects like “revolution,” which many assume they understand but really don’t. Arendt was a first-rate intellect and repays careful reading.

Biography

Lord Byron: Life and Legend, by Fiona MacCarthy

MacCarthy is a prolific and talented biographer. Her treatment of the enigmatic and at times maddening life of Lord Byron, the early 19th century Romantic poet, is carefully researched and just a little naughty. As many know, Byron was fond of let’s say amorous connections in somewhat of an unprincipled way, and to MacCarthy’s credit, it would seem impossible to tell Byron’s story without telling some of the lurid details. A good read, though I find myself (I’m still reading it) wanting more of his theories on writing and poetry and life than longish accounts of his trysts with everything from his servants to countesses. Oh, Byron. You’re so Byronian.

Self-Help

From Celeste, bless you Celeste, I ended up with a copy of:

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

I confess I haven’t started reading it yet, but in truth I look forward to it. I lugged it around Europe back in October but never cracked the cover. Part of my January reading for sure.

So there you have it. Yes, I either read these books or read significant sections. In many cases I simply read them cover to cover. In some cases, like that beautiful tome about Lord Byron, I’m still getting up and plodding through them. At any rate, I recommend any of these titles, and please let me know what books you found useful and/or important in 2023. Let’s gather together, and share what we’ve learned and discovered. Thanks again everyone.

Erik J. Larson