Once again, we've arrived at one of the reading lists. This one is going to be slightly extended as I go through my usual review of books from the month and also I've got a little bit of a highlights reel at the bottom - putting together my top 5 picks of 2021 which I'd recommend to everyone (i.e. they won't be ultra-niche finance or economics).
I managed to get through all the books on the reading list for December in pretty good time, but a heads up straight away I have January exams at university so I'm only aiming to read four books instead of the usual five to avoid overpromising/under-delivering.
Well without further ado, I present the December 2021 reading list.
I picked this one up since I realised I hadn't read any of Barack's earlier writings from before he became the President. Specifically, this was written in around 2006 when he was still just a Senator and notions of becoming the President still hadn't fully crystallised / come to the fore.
The book is split up into a number of sections where Barack gives his opinions on everything from foreign policy to race issues to healthcare.
I particularly enjoyed sections related to inequality and the nuanced perspective which Obama provides here is very telling and interesting. Some of the solutions outlined were later key policies in his government (particularly around Obamacare etc). However, (and I'm about to be brave and criticise a former President - easy with hindsight) I do feel like many of the foreign policy views he expresses here were the foundations for errors during the Obama Administration. There appears almost a certain naïveté and I do wonder if asked to revisit these views Obama would have changed some of them knowing with the gift of hindsight the consequences of America not being a balancing force in the world.
Nonetheless, I particularly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it as it provides a telling insight into the views which shaped many of the Obama administrations policies.
I'll keep this section short and sweet. I love a Jack Reacher novel, although I've only read about five of them (the first 4 and then this). If, like me, you're in a position where you have read a couple but not the most recent, fear not. The book is easy to jump into and in usual Lee Child style does not depend on the previous iterations.
It's compelling, easy to read and very gripping. Plus it's half price at Waterstones at the moment, so head over and pick it up for a little entertaining light reading.
This one I picked up on a bit of a whim, but it actually fits in very nicely with a lot of my previous readings. Specifically, I thought this was a natural extension of both Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow and The Righteous Mind by John Haidt. One of which, you'll notice later, features on my top five picks.
This doesn't quite make the cut, but it is a very interesting perspective. Moffett is from a biological background, and therefore makes a number of interesting comparisons between humans and other species, touches on why we form societies (both at national and individual levels) and delves into some of the more biological / natural drivers of our internal prejudices. The lessons from the book really are on how we can be aware of these inbuilt prejudices and fears and how we can work to still build better societies in spite of these prejudices.
Ok, this one was a bit nerdy and I confess I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew here. But nonetheless, after some very close reading of a number of very intricate passages, I did manage to wrap my head around a number of these Federalist Papers.
For those who have no idea about American history, please do skip ahead, but this was an insight (in a collection of 85 essays written by Hamilton (of the musical), Madison (the fourth President) and Jay (the first SC Justice) into the workings of the constitution. The aim of the papers was to provide a rebuttal to a number of the criticisms of the unratified constitution and accelerate the process of forming the Modern United States of America.
There's a lot of legal stuff in here, which I didn't have the knowledge to digest properly, but the sections on the respective roles of the branches of government are insightful.
It's a difficult read, with long-winding sentences and complex archaic words, but if you're interested it's definitely worth a try. My favourite was No. 69, where Hamilton explains how a President under the proposed constitution would not be at all like a King. The fears of dictatorship are persistent, and we must be very grateful to the founding fathers for being so scared of possible exertions of power, and building a system which has proved extraordinarily resilient - even in the face of massive pressure in the last few years.
Then the last book of the month, The British Are Coming. This was another one which I greatly enjoyed. Regular readers will know I've read a few books on the Revolutionary War this year, and this was by far the most digestible to the lay reader.
I also read 1776, which was a lot more detailed on this specific part of the history, and Chernow's magnificent biography of George Washington, which was a little dry in places but again very detailed.
Atkinson is brilliant at creating a marvellous narrative, and everything links together beautifully in this construction.
However, I am going to make a criticism here which is Atkinson fails to focus enough on Rebel force weaknesses. Sure, the utter hopelessness of the cause at times does come across, but there is nowhere near the level of attention to detail of how close Washington & Co. come to failure as in some of the aforementioned books.
Thus, this is ideal for the lay reader who wants to have an easy and digestible history of this critical period, but for more serious scholars I would probably look elsewhere.
THE TOP 5 OF THE YEAR:
I'm not going to re-write my previous analyses of the books mentioned below, just going to name them and redirect you to the relevant Reading List.
4. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds - Well worth another read given all the speculative manias going on in financial markets at the moment!
5. The Return of a King - William Dalrymple - This book was simple incredible. The insights into Afghanistan wars past and present is simply invaluable. A magnificent guide to history which I recommend to all.
So that's it for 2021 reading lists, but there will be much more to follow in 2022!
Books for January:
1. The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
2. Richard Nixon: The Life - John Farrell
3. Value(s): Climate, Credit, Covid and How We Focus on What Matters - Mark Carney
4. Mastering The Market Cycle - Howard Marks
As always, please reach out with your suggestions, recommendations and questions.
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