Here are my favorite books that I read this year. I reserve the right to add to this list, in case I forgot anything. Note that most of these were not published this year, although a couple of them were. They are simply things I read in 2022. When relevant, I’ve linked to other posts I’ve written about the books or to the book itself.
The Stranger, by Albert Camus. If I had to pick, this is the best book I read all year. Simple, straightforward writing that draws the reader in and ends before the reader gets bored. No BS. Camus has a totally cynical outlook on the world, and that’s right up my alley.
“Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne” by Katherine Rundell. A lot of people have written about how good this book is already, so I don’t have much more to add, other than to say Rundell is probably one of the best writers alive.
“The Right to Sex” by Amia Srinivasan. This book touches on all the most interesting topics in feminism today, from an author who is intimidatingly smart. I don’t know if Srinivasan has all the right answers, but she’s certainly wrestling with the right questions.
“Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson. I never read this as a boy, and I listened to the audiobook this year with my kids in the car. They loved it, especially the talking parrot. If only all books could be this enjoyable to read and have deeper life lessons to offer the reader. A true classic.
“Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World” by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross. The best part of the book is the list of interview questions at the end, which will surely prove useful for everyone at some point down the road. The chapter about men’s inability to identify talented women was very eye opening for me. I want to re-read this at some point, since I suspect there were things I missed the first go-round.
“Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison” by Michel Foucault. My favorite part of “Talent” was the ending, but the best part of this book is the beginning. Foucault’s writing style can be long-winded, and he was a scoundrel in real life, but I liked the interesting blend of history and philosophy. It’s a nice contrast to today’s scholarship, which is all about data. Not that data is bad, but I predict books like this one will make a comeback.
“Paper Belt on Fire: How Renegade Investors Sparked a Revolt Against the University” by Michael Gibson. Another book about talent (a big theme in 2022!). This one is about the Peter Thiel Fellowship, which pays young entrepreneurs to drop out of college and start a business. My own educational path was far from conventional, so I could relate to this one. The success of the Thiel Fellowship shows that alternatives exist to the traditional higher education path. We need more books that don’t just criticize higher eduction, they offer a real alternative. This is one of those books.
“Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction” by Ian J. Deary. The book is an excellent overview of intelligence research, including how it is measured, various controversies surrounding intelligence, and what these metrics are correlated with in terms of human social outcomes. It’s a fascinating topic covered in extremely succinct, readable form. I came away more skeptical of the value of some IQ research—for example, about the validity of the Flynn effect, whereby IQs are supposedly rising over time—but I learned a ton in the process.
“Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” by Nick Bostrom. A quasi-religeon has formed around Artificial Intelligence in recent years, and this book is a major reason why. While I’m not quite ready to devote my life to Scientology just yet, this is top notch scholarship from a very compelling and stylistically innovative author. If you want to know why so many people on Twitter think AI is going to take over the world, start with this book.
“Ragtime,” by E.L. Doctorow. Fun, historical fiction from an author who has done his homework but also cares about keeping the reader entertained.
“Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,” by Ludwig Wittgenstein. This book’s core message is captured neatly in the memorable phrase: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” Living up to this mantra, the author keeps his writing short and to the point. Wittgenstein was one of the first thinkers to apply mathematical rigor to philosophy (he invented truth tables), but the math isn’t alienating in this book the way it can sometimes feel in economics, my own discipline. Further, despite the formalized notation, there remain many mysteries to unravel in this book. It’s short length means you can read it in a day, but it will keep you thinking for a lifetime.
“The Bridges of Madison Country” by Robert James Waller. This book is super cheesy, for sure, but it really does tug at your heart strings. Seriously, how many classics are able to do that? Much like pop music is most successful when it makes a raw, emotional connection with the listener, pop romance novels work similarly. You don’t need to know anything to read this book, you just need to be a human being who can relate to falling in love or having their heart broken. Art can be great when it forces you to think, but the best art doesn’t require it.
That’s it. See you all in 2023!
Cool list. I really liked Cowen and Gross’s Talent as well. I’ll be doing some hiring soon, and I’m already thinking of those questions. “What browser tabs do you have open right now?” Also, Superinfinite seems interesting; it’s popping up everywhere I look. Might have to add to my list next year.