The Best Books of 2019
The best books I read this year in various categories, from best aesthetics and philosophy of art to best science fiction, best poetry and most disappointing.
The Best Books of 2018
The books of the year in a number of categories: biggest book of the year; best fiction; best book I wish I had read years ago; best book about dinosaurs; best physics; best book about Wittgenstein that is(n't) about Wittgenstein; most useful, most disappointing and more.
The Best Books of 2017
The best books I read in 2017 in various categories: best fiction, best science, best economics, best book about the USA, most useful, most eye-opening.
The Best Books of 2016
Some of the best books I read this year including recently published books as well as classics, in a number of categories: best fiction, best science, best book about Claude Lévi-Strauss, best economics and more.
If I Could Only Recommend One Book
Someone recently asked Tyler Cowen which book he would recommend to a smart person in his thirties who hasn't read much, if he could only recommend one book. Here's my attempt at an answer.
The Best Books of 2015
A selection of the best books I read this year in a number of categories: best fiction, best big history, best book I wish I had read years ago, best book by a French academic, best economics and most disappointing.
Svetlana Alexievich: Second-hand Time
Second-hand Time is a collection of voices, stories, fragments and witness accounts. They tell of the individual and collective experience of existence in the grinding jaws of history.
The Best Books of 2014
A selection of the best books I read in 2014 in various categories, from best fiction and best non-fiction to most fashionable, most eye-opening and the best book about Wittgenstein that is(n't) about Wittgenstein.
The Best Books of 2013
A selection of the best books I read in 2013, including the best books I wish I had read years ago, the best book about Claude Lévi-Strauss and the most disappointing books.
John Updike: Rabbit, Run
Every now and then I read a novel that leaves me wholly indifferent. This is one of them.
The Best Books of 2012
A selection of the best books I read this year, which this year includes a number of books I wish I had read years ago.
Super Sad Prescient Love Story
Gary Shteyngart's novel Super Sad True Love Story is a surprisingly prescient novel. A recent article in the NY Times shows that another part of his dystopian vision is already a reality.