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.
Laurence Smith: The New North. The World in 2050
An excellent, well-written analysis of the four mega-trends that will shape the future: demography (population growth and aging); the growing demand on natural resources; globalization and climate change. A fascinating read and highly recommended if you like to read beyond today's headlines.
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.
Frank Dikötter: Mao's Great Famine
Frank Dikötter chronicles the consequences of Mao's Great Leap Forward, one of the most devastating man-made catastrophes in history.
Daniel Yergin: The Prize. The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power
I know that I'm late to the party, but this is an excellent book and required reading if you want to understand 20th and 21st century history.
Edward Glaeser: Triumph of the City
In Triumph of the City Edward Glaeser presents a refreshing analysis of cities.
Michael Lewis: The Big Short
A great journalistic narrative. It reads like a thriller.
Guy Deutscher: Through the Language Glass
Languages differ in what they must convey, not in what they may convey.