My Book Picks for 2024
your Saturday roundup
Professionally, I focus on creating social benefit startups. In my Saturday morning emails I share what I’m learning and thinking. Topics range from better living and parenting to business and philosophy.
This year, re-reading emerged as my unexpected theme. For example, Ender’s Game, Beginning of Infinity and Caro’s biography of LBJ held up very well. (I can’t wait for book 5 of the LBJ series!) The Hornblower series was fine but was not as good as when I read it as a boy. The Red Sparrow series is still a guilty pleasure read.
Of the books I read for the first time, here’s a list of books I think are worth your time. Pick one, read it, and share your thoughts.
For personal mastery, please read Useful Not True.
For parenting, read Good Inside or Raised Healthy Wealthy Wise.
For biography, the ones that stood out were How to Make a Few Billion Dollars and The Whole Story, and Washington: A Life.
For a better understanding of politics, it was Politics is for Power and The Infernal Machine (if you haven’t read Steven Johnson’s other books, you’re missing out.)
For a great business story, check out For Blood and Money about the improbable success of the biotech companies Pharmacyclics and Acerta Pharma.
For contemporary novels, I reveled in the multi-layered storytelling in Tom Lake and Here One Moment.
For historical fiction, I enjoyed Harris’ Cicero Series and Gentleman of the Road. I would expect to like ancient Rome as a setting so I was not surprised to like the Harris novels. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the literary swashbuckling from Chabon.
While post-scarcity society is an interesting and important subject, I found Deep Utopia too long and didn’t finish.
Got one for me? Please let me know. I’m always looking for my next read!
I’ll be with you again in the New Year.
Until next time,
Miles
You always have great picks. Will take a look!