2025 books
Listed in the order in which I read the books; favorites are bolded. Running list here.
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The Old Drift Long novels that intertwine the story of a country and story of a family are some of my favorites, but I couldn't get into the writing of this one. The stylized history of Livingstone, at the beginning, was my favorite part. I should have liked this book more than I did!
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Piranesi I didn't like this one as much as everyone else! My feelings about the main characters got in the way of the story.
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Africa's Billionaires I was hoping for in-depth, business interviews of African entrepreneurs, sort of a "Cheeky Pint but for ... " This book had about a shot-glass' worth of detail about each entrepreneur and business, alas.
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A Man for all Markets David Senra mentioned this book during some podcast interview he was on – something Colossus, probably? – and it was, in fact, a fun read. I particularly enjoy reading about the messy beginnings of things that seem so stable and margin-less now – Vegas, day trading, etc.
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Invisible Giant The start of my foray into corporate histories of the giants of Midwestern industry. I'd start with the Broehl books (below), instead, rather than this one.
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The Siege Did you know the Iranian Embassy in London was under siege by Iranians in 1980? I didn't. This book told the play-by-play. Felt like longform journalism.
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Cargill: Trading the World's Grain One of the famous Cargill books. It's a neat conceit, a business school professor embedding inside a company and then publishing independent histories of the business. I'd like to read more books like this!
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The Legend of Worthington Industries I asked Twitter about more Midwestern industrial histories, and Coen Armstrong delivered this recommendation, about a Columbus company no less!
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All that Glitters Did you know an art dealer swindled the art world out of 70-odd million in the late 2010s, a modern Jay Gatsby? I didn't. This book gave the play by play.
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The Devil Wears Prada I watched the movie for the first time this year on a long flight, and I liked it surprisingly much. I did not have the same reaction to the book.
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Under the Skin I woke up early so I could read this book in the morning before starting work – that's how into this book I was. If you're going to read it, don't read anything about it before you start it.
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Private Citizens An encapsulation of a specific microculture at a specific time and place. Not for everyone, but it made me nostalgic for Kairois.
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Dance on the Volcano Really like this one; Marie Vieux-Chauvet is underrated. The depiction of class and social structures in pre-revolutionary Port au Prince was particularly salient.
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The Rich Boy Fitzgerald short stories don't hit the same way they did when I was 17, but I still have a soft spot for them
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Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? I've had this book for 15 years, purchased because of an online recommendation from someone I admired. I finally read it and was more nostalgic than I'd expected. The book felt like a muggy summer evening.
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Berlin Stories Didn't like these stories! I was hoping for something Fitzgerald-ish set in glittering, decaying Weimar Berlin, but that wasn't what Isherwood wrote.
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The Many Deaths of Laila Starr A gift from a colleague, very fun, beautiful illustrations too. I hadn't read a graphic novel like this one, and I'm glad I did.
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Alexander Hamilton Ten years after everyone else, I read the entire Chernow Hamilton biography and am glad I did. It was particularly neat to think through what Lin Manuel Miranda did and created with each chapter of this book. I found the musical even more impressive after seeing its outlines in this biography.
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Homage to Barcelona Liked this one more than I would have guessed: the writing, the light-handed history, the personal anecdotes, it all landed for me and helped make Barcelona more comprehensible.
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L'adversaire Kinda declassé true crime, summer beach read (albeit finished in Brooklyn heat), seems classier than it is because of the French. (It was published in English, too.)
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Hit Girls Fun, light, like a podcast! This book got me thinking about how much the internet has made writing more self aware. Nora's writing is so self aware (not a critique, mine is too!) in a way that we just didn't see twenty years ago.
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Leaving the Atocha Station I was given this book with the line, "you'll either love it or you'll hate it,” and I liked it a lot. The main character is pretty unlikeable, but somehow that didn't bother me.
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The Godfather So fun. The movie is a realistic portrayal of the book, so if you've seen that, you don't need to read the book, but if you're sick in bed for a week (say), this is a fun book to read.
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Make Something Wonderful A beautiful memorial and memoriam.
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The Blind Owl One of the classics of modern Iran. This book was lost on me.
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Girls of Riyadh This book reminds me of what it feels like to watch the Bama rush Tiktok videos: mindless, semi compulsive, you can call it cultural anthropology, but there's definitely other things you should be doing instead.
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Breakneck Silicon Valley required reading in 2025, and for good reason. Clear, compelling argument with background research and one of those books where "[I learned] something everything page.”
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The Secret History (re-read) If you'd asked me my favorite book, I would have told you it was The Secret History; this was my first re-read in over a decade. It mostly stood up, though I'm more immune to the seduction of pretension than I was. I still love how Tartt maintains suspense despite giving away the key plot point on page two.
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Duveen I had previously wondered how the NGA, and the US Government by proxy, acquired so much great European art, and this book was one part of the answer. A good study in a creative, obsessive business person who shaped culture on both sides of the Atlantic and in the insecure, obsessive robber barons who were his clients.
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When the Going was Good Fun, light, gossip-y take on the bygone era of Conde Nast in New York. Alongside this book, I'd like a compendium of all the referenced Vanity Fair pieces!
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Masters of the Game I really wanted to like this book and really didn't! So much complaining and what felt like petty snipes or a less-funny Reddit (r/nba) comment thread. This book could have been great in a couple ways – world-class analysis, expansive perspective – and it just wasn't in any of them.
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CEO: Building a Four Hundred Million Dollar Company from the Ground Up Sandra Kurtzig was the first woman to take a technology company public in the US, and her autobiography could probably have used an editor with a firmer hand, but that's okay. It's still the story of building a software product company in the 70s and 80s.
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The Great Fire A beautifully-written time capsule to a different generation. Not much happens in the book, really, but the plot isn't the point.
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I Regret Almost Everything Didn't like this one, though Keith McNally really puts himself in the running as a Forest Gump: he was around for so much, and in the center of so much of culture over the past fifty years. His writing style works better in short form Instagram captions, I think.
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Empire of Orgasm So intense – I found this one tough to read because of what happened. The writing is quite good. Following Ellen along on her book-writing journey via her Substack got me even more invested.
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Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli The stories behind the making of The Godfather are near-unbelievable now (e.g. they didn't want to cast Al Pacino?) which is a good demonstration of the truism that great art doesn't always look like great art when it's being made.
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The Rose Field I'm a longtime Golden Compass fan, and I don't feel great about this book ending the newer trilogy: the plotting strained credulity, and the moral heavy-handed.
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Anna Karenina I read this book in high school though not since. The most remarkable thing about this book, to me, is the rich inner lives and monologues of so many (relatively) characters. Anna's mental state toward the end in particular.