Looking back on 2023's non-fiction reads

“Imagine a marketplace teeming with vibrant stalls, each overflowing with treasures not of gold or silk, but of words and worlds waiting to be explored. This, my friends, is the bibliophilic bazaar I invite you to wander today, where each book beckons like a whispered promise, a portal to hidden dimensions of experience.”

Thanks for that intro, Bard AI, but I’ll take it from here. Talk of marketplaces and bazaars of books just makes me want to get on Amazon or drop by Marissa’s and add a few more books to by TBR pile. I didn’t realize how many really delicious reads I enjoyed this year, but a glance back in through the rearview mirror reveals luscious histories, richly imagined fantasy and science fiction, provocative accounts about science, ideas, and politics, and other interesting reads.

First, I give you the histories that have provided me with hours and hours of escape in the wisdom of other lives:

Nina Williams’ Forty Autumns unfurls a poignant tapestry of a family ripped apart by the division of Germany mid-century between the communist East and democratic West across a tumultuous century. Find my short review of it here.
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff crackles with the fiery rhetoric of a nascent nation. Faded into obscurity, perhaps because he was never president, but in the years before independence from Great Britain Sam Adams was as infamous in the court of King George as any other American rebel, if not more so. Schiff, who also wrote The Witches, paints a vivid portrait of this forgotten founding father.
Johnstown Flood, a Manly Book Club selection, lays bare the human cost of the tragedy in a story told only as David McCullough can.
S.C. Gwynn’s Empire of the Summer Moon paints a breathtaking saga of Comanche resilience and domination of the Great Plain, of a time when the Texas Rangers were a little less violent and barbaric than roving Indians they fought, and of one of the last great Comanche war leaders, Quanah.
Daniel James Brown’s Facing the Mountain recounts the tragic and heroic stories of the Japanese Americans who fought during World War II, even as their families were interned in concentration camps because of their ancestry. Brown also wrote “The Boys in the Boat,” and while this story lacks some of the same narrative structure of that story, it is in many ways more inspirational for the resilience of its subjects, even in the face of racism and prejudice.
Nick Bilton’s American Kingpin exposes the dark underbelly of the digital age, a cautionary tale of innovation gone rogue, bringing to life the strange and true story of Ross Ulbrect, the mastermind behind the Silk Road. This was also a book club choice, and I couldn’t put it down.
Richard Rhodes’ The Making of the Atomic Bomb was an incredible narrative of the science, politics, individuals, and events that led to the eventual dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan. The bomb casts a long shadow over human potential, reminding us of the Faustian bargain struck with scientific progress.
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Bomber Mafia transported me back to World War II and the fascinating story of how America’s bombing strategy evolved. It also overlapped portions and characters from The Making of the Atomic Bomb, but told with Gladwell’s characteristic ability to tell a story like no other. I listened to it, so it included audio clips from the time that brought the subjects to life. I don’t always agree with Gladwell, but I am always captivated by his narratives.
Steve Inskeep’s Differ We Must provides a nuanced exploration of various conflicts in Abraham Lincoln’s life and how he addressed them. Each chapter is a bite-sized piece of history, and I was completely hooked as I read each story.
Jon Meacham’s And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle illuminates the enduring quest for unity in a fractured nation, and few spin the narrative of Lincoln’s story like Meacham. I also read Meacham’s biography of Thomas Jefferson some time back, and my observation is that he seems to have an eye for the political and how his protagonists navigated the political currents of their time.

Politics and current affairs can leave me frustrated at times, even though I’m an optimist by nature. However, reading more gives me hope because it gives me knowledge and understanding, as well as a better grasp on my world. Here are a few books in the area that I read this year, and I’d love if you shared your recommendations, as well.

Chris Stirewalt’s Broken News dissects the media machine, prompting us to become discerning information consumers. The short version? Stirewalt argues, persuasively, that media organizations slant coverage towards political division that rewards outrageous conduct. While this could be, in some respects, depressing because of how powerful media organizations have become and how much they manipulate events to create as much news as they report, a wise reader will adjust their media consumption and awareness for a more positive experience.
Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men delves into the ever-shifting landscape of masculinity and was one of the most insightful and thought-provoking books that I read this year. As the father of three daughters, I may not seem like the first audience for a book about the male half of our species, but Reeves makes a case that when some of us lose, all of us end up short, and adjustment for society as a whole is the only way to address long-term problems that modern society presents to men and boys.
Sebastian Junger’s Freedom took me on a powerful journey but ultimately left me disappointed and disjointed when it ended by feeling like a book he wrote during his midlife crisis. 9/10 I would not recommend it, except that Junger really can write. So, 1/10, read it for the writing.
McKay Coppins’ Romney: A Reckoning was an insightful biography that opened my eyes to the man behind the politician, and I’m still pondering its revelations. Several years ago I read Matt Canham’s Mormon Rivals about the Huntsman and Romney rivalry, so parts of this were familiar. And Senator Romney has been in the public eye long enough that the basics of his history are well known. But Coppin, with unprecedented access to Mitt Romney’s journals and notes, as well as extensive interviews and with a career built partially on covering the former presidential candidate, manages to weave the past and the present together to a narrative that isn’t altogether comfortable or without contradiction. Romney is not a conventional politician, and he doesn’t operate like one, either. Understanding him is not an easy task, but McKay is doing all he can to pull back the curtain.

Less heavy, I enjoyed Anthony Doerr’s Four Seasons in Rome which invites us to wander the Eternal City, where ancient stones whisper stories and contemporary lives unfold against a backdrop of timeless beauty. A book club selection, it planted in me a renewed desire to see Rome, explore its ancient alleyways, and get lost among the museums, art, and churches.

There’s never enough time to explore the world, and there’s no way to visit the past. The closest you can come is a well-researched narrative, a thick history that thumps when you set it down on the bedstand, which audiobook keeps you sitting in the car long after you pull in the driveway. This year has a few those and for that I was fortunate.