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This year I started a book diary and kept track of all the books I read. I recommend all of these books however special shout-out to three books: There There by Tommy Orange, The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America by Louis Menand and My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte. Below is a list and a short description of each book.
The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
Louis Menand
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First edition (April 10, 2002)
Louis Menand is a brilliant thinker and The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America is a great read. It is like a play with four characters as leads. It is strange to think that the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes fought in the Civil War then went on to be on the Supreme Court for around thirty years in the early 20th century. Not brought up in my rudimentary education of the 19th century is the debate between monogenists and polygenists and such characters as Louis Agassiz and how the entire science world was convinced that Africans were a different species. This was the accepted belief until Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Just a warning to the world on how perception is so often not reality and science when overly influenced by money and politics is often wrong.
There There
Tommy Orange Knopf (2018)
I highly recommend this book as the story telling and writing are phenomenal and the characters memorable. Based in Oakland and written by and about Native Americans – something not often found in published literature. Amazing book!
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Erik Larson
Random House (2020)
I read this at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and it gave me an escape from the lack of leadership of the Trump administration. I was curious about Churchill’s speeches, but instead you get the day to day life of Churchill during the bombing of London. A key source for this book are the diaries of Churchill’s daughter Mary. When politicians seem spineless, unable to lead, corrupt beyond belief, this is a good one to restore your faith. Churchill told the people the truth and would end his speeches with optimism and encouragement. What a concept.
Time Will Tell: Conversations With Paul Bley
Paul Bley & Norman Meehan
Berkeley Hills Books
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ibram X. Kendi Bold Type Books (2017)
Lot’s of stuff you never got in high school history class.
I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath
Jimmie Heath Temple University Press (2010)
Great read from Jimmie Heath who lived a long productive life.
Cash: The Autobiography Johnny Cash
HarperOne; Illustrated edition (October 7, 2003)
If you are a Johnny Cash fan this is a must read. Given to me a few Christmas’s back by my second child, I finally got around to reading this autobiography. It is sort of interesting how in the first few chapters he skims over his first family, but comes around in the end to explaining things.
Little Bee
Chris Cleave
Simon & Schuster (2008)
This is sort of like a Netflix series that you watch because you have run out of options. Still, well written and engaging.
Dialogues and Natural History of Religion
David Hume
Oxford Classics
I read this because I am a big fan of Hume’s Zen-like skepticism. Heavy read where I understood only about ten percent at times.
Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class
Scott Timberg
Yale University Press (January 31, 2015)
I wrote a review of this book on this website.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Thomas Wolfe
Picador (2008)
I had never read this book and was curious. San Francisco in the late 1960s.
My Song: A Memoir
Harry Belafonte and Michael Shnayerson
Knopf; First Edition edition (October 11, 2011)
I wrote a review of this book on this website.
All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes
Maya Angelou
Random House; Reprint edition (May 20, 1997)
Amazing writing.