My 2023 In Books
I read 111 books in 2023. The list can be found here.
Some were audio books, on the Audible app, some were on my Kindle, and some were even paperback books. I know some people don’t consider e-readers like the Kindle, or audiobooks, to be “real” reading, but I’d disagree.
It’s true that reading a book on your phone is tiring. The constant notifications and temptation to read half a page then quickly check on Instagram. Reading on my Kindle is a lot more convenient than a real book as I can read in bed in the dark and carry an enormous collection of books around with me. It also doesn’t have any app notifications — it’s just the book.
Audible is a great companion for dog walks and I have two dogs.
Some of my highlights from reading in 2023 were:
Scarred For Life: This pair of books by Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence came to my attention because of the Scarred for Life podcast. Together they form an encyclopedic exploration of 70s and 80s pop culture, covering film, music, and TV, but with a strong focus on the unusual and supernatural.
American Prometheus: Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin originally published this biography of J Robert Oppenheimer in 2006. I bought it a couple of years ago, but it languished on my Audible app until August 2023 when I thought I really should listen to the entire book because I realised that the new Christopher Nolan movie about Oppenheimer was based on this book. I still haven’t seen the movie, but I will soon — committing to a three hour movie is a challenge with a young child in the house who is not even two years old.
The Ministry For The Future: This vision of the a near future ravaged by climate change is a masterpiece. Kim Stanley Robinson creates a UN agency with the responsibility of taking action now that will benefit future generations. The problem is that some people believe that the formal action is too slow for any real change — sounds familiar?
Killing Thatcher: Rory Carroll explores the complete history of the 1984 attack on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with new information and interviews from IRA operatives. The Brighton bombing at the Grand Hotel felt even closer to me in 2023 as I spent a week staying at the hotel with my wife and daughter — just a few rooms away from where the event took place. My own workplace was destroyed by a bomb in 1993 — I went into the building after the bomb and took photos as I rescued a Dell server. I’ll have to scan them all one day…
The Gutenberg Parenthesis: Jeff Jarvis asks a fundamental question of publishing. He first explores the development of the printed word and how literacy and the free flow of recorded information changed society, but he then looks into the future. We used to be able to trust the printed word because it required knowledgeable authors, editors, and publishers. Now anyone can publish anything at anytime and it can be read anywhere. How will this sudden decline in veracity affect our politics and life in general?
The Handover: David Runciman asks if we have sealed our own fate through the machines we have created. Is AI really out of control and will we achieve a singularity or are the claims of the technologists overblown? Runciman explores this from the lens of politics and society, rather than the typical tech-focused analysis.
The Ragged Arsed Philanthropists: The well-known 1914 novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists explored how the working class is exploited and has no control over their lives. It’s a famous book that argues the case for socialism. The writer MJ Dees, decided to bring it up to date and explore Tressell’s arguments in the context of low-paid care home workers and the challenges of the 21st century. Precarious work, the gig economy, and an inability to get on the property ladder all suggest that things have not improved for working people in the past century.
That’s just a few of the highlights. I’m already starting 2024 with ‘Why Politics Fails’ by Ben Ansell. Start as you mean to go on?
CC Photo by Aaron Burden
