{"id":331,"date":"2023-01-01T00:56:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T00:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/?p=331"},"modified":"2023-01-01T00:56:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T00:56:49","slug":"recommended-reading-the-best-books-i-read-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/01\/recommended-reading-the-best-books-i-read-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Recommended reading: the best books I read in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In under the wire, here’s my annual list of the best books I read over the past year. In 2022 I finally figured out how to get paid for reading books, thanks to a consistent reviewing gig with the Washington Examiner<\/em>, so some of these recommendations will link to reviews there or in my newsletter. I should probably also mention that I also published a book this year? Make sure Raising the Bar<\/a> <\/em>is on your stack too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-fiction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breathless<\/a><\/em>, David Quammen \u2014 When the world shut down in March of 2020, I immediately reread Quammen’s prescient book Spillover<\/a><\/em>. (See my 2020 post revisiting the book in that context<\/a>.) His latest lacks, for obvious reasons, the adventurous travel of his earlier books. But it’s a very worthwhile read on the course of the pandemic and the origins of COVID, coming down on the side of natural spillover as the most likely explanation while fairly considering alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return of the Artisan<\/a><\/em>, Grant McCracken \u2014 One that appeals to me as an ex-barista! Reviewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Copenhagen Trilogy<\/a><\/em>, Tove Ditlevsen \u2014 Literary memoir from a Danish writer, newly published as a trilogy in English. Illuminating portrait of working life in twentieth century Copenhagen, struggling as a female writer, and the grip of addiction. She was renowned as a poet and lines jump out from every chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firebrand<\/a>,<\/em> Joshua Knelman \u2014 A breezy but informative look at the cigarette business told from the perspective of a lawyer for Big Tobacco. Reviewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slouching Toward Bethlehem<\/a><\/em>, Joan Didion \u2014 My first by Didion, a major gap in my reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sex and Social Justice<\/a><\/em>, Martha Nussbaum \u2014 Filling in another gap in my reading, I was especially interested in her conception of liberal feminism, defense of legalizing prostitution, and analysis of sexuality among the ancient Greeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Change Your Mind<\/a><\/em>, Michael Pollan \u2014 With psilocybin therapy becoming legal in Oregon in 2023, I was interested in a good introduction to psychedelics. Pollan provides it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed<\/a><\/em>, Jon Ronson \u2014 I read this as background for the startup I’m working on, Seabird<\/a>, but it’s of wider interest. A sympathetic look at the victims of cascading shaming on social media, something we’re designing our platform to be less likely to enable. Recommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mastering the VC Game<\/a><\/em>, Jeffrey Bussgang \u2014 Of niche interest, but since I’m involved with a tech startup of my own, this was a helpful guide to the finance side of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No One Is Talking About This<\/a><\/em>, Patricia Lockwood \u2014 One of my favorites this year. From April<\/a>: “If you\u2019re online enough to know what an allusion to someone not being sad about an alligator eating a kid refers to, this book is for you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret Identity<\/a><\/em>, Alex Segura \u2014 Noir fiction with tie-ins to the history of superhero comics? Sign me up! Reviewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Random<\/a><\/em>, Penn Jillette \u2014 The funniest novel I’ve read in a long time, good-hearted yet very raunchy. Review coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea of Tranquility<\/a><\/em>, Emily St. John Mandel \u2014 Excellent on its own, but even better to read Station Eleven<\/a><\/em> and The Glass Hotel<\/a><\/em> first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Visit from the Goon Squad<\/a><\/em>, Jennifer Egan \u2014 Loved it, and Candy House<\/a><\/em> is high on my to-read list now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora<\/a><\/em>, Kim Stanley Robinson \u2014 A great sci-fi novel, pessimistic on human space travel with an environmental message that doesn’t cross over to being too didactic, though I like it best as an allegory about how to order one’s single life on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Remains of the Day<\/a><\/em> and Never Let Me Go<\/a><\/em>, Kazuo Ishiguro \u2014Klara and the Sun<\/a><\/em> was one of my favorite novels in 2021, setting me to reading these two. Deservedly acclaimed but I don’t think I’d have read so many of his novels recently if I hadn’t begun with Klara.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crossroads<\/a><\/em>, Jonathan Franzen \u2014 My verdict back in January<\/a>: “There\u2019s always someone else you could be reading, but ignore the haters. If you enjoy Franzen novels,\u00a0Crossroads<\/em>\u00a0is worth your time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mister Miracle<\/a><\/em>, Tom King \u2014 King’s comics are hit or miss for me, but I appreciate that he so often tries for something ambitious. Mister Miracle<\/em> is fully in hit category, with one issue in particular<\/a> standing out as truly great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In under the wire, here’s my annual list of the best books I read over the past year. In 2022 I finally figured out how to get paid for reading books, thanks to a consistent reviewing gig with the Washington Examiner, so some of these recommendations will link to reviews there or in my newsletter. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacobgrier.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}