Best books I read in 2021

I read approximately 50 books in 2021, upon reflection thought it may be helpful to others looking for a good read to mention what I found to be the best, why, and some other worthy titles. Realize that my bucketing of categories is idiosyncratic, but in the end I suppose that is why it is mine:

Current Events (Domestic): Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (best book I read this year)

Econ/Business: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini Current Events (International)/History: Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World by H. R. McMaster

Fiction (non Sci-fi): Orphan Master Son by Adam Johnson

Science Fiction/ Speculative Fiction: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan

In greater depth….

Current Events (Domestic): Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

Why it was good: Patrick Radden Keefe is on my personal Mt. Rushmore of current Non-fiction writers- his last book “Say Nothing” about the IRA is really an all timer, and this is a worthy follow up about another hidden war- the Opioid crisis. This book made me (an ardent capitalist and soft l libertarian) think more about the by the externalities of market economies and drug policies. I won’t lean heavily on it but think it is also helps explain America in the Pandemic. This was the best book I read this year.

Same quotes:

“White once observed that when she was a prosecutor, her job was simple: “Do the right thing. You’re going after bad guys. You’re doing something good for society every day.” These days, her situation was more complicated. High-end corporate attorneys like White are skilled professionals who enjoy a certain social respectability, but at the end of the day it’s a client-driven business. This is a familiar dynamic for a lot of prosecutors with a mortgage and tuitions to think about. You spend the first half of your career going after the bad guys and then the second half representing them.”

“On the rare occasions when Madeleine was asked directly about the apparent disconnect between the social justice message of her films and the specific provenance of her own personal fortune, she was dismissive. In a generous profile of Madeleine that was published in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Wright pointed out that a lot of the men inside Pendleton prison had little personal agency in ending up where they did. “All the negligence, abuse, addiction,” he said, “a lot of these guys never had a chance.” Yet when the author of the piece, Nick Paumgarten, mused aloud to Madeleine that the film might represent some form of expiation—a subtle acknowledgment of her family’s sins and an effort, through art, to atone—she challenged the premise of the question. There was nothing to expiate, she responded, asserting that when it came to the opioid crisis, she felt no sense of moral responsibility or, really, even personal connection. Her family background was a mere distraction, she insisted. Was she not entitled, as a filmmaker, to have her work simply judged on its own merits? “It pains her,” Paumgarten wrote, “to think that the perception of her project…would be tainted in some way by her pedigree.” Jeffrey Wright had learned about Madeleine’s family while he was working on the project. At one point, he asked her about her background, but she deflected, clearly preferring not to talk about it. When Wright saw her documentary, he was struck by a moment when one of the inmates, a goateed man named Cliff, talks about his difficult childhood—and how his mother “had a prescription drug problem.” It troubled Wright that Madeleine could include such a scene with no disclosure of her own connection to the story. “It becomes polluted when you don’t acknowledge who you are, when you’re hiding your place in it all,” he thought.

Honorable Mentions: Freedom, Ghettoside, Cult of Smart, Comfort Crisis

History: Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World by H. R. McMaster

Why it was good: When the makers of history are attempting to write a book on it, the question at the back of my mind is whether they are arguing what they believe or what puts whatever actions they have taken in the best light. However, what complicates this further is the McMaster, after becoming a war hero after leading a tank battle in the first Gulf War, wrote a book about telling truth to power (and how the military leaders during Vietnam failed to). As if we live in a Shakespearean simulation he then becomes National Security Advisor under Pres. Trump. I think this book is not only illuminating for the information it contains, but also insight into how McMaster attempts to educate a population.

Sample Quotes:

“This is not the book that most people wanted me to write. Friends, agents, editors, and even family, asked me to write a tell-all about my experience in the White House to confirm their opinions of President Donald Trump. Those who supported the president would have liked me to depict him as an unconventional leader who, despite his brash style, made decisions and implemented policies that advanced American interests. Those who opposed the president wanted an account to confirm their judgment that he was a bigoted narcissist unfit for office. And they wanted me to write it immediately, so that the book might influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Although writing such a book might be lucrative, I did not believe that it would be useful or satisfactory for most readers. The polarization of America’s polity and that of other free and open societies is destructive, and I wanted to write a book that might help transcend the vitriol of partisan political discourse and help readers understand better the most significant challenges to security, freedom, and prosperity.”

“Conflicts have often escalated to even the threat of nuclear weapons use, as happened in the summer of 2002. Kashmir was the Pakistan Army’s early proving ground for using jihadist terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and it remains a flashpoint for conflict between Pakistan and India. India’s contentious move in 2019 to remove the semiautonomous status the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir had enjoyed for the last sixty-five years could stoke indigenous militancy in the region, much like flawed 1987 state elections did there in the late 1980s and early 1990s. American flag officers (generals and admirals) have been at times susceptible to the charms of Pakistani officers, who’ve shared the manners and comportment of a Western army. Their landscaped posts would make any U.S. Army command sergeant major envious. Many of their officers were educated at the British Army’s training ground at Sandhurst. Others attended U.S. Army schools at Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. They spoke the Queen’s English, played polo, studied the American Civil War, and drank good whiskey. But they grew up in an organization that saw itself as the arbiter of national interest and the protector of Pakistan’s Islamic identity. The army had veto power over foreign and economic policy.”

“The Sunshine Policy maintained its allure, even though what appeared to be early successes were manufactured. In 2000, Roh’s predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, a politician who had made an unlikely comeback after being condemned to death for his role in the antigovernment Gwangju Uprising of twenty years earlier, received the Nobel Peace Prize for visiting Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang and “paving the way for a brighter future for all Koreans and other peace-loving peoples of the world.” In pursuit of the historic summit, however, Kim Dae-jung’s administration had secretly paid the dictator $500 million in cash.3 After the payoff was exposed, Kim’s opponents quipped that it was the most expensive Nobel Prize in history. Just a few weeks after the summit, North and South Korean athletes marched jointly in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.”

Honorable Mentions: The Price of Peace, Wagnerism, Crusaders: An Epic History

Business /Econ: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini

Why it was good: Was advertised as a primer on how people are influenced. Delivered. Enjoyed how the author weaved in real world anecdotes/stories and research- too often find these kind of books are either all anecdotes (and therefore suspect) or all data (and therefore… boring)

Sample Quotes:

“This book is organized around these seven principles, one to a chapter. The principles—reciprocation, liking, social proof, authority, scarcity, commitment and consistency, and unity—are discussed both in terms of their function in society and in terms of how their enormous force can be commissioned by a compliance professional who deftly incorporates them into requests for purchases, donations, concessions, votes, or assent.1 Each principle is examined as to its ability to produce a distinct kind of automatic, mindless compliance from people: a willingness to say yes without thinking first.”

“Although some of Langer’s additional findings show that there are many situations in which human behavior does not work in a mechanical, click-activated way, she and many other researchers are convinced that most of the time it does, For instance, consider the strange behavior of those jewelry-store customers who swooped down on an allotment of turquoise pieces only after the items had been mistakenly offered at double their original price. I can make no sense of their behavior unless it is viewed in click, run terms. The customers, mostly well-to-do vacationers with little knowledge of turquoise, were using a simplifying principle—a stereotype—to guide their buying: expensive = good. Research shows that people who are unsure of an item’s quality often use this stereotype. Thus the vacationers, who wanted “good” jewelry, saw the turquoise pieces as decidedly more valuable and desirable when nothing about them was enhanced but the price. Price alone had become a trigger feature for quality, and a dramatic increase in price alone had led to a dramatic increase in sales among the quality-hungry buyers.”

Honorable mentions: The WEIRDest People in the World, The Big Picture, Uncanny Valley

Fiction (Non Sci Fi/Speculative/Fantasy): Orphan Master Son by Adam Johnson

Why it was good: I think that the point of reading fiction is some concepts/ themes are too difficult to appreciate /process when looked at straight on (whether because of transcendent beauty or horrifying existential terror). The year of 2021 leant itself naturally to the latter, and this book set (mostly) in North Korea did not disappoint. A real page turner, that I missed when it came out in 2012.

Sample Quotes:

“In local news, our Dear Leader Kim Jong Il was seen offering on-the-spot guidance to the engineers deepening the Taedong River channel. While the Dear Leader lectured to the dredge operators, many doves were seen to spontaneously flock above him, hovering to provide our Reverend General some much needed shade on a hot day. Also to report is a request from Pyongyang’s Minister of Public Safety, who asks that while pigeon-snaring season is in full swing, trip wires and snatch loops be placed out of the reach of our youngest comrades. And don’t forget, citizens: the ban on stargazing is still in effect. Later in the broadcast, we’ll reveal the winning recipe for this month’s cooking contest. Hundreds of recipes were entered, but only one can be declared the best way to prepare—Pumpkin Rind Soup! But first comes grave news from the East Sea, where American aggressors flirt with acts of all-out war after stopping and looting a North Korean fishing vessel.”

“There is a talk that every father has with his son in which he brings the child to understand that there are ways we must act, things we must say, but inside, we are still us, we are family. I was eight when my father had this talk with me. We were under a tree on Moranbong Hill. He told me that there was a path set out for us. On it we had to do everything the signs commanded and heed all the announcements along the way. Even if we walked this path side by side, he said, we must act alone on the outside, while on the inside, we would be holding hands. On Sundays the factories were closed so the air was clear, and I could imagine this path ahead stretching across the Taedong Valley, a path lined with willows and vaulted by singular white clouds moving as a group. We ate berry-flavored ices and listened to the sounds of old men at their chang-gi boards and slapping cards in a spirited game of go-stop. Soon my thoughts were of toy sailboats, like the ones the yangban kids were playing with at the pond. But my father was still walking me down that path. My father said to me, “I denounce this boy for having a blue tongue.” We laughed. I pointed at my father. “This citizen eats mustard.” I had recently tried mustard root for the first time, and the look on my face made my parents laugh. Everything mustard was now funny to me. My father addressed an invisible authority in the air. “This boy has counterrevolutionary thoughts about mustard. He should be sent to a mustard-seed farm to correct his mustardy thinking.” “This dad eats pickle ice with mustard poop,” I said. “That was a good one. Now take my hand,” he told me. I put my small hand in his, and then his mouth became sharp with hate. He shouted, “I denounce this citizen as an imperialist puppet who should be remanded to stand trial for crimes against the state.” His face was red, venomous. “I have witnessed him spew capitalist diatribes in an effort to poison our minds with his traitorous filth.” The old men turned from their game to observe us. I was terrified, on the verge of crying. My father said, “See, my mouth said that, but my hand, my hand was holding yours. If your mother ever must say something like that to me, in order to protect the two of you, know that inside, she and I are holding hands. And if someday you must say something like that to me, I will know it’s not really you. That’s inside. Inside is where the son and the father will always be holding hands.” He reached out and ruffled my hair.”

Honorable mentions: Missionaries, Hades Argentina, Blacktop Wasteland

Best Sci Fi / Speculative fiction/Fantasy: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan

Why it was good: “The Future is already here, it just isn’t evenly distributed yet” (Neuromancer, Gibson) is a premise that many of the best science fiction is based on. Another often quoted idea is that much of the writing about the future is really coded writing of the present. ?If these two premises are the case- it might explain why I have been reading more Chinese Sci-fi in last few years. This book, co-written by a famous Chinese technologist is a collection of short stories with a explanatory note after each explaining the present version of whatever technology was explored. But chapters set in a Sri Lanka under Chinese tech influence may also be shedding some light on the now. The stories were well written/entertaining and weren’t just shoehorning in the technology, but also gave something to meditate on.

Quotes:

“While some may scapegoat science fiction, blaming it for people’s narrow and often negative view of AI, that’s only part of the story. Science fiction has the capacity to serve as a warning, but speculative storytelling also has a unique ability to transcend time-space limitations, connect technology and humanities, blur the boundary between fiction and reality, and spark empathy and deep thinking within its reader. Historian and bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari has called science fiction “the most important artistic genre” of our time. That’s a high bar to live up to. For science fiction writers like myself, the challenge we face is creating stories that not only reveal hidden truths about our present-day reality, but also, simultaneously, project even wilder imaginative possibilities.”

“In her family’s Mumbai apartment, Nayana watched as her grandparents clapped their hands and sang along to the TV. Her younger brother, Rohan, took a mouthful of cassava chips and a deep swig from his diet cola. Though he was only eight, Rohan was under doctor’s orders to strictly control his fat and sugar intake. As he wagged his head in excitement, crumbs sprayed from his mouth and flew across the floor. In the kitchen, Papa Sanjay and Mama Riya banged on pots and crooned like they were in a Bollywood film. Nayana tried to shut them all out of her mind. The tenth-grader was instead focusing all her energy on her smartstream, where she had downloaded FateLeaf. The new app was all Nayana’s classmates could seem to talk about lately. It was said to possess the answer to almost any question, thanks to the prescience of India’s greatest fortune tellers.”

“The benefits of Ganesh Insurance—powered by deep learning AI—are clear in “The Golden Elephant.” Nayana’s mom, Riya, saves money thanks to the program’s deals app. Her father, Sanjay, quits smoking and drives more safely. Even her brother is eating healthier, after AI raises an alarm about the potential for him to develop diabetes. Such a suite of apps running on the smartstream (mobile phone of 2041), marked by personalized nudges toward better health and well-being, could help people live longer, healthier, and wealthier lives. So, is there a catch? That question about trade-offs lies at the heart of “The Golden Elephant,” which introduces the foundational AI concept of deep leaning”

Honorable Mentions: Termination Shock, A Desolation called Peace, Ministry of the Future (Note: I did not agree with or even particularly like this book, but I have had more conversations about it than any other novel this year),

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