Books read in 2022

Happy New Year!?The new year brings to an end another year of reading, maybe not as many books as I would have liked (but there were some long books this year) and my fifth annual list of books read (or listened to) over the past year.?

May 2023 bring you joy, happiness, health and many new books.

#booklist, ?#booklist2022, ?#readinglist,? #readinglist2022

1.??????The Dawn of Everything -?David Graeber, David Wengrow. ??????

The authors, an anthropologist and an archeologist, examine distant history and challenge fundamental assumptions about social evolution―from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality. I found the examples they give of how people lived, especially ancient tribes in the Americas, fascinating and enlightening to my basic knowledge of this topic.?A family visit to Stonehenge was a lot more interesting and “alive” because of this book.

2.??????The Choice - Edith Eva Eger. ???????????

This book was on the Bridge Budapest’ s 2021 book list.?This is a moving and uplifting memoir of a 16-year-old Hungarian girl, who together with her family is hauled off to Auschwitz in 1944.?She survives the horrors with physical and mental scars. Later she emigrates to the US and works her way through university and becomes an well-known psychologist.?It is dealing with her patients’ traumas that she is able to deal with her own trauma from Auschwitz. As the title suggests, she copes through the choices she makes. She says before revisiting Auschwitz many decades after her imprisonment: “We have the capacity to hate and the capacity to love – which one we reach for is up to us”

3.??????Surrounded by Idiots – Thomas Erikson ??

Another book on the Bridge Budapest book list that I had not read. I must say that catchy title was part of the attraction to reading it, but I should have researched the book a little more before diving in.?The author sets out the four personality types (dominant, inspiring, stable and analytical) and gives insights and tips on interacting with the different personality types to help communicate more effectively.

4.??????Liar’s Poker - Michael Lewis. ????????

Published in 1989, the book chronicles the author’s frenzied years working on Wall Street for Salomon Brothers in the 1980s as a bond trader. He describes how one of the traders invented mortgaged backed securities which was to lead to the financial crisis in 2008.?I remember reading this in my 20s and what struck me at that time was the large amounts that 20 something year old graduates were paid. Now, some 25 years on and post 2008 crisis, what struck me is the greed, questionable morals, recklessness, distortions in financial markets that the financial sector has to answer for.

5.??????Jan Smuts - Richard Steyn ????????

A friend’s mention of a good book on Jan Smuts, a South African general, war hero, statesman and prime minister, piqued my interest.?The book filled in the gaps in my school history knowledge and gives a thorough and readable account of his life from reading law at Cambridge, to his role in the Anglo Boer War, the creation of the Union of SA in 1910, his role in WW1 and in particular being one of the founding fathers of the League of Nations (predecessor to the United Nations), his role as prime minister and the close relationship he enjoyed with Britain, in particularly Winston Churchill, who called on his counsel often.?He was a man of great intellect and had many interests outside politics such a nature and botany.????

6.??????Glory - NoViolet Bulawayo ????????

This was short listed for the 2022 Booker prize. A political satire, in the style of Animal Farm, takes place in the animal kingdom of Jidada. The “Old Horse” is overthrown in a coup after 40 years of rule and initially there is much happiness and rejoicing but this soon vanishes when it becomes evident that the new ruler is not much better than his predecessor.??The story is full of comedy and farce, poking fun at an autocratic regime while illustrating the brutality of a police state sinking in corruption.?The story parallels the 2017 ousting of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the post-coup history but much of the story could also relate to other countries.

7.??????Life is a Fatal Illness – Geoffrey Douglas.?????????

This is part biography and part medical book written by a doctor who spent a large part of his life in Africa.?Full disclosure: I read this book because I went to primary school with his daughter and he was our family doctor for a few years.?It is always interesting to read a book where you know some of the characters and even more interesting to learn things you were not aware of.

8.??????Being Mortal - Atul Gawande ????????

I was talking with two university friends about the challenges of caring for ageing parents, and both recommended this book. This book takes a sober look at ageing and mortality and is not an easy topic but something that will catch up with us all sooner or later.

9.??????Red Roulette- Desmond Shum ??????

This is a rags to riches account from the author who was born in China, grew up in Hong Kong, went to university in the US and returned to China and made a fortune.?A behind the scenes story of how he and his wife’s business ventures benefited from their connections to China's red aristocracy (members of the super-rich elite class of the Communist Party).

10.???Ministry of the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson ????????

This was my first “cli-sci” (climate science fiction) which I picked up based on Bill Gates’ recommended summer reading.?It is set in the not-too-distant future where the nations of the earth set up a pan global organization tasked with protecting the earth for future generations which becomes known as the Ministry of the Future.?Whist this is fiction there is a fair number of science-based facts (hence Bill Gates’ recommendation) and paints a believable and sobering picture of how the climate crisis may affect us in the decades to come as the world grapples to avoid a climate Armageddon, covering a broad range of topics, including: regreening of the earth, natural habitats, blockchain carbon coins, socialism, climate terrorism, saving polar caps, income redistribution and alternatives to air travel.

11.???Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel ??????????

Money is complex because it is not purely fact based but also influenced on our individual cumulative experience with money.?The book sets out 18 key points (truths), many of them not new, but worth being reminded of such as “‘Enough’ is realizing that the opposite—an insatiable appetite for more—will push you to the point of regret.”

12.???Death of Salesman - Arthur Miller.?????????

This is a play which was one of my favourite set works at school.?It is a about an aging traveling salesman who is disappointed and tired with life.?Life has not worked out quiet as he envisioned, neither for him, nor his two sons.?Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of his regrets of opportunities missed, his flawed philosophy that all that is needed for success in life is to be liked, his inability to adapt to the changing world around him and, in the end, we learn of the cause of the rift in his relationship with his eldest son, the root of his disappointment.

13.???The Light We Carry – Michele Obama ??

I had enjoyed her first book three years ago and was interested to see what the sequel would be like.?This is part biographical (covering life post White House) and part self-help type covering topics from facing fears, to building a network of friends, to maintaining the high ground when others around you are not.?I am sure that for many these inspirational stories will strike a chord, but I personally found some less relatable and did not enjoy it as much as her first book.