Harry's Top 10 Books for 2022

“If you cannot read all your books…fondle them — peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them, at any rate, be your acquaintances.” - - Winston Churchill

I didn't quite read as many books in 2022 as I did in 2021 and much less than 2020! I was on a good run for the first half of 2022, but then work and life sort of interrupted my flow in the Autumn. But nevertheless enjoyed quite a few.

Here are 10 that stood out to me, in order of what made the biggest impact on me. I am hoping the casual and serious readers (among you David Phelps, Melissa Beck, John Dittig, Pat Coleman, Phil Eliopoulos and Anthony Prince will enjoy!) There is still time on holiday week to curl up with one! Happy New Year to all!

1) Five Decembers?by James Kestrel (Fiction)?

By far my favorite read of 2022. We have murder, mystery, and the backdrop of seedy Honolulu right before and during World War II. Add an interesting twist inside of Japan, with a unique love story. It's a cliche, but a real page turner!

2) Rabbit Angstrom: A Tetralogy (Everyman's Library, No. 214)?by John Updike (Library of America - Fiction)

The Jesuit instructors from my high school would be horrified to know that I often confused John Cheever with John Updike. This is especially concerning because I grew up surrounded by Cheever-eque suburbs in Westchester, NY and my favorite short story is The Swimmer from John Cheever (and I swam in high school!). But I also worked in an A&P in high school and loved that short story from Updike!

I digress. This collection from Library of America takes the four novellas from John Updike with his everyman anti-hero Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. They were each written at the end of a decade (1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s) depicting Rabbit in his changes from 26 to his mid-fifties against the backdrop of tremendous change in America. My favorite is Rabbit is Rich the 3rd installment, but I enjoyed them all. A very American tale, and not unlike my beloved stories of Frank Bascombe by Richard Ford, my favorite contemporary author, starting with The Sportswriter.

3) ?Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay?by Craig L. Symonds (Non-Fiction)

I hate leadership books which are along the lines of "Who moved my Gouda?" I'd much rather read about a historical figure who overcame challenges and led in tough circumstances. Where I am quite familiar with the legends of World War II: Patton, Ike, FDR, Churchill and MacArthur, I was less acquainted with Chester Nimitz. After the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Nimitz assumed command in the Pacific.

The book is a great study on leadership, on how to support and trust your leaders while also navigating internal politics amid very large egos. A great study of a strong and unsung leader who knew "it wasn't about him."

4) ?????Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly?by Anthony Bourdain (Non-Fiction)

My wife and I watched the CNN series with Mr. Bourdain before he passed, and I very much enjoyed his worldwide travels. Somehow, I managed to miss his smash hit written over twenty years ago. It's a very quick, funny and insightful read about his early years of growing up well off, then attending cooking school, working on Cape Cod, and his culinary adventures in New York. Trust me, you will now know what night of the week not to order fish!

5) ????City on Fire?by Don Winslow (Fiction)

A great tale of the 1980s and the Irish and Italian mobs breaking their truce in Rhode Island, among other government corruption. It's the first of three novels, and I'm looking forward to the second!

6) A Sport and a Pastime?by James Salter?(Fiction)

I am not sure how I found this gem, written in 1967. A Yale dropout begins a d'alliance with a young French girl as they drive through France, and money gets increasingly tighter. An interesting romance among a road trip, with vivid imagery of the time and place.

7) ?Freedom??by Sebastian Junger (Non-Fiction)?

I've always been a fan of trains, commuting on them to high school and for work most of my adult life. Here is an interesting account of a unique road trip, among the train tracks of Washington to Pennsylvania, highlighted by interesting characters and often bypassed towns, as the writer tries to define and understand true freedom.

8) Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955?by Harald Jahner (Non-Fiction)

Growing up and learning about history, we sometimes seemingly moved from war to war. Here, we have a very real view of the challenges, the mass of displaced peoples all over the continent, the politics among the once allies and future rivals, and the desperation of every day life in Germany after World War II. This account, published originally in Germany in 2019, and later translated, offers a stark and sobering reminder, with many vivid photographs, of the ruins and efforts of reconciliation of the immediate post war world.

9)?????Travels with George: In Search of Washington and his Legacy?by Nathaniel Philbrick (Non-Fiction)

A gift (signed copy!) from my bestie and brother from another mother Philip Eliopoulos . An interesting "road trip" story of famous author Nathaniel Philbrick and his wife following the trail of our first President George Washington's trip up and down the seaboard to New England, Rhode Island (last state to ratify the Constitution), Long Island, and the Middle Atlantic to the South. We learn of Washington's grace, his ability to lead and inspire and compromise, while also developing the plan for the new nation's capital in the "center" of American in DC. We get insight into Washington's complexity and failings, like any leader. A good read, but could have done without the (somewhat forced) reporting on the antics of his dog, Dora:-)

10) ?A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land??by Dan Chapman

Another road trip story (sorry), this time with author Dan Chapman following the trail of John Muir's trip in Southern United States in the late 1860s. With my first ever visit to Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC this year, I thought it would prove insightful. It did, but was less compelling than I hoped, and a little preachy as well. Nevertheless, it provided good insight as the changes over time in the US South.

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I am already looking forward to my 2023 reads. Here is what is in the bullpen...so far!

Happy New Year!