The following are the top ten best books I’ve read since this time last year–in alphabetical order by the author’s last name because agonizing over a precise order would take all the fun out of remembering these books:
- Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr. by Marc Andrus – “The story of the friendship between King and Nhat Hanh — icons who changed each other and the world.”
- The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow – “Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. Fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society.”
- Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen – “The very notion of ‘colonial America’ is misleading; we should speak instead of an ‘Indigenous America’ that was only slowly and unevenly becoming colonial.”
- Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground by Rachel Harris – “interviews with the modern women elders carrying on this tradition to gather their hard-won wisdom of experience.”
- Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids by Scott Hershovitz – “A fun romp through classic and contemporary philosophy, powered by questions like, ‘Does Hank have the right to drink soda?’ ‘When is it okay to swear?’ and, ‘Does the number six exist?’ All of us have a lot to learn from listening to kids—and thinking with them.”
- Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly – “the founding editor of Wired magazine and a former editor and publisher of the Whole Earth Review.”
- Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal – “Brings his trademark humor, expertise, and rhetorical flair to explain why you don’t need to be a legal scholar to understand your own rights.”
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin – “A famed music producers known for creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has thought deeply about where creativity comes from.”- Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz – “While we often think we know how to better ourselves, the numbers disagree. Hard facts and figures consistently contradict our instincts and demonstrate self-help that actually works.”
- Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab – “Licensed counselor, sought-after relationship expert, and one of the most influential therapists on Instagram.”
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