Book Thoughts from 2022

Great, notable, and frustrating reads from the last 12 months

Disclaimer: every podcast host in America is legally obligated to release a “Best Books of the Year” list. This is mine. Links are to interviews with the authors if I spoke with them.

According to Goodreads, I read or listened to 45 books this year. I liked most, loved a couple, and—for a few—would re-invest the time elsewhere if I had the chance. A great many of these are about dealing with money, success, and life in general. Here are some thoughts on what I consumed…

BEST BOOK I READ THIS YEAR: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (PRK). After watching Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast just in time for the Oscars, I found myself hungry to learn more about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. There are surprisingly few books and documentaries on the topic but Say Nothing is thorough, gripping, and full of historical context. PRK is a monster of an investigative journalist who is now on my “read anything he writes” list. (See Empire of Pain below).

BOOK I READ FASTEST: Phil: the Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar by Alan Shipnuck. On the eve of the LIV Golf tsunami, Shipnuck shares hilarious anecdotes from and analysis of Phil Mickelson’s career and the go-for-broke mentality that has led him to six major championships, 45 career PGA wins, and—allegedly—$40 million in gambling losses. Shipnuck’s account is a juicy treat that portrays Phil as a naughty but charming savant with a dazzling smile and an other-worldly short game. I liked Phil more after reading it, but since then, LIV Golf has become the money-centric turd in the punchbowl of pro golf, and I see Phil (and most other pro golfers) in a less glamorous light.

THE BEST NON-Non-FICTION I READ THIS YEAR (okay, the only non-fiction I read): The Searcher by Tana French. Sadly, my digitally-addled brain has a hard time engaging with fiction but God do I love Tana French. Her murder mysteries draw this reader into Ireland’s landscape in a way that keeps me thinking about her characters long after I’ve finished each story.

BEST BOOK FOR MIDDLE-AGED PEOPLE: From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks. I strongly recommend this book to my 40+year-old friends. Middle age brings with it a highly disconcerting but unavoidable change in our brains. Brooks puts this evolution into a helpful biological, social, and emotional context. The net is that the skills and behaviors that got us here are not the ones that will serve us well going forward.

BEST MEMOIRS:

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry. Let’s call this more of a “notable” memoir than an enjoyable one, due to the nature of Perry’s “big terrible thing,” i.e. his tenacious addiction to opioids and alcohol. The book starts with a bang—you can’t believe you are privy to the jaw-dropping and pill-popping secrets of one of the most famous actors of our lifetime. However, the story soon succumbs to the bleak merry-go-round of relapse and rehab. Allow me to paraphrase: “I drank, I did drugs, I shit my pants, then I went to rehab….I drank, I did drugs, I screwed over this long list of beautiful women, then I went to rehab.” How many times did he go to rehab? 62 times! (So far.) And while this is kind of the point - that addiction is incurable and, as lucky as Perry is as a professional, his life has been beyond tumultuous. I am no more virtuous or worthwhile a human than Perry and I sincerely wish him good health, but his story goes from titillating to tedious in a hurry and I just stopped caring. Fortunately for him, he still has friends and family who have stuck with him through the utterly-predictable chaos.

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono. Full disclosure: I have been a massive U2 fan since I was 13 or 14 years old. My first concert was the Atlanta stop of The Unforgettable Fire tour in April 1985. That show, a semi-religious experience, remains one of the most amazing nights of my life (no, nothing weird happened). A few years ago, I met Bono at a small-ish gathering in New York City. I could barely speak. He was gracious but unimpressed. Embarrassed by my ineloquence, I got some food from the posh buffet and found an empty seat at a crowded table along the side of the room. I introduced myself to the woman seated to my right. I said, “Hi, I’m Paul.” “Nice to meet you,” she said, million-dollar smile dazzling. “I’m Beyonce.” (Yes.) So, I can talk like a normal person to the most spectacular woman on the planet, but not to a regular guy from Dublin. Maybe that’s because I didn’t have posters of B on the walls of my childhood bedroom. Anyway, I fucking love U2 and always have, so I was most eager to read Surrender. The book’s format was different than I expected it to be, but it didn’t disappoint. To make the most of my time on airplanes and on walks, I switched back and forth between the hardcover and the audio version. I don’t think I’ve ever said this before but I thought the audiobook was better because it’s actually Bono talking you through his life, interspersed with U2’s glorious music. (I told you - I’m a fanboy.) And you get to hear him do impressions of dozens of famous people, most of which are excellent (his Bill Clinton, well…). Most importantly, Bono is candid about the loss of his mother, his complicated relationship with his dad, his not-perfect but enduring marriage, and his neediness as a performer. I found it highly satisfying to learn what was going on in one of my heroes’ heads and in the lives of his bandmates while they were making music that has inspired me since I was a kid.

Honorable mention: The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond by Chris Blackwell. You might not recognize the name, but if it weren’t for Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, you and I may never have heard of U2…or Bob Marley.

BEST BOOK TO EXPLAIN YOUR WORDLE ADDICTION: The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life by A.J. Jacobs. In a typical review of a new A.J. Jacobs project, you’ll find words like “quirky,” “delightful,” and “funny.” But underlying his deep dives into a particular vein of our culture is a fundamental question about the human operating system: Why are we like this and what does it say about who we are? I would add to the appropriate list of words above, “sincere,” “thought-provoking,” and “thoroughly enjoyable.”

BEST BOOKS BY SELF-DESCRIBED “POLICY WONKS”:

The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America by Oren Cass. Not exactly beach reading, but Oren might be the most informed, thoughtful, and empathetic writer on labor and education in America. A kinder, gentler GOP could re-brand itself behind his classic conservative thinking. On the other side of the aisle, moderate, practical Democrats who want to reinvigorate the Middle Class would be wise to meditate on Oren’s analysis of our higher education system.

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It by Richard Reeves. Reeves is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings Institution, but you might say his job is to observe society and make a data-centric case for the non-obvious. While everyone else was demonizing The 1%, Reeves wrote Dream Hoarders, which explores the power and impenetrability of the upper middle class in America. In his new work, he lays out the inconvenient truth about the troubles guys are dealing with and why it’s a problem for everyone.

BEST BOOKS ABOUT BUSINESS PEOPLE BEHAVING BADLY: I went on a brief tear with stories about the business world so outlandish as to be difficult to believe. These are all great reads.

·      The Revolution that Wasn’t by Spencer Jakab is a brilliant and easy-to-understand analysis of the perfect storm behind the meme stock phenomenon of 2021.

·     Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn by Nick Kostov and Sean McLain tells the story of the amazing career and bizarre criminal downfall of Carlos Ghosn who simultaneously served as CEO of both Renault and Nissan. This story is BONKERS.

·      Too Big to Jail by Chris Blackhurst. From 2004-08, HSBC laundered $16 billion for El Chapo, one of the world’s most notorious and murderous drug dealers. The bank knew it and kept doing it…and nobody went to jail.

BEST BOOKS TO UNDERSTAND THE OPIOID CRISIS: I hate that these books exist but everyone should read them to appreciate the horrific scale of the opioid problem in America.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family by Patrick Radden Keefe. EoP is his opus investigation of the deceit and greed behind the release of Oxycontin, the drug that put tens of billions into the pockets of the Sacklers while catalyzing a pandemic of overdoses that continues to this day.

Pain Killer: A “Wonder” Drug’s Trail of Addiction and Death by Barry Meier. PRK describes Pain Killer, written two decades ago, as “the book that started it all” exposing the lies behind Oxycontin. As Barry told me when I interviewed him, he thought and wished his book would be the beginning of the end of this problem. Obviously, it was not.

What did you love / hate / toss in the trash this year? Please share in comments.