My Top 5 Books of 2016
After a string of political posts, I’m taking a break to write about happier things like books. Here’s my top five from 2016 and why you might enjoy them.
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
A superb portrait of Lincoln and the men of his Cabinet. Doris Kearns Goodwin excels at drawing out the people these men were — their strengths, weaknesses and insecurities — and showing how those traits directed their public lives.
Read if: You’re looking for an example of real political leadership
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (Erik Larson)
A fascinating portrayal of the sinking of the Lusitania. It’s non-fiction written so well it reads like a novel. I read the rest of Larson’s books last year, and they could all have made this list (Devil in the White City; In the Garden of Beasts).
Read if: You’re fascinated by history and looking for a page-turner.
Dubliners (James Joyce)
This was an odd selection for me. As a collection of short stories, it’s difficult to evaluate this book as one work, but the standout stories (for me: Eveline, A Little Cloud, Grace, and The Dead) were so good that I couldn’t leave it off the list. Joyce’s writing is timeless and he captures human conflict and feeling like few others can.
Read if: You want to step into the lives of others for a brief moment; or, if you’ve never read Joyce.
America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System (Steven Brill)
A thoughtful dive into the politics of health care. Brill walks the reader through the process through which the Affordable Care Act became law and casts light on the uglier sides of government like powerful industry lobbies, wasteful procurement, and disastrous implementation.
Read if: You want to better understand the backstory of the ACA. (Which is more timely than ever)
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life (William Deresiewicz)
Deresiewicz makes a compelling, if challenging, argument that our system of higher education is failing its students by rewarding achievement for its own sake at the expense of critical thought and deep learning. His examples tend to be students who succeeded by all accounts, often following the A+ student path from a great high school through an Ivy League school into an investment bank, only to find themselves lost and purposeless in their late twenties. His solution: a return to a rigorous, classical liberal arts education that grapples with life’s big questions and teaches students not how to get a job but how to think.
Read if: You enjoy thinking about what a higher education is for.
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