The Best Books of 2016 (That I Read This Year)
It was a good year for this bibliophile. I read more books than I have since…I can’t recall. Perhaps not ever but definitely the most for several years. As I reflect on that, and build up my Goodreads page, I want to share some of my favourite books I’ve read so far — the ones released this year. I hope it gives you gift ideas for people in your life or ideas to add to your own reading list, particularly over the holidays.
This is not a best books I read list; if it was, it would include works from 2015 and prior such as Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, George Packer’s The Unwinding, and Patti Smith’s two recent books — Just Kids and M Train. To keep this list manageable, I’ve limited it to works released this year. It’s also not a comprehensive list of the best books of the year. I’m looking forward to soon reading new books such as Robert Kanigel’s biography of Jane Jacobs, Douglas Brinkley’s work on FDR and his land conservation efforts, Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller’s adventure running a baseball team, and several others. And that doesn’t even get into fiction, including the new Michael Chabon. Ask me to list my favourite books of 2016 a year or two from now and the list will certainly have grown.
In no particular order, here are 17 books released in 2016 that I enjoyed.
(Auto)biographies:
Tye is the first biographer to have full access to RFK’s papers, and also interviewed surviving family members and contemporaries. What results is a comprehensive biography, tracing his journey from Communist-hunting Cold Warrior prosecutor on McCarthy’s Senate committee, to social justice warrior (in the best sense) during his ultimately fatal 1968 presidential campaign. It’s a window into the life of a complicated person whose beliefs changed over time, and into an era in American politics.
The founder of NIKE tells the story of his company’s founding, his own travels that shaped it, and how they went from importing Japanese running shoes to creating their own and revolutionizing an industry. Running aficionados will enjoy stories about the likes of Bob Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine. The story trails off in the 1970s and effectively ends with NIKE going public in the early ’80s. It’s not a comprehensive history of the company, but it’s a great story of how it was created and put on its path to success.
Treat this as what it is, a fun, engaging memoir about the author’s life and family. Don’t treat it as a study of the white working class Trump voter, or look to it for more than cursory policy ideas. Vance’s writing makes it worth the time, though.
Autobiographies: Sports
Bill Walton — Back from the Dead
I almost left this off the list because Walton covers all the best parts in the book on Jonah Keri’s podcast — which I listened first. That’s no fault of the book, but be forewarned if you listen before reading. Walton — basketball legend, commentator, Deadhead — has lived an interesting life. He opens up about his childhood, his relationship with John Wooden — his coach at UCLA — and his passions off the court, such as cycling and The Grateful Dead. Walton’s career was cut short due to injuries, which he’s struggled with since as well. He shares those struggles, and what he’s learned and how he’s come to embrace where he’s at in life. A terrific read by a guy who is more interesting than I imagined.
If you’re a fan of women’s soccer, or at least tune in for the World Cup or Olympics, you’re familiar with Wambach, the dominant American striker from the past 15 years. In this book, she covers not just the highs and lows of her career on the field, but her journey to discovering her sexual identity, her struggles with her family, and her marital problems that continue until the book’s publication. Written just after she retired, it’s also a window into an athlete transitioning to the next stage of her life, going through change both personally and professionally.
Like with Walton and Wambach’s books, your mileage may vary depending on how interested you are in the author’s respective sport. Shorter, a gold medalist in the 1972 Olympic marathon who is often called the father of the running boom, is of great interest to me as a long distance runner myself. Shorter talks not just about his accolades and his work on anti-doping issues later on, but about his personal life, including an abusive father, and how that shaped him and influenced his running career. An honest, sometimes uncomfortable, but also inspiring memoir.
(Auto)biographies: Music
Bruce Springsteen — Born to Run
A must read for fans of the Boss (like myself). Springsteen tells his life story in great detail, from his childhood to present. We learn about his family over the years, and his journey in the music business. Springsteen also opens up about his battles with depression, and how his upbringing and family history influenced it. He speeds through some stages of his life, but fans will enjoy the stories behind many of his famous songs and tours.
Brian Wilson and Ben Greenman — I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir
Wilson opens up about his life, everything from his childhood to his family struggles and his battles with mental illness. There is much about his career too, and fans will enjoy his insights into many of his band’s famous songs — how they were conceived, recorded, and the meaning behind them.
The authoritative history of the Replacements, one of the most influential bands from the post-punk/independent/college rock era. Mehr interviews the surviving principals of the band, along with colleagues, friends, and family members to tell the story of how the band came to be, and then came apart.
Sports
Michael Leahy — The Last Innocents
The Dodgers in the ’60s and the Dodgers in the ’70s, respectively. I wrote about them here.
Jonathan Abrams — Boys Among Men
Abrams chronicles the prep to pros generation, beginning with Kevin Garnett going straight from high school to the NBA in 1995, and ending 11 years later with changes to draft eligibility that created the “one and done” era. You learn more not just about the success stories, but why and how some preps to pros saw their careers end in failure.
Politics and History
Michael Cohen — American Maelstrom
Cohen, a journalist with the Boston Globe, tells the story of the 1968 American election. Focusing on the principal contenders for the nominations then the presidency, Cohen details the conflicts, and the different forces that were coming together to reshape American politics that year. A timely read as many of those issues continue today.
Clara Bingham — Witness to the Revolution
An oral history of a pivotal year in American culture, running from August 1969 to 1970. Bingham tells the story of those events through interviewing key people involved, and in some cases using primary sources or prior news coverage. By interviewing many people — some prominent, some not — but all of whom were there, we get a window into a volatile time in American life. Bingham’s books covers events such as the war resistance, Woodstock, My Lai, Kent State, and gives life to the voices of people who experienced them first hand, and helped shape them.
Colin Woodard — American Character
Woodard follows up his masterful work American Nations with this book, focused on the battle between individual rights and communal good that defines America. While not as original as his previous work, and derivative of it at times, it still shines a light on the fundamental conflict that continues to define American politics and public life.
Pierre Trudeau’s life, particularly in politics, has been well-covered. Litt’s topic isn’t original, but he probes further into the “Trudeaumania” fever of 1968 that landed Trudeau in the Prime Minister’s office just 3 years after his election to the Parliament of Canada. Litt puts this in the cultural context of the time, when a rising nationalism and events like Expo ’67 changed Canadians’ perception of their country, and how they wanted it to be seen. It adds up to an original look at a well-explored subject.
