Raised my target to 24 after my first target of 12. Here it goes:
25. Heads You Win [Fiction] By Jeffrey Archer
“There are many who are suspicious of a first-class mind, while others will make a judgment based not on the words you say, but the accent in which they’re pronounced, and some will be against you the moment they hear your name”
Summary: A story about a boy and his mum fleeing communist Russia as refugees that splits into two parallel stories when they have to chose the crate in which they escape. One of the crates goes to USA and the other to England. It shoes how trajectories of life can change completely due to the smallest choices like the coin flip that decided which crate. It reminded of one of my favourite books, Kane and Abel, with the double storyline thing and also the way it took you through their paths through schools, university, and careers in business and politics and a homecoming to Russia. I related more to the London storyline as he described my University experience so well but preferred the trajectory in the NY one. I patiently anticipated how the two storylines would be merged and at the end it was a bit disappointing because to me it didn’t logically make sense but maybe I have to reread it.
Random Fact: Jeffrey Archer is probably my favourite fictional writer based on Sons of Fortune and Kane and Abel. I am a big fan of stories like that. So for me when I saw the advert for his books on the tube I immediately pre-ordered it as soon as I got 4G service.
24. The Memory Man [Fiction] By David Baldacci
“And human beings have limits. And you can say all you want about the world being unfair and people rising above the atrocities done to them, but everyone is different. Some are hard as steel, but some are fragile, and you never know which one you’re going to get”
Summary: This book is the first in a series about a man who does not forget anything, Amos Decker. He gained the ability when he took a massive hit during a game of American Football and decided to put it to use by being a cop. This books takes us through the motions when he comes home to see his wife and daughter murdered. He hits rock bottom and is barely getting by when a massive tragedy occurs at the local school and the police call on his help to crack the case. Sounds like your typical mystery book but I promise you it is not, it touches a fair amount on themes relating to masculinity, femininity and even gender fluidity without it ever being a caricature or taking away from the story. It’s not blow-your-mind-out-of-the-water amazing but it’s a definitely a page turner
Random Fact: David Baldacci is probably the author whose books I have read the most on. Probably read like 8 from memory. His books just seemed to be popular at the book shop I used to frequent in Lagos. And even when I stopped reading, I would usually still buy his books whenever I had the chance. Thought it would be a great way to end the year decided to get back into reading.
23. Prisoners Of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics [Non-Fiction] by Tim Marshall
“Europeans used ink to draw lines on maps: they were lines that did not exist in reality and created some if the most artificial borders the world has ever seen. An attempt is now being made to redraw them in blood”
Summary: The best description of the book is probably it’s title. It covers the pressing issues of geopolitics today like North Korea, Russia and Ukraine, China’s rising influence, the dominance of US and EU issues. It also looks at historical nation forming like in India and Pakistan, and countries in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa and the effect in modern times. Each chapter comes with maps I went back to multiple times which made understanding much easier as I read them. The history and future of relationships between regions and the role geography played, plays or will play were very super insightful. Only criticism is that the chapters on regions like Latin America and Africa felt like they had a less cohesive story than other chapters but that’s probably because of the diversity of topics to discuss about nations in those areas.
Random Fact: I am terrible at directions so naturally I am bad at geography or is it the other way around. Anyways heard about this book from two different people on twitter. The maps in the books were super helpful in the explanation. Really recommend for anyone into politics, maps, geography or pub quizes.
22. The Rap Year Book [Not sure] By Shea Serrano
“Important songs birth new things: new rappers, new groups, eventually new movements all together… Rap will always evolve. This stage we’re in, there’s all this singing. It’ll turn into something new and then that’ll turn into something new too. Rap’s gonna be around forever. I don’t know where it’s headed though. They probably didn’t know in 1979 what we were going to be doing in 1986”
Summary: In this book, the most important rap song of every year from 1979 to 2014 is discussed. Each chapter represents a year and a song and each follows a roughly similar format: a brief introduction to the artist then why the song was the most important (altered the course of rap in some way), a rebuttal by someone else offering a different song as the most important. Like his other book, there are loads of great images but this has some more structured images like charts, graphs and style maps that indicate how the rapper is rapping at different points in the track. It is full of funny trivia about the artist or the year and hilarious footnotes, analogies, self-deprecating jokes and personal anecdotes. While you probably won’t agree with every song he has chosen, it’s still a very interesting and fun read if you like rap
Random Fact: Was hard to choose a quote of this because the very funny ones were all about a rapper/album/track/year and the personal anecdotes were too long to be a quote here. This book was a gift from one of my boys that saw Part 1 of this post, in which I wrote about his first book Basketball and Other Things. This is the first book birthday gift I have received in like 8 years or so.
21. Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed [Non-Fiction] By Will Storr
“One of the dictums that defines our culture is that we can be anything we want to be — to win the neoliberal game we just have to dream, to put our minds to it, to want it badly enough. This message leaks out from seemingly everywhere in our environment: at the cinema, in heart warming and inspiring stories… We internalise it, incorporating it into our sense of self. But it is not true. It is in fact, the dark lie at the heart of perfectionism”
Summary: It starts of with a chapter about suicide and links it to falling short of society’s ideals. It then goes on to talk about the eras that have majorly shaped the modern self-obsessed self: Tribal days as hunter-gatherers, individual heroism/perfectionism as preached by the Ancient Greece, the strive for internal purity introduced by the rise of Christianity, the idea that positive thinking can heal all by Humanists, the big self-esteem push in America, Neoliberalism, and the digital age pushing us all towards self-sufficiency. It goes into some depth about the “leaders” and main influencers of these eras and gives real life examples to demonstrate some of his points. It seems very well researched but some fields he discusses are probably always in debate and flux. It is an interesting but sobering read. Sadly, the solutions at the end didn’t really offer much respite and it ends up leaving a feeling of hopelessness
Random Fact: This is the last of my impulsive 5 book shopping spree at Foyles in Tottenham Court Road. Also this is the second book this year that has gone to a core part of me and made me question a lot of what I think I know about life.
20. The History Of Bees [Fiction] By Maja Lunde
“ That that’s how life is? One reproduces, has offspring, one instinctivley puts their needs first, they are mouths to feed, one becomes a provider. The intellect steps aside to make way for nature. It’s not your fault and its still not too late? …That’s what you want to hear? That it’s still not too late? That your time will come?”
Summary: This is a climate-themed fiction that tells three different stories in parallel. William trying invent a new beehive to bring honor to the family (1851 England), George trying to grow his bee business while battling modern farming and get his son to take over (2007 USA) and Tao trying to find her son after he was taken away after an accident in a post-bee world (2098 China). William Each story talks about the relationship between parents and children, as well as between humans and nature with bees as the medium. It shows how parents want the best for their children though they might not know what the best is. Abandonment, sacrifice and disappointment are also a major themes throughout this book. The book succeeds in showing the the perfect example of how humans should interact with our planet: the collectiveness of the hive
Random Fact: I bought this book solely for the cover. Also not sure I’m surprised that climate themed fiction is a thing. Makes perfect sense really. All books should be like this one. It’s got a section with topics and questions for discussion (among book clubs maybe) as well as a conversation with the author.
19. Democracy and Its Crisis [Non-Fiction] by A.C. Grayling
“The elected therefore have to be representative in the full meaning of this term, not messengers or delegates merely relaying — independently of what they’ve come to know by being engaged fulltime in the business of government, whether in the governing party or an opposition party — the majority wish of those who voted for them”
Summary: Like the author, I would also suggest skipping to Part II if not interested in the history and theory of Democracy. Other than the first chapter on Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli in Part I, it was honestly such a tedious read for me. The book talks about the dilemma of democracy which is finding a representative source of authority without it collapsing into mob rule or ending up being run by an elite few. Going through the history, the right to vote, the crucial points in the history of democracy and examples of where and how it failed (with Brexit and Trump as the main examples), the author gives a lot of background for his proposed solution which involves transparency in elections and funding, media fact checking, compulsory voting and voter education, less party whipping and stronger checks and balances between government arms
Random Fact: Thought I was a big fan of history, then I read part I of this book and now I realise that’s just not true. Part 2 of the book is an educating read though
18. Stay With Me [Fiction] by Ayobami Adebayo
“I was not strong enough to love when I could lose again, so I held her loosely with little hope, sure that somehow she too would manage to slip from my grasp”
Summary: This should be a Nollywood film tbh. Stay With Me takes us through the lives of Akin and Yejide, who met in university and the struggles they faced when they got married owning to the fact they could not have any children. It is set mostly in the rough political climate of the 80s Nigeria with coups and military rule being the order of the day. It shows how family and societal pressures can drive people to extreme lengths to appease others and themselves to be a model family. It essential asks how deep your love for someone can be, whether it can endure certain burdens even with your own blood. Do you stay with them even though you have been lied to or if you are almost certain they are going to leave anyways. Love, motherhood, disappointment and betrayal are the central themes of this novel
Random Fact: My cousin got this for my dad, and tried to take it back when she visited. Gave her 3 books in exchange haha. Got to get them back, was meant to read one of them next
17. Frankenstein in Baghdad [Fiction] by Ahmed Saadawi
“Well you know life is getting hard here. What use is the house if life is hard? Fear, death, anxiety, criminals in the street, everyone watching as you walk past. Even when you’re asleep, it’s nightmares and jumping in fright all the time”
Summary: This book is a dark comedy that paints a picture of what the day to day life of those living in war torn areas, Baghdad during the US-inavsion era inparticular, are like. It also borrows from the concept on Frankenstein (which dawned on me as I read this that I don’t know the storyline to that). There is a monster made up of dead parts from bodies which are collateral in the turmoil of insecurity. It touches on themes of the supernatural/religion as well as justice, revenge, good vs evil in those areas. It also describes how the death of loved ones affect the inhabitants and the relationships between those that refuse to leave and their loved ones who have left as well as showing why people do leave eventually. I’d be remiss in saying that as great as this book was, I didn’t quite get the ending :(
Random Fact: This must be the first foreign literature book I’ve read. I should definitely do it more. Wonder if anything gets lost in translation. Amazing book nonetheless
16. Life And Work Principles [Non-Fiction] by Ray Dalio
“I learned that if you work hard and creatively, you can have just about anything you want, but not everything you want. Maturity is the ability to reject good alternatives in order to pursue even better ones”
Summary: This is both the longest book I’ve read and longest I’ve taken to read a book this year. The first part of the book talks about his incredible journey till date. The second part of the book talks about Life Principles which I think is perhaps the most important part. Work Principles, the third part, is perhaps not applicable to everyone at every point in time so I only read a bit. Summary (30-min cartoon summary) of the book is that it is important to have principles that you keep refining and improving so you handle similar situations and stop making the same mistakes. The ones he suggests are principles for having the best life possible i.e meaningful work and meaningful relationships. It is a cumulation of years of research and practice. Only qualm with Life and Work Principles is that work-life balance seems like a footnote.
Random Fact: I first learnt about Ray Dalio from a post Adam Grant (one of my favourite researchers/writers). I found the way he ran Bridgewater very peculiar but seemed like the way all organizations should be run . Adam Grant went into him in more detail in his book Originals (highly recommend). I really rate dude, he’s a titan of his field. He goes into like neuroscience, meditation, psychology and so many fields so source his principles. They seem so well thought out and with evidence to back it up. Ended up doing a lot of reflecting while reading it. Recommend to everyone
15. The Mixer: The Story Of Premier League Tactics, from Route One To False Nines [Non -Fiction] by Michael Cox
“The English top flight takes exotic ingredients from various foreign countries, and serves the most diverse, exciting and unpredictable footballing feast in the world. The Premier League is, of course, the mixer”
Summary: The book gives a history of football (since it obviously started with The Premier League). Talks about the effect of the new back pass rule in the early days and Cantona’s influence as well as other entertaining teams back then. It discusses the technical progress in Prem, influence of foreign players and coaches, Direct Coaches: Big Sam and Pulis, Pragmatic Iberians: Mourinho and Benitez, Wengerball, the ever evolving Fergie and all the great prem teams and iconic player . Formation changes like One Up Front, Makelele Role, 3 at the back , Midfield 3 are looked at in detail as well. The change in prem football is astonishing, from long balls to counters to reactive coaching to direct attacking to possesssion to pressing. Also the different mixtures of styles within it is also remarkable. All of these mixed together and you get the greatest show on earth.
Random Fact: While waiting to see on my friends, who was running on CPT, I stumbled into the Foyles bookstore at Tottenham Court Road and ended up buying like 6 books. Bought this mistaking the author for one of my faves on Football Twitter. Great book nonetheless
14. Discrimination and Disparities [Non-Fiction] by Thomas Sowell
“Beyond that, there is always the fundamental fallacy that outcomes would be equal or comparable in the absence of malign actions against the less fortunate”
Summary: The crux of this book is in the quote above. It forced me to evaluate whether outcomes of people or groups would be equal if not for “oppression”. It’s something we all take for granted as being fact in ideological discussions but Sowell comes through with hard facts that show the opposite. The thesis is that disparities come about by the fact that success requires certain prerequisites and a small difference in meeting those prerequisites can result in large differences in outcomes. The book also looks at the different costs of discrimination (of which he defines 3 types), how people if left on their own end up sorting and unsorting themselves into groups/clusters. It shows how statistics (particularly on inequality) can be used terribly wrong and also how well-intentioned policies don’t neccessary mean good outcomes. Everything here is presented with strong evidence which makes some parts hard to swallow
Random Fact: This is my first book by a conservative writer. He lays out his points very clearly with evidence and facts. My guy is a black dude as well so some parts are jarring and I won’t lie he comes across as an Uncle Tom at times but you can’t deny the man did his homework. I would recommend all my left-leaning friends to give this a read and share their thoughts. As someone that finds it hard to debate facts, this book really left me question a lot of what I thought I knew about discrimination.
13. Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography [Non-Fiction]
“If you want a summary of what it was like to be Manchester United manager, I would direct you to the last 15 minutes. Sometimes it would be quite uncanny as if the ball were being sucked into the net. Often the players would seem to know it was going to be hoovered in there. The players would know they were going to get a goal. It didn’t always happen, but the team never stopped believing it could. That’ s a great quality to have”
Summary: This book mostly covers the period since his last book. If were ever to write an autobiography, it would probably be written in this style: split into several short chapters about significant people and periods. He sheds some light on falling outs with some players, growing talent, controversies, rivalries, press and mind games. Talked about the lows (Aguerooooo, Barca finals, Dry spells) and the highs (every other season, Moscow, #20). One thing that does get glossed over is the Glazer debt situation. Talked about his wife and family, upbringing and outside interests briefly too. But as a lifelong United fan, it was great just reading about these topics which I’ve followed over the years from the boss’s mouth. And it’s funny how we are all so bad at predicting the future; some of the statements (reading it 5 years later) sound so funny in hindsight
Random Fact: Bought this when it came out 5 years ago, started reading it but Cambridge happened. Probably the oldest book in my collection, I had not read. Issue with sport biographies is that press lap up all the “juicy” stuff so not a lot of surprises in it. Finished the chapters on Wenger, Mourinho and Liverpool after we had a terrbile game (Mourinho in charge), Arsenal got dumped out Europa in his final season and Liverpool made it to the finals. Strange coincidence. Also prayers up for Fergie, he had the brain haemorrhage shortly after I finished reading this.
Edit: I added a 25th book on the 28th of December