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Books: August 2021

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Rachel Kushner: Mars Room

Kevin Kwan: Sex and Vanity

Eliot Higgins: We Are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People

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Books: April - July 2021

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Thomas Hardy: Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Adam Higginbottom: Midnight in Chernobyl

Ferdinand von Schirach: Strafe

Tayari Jones: An American Marriage 

Marc-Uwe Kling: Känguru-Chroniken; Ansichten eines vorlauten Beuteltiers

Marc-Uwe Kling: Das Känguru-Manifest

Marc-Uwe Kling: Die Känguru-Offenbarung 

Marc-Uwe Kling: Die Känguru-Apokryphen

Timothy Snyder: The Road to Unfreedom

Michio Kaku: The Future of Humanity; Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond

Catherine D'Ignazio , Lauren F. Klein: Data Feminism

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Books: March 2021

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Kazuo Ishiguro: Klara and the Sun

Minouche Shafik: What We Owe Each Other; A New Social Contract

What I’m reading:

Adam Higginbotham: Midnight in Chernobyl; The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace

Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

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Books: February 2021

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Mieko Kawakami: Eggs and Breasts

Hasan Nuhanović: The Last Refuge; A True Story of War, Survival and Life under Siege in Srebrenica

Jens Kersten, Claudia Neu, Berthold Vogel: Politik des Zusammenhalts; Über Demokratie und Bürokratie

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace

Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbervilles 

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood 

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

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Books: January 2021

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Nick Bostrom: Superintelligence; Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser: Populismus; Eine sehr kurze Einführung

Elinor Ostrom: Governing the Commons; The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo: Poor Economics; Plädoyer für ein neues Verständnis von Armut

What I’m reading:

Mieko Kawakami: Eggs and breasts

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

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Books: 2020

A Year in Books:

Total number of books I’ve read: 66

Type:

Fiction: 35

Non-Fiction: 31

Gender: 

Men: 40

Women: 26

Language: 

English: 50

German: 16

Format: 

Books: 29

Kindle: 19

Audiobooks: 18

Longlist:

James Bridle: New Dark Age; Technology and the End of the Future

Juli Zeh: Leere Herzen

Saša Stanišić: Herkunft

Margaret Atwood: The Penelopiad

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

Marianna Mazzucato: Wie kommt der Wert in die Welt? Von Schöpfern und Abschöpfern (’The Value of Everything’)

George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London

Elif Shafak: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Albert Camus: The Plague

Dierk Hirschel: Das Gift der Ungleichheit; Wie wir die Gesellschaft vor einem sozial und ökologisch zerstörerischen Kapitalismus schützen können

Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism; The Fight for a Human Future at the new Frontier of Power

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Rauf Ceylan & Michael Kiefer: Muslimische Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland; Eine historische und systematische Einführung

Martin Schürz: Überreichtum

Shortlist: 

Juli Zeh: Leere Herzen

George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London

New category: Truly Terrible

(2020 was a bad year. I managed to read a whole lot of utter rubbish, but these take the crown.)

Garth Greenwell: What Belongs to You

Marie Benedict: The Other Einstein

Curtis Sittenfeld: Rodham

Marc Benioff: Trailblazer; The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change

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Books: December 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Andreas Reckwitz: Die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten; Zum Strukturwandel der Moderne Eine wirklche Tour de Force. Mit akademischem Hintergrund gesehen, würde ich sagen vielleicht ein guter Überblick und nachvollziehbares Argument, aber es braucht dann eine detailliertere Auseinandersetzung.  

Rauf Ceylan & Michael Kiefer: Muslimische Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland; Eine historische und systematische Einführung Nicht super aktuell, aber interessante Einführung in das Problem/die Situation eine muslimische Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland aufzubauen, wo doch der deutsche Sozialstaat auf Drittanbieter angewiesen ist. 

Kevin Kwan: Rich People Problems

Elif Shafak: How to stay sane in an age of division It was an essay. I was underwhelmed. 

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 

Martin Schürz: Überreichtum Ich habe dieses Buch erst im Nachhinein am Ende des Monats zur Empfehlung erhoben, weil ich nach Wochen doch noch über einzelne Details nachdachte; bspw. das Problem Reichtum zu definieren. 

David Harvey: Anti-Capitalist Chronicles 

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

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Books: November 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Erin Morgenstern: The Starless Sea

Richard Osman: The Thursday Murder Club

Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism; The Fight for a Human Future at the new Frontier of Power In and of itself great book. Very convincing premise, meticulously researched. But also too long. Could have cut down in various places.

Alice Hasters: Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen aber wissen sollten 

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Andreas Reckwitz: Die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten; Zum Strukturwandel der Moderne

Rauf Ceylan & Michael Kiefer: Muslimische Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland; Eine historische und systematische Einführung

What I’ve bought:

Cas Mudde/ Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser: Populismus; Eine sehr kurze Einführung

Tom Mannewitz & Tom Thieme: Gegen das System; Linker Extremismus in Deutschland

Gerhard Henkel: Das Dorf; Landleben in Deutschland - gestern und heute

Ali Can: Mehr als eine Heimat; Wie ich Deutschsein neu definiere

Philipp Hübl: Die aufgeregte Gesellschaft; Wie Emotionen unsere Moral prägen und die Polarisierung verstärken

Emilia Smechowski: Wir Strebermigranten

Karina Becker & Klaus Dörre &Peter Reif-Spirek: Arbeiterbewegung von rechts?; Ungleichheit - Verteilungskämpfe - populistische Revolte

Andreas Reckwitz: Das Ende der Illusionen; Politik, Ökonomie und Kultur in der Spätmoderne

Martin Schürz: Überreichtum

Christoph Butterwegge: Die zerrissene Republik; Wirtschaftliche, soziale und politische Ungleichheit in Deutschland

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Books: October 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Madeleine Albright: Fascism Expected more from this book - especially when it comes to understanding (without having to read the science-focussed literature) how fascism rises. It did not cover this. At least not in great detail. It’s more of ‘yet another book’ by a well-known public figure. I’m afraid I have to become a ‘reads only academic articles’ person.

Gustav A. Horn: Gegensteuern; Für eine neue Wirtschaftspolitik gegen Rechts Ich muss leider sagen, dass sowohl Horns Buch als auch Hirschels Essays hätten sein können. Vielleicht bin ich mit meinem (professionellen) Wissen um den Sozialstaat usw. auch nicht die richtige Popscience-Audienz für die Bücher, aber Horn beschreibt ein halbes Buch lang historische Zusammenhänge (die mir nicht neu waren), um dann in der 2. Hälfte eher wenig detailliert Vorschläge für eine neue Wirtschaftspolitik zu machen. Bei Hirschel sind es 90%+ des Buchs, die beschreiben, und nur die letzten Kapitel, die Ideen vorstellen. Nichtsdestotrotz, Ideen für einen menschenfreundlicheren Kapitalismus sind immer willkommen.  

Dierk Hirschel: Das Gift der Ungleichheit; Wie wir die Gesellschaft vor einem sozial und ökologisch zerstörerischen Kapitalismus schützen können

V. E. Schwab: Vicious 

What I’m reading:

Erin Morgenstern: The Starless Sea

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism; The Fight for a Human Future at the new Frontier of Power

What I’ve bought:

Richard Osman: The Thursday Murder Club

David Harvey: Marx’ 'Kapital' lesen: Ein Begleiter für Fortgeschrittene und Einsteiger

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Books: September 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

George Orwell: The Lion and the Unicorn

Curtis Sittenfeld: Rodham This was not enjoyable. The book is called Rodham and the first half of the book is practically only about Bill Clinton. The second half, slightly less but still too much. I’d also expected (hoped?) there would be more political visioning in there rather than it being a (shite) ‘love story’. What a disappointment. Can’t believe I spent money on this. 

Orhan Pamuk: Istanbul Bit of a drag. The first Pamuk book I read was Snow which I really enjoyed but having dragged myself through more fiction (My Name is Red) and this non-fiction, I can now safely say that’ll be me and Pamuk done.  

Orhan Pamuk: My Name is Red A lot of a drag. Honestly didn’t figure out what was going on until the last sort of 4 hours of the audio book - and by then the book had been rolling for a while. Also, Pamuk one of those old men who (not surprisingly?) can’t write sex scenes. Always feeling sorry for the women in the lives of these men...

Elif Shafak: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Albert Camus: The Plague 

David Graeber: The Utopia of Rules; On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy

What I’m reading:

Madeleine Albright: Facism 

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Gustav A. Horn: Gegensteuern; Für eine neue Wirtschaftspolitik gegen Rechts

Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism; The Fight for a Human Future at the new Frontier of Power

What I bought:

Dierk Hirschel: Das Gift der Ungleichheit; Wie wir die Gesellschaft vor einem sozial und ökologisch zerstörerischen Kapitalismus schützen können

Raul Zelik: Wir Untoten des Kapitals; Über politische Monster und einen grünen Sozialismus

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Books: August 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Dirk Kaesler: Max Weber

Tom Clancy: Red Storm Rising

Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Not as good as Hitchhiker’s Guide. Won’t immediately pick up on the series. 

Jonathan Coe: Middle England Good read, and indeed I laughed but not sure Brexit can be labelled a ‘comedy’. I’m also missing an ending or more insights (edited to be good fiction) how it came to where it ended. There is some in that but I would have needed more.   

George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London I’ve previously only read Orwell’s fiction and his Cigarettes and Books essays, but this is something else entirely. Astounding read and just outrageous that what Orwell writes about 1930s Paris is still absolutely happening today. Went to the bookshop and ended up with three further non-fiction pieces. 

What I’m reading:

George Orwell: The Lion and the Unicorn

Curtis Sittenfeld: Rodham

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Orhan Pamuk: Istanbul

What I bought:

George Orwell: The Road to Wigan Pier

George Orwell: Homage to Catalonia

Elif Shafak: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Erin Morgenstern: The Starless Sea

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Books: July 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Saša Stanišić: Vor dem Fest

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Entertaining and well read by Stephen Fry as Audible audiobook. I’m going to pauses non-fiction and go fiction for a while for my sanity.

Franck Decker & Viola Neu (Hrsg.): Handbuch der deutschen Parteien

Marc Benioff: Trailblazer; The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change Awful. So much BS, unbearable. 

Anand Giridharadas: Winners Take All; The Elite Charade of Changing the World Read this on the back of having endured Benioff. Hypothesis makes sense and is argued okay but the book is too long for what it discusses. Should have been an essay.

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Dirk Kaesler: Max Weber

Tom Clancy: Red Storm Rising

Orhan Pamuk: Istanbul

What I bought:

Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism; The Fight for a Human Future at the new Frontier of Power

Max Weber: Politik als Beruf

Max Weber: Die Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus

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Books: June 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Marie Benedict: The Other Einstein Well, that was atrocious. It’s a novel, you’re better off reading non-fiction about the life of Mileva Marić Einstein who was a notable physicist in her own right. 

Angelika Limmroth: Jenny Marx; Die Biografie

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None Good bit of short-term entertainment. 

Leigh Bardugo: Ninth House

Vladimir Sorokin: Der Schneesturm

Heinz Bude: Solidarität; Die Zukunft einer großen Idee

Marianna Mazzucato: Wie kommt der Wert in die Welt? Von Schöpfern und Abschöpfern (’The Value of Everything’) Some good thinking about how to reform capitalism. In relation to the entire length of the book, quite a long intro to the history of political economy and she of course builds heavily on some of her earlier books (namely The Entrepreneurial State) but any platform to female economists, in my opinion.

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness

Karl Marx: Das Kapital (1. Buch)

Saša Stanišić: Vor dem Fest

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Books: May 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Haruki Murakami: Killing Commendatore Still into Murakami’s worlds, still hating on his perving, shitty sex scenes and flat female characters. 

J. K. Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard Enjoyed this little jaunt read by folks from the movies.

Beth O’Leary: The Flatshare Shallow.

José van Dijck, Martijn de Waal, Thomas Poell: The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World

Sam Friedman & Daniel Laurison: The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged Not sure this is fundamental research uncovering great big truths but interesting nonetheless. 

Patrick Rothfuss: The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle 1) Gave this a go on the back of two recommendations within the space of a week.

Patrick Rothfuss: The Wise Man’s Fear (Kingkiller Chronicle 2) Had nothing better to do, so followed up Book 1. More of a lining up of individual stories to be honest rather than a fully developed narrative and flat characters but ends on a massive cliff hanger, so you will indeed see me getting book 3 when it’s out...

Agatha Christie: A Murder is Announced A good hour’s worth of entertainment. I laughed out loud. 

Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis I’m hating on this book. Had to force myself to finish it. 

Garth Greenwell: What Belongs to You Really can’t remember how I ended up downloading the audiobook and sadly, I will never get these 4 hours of my life back. All about it I found atrocious. 

What I’m reading:

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Der Idiot

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

Angelika Limmroth: Jenny Marx; Die Biografie

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

What I’ll be reading next (probably):

Marie Benedict: The Other Einstein

Ken Krimstein: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth

What I bought:

Once more, a ton... 

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Books: April 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Michael Chabon:  The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

Harriet Tyce: Blood Orange

Eileen Cook: With Malice

Matt Parker: Humble Pie

What I’m reading:

Sam Friedman & Daniel Laurison: The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged

Haruki Murakami: Killing Commendatore

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

What I’m abandoning because... meh:

Alain de Botton: Essays in Love

What I bought:

Sun Tzu: Art of War: A Graphic Novel

Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis

Ken Krimstein: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth 

Cédric Villani: Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure

Arthur Schopenhauer: Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung

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Books: March 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

Saša Stanišić: Herkunft

Amor Towels: You Arrived at Your Destination

Margaret Atwood: The Penelopiad I enjoyed this one. True Atwood style. Take on the classic Greek myths from the point of view of a women. Reminded me a bit of Christa Wolf’s Cassandra. Here for it.  

Kate Elizabeth Russell: My Dark Vanessa Christ this book was terrible. I bought it on a whim based off of a review in the NYTimes and it was a mix between Lolita and Spieltrieb by German author Juli Zeh, which already came out in the 2000s, so really this wasn’t anywhere near as groundbreaking as the review made it out to be - “The debut novel of the year!” 

What I’m reading:

Michael Chabon:  The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

Haruki Murakami: Killing Commendatore

Alain de Botton: Essays in Love

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

What I’m abandoning because... meh:

Bridget Collins: The Binding

Siri Hustvedt: A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind

What I bought:

Thomas Piketty: Capital and Ideology

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Books: February 2020

Recommendations in bold

What I’ve read:

James Bridle: New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future

Mary Buffett: Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements: The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Die Leiden des jungen Werther 

Juli Zeh: Leere Herzen

What I’m reading:

Saša Stanišić: Herkunft

Haruki Murakami: Killing Commendatore 

Siri Hustvedt: A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind

Alain de Botton: Essays in Love

What I bought:

Fjodor Michailowitsch Dostojewski: Der Idiot

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations: Philosophical Contemplations of a Roman Emperor