Best Books of 2023

Having finished book number 405 for the year, I have picked these 20 as the ones that stood out to me. As always, I do not claim these books are better than the others, only that they meant more to me the moment I read them, And left more of an impression on me.

My list is in the order I finished them, not significance.

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions by Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is a wonder in her own right. She is not just an advocate for people with autism, she is a shining example of just how helpful neurodiversity can be.

Be More Pirate: Or How to Take on the World and Win by Sam Conniff Allende

As creative an approach to modern leadership principles as I have read. Allende sources pirates, of all people, as inspiration for modern collectivism. That attempt alone made it worth reading.

How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future by Maria A. Ressa

I am always moved by the contours and inner logic of a lifelong commitment to stand up and speak up for those who are forgotten. Ressa is the real deal and her Filipino perspective adds fresh insight to the work of liberation.

Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health by Thomas Insel

Of all the books I’ve read addressing one or another aspect of our current mental health crisis, none has offered such a comprehensive, informed, and actionable analysis. Dr. Insel is clearly trying to do what thoughtful people do, understand the whole picture, and offer us a measured and honest way forward. A wonderful guide.

It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs by Mary Louise Kelly

Probably because I am on my last child at home, I felt the tender honesty of this book a bit more. The empty nest is bittersweet and almost always sneaks up on us.

Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents — and What They Mean for America’s Future by Jean M. Twenge

I am a big fan of Twenge, her research and the contribution she has made to the conversation around generational differences is massive. And I think this was her best book yet.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

It has been many years since I read Evicted, Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work following 8 families in their struggle with poverty and housing. But I do remember the visceral nature of the story, and thinking, “Everyone should read this.” And this is the same conclusion I came to after reading his latest work. His work is not for the faint of heart, but it is for the honest and the brave.

Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most by Adam Alter

I am not a social psychologist, but I do love social psychology in general and the growing field of positive psychology in particular. I especially like these kinds of compendiums, compiling the best and most useful research, and presenting it to us in a way that helps us see ourselves in new ways.

The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters by Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray

A wonderful exploration of what is essentially the theory of other minds. I loved it.

The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by Brian Christian

Books exploring AI are coming thick and fast now as this nascent field evolves in real time. I have read several, but few have tackled the real philosophical concern of aligning human values with AI potential. This was a fascinating (and somewhat worrying) read. (Honorable mention here for The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma, a very good companion read).

Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh by Kirsten Grind and Katherine Sayre

Americans love our hero stories. We cannot stop lionizing our titans of industry and rarely look more closely (and honestly) at the cost, massive and rapid success can have on founders. The story of Tony Hsieh is not an isolated tragedy, it is a very real outcome for the lives we mindlessly covet. I was moved by and deeply appreciate the telling of his cautionary tale.

How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key

A harrowing, painful, raw, and brave expose of infidelity and holding a marriage together.

The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes by David Robson

A refreshingly original and poignant argument for why some of the smartest people are capable of some of our worst thinking and how being smart can indemnify us against seeing our own errors. An excellent book making such an important point for our time.

The Need to Be Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice by Wendell Berry

The centering voice and thought process of Wendell Berry is like a hearth in a winter storm.

The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy C. Edmondson

Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety (and this argument for the role of failure in growth and learning) is incredible. Top 5 for me this year.

High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley

Probably my second favorite book of the year, and maybe the first I would recommend. I will leave it there. If you like my lists and choose only one from this year, make this the one.

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer

An extraordinary, raw, even painful struggle with the undeniable artistic gifts given to us by morally compromised men. In a time of categorical mercy or judgment, Dederer fights for some way not to reconcile them, but to hold both truths together. The book was as honest and vulnerable as anything I have read dealing with any tension.

The Magic Kingdom: A Novel by Russell Banks

A fiction loosely based on a true story rooted in old Florida’s history, I was transported by both the story and the setting. Partly because of how the tale was told but also because of my own roots from the same time and place, I found myself enchanted by the story of tragic love and the kind of people that came to settle Florida.

Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom

I am still not sure I would agree with the thesis here, but I am a big fan of contrary theory, especially in relation to the ideas we find sacrosanct, or unimpeachable. And while some of this exploration is a matter of semantics, enough of it isn’t to warrant an honest reading. I love books that stretch me in this way. (I felt the same way about Edwin Friedman’s take on empathy, it might not be categorically true but it was experientially true.) Works like this are often a correction to an over-correction.

Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil

My final entry really stands alone. Partly because Weil’s writing was never intended to be published as a book, and partly because the content is just different from the rest. Published after her death, this collection of journal entries, filled with proverbs, axioms, and theological musings, is striking in its depth. While lacking a single thesis, her work as a whole turns out to be some of the richest theological thought I have encountered. It took me 12 months to read this book. I finished 400 others before I could get through this one. The simple reason being, I could not make it 2 pages without being stopped in my tracks by one of her many breathtakingly insightful aphorisms. I rarely stop to make notes in a book, but this one now has 50 dog-eared pages and 100 underlines. The whole experience was only compounded by the periodic realization that she lived to be just 34 years old and died in relative obscurity. You probably need a certain disposition (and position in life for that matter) to appreciate this sort of thing, but for sure, her work found me at just the right time. By far my favorite of the year.