2023 Best and Worst Books List

Enjoy these books and here’s to good reading in 2024!!!

As I do every year, here is my list of the best and worst books I read in the last year. Unlike past years in which I listed ten books in the best category and five in the worst category, I only included nine books on the best list (though the Winston Churchill book includes six volumes) and two on the worst list, with one book in purgatory. I’ve provided Amazon hyperlinks to the nine best books for those interested in buying any of them. Here you go:

Worst Books

2. Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson: This book about a fantasy world is the fourth in what I think will be a six-book series in The Starlight Archive, with two sub-books focused on minor characters. Sanderson provides readers with incredible granularity about this fictional world and spins an interesting tale. I enjoyed the first three books in the series, but this one went off the rails for me. With each book averaging over 1,200 pages in small print, the risk is the author gets TOO creative. For me, that occurred when the series went from a fantasy genre book to a sci-fi genre book about midway through this book. I’m not a sci-fi guy, so just didn’t appreciate the switch. I’ll have to think long and hard about whether I will read the rest of the books.

1. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt: I realize this book is considered a conservative classic, but, as with many of those books, I found it rambled on far too long to make the basic point on where totalitarianism comes from. After about 100 pages, I got the point, yet the book went on for another 569 pages. Modern versions of this book need to be edited heavily in a Cliff Notes style format.

Purgatory

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynn: As someone who doesn’t know much about Indian history in America, I really enjoyed this book for the detailed history lesson on the Comanches. I had no idea that what they did to other Indian tribes, Mexicans, and European settlers was equal to or even worse than anything the European settlers (i.e., our ancestors) did to Indians in America. I mean, these guys were absolutely brutal and ruthless, especially to girls and women they captured. The book faltered when it spent too much time on minor aspects of the Comanches, the Texans trying to protect European settlers, and the Parker family. All-in-all it is worth reading, but expect it to lull in certain places if you read it.

Best Books

9. Saving Nine: The Fight Against the Left’s Audacious Plan to Pack the Supreme Court and Destroy American Liberty by Mike Lee: U.S. Senator Mike Lee does an excellent job in a concise manner laying out the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Left’s plan to undermine it and, ultimately, to control it. When the Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution, they defaulted to a system in which the legislature would slightly be the most powerful branch, with the power of the purse serving as the last and final check on the Executive Branch in our system of checks and balances. As Alexander Hamilton famously wrote in The Federalist Papers, the Founding Fathers deemed the judiciary to be the “least dangerous branch.” When President Franklin Roosevelt threatened to pack the Supreme Court, he unleashed the modern era of the Supreme Court in which it has become the most powerful branch where five lawyers can determine for 330+ million Americans what the law is. If those five lawyers aren’t constrained by what is actually written in the Constitution, as liberal-progressive members don’t believe they are, partisans can get what they couldn’t get via the democratic bicameral process. This reality is why both sides now spend so much time over who controls the Supreme Court.

8. Pompeii by Robert Harris: Robert Harris is known for his book, Fatherland, about what would have happened in the world had Adolph Hitler and the Nazis won World War II. This book about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Pompeii in 79 A.D. follows the main character starting a few days before the catastrophic eruption. Having visited Pompeii on two occasions over the last sixteen years during which I learned a great deal about the city and its archeological excavation, I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel that captured the life of the Romans living in the area. It is a quick page-turner for those who like books that move along. 

7. Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell: Sean Parnell became famous (or infamous) for his political runs for office in Pennsylvania that were overshadowed by personal troubles. This book covers Parnell during his tour in Afghanistan as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. One cannot read this book and not recognize how heroic Parnell and his fellow soldiers were during their time fighting for our country after the 9/11 terrorist attack. One also cannot recognize that Parnell’s post-military life has been deeply impacted by what he did, saw, and suffered from due to his fighting in Afghanistan. Definitely worth a read if you want to understand what we ask our military men and women to do for us when we fight wars. 

6. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell: Having never read a Malcolm Gladwell book, but being familiar with his popularity, I eagerly jumped into this book. I wasn’t disappointed. Gladwell uses well-known cases in which people were deceived by someone, with catastrophic results. The thrust of the book is to warn us from going with our gut when it comes to trusting people given how often history has shown us that our guts can be wrong. From UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s read on Adolph Hitler to the CIA missing spies right under its nose, the book does an excellent job walking through how human nature can trick us to believe someone and, in some cases, disbelieve our own eyes and ears to our own detriment. You’ll be entertained and wowed by the various stories in this book.

5. The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel: For those who know me, Morgan Housel’s entertaining and educational book fits perfectly within the canon developed in the book, The Millionaire Next Door (also a must read). Housel uses real stories to talk about how money impacts and drives us psychologically for good or ill. I liked how the book contains important lessons on what to do and what not to do if you want to live a financially sound and smart life. In our Age of Instant Gratification, this book hopefully will convince people to focus less on the trappings of illusory wealth created by where we live, what we drive, and what we wear versus actual wealth. As I often tell my kids, the data unequivocally shows that the vast majority of people we see living in big house, driving luxury cars, and dressing in labels may have high annual net income, but likely have low actual net worth as they spend every dollar they make and then some via credit debt. This book helps people to understand the difference. 

4. The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I by Douglas Brunt: I initially had Douglas Brunt’s riveting true story about Rudolf Diesel as my top book of the year, but moved it down a few spots as I wrote this piece due to one glaring omission that I can’t describe lest I ruin the book for you. Nonetheless, it is a must-read book. I liked the book because it does an excellent job tying together Diesel’s life story along with both geopolitics and the rise of our modern world on the brink of the Great War to End All Wars. In case you didn’t realize it, Diesel fundamentally changed our world with his revolutionary engine that now powers every plane, every train, every industrial plant, and hundred of millions of automobiles around the world. The story of his life and death is an excellent one, which I expect will be made into a movie in the coming years.

3. Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara: You can read my detailed review of Siddharth Kara’s amazing book here. 

2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel: For an obscure book about a real-life crime in Europe I had never heard of, Michael Finkel’s book fascinated me. It tells the story of two young lovers who successfully steal over a billion dollars worth of art from museums all over Europe. The interesting part is they didn’t steal the art for money, but simply because the man obsessed over the pieces so “had to have” them. The couple lived in the attic of his mom’s house where they displayed the stolen art without her apparent knowledge. As with all criminals, they finally got caught when his greed got the best of him. I highly recommend this book for those people who love a good story. 

1. The Second World War (6 Volumes) by Winston Churchill: At 3,319 pages (excluding the various appendices), though likely too long for most of the people reading this review, I simply cannot recommend it more to those of you who love history and, like me, believe we can learn much from studying history. Using official government records, including those from America and Germany, Churchill walks readers through World War II from the pre-war days of Neville Chamberlain’s “peace on our time” to the post-war collapse of both Germany and Japan. As is usually the case, just when I think I know the details of history, I learn yet again how much remains to be learned that I haven’t yet acquired. For example, Churchill details the history of his dealings with Josef Stalin to show that the post-war closing of the Iron Curtain that led to the Cold War can partially be laid at the feet of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt who failed to see Stalin for what he was and, in combination with his failing health, didn’t take the chance presented to push the Russian forces back, as both Churchill and General George Patton argued for in vain. We see this same story playing out today with President Joe Biden’s failure to “see” Chinese President Xi Jinping for who he is and how Biden's declining health due to his age is harming U.S. foreign (and domestic) policy. For those willing to take on these books, I suggest you do what I did and commit to read one volume every other month so the project is digestible. You won’t regret it, I promise.

For my annual lists for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, you can get them here. Enjoy these books and here’s to good reading in 2024!!!

P.S. In follow up to my piece on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s absurd veto of the legislation to protect kids in Ohio from the transradical agenda, I wanted to comment on Sara Higdon’s piece, “Mike DeWine took $40,300 from Ohio hospitals that perform child sex changes before vetoing bill to protect kids from the practice.” The piece, I believe, falsely creates the impression that DeWine acted for money rather than because he simply is a moderate who has always undermined the conservative movemment. For me, the latter claim is far more damning than the former claim, which is why I believe Higdon’s piece let’s DeWine off-the-hook too easily for being a typical sleazy politician chasing campaign funds. DeWine is reportedly worth over $100 million, so $40,300 is a rounding error nothing burger to him. Higdon’s piece also let’s Ohio voters off too easily for repeatedly voting for the guy despite him telling us many times over his career that he is a squishy moderate. At some point, Ohio Republicans must reckon with the fact that electing Republicans just because they are labeled as such is simply dumb.