December Reading List
Hey friends,
This reading list has been a long time coming. I should have sent it out last week but I forget. So here, belatedly, are the books I read over the festive period.
Them: Adventures With Extremists - I got this book as a Christmas present and read it in a few days. It was written by the journalist Jon Ronson in 2000 but is still relevant today. Following Ronson, as he meets a range of characters who believe in conspiracy theories, it becomes clear just how mainstream these ideas have become. One of these figures is Alex Jones, who 20 years ago was an obscure figure, now he’s very much a well-known name. Ronson journeys highlight how prevalent conspiracies are and that with the advent of the internet and social media, they can spread further than ever before.
The Art of Statistics - If you want to get to grips with statistics, then this is the book to help you do that. Maths isn’t my strongest subject, and with all the graphs and statistics floating around in relation to Covid, I wanted to get a better handle on the subject. This book, by one of the top statisticians in the UK, helped me to do that and explained a lot of the various concepts in clear terms.
Psychopolitics – A fascinating look into the politics of the modern-day and how it affects us psychologically. This is only a short book, which you could read in one sitting. But it reveals a lot about our current political state and how the psychological is now ever more important in politics.
Travels In The Land of Kublai Khan - Another short book I read over a few days, is an account of the rule of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan by the Venetian explorer Marco Polo. I’m not sure who the original audience was but it feels like it was written as a sort of travelogue for the intended recipient. Polo’s account goes into great detail about the Khan’s regime and has some interesting insights into this bygone era.
Plato and A Platypus Walk Into A Bar - Another book I got for Christmas, this book was a fun read about philosophy. Namely, how we can learn about politics through jokes. I really enjoyed the book, and the jokes, while learning about a variety of different schools of philosophy I wasn’t too familiar with. If you want an easy introduction to philosophy, this book is a great place to start.
I hope you get around to reading a few of these selections. Whether you read them in the next month or year, I’m not bothered. The idea of my reading lists is to encourage you, the reader, to read more.
If more of us read, and read books outside of our comfort zone, the world would be a better place. You don’t know what you don’t know. Reading is one of the best ways to fill in those gaps in your knowledge.
If you have any comments about the books, maybe you’ve read one before. Or if you have some recommendations for me, I’m all ears. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time,
Tom