It’s been a while since I included an “On the Bookshelf” section to my posts. Here’s a roll-up of some of the books that I’ve found interesting this year:
The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West
This one, by Alexander Karp and Nicholas Zamiska, provides insight into Karp’s views on the intersection of technology, society, and national security. It helps you understand his overall worldview and the focus of Palantir.
The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State.
This biography of Karp by Mihcael Steinberger provides an external and more critical perspective of both Karp and Palantir. Taken together, I think the two books above provide balanced coverage and give you valuable understanding of this increasingly famous man and his company.
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
At my son’s recommendation, I read this one and really liked it. If you are interested in leadership, management, business, process improvement, or IT, then this is a good book for you. It’s a fictional story about a mid-level manager thrust into an upper leadership role who’s responsible for turning the IT department, and ultimately the whole company, around. It’s an easy, fun read with lessons for just about all of us.
The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
With all the talk about the Fed and bonds and Treasury Secretary Bissent, this book was both enlightening and disheartening. Though published in 2022, I just now got around to reading it…and wish I would’ve done so earlier. If there’s a lesson to be learned (and we’re learning it now), it’s that sooner or later the bill comes due. The housing crisis, low interest rates, stimulus checks, this book covers it all, and explains why the fed made certain decisions that it did—for better or for worse.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
My wife got me this one for Christmas, and I loved it! If you like history, wine, beer, whiskey, coke, or tea, then you’ll like this book. In in absorbing way, it told the history of those six types of drinks while also explaining how their development aligned with various stages of human advancement. Like I said, if you like history and any one of the drinks listed above, you’ll really love this one.
Slough House: Dead Lions
The Hulu series, Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman, is based on this series, and the book series is just as good, if not better. The rudeness and wit of Jackson Lamb as the boss of a bunch of outcast MI5 agents is hilarious. Full disclosure, based on reviews, I actually started with book two of the series, Dead Lions, as I heard that book one wasn’t as good.
There Is No Antimemetics Division: A Novel
The premise alone was enough to make me want to read this science-fiction horror: Humanity is under assault by malevolent “antimemes”—ideas that attack your memory. The Antimemetics Division is created to hunt these antimemes—but how do you attack ideas that erase themselves from your memory as soon as you find out about them? I will say, though, while enjoyed the book, it did fall flat in places and didn’t quite deliver as I hoped it would. Nonetheless, a book worth reading.
Death of a Salesman
Written by Arthur Miller, this famous play (though you can read it as a book) tells the story of a traveling salesman who works endless hours in an attempt to provide for his family, yet falls short, as a salesman, a husband, and a father. It’s a sad tale that every young person should read as they set off into the world. Many lessons contained in the story.