Here are nonfiction books I enjoyed reading in 2019. Not all of these books were released this year, although most them are 2019 releases. I read many of these using Apple Books on my iPad but I’ve also gotten back to scouring thrift stores and used bookstores (where I continue to get some amazing bargains).
- A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration in the 21st Century – a heartwarming book on migration (remittances and overseas workers) through the lens of one family from the Philippines.
- Educated: A Memoir
- The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution – by Peter Hessler, one of my favorite writers, who has written several books about China.
- Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf
- A Beginner’s Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations – a new book from another of my favorite writers, Pico Iyer.
- The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. (there is another book on the same topic: Hunting LeRoux – The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire)
- Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila
- The Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet
- Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World
- Dawn of the Code War: America’s Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat
- LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media
- Tribe of Hackers: Cybersecurity Advice from the Best Hackers in the World
- Range – Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: written by my friend David Epstein, whose previous book (The Sports Gene) was the topic of our 2015 podcast conversation
- What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear
- Measure What Matters – How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr
- Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
- The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
- Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
- Kushner Inc. – Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump
Here are my 2018 book recommendations.