Books I loved

The best of what I read each year, newest first.

2026

Cover of Love in the Time of Cholera Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez Cover of Contrapposto Contrapposto Dave Eggers Cover of The Corrections The Corrections Jonathan Franzen Cover of The Recognitions The Recognitions William Gaddis Cover of The Secret History The Secret History Donna Tartt Cover of Behind the Beautiful Forevers Behind the Beautiful Forevers Katherine Boo Cover of Jesus and John Wayne Jesus and John Wayne Kristin Kobes Du Mez

2025

Cover of The Fraud The Fraud Zadie Smith Cover of James James Percival Everett Cover of Demon Copperhead Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver Cover of Prisoner's Dilemma Prisoner's Dilemma Richard Powers Cover of Arrival (Stories of Your Life and Others) Arrival (Stories of Your Life and Others) Ted Chiang Cover of Long Island Compromise Long Island Compromise Taffy Brodesser-Akner Cover of King of Kings King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution Scott Anderson Cover of Burning Down the House Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich and the Rise of the New Republican Party Julian E. Zelizer Cover of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop Lee Drutman Cover of The Prize The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power Daniel Yergin

2024

Cover of The Last Samurai The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt Cover of The Echo Maker The Echo Maker Richard Powers Cover of The Overstory The Overstory Richard Powers Cover of North Woods North Woods Daniel Mason Cover of When the Clock Broke When the Clock Broke John Ganz Cover of Turn the Ship Around! Turn the Ship Around! L. David Marquet Cover of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers

2023

Cover of The Three-Body Problem The Three-Body Problem Cixin Liu Cover of The Peripheral The Peripheral William Gibson Cover of Reamde Reamde Neal Stephenson Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains Mountains Beyond Mountains Tracy Kidder

2022

Cover of I Never Thought of It That Way I Never Thought of It That Way Mónica Guzmán Cover of Aurora Aurora Kim Stanley Robinson

2021

Cover of Barbarians at the Gate Barbarians at the Gate Bryan Burrough and John Helyar Cover of The Predators' Ball The Predators' Ball Connie Bruck Cover of This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends Nicole Perlroth

2020

Cover of The Anarchy The Anarchy William Dalrymple Cover of American Dreamer American Dreamer John C. Culver and John Hyde Cover of Factfulness Factfulness Hans Rosling

2019

Cover of These Truths These Truths Jill Lepore Cover of Jerusalem: The Biography Jerusalem: The Biography Simon Sebag Montefiore Cover of Goliath Goliath Matt Stoller

2018

Cover of The Politics of Jesus The Politics of Jesus John Howard Yoder Cover of The Perfect Weapon The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger

2017

Cover of Scrum Scrum Jeff Sutherland Cover of The Ideal Team Player The Ideal Team Player Patrick M. Lencioni Cover of The Cuckoo's Egg The Cuckoo's Egg Clifford Stoll Cover of Paul and the Faithfulness of God Paul and the Faithfulness of God N. T. Wright

2016

Cover of Countdown to Zero Day Countdown to Zero Day Kim Zetter