# My Favorite Books of 2019


I read some great books this year. I didn't set out in 2019 to read
1-book-a-week, but well here we are. 😄 I've been reading to "wind down" in the
evenings which, unsurprisingly, led to me finishing a lot more books.

As I did [last year](/blog/2018/12/28/My-Favorite-Books-of-2018/), I compiled a
list of my favorites. I tried to curate this list to contain books that are of
general interest and haven't been over-discussed. If you're looking to add to
your 2020 reading list, I'd highly recommend any of the following:

## Non-Fiction

![](https://benjamincongdon.me/blog/2019/12/26/My-Favorite-Books-of-2019/nonfiction.png)

1. [The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41552709-the-uninhabitable-earth)
   (David Wallace-Wells)

   This was the most arresting book I've read in the past 3 years. _The
   Uninhabitable Earth_ is about what climate change is on track to do to our
   planet. It's an unrelenting, brutal presentation of the current state of
   climate research. It is not a book with a hopeful ending, nor is it alarmist.
   One of the saddest takeaways of this book is that climate change will
   probably not result in an Earth that is literally uninhabitable, but rather
   one that is unrecognizable to people currently alive.

   _The Uninhabitable Earth_ made me more acutely aware of the range of outcomes
   climate change will produce (from horrific to catastrophic) based on the
   efficacy of our response. I also was left reflecting upon the inequity of the
   effects of climate change.

   If there's one book from this list you should read, it's this one.

2. [Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6178648-nothing-to-envy)
   (Barbara Demick)

   _Nothing to Envy_ is a great piece of historical narrative. It recounts
   stories of those who lived under the North Korean communist regime through
   the late 1980s through the early 2000s. This book fleshed out the "boogeyman"
   image that the DPRK has in our media, and does it in a way that humanizes the
   real impact of its totalitarian government.

   The real standout section to me was about the mid-1990's
   [North Korean famine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine)
   which, until reading this, I was only vaguely aware of. I loved the way that
   this book focused on distinct individuals and how their lives' courses were
   altered by the political backdrop of the DPRK.

   This is, understandably, not an upbeat book. However, I found it to be a
   worthwhile read.

3) [Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40063024-dreyer-s-english)
   (Benjamin Dreyer)

   Who'd think that an English usage manual could be entertaining? I've never
   considered myself a grammar nerd – I like my English usage to be precise, but
   not naggingly so. However, I was totally taken in by this book.

   It's an eminently practical look at the English language. Since English is my
   native language, there's a lot of grammar and syntax that I learned
   intuitively. This book illuminates some of the weird glitches in the language
   that are often taken for granted.

   As one would hope, this is also a very well written book. Its voice and wit
   reminded me of David Foster Wallace's essays. Dreyer manages to spend an
   entire chapter on _punctuation usage_, and still make it entertaining and
   practical. Solid recommend.

## Fiction

![](https://benjamincongdon.me/blog/2019/12/26/My-Favorite-Books-of-2019/fiction.png)

1. [Radicalized](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41447687-radicalized) (Cory
   Doctorow)

   _Radicalized_ is a collection of short stories, all of which could easily be
   reworked as [Black Mirror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror)
   episodes (in a good way).

   Set in the near future, _Radicalized_'s stories discuss the societal impacts
   of DRM, the crumbling of trust due to wealth stratification, and the ability
   of internet communities to radicalize otherwise "well-adjusted" individuals.
   Somehow, Doctorow pulls this off without sounding like a complete pessimist.

   My favorite story, by far, was "Unauthorized Bread", which explores a near
   future in which appliances are locked down to such an extent that, for
   example, toasters only work with bread made by certain manufacturers. What
   happens when the companies making these appliances fall into bankruptcy and
   shut down their DRM servers? This story alone is worth picking up this
   collection.

2. [Red Mars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77507.Red_Mars) (Kim Stanley
   Robinson)

   I'm far from the first person to recommend this book, but here it goes: _Red
   Mars_ is great science fiction. It follows a crew of people working to
   colonize and, eventually, terraform Mars.

   The political intrigue in this book combined with the sheer scale of the
   narrative made it worth the large page count. I'd enthusiastically put _Red
   Mars_ on equal footing with _Seveneves_ -- one of my favorite sci-fi novels.
   I look forward to eventually reading the other two books in the
   [_Mars trilogy_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy). Though they're
   all quite long books, so it'll take a while. 😀

3) [A Gentleman in Moscow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45695810-a-gentleman-in-moscow)
   (Amor Towles)

   I was thoroughly entertained by _A Gentleman in Moscow_. It's a small story,
   set in a hotel in Moscow, that takes place over several decades of Russia's
   turbulent 20th century.

   Though its plot is entirely confined to within a single building, it tells a
   quite charming tale featuring a great cast of characters. I appreciated the
   author's reflections on friendship, tradition, and (if you'll excuse the
   cliche) "what makes life worth living".

   This is one of those novels that has an impact that supersedes its plot. It
   was steeped in nostalgia, polite humor, and nails its ending.

## Honorable Mentions

![](https://benjamincongdon.me/blog/2019/12/26/My-Favorite-Books-of-2019/honorable_mentions.png)

- [Designing Data-Intensive Applications](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23463279-designing-data-intensive-applications)
  (Martin Kleppmann)

  This was my favorite technical book that I read this year. Unfortunately, I
  didn't read a ton of technical books, but... hopefully more next year.
  Kleppmann does a great job summarizing the field of distributed computing,
  especially as it pertains to designing systems that process large amounts of
  data.

  As an aside, I was charmed by the chapter art. Each featured a maritime-styled
  image that captured the contents of each section.

  ![Chapter 3: Storage and Retrieval](https://benjamincongdon.me/blog/2019/12/26/My-Favorite-Books-of-2019/ch03-map-ebook.png)

  There's something for everyone in this book: how to describe data with data
  models, using SQL to query data, detailed descriptions of the internals of
  various data storage and retrieval systems, design considerations for online
  and offline applications, distributed systems theory, and a survey of extant
  and extinct data systems. Each chapter left me wanting to implement or dive
  deeper into what was being discussed.

  There was also a surprisingly cogent, if unexpected, discussion about the
  ethics of data collection and processing at the end of the book which was
  right up my alley.

- [On the Clock](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42779084-on-the-clock)
  (Emily Guendelsberger)

  _On the Clock_ is an account of a journalist working in 3 "future of work" low
  wage jobs: an Amazon warehouse, a call center, and a McDonalds.

  A few poignant snippets:

  > When was the last time you asked permission to go to the bathroom? Would you
  > panic over running two minutes late? Is it normal to be constantly monitored
  > at work, to have everything you do timed by the second?

  > Depression and anxiety are perfectly normal reactions to the insanely
  > stressful world we’ve built for ourselves. Suppressing our humanity is
  > exhausting. It’s driving us crazy. It’s ruining our experience of life. It’s
  > making us sick and terrified and cruel and hopeless. And it’s killing us.

  The book provides a quite intimate tableau of 3 "new sector" jobs and
  discusses how these types of jobs are "cyborg jobs": all but automated.
  Working in conditions where each second of your day is planned, your schedule
  is unpredictable, and you're placed in an intentionally understaffed
  environment because a scheduling algorithm has deemed that most efficient
  sounds, frankly, hellish.

  This book made me reflect on work. A job should be more than a paycheck; the
  jobs presented were all somehow dehumanizing in a way that leaves the reader
  feeling pretty crappy about supporting companies that follow these business
  practices. An informative if rather disturbing read.

- [Debt: The First 5,000 Years](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt)
  (David Graeber)

  I'm still processing this book. It's one of those books that gives you a lot
  of food for thought. _Debt_ is not just about debt -- it's about societies and
  how humans form relationships as groups grow in size.

  This is really an anthropological text. While I did enjoy learning about
  debt's history, I found its refutation of the common Adam Smith myth of the
  invention of currency to be fascinating. (i.e. "Before there were coins there
  was only bartering, then we _invented_ currency and capitalism became
  inevitable") This was a surprisingly political book, and made me think a lot
  more about slavery, capitalism's impact on history, and how economics is much
  more than what I conceived of as "modern economics".

---

So, there were more than a few downers in my list this year. I hope that can be
balanced by the hopeful futurism of _Red Mars_ and the charming, nostalgic tone
of _A Gentleman in Moscow_.

Here's to more good reads in the coming year (and decade, for that matter)!

---

_Book covers from [GoodReads](https://www.goodreads.com)._