Books: Best Ever
The following books are either the most important, most provocative, most unforgettable, most influential to my thinking on various topics, or most life-changing of any of the almost two thousand books I have ever read (as of August 2023). They are books that have forever shaped how I see the world, and many are the books I refer back to in conversations with others. In my view, each is an essential book that must be read.
For some of these books, I now realize that I have matured or otherwise moved to a place in conflict with the propositions put forth in the book. However, even these books undoubtedly shaped my thinking in certain, durable ways. And they certainly inspired me, through the sheer intellectual enjoyment of reading them at the time, to read voraciously in a never-ending search for further epiphanies.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024), by Haidt, Jonathan
America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything (2023), by Rufo, Christopher
The Breakdown of Higher Education: How It Happened, The Damage It Does & What Can Be Done (2020), by Ellis, John
The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense (2020), by Saad, Gad
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018), by Haidt, Jonathan & Lukianoff, G.
Arrest Proof Yourself (2014), by Dale Carson
The War Against Boys (2013), by Christina Hoff Sommers
Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed (2014), by Jason Riley
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell (2021), by Jason Riley
The Myth of Male Power: Why Men Are the Disposable Sex (1993), by Warren Farrell
Live Not By Lives (2020), by Dreher, Rod
Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet (2022), by Tupy, Marian L. & Gale L. Pooley
Is There Anything Good About Men? How Cultures Flourish By Exploiting Men (2010), by Baumeister, Roy F.
The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels (2014), by Alex Epstein
Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas -- Not Less (2022), by Alex Epstein
The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture (2018), by MacDonald, Heather
The New Color Line: How Quotas and Privilege Destroy Democracy (1995), by Roberts, Paul & Lawrence Stratton
The Seven Deadly Economic Sins (2021), by Otteson, James
Trees in Urban Design (1993), by Henry Arnold
The Limits to Power (2008), by Andrew Bacevich.
Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010), by Andrew Bacevich
The New American Militarism (2005), by Andrew Bacevich
Cities in Full (2002), by Steve Belmont
The Morality Wars (2008), by Charles Derber and Yale Magrass. My review of this book can be found here.
Stuck in Traffic (1992), by Anthony Downs
The Car and the City (1996), by Alan Durning
Ingersoll's 44 Lectures (1924), by Robert Ingersoll
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), by Thomas Kuhn
Home From Nowhere (1998), by James Howard Kunstler
Zoned Out: Regulations, Markets, Transportation (2006), by Jonathan Levine
The Skeptical Environmentalist (2001), by Bjorn Lomborg
Obedience to Authority (1974), by Stanley Milgram
On Liberty (1859), by John Stuart Mill
Cities and Automobile Dependence (1989), by Paul Newman and Jeffrey Kenworthy
Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (2008), by Peter Norton.
The Great Good Place (1991), by Ray Oldenburg
1984 (1949), by George Orwell
Green Metropolis (2009), by David Owen
The Age of Reason (1794), by Thomas Paine
Bowling Alone (2000), by Robert Putnam
The Fountainhead (1943), by Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged (1957), by Ayn Rand
Kindly Inquisitors (1993), by Jonathan Rauch
Unpopular Essays (1950), by Bertrand Russell
The High Cost of Free Parking (2005), by Donald Shoup
Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), by B.F. Skinner, B.F.
Atheism: The Case Against God (1979), by George Smith
The War of the Flea (1965), by Robert Taber
Johnny Got His Gun (1939), by Dalton Trumbo
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I urge you to email me (dom@walkablestreets.com) or leave a comment if you have a suggested addition or subtraction from this list. Or if you have any other thoughts about this list.
About
Each list in this blog contains my own personal opinions based on my personal experiences. I acknowledge that there may be a need to add or subtract from these lists (or to create a new subject list), and I welcome such suggestions. The lists are not ordered from higher to lower quality. Each list is a work in progress.