Year In Review: 2022
Books I Read:
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I, Robot |
A canonical work of science fiction, I, Robot presents some of the ethical dilemmas, and corner cases of artificial intelligence. Asimov's point is that all could play out in unintended ways even if we can encode machines with simple rules like "don't harm humans." If you are interested in artificial intelligence and some of the issues that ethicists are grappling with but don't care to dive into the math and technical details, start here. It's one of the better written science fiction novels I've encountered.
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My Ántonia |
A sweet and beautiful story of Jim nostalgically reflecting on his life growing up on a farm in Nebraska where he befriended Ántonia, the eldest daughter of recent immigrants. It's a love-friendship story but not a romance. Like Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather masterfully uses geography, weather, and the land to tell her story in a way I've rarely encountered. Highly recommend.
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| Crossroads Jonathan Franzen |
A
mesmerizing novel. This is my first Franzen story and it lived up to
his reputation. He follows a Midwestern family, the Hildebrands, as they
are swept along by the social changes of the early 70s. I was
fascinated by how well Franzen weaves each of the family members'
narratives into one rich and story. There is a plot but the
real action takes place in their inner lives and interpretations of
themselves, their environments, and each other. Bravo!
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| Bread and Wine Ignazio Silone |
Long on my reading list because of its themes of freedom and faith, but when I finally got to Bread and Wine,
I found that something was off. Either the Italian translation was
lacking or maybe it just was not a well written novel. A young communist
flees Rome for the countryside and hides among the people as a Catholic
priest recovering from illness. Through his disguise, he encounters a
humanity that's much different than described by his communist ideology
while seeing through the facade of Italian fascism.
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Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention --and How to Think Deeply Again Johann Hari |
Forces in our digital, cultural, and
physical environments are causing us to lose focus
and pay attention. Our phones, the software, social media, pollution,
lack of exercise, stress, and other factors are working in the
background to rob us of the ability to do deep and creative work. Some
of Hari's explanations are speculative or at least debatable, but put
all together his book should raise concerns and bring in some public
policy discussions about how to address this.
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| Circe Madeline Miller |
Rereading Homer led me into Miller's retelling Circe's story from the Odyssey. Miller has a serious background in the Classics, so this was a joy to read. Thinking about a female goddesses' perspective in the ancient Greek world was fascinating.
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Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence Anna Lembke |
Dopamine Nation had me tied up in knots thinking about all the ways our dopamine systems get hacked. There were always sugar, illicit drugs, and alcohol and other chemical substances to create addictions or compulsive behaviors but our entire digital experience has been engineered to be addictive. With dopamine hits available anytime, anywhere, Lembke gave me great pause to rethink my relationship with my phone and digital media.
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Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad Austin Kleon |
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Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life Zena Hitz |
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| A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles |
A friend gave me A Gentleman in Moscow back in 2018. I tried to read it but the prose just felt too snappy and clever and it seemed to compensate for a lack of depth. This year, I gave it a go as bedtime reading and was thankful I didn't give the book to the library. A wonderful story of a cultured man of high virtue whose dignity is slowly stripped away while under several decades of house arrest in Soviet Moscow. It is well worth the read and especially to accompany it with Towles' appearance on EconTalk to discuss the novel.
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| How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking Sönke Ahrens |
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Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross |
Places I Visited:
