Some book recommendations based on favourite 2022 reading

Right on the borderline between fiction and non-fiction, Benjamin Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World was the best book I read. I have no idea what being a scientific genius is like, but this conveys a sense of what it *might* be like

I loved
@scmallaby
’s The Power Law. Even if you think you know a lot about VC, there’s so much in here.

I read William Bonvillian et al’s The DARPA Model in preparation for my role as ARIA Chair. It’s a fascinating study and demonstrates what a small corner of the space of possible research funders we’ve really explored…

I read Richard Evans’ The Coming of the Third Reich and Volker Ullrich’s Hitler back to back and found both completely compelling. One obvious takeaway: how hard it is to protect a system that elites have no interest defending

I've tried to read Ulysses 3 times and swore it was complete rubbish. And then 4th time around in 2022, I finally finished it… and loved it. I think it needs a solid week of holiday commitment to get properly into it, but it's worth it

I read a *lot* of detective fiction this year, largely thanks to
@HenryEOliver
’s excellent recommendations; https://commonreader.substack.com/p/six-underrated-detective-novels… I’d endorse his entire list, but I particularly enjoyed The Poisoned Chocolates Case