2022 FAV BOOKS LIST
Hello Friends,
Like I always do annually for the past 5 years, I create a list of the best books I have read at the end of the year and this year is no exception. In this era where tech companies and mainstream media is creating sophisticated algorithms, and content, competing for our attention to continuously get us hooked to our screens, reading is such a wonderful way to detox from the digital pill.
This year however I dedicated a huge chunk of my time to reading old books all over again because I figured out with age accumulates wisdom (for some people…of course). Therefore reading a book at the age let’s say 18 hits different from reading the same book at the age of 25 or 30. It feels very unique to read some of the old books again. I would highly urge the avid readers here to take some time in the upcoming year to read some of their favourite books all over again. So much delight!
Back to our topic, this is not supposed to be a list of the greatest books of all time but rather the books I have read this year that have impacted my worldview and entertained me the most. Consider it an extensive but not exhaustive syllabus to improve yourself. The list is purposefully not grouped by subject or genre. Enjoy exploring new areas. Cheers!
Conquests and Cultures (Thomas Sowell)
Thomas Sowell, widely regarded as one of the most influential academics of this century, takes us on a journey to unravel the history and underlying realities of certain seemingly uncomfortable topics like race, slavery, economic prosperity, and sovereignty. He draws very striking yet undeniable parallels between history and the present time.
A complete and very comprehensive breakdown of why and how some nations were able to rise from primitive squalor to world domination in a short span like the British Empire while other nations like the ones in Sub-Saharan Africa are eternally stuck with abject poverty. One of the densest yet most educative books I have found this year.
Love Letter to America (Yuri Bezmenov)
There have been, I found out, numerous attempts to predict the future; many useful and insightful. However, they were mainly written by historians, sociologists, science fiction writers, and ‘futurists’ just like in the Star Wars and Star Trek series. Nonetheless, humans are very complex and dynamic beings, therefore being able to predict the futuristic behaviour of humans with some degree of accuracy is such a remarkable feat by any means of imagination.
In this book, Yuri gives a step-by-step breakdown of his theory ‘Ideological Subversion’ he first published way back in 1984. The one that precisely explains the moral and cultural degeneration of the West, especially the Anglosphere. He also sheds light on how the KGB used to have a keen interest in demoralizing the affairs of the West. It is a very short book, only 83 pages, devoid of intricate academic nuances. It totally blew me away. Short and sweet.
Beyond Order (Jordan B. Peterson)
As a sequel to his first book, 12 Rules for Life, Dr. Peterson outlines another 12 essential rules for life. Fundamentally based on psychology, neuroscience, and history, he delves deep inside the human psyche and our Beings to unearth truths about life and the Logos.
As his fundamental doctrine, ‘Life Is Suffering’, he encourages us to embrace the chaos that we struggle with every day, identifying that too much order can be a problem just as too much disorder. Moreover, I highly recommend his first two books, 12 Rules for Life and Maps of Meaning. Absolutely fascinating!
The Bastard of Istanbul (Elif Şafak)
Of course I have got something for the fiction lovers. Elif Şafak, one of the most controversial writers in Türkiye, writes a novel that weaves together the stories of two rival cultures- the Turks and Armenia- peoples who haven’t yet healed from the wound opened by the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
Şafak uses the stories of two families-the Turkish Kazancıs and the Armenian Tchakhmakchians- who have seemingly disparate lives on two different continents but are intertwined due to a past that reveals how deeply interconnected they are. Lots of insights and lessons to be taken from this brilliant piece. If you already have a keen interest in Turkish culture (probably from Diriliş Ertuğrul ) you’ll find this entertaining and easy to understand the subtle cultural texts.
Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria (Larry Diamond)
One of my favorite books this year by far. If you want to understand the political, socio-economic, and ethnic atmosphere in Nigeria, then I’d highly recommend it. The ins and outs of why Nigeria, like other African countries, is a failed state simply not because of colonization, unfortunate geography, slavery, or any other racial buzzwords but rather self-induced policies.
The writer reveals how Nigeria started on the wrong foot right from the First Republic after attaining independence. The downfall of the country resulting from ethnic barriers and failed policies resulting from freedom fighters who wanted to impose half-baked Marxist theories in the First Republic. This book is written in very clear and concise language.
‘Nothing can be understood in Nigeria until its pattern of ethnic diversity is delineated.’
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