Hi all, That time of the year again and once again I look forward to this list of books. 2022, was great for me as I managed to clock over 100+ books this year. Consuming 50 pages in the morning and 50 pages in the night ensured I was able to achieve this.
Without much further ado, here goes the books that I really liked this year. 1. Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller 2. Americana by Bhu Srinivasan, which gave a solid introduction to the genesis of many inventions in America fueled by capitalism and other things. 3. Circe by Madeline Miller, which gave an interesting adaptation to greek superheroes and mythological figures during the Greek Heroic Age 4. Laika by Nick Abadzis, and Hilary Sycamore - a great graphic novel about Laika, a dog that was sent by Russians to space. 5. Nripatunga by Ta Ra Su - A Kannada novel that talks about Rastrakuta king Amoghvarsha Nripatunga, who is believed to be one of the wisest rulers to have ruled Karnataka. 6. 3019 A.D by Dr. Shantala - a Kannada sci-fi that talks about many emergent plausible human behavioral alternations in the future along with Dr. K N Ganeshaiah's Mooka Dhatu (one should see sci-fi slowly flowing to other Indic languages soon). 7. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Ken Liu 8. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Matthew Walker 9. Land of Big Numbers: Stories Te-Ping Chen - nice intro stories around culture and events in China. 10. The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Regards, Bharat On Wed, Dec 14, 2022 at 5:20 AM Thaths via Silklist <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hey Folks, > > Now that Silklist is back online, it is time to revive our almost-annual > tradition of sharing our annual book recommendations. I would love to hear > your recommendations. > > Here are the best books I read in 2022: > > 1. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey: A very > meditative book. Loved it. A great pandemic read. > > 2. West with the Night by Beryl Markham: Not a new book, but a classic. > Beryl's description of growing up in Kenya and becoming a bush pilot is > beautifully written. I was lucky enough to live in Kenya much later, and had > the chance to experience some of what she describes (though with more modern > planes). > > 3. Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James: Part 2 of the 3-part trilogy. > Imagine Lord of the Rings / Game of Thrones set in Africa. > > 4. In This Corner of the World by Fumiyo Kouno: The story (in manga format) > of a young woman's coming of age in a suburb of Hiroshima during the war. > Despite being prime material for war and suffering depictions, the book was > actually quite beautiful and touching. > > 5. Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America's Founders > by Dennis C. Rasmussen: Hmmm... I wonder what was in the air that made me > want to read about the disillusioned final years of the Founding Father. > > 6. Masala Lab : The Science of Indian Cooking by Krish Ashok: Not much new > for someone like me who reads Harold McGee as bedtime reading, or steeps in > Serious Eats during the day, but he has a knack of customizing food science > to Indian cuisine (in all its complexity). > > 7. Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival by David Pilling: A book > that combines the micro (stories of a handful of people impacted by the > Tohuku Tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster) and the macro (Japan's history > in the recent past). Superbly sourced and cited. And the level of depth and > clarity that I would expect from someone working at the FT. > > 8. Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses by Pranay Lal: I loved > Pranay's first book - Indica - and went into this book (Invisible Empire) > also with high expectations. My expectations were met, and surpassed. Pranay > weaves together history and natural history to paint a biography of viruses, > and the roles they have played (and continue to play as I write this in the > midst of the COVID19 pandemic) in history. > > Thaths > -- > Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? > Carl: Nuthin'. > Homer: D'oh! > Carl: Unless you're crooked. > Homer: Woo-hoo! > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist -- Silklist mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
