Favorite Books of 2019
Leonardo Da Vinci — Walter Isaacson
There are certain larger-than-life names in western culture that we all recognize but we don’t really know why they were so revolutionary. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of these kinds of characters for me. He was an artist and he painted the Mono Lisa. Okay…by why is he considered a genius and why is that painting of his the painting people think about when they think about capital A art? Isaacson illuminates some of that genius for us. In a sentence, Da Vinci had an unquenchable curiosity and the matching observational skills to record every relevant detail. These observations allowed him to better understand things like how light reflected off of different surfaces and how water moved in circles. He applied these observations to his artistic work, and consequently, revolutionized how art was made.
Captain Class — Sam Walker
This was one of the first books I read in 2019, and like a lot of the books this year, it was at the recommendation of Ryan Holiday’s monthly book recommendations. Walker set out to determine what characteristics were consistent in all top performing teams. He systematically researched every sports franchise that had long-standing success and eliminated every variable that wasn’t universal across all organizations and ended up with one residual characteristic — a common type of captain. Interestingly though, this successful captain template wasn’t the charismatic, front-and-center captain of the movies. Rather he/she was often the quiet, surly, tough-as-nails, teammate away from the limelight — an encouraging conclusion for someone like me.
Means of Ascent / Working — Robert Caro
I’m grouping these two books together because, at this point, I don’t know where my fascination with Robert Caro’s subject matter and Robert Caro, the man, starts and ends. Means of Ascent is Caro’s second volume in The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Like the first volume, it’s staggering. Is it a little silly to read a five volume biography of Lyndon Johnson when the fifth volume still hasn’t been written and each volume is 600 pages? Yeah probably. Does it come of as a little pretentious and do I find myself wondering if a part of me wants to read them because it makes me feel like an intellectual? Sure. But at the end of the day, I don’t care. When I read these biographies I feel like I’m getting a first row seat to the history of the 20th century in political America. A lot of biographies feel like a reorganization of already-known facts and events. The Years of Lyndon Johnson is investigative journalism in (really) long form. Working, published this year, gives a glimpse into how he is able to accomplish these books and only makes me appreciate the biographies themselves more. Where to even start with Caro? This man has devoted 50 years to studying TWO men! He writes his 600 pages books in long hand, and then on a TYPEWRITER, before sending to his publisher. I think he might be my…hero? In a world where my fellow Purple line riders and I don’t have the attention span to watch a long Instagram Story through to the end, its comforting to know that Robert Caro is in the New York City Public Library peacefully plodding his way through meeting minutes from 1968.
Comedy, Sex, God — Pete Holmes
I discovered Pete Holmes’ podcast, You Made it Weird during my first couple years in Chicago after graduating from college and he’s always held a special place in my content-obsessed heart. Pete’s podcast was a form of therapy for a socially-anxious kid like me (probably like many of the other listeners) that hit me right in the gut by doing exactly what the title implies — talking about those uncomfortable topics that, ultimately, made me feel less weird. I fell off of listening to the podcast (he can be a bit much…) but always kept tabs on him. Apparently, a book was exactly the form that I needed Pete in in 2019. When I was listening to Pete’s podcast around 2014 and 2015 I was finding my confidence in a new stage of life and Pete’s willingness to expose his vulnerabilities was empowering. As I found myself no longer in the fly-by-seat-of-my-pants after college years, I began looking to create some type of spiritual identity (connection?) — all of which was extremely uncomfortable, foreign, and self-criticism-inducing for me. Pete’s book tells the story of his spiritual path while being funny and approaching. If you find yourself looking for an unpretentious story of a seeker trying to make sense of the world, Comedy, Sex, God may be worth picking up.
Digital Minimalism — Cal Newport
Digital Minimalism was going to just be an honorable mention for this list but I think it deserves a spot at the head table. At first glance, the topic of this book seems like it could be covered in a pamphlet rather than an entire book — digital content companies are profiting off of our attention through our devices and our inability to concentrate on anything is lowering our quality of life. But Newport takes the argument a step further by extolling the virtues of undisturbed attention and solitude. It’s not preaching becoming a hermit though. Rather its arguing we need to get out of attention no-man’s-land. If you’re working on something, work on that and stop looking at your phone. If you’re watching YouTube videos, set out a time to do just that and actually focus on that. When you’re spending time with your wife and kids, leave the phone in your office.
Reflecting back on reading this book a couple months later, I still find Newport inspiring. I’ve taken actions to use my phone less and to make it less interesting to look at, but its still hard to cut the habit. I find myself going in cycles. A week of very limited use followed by a binge week of Instagram and YouTube. In response to these phases I’ve found that some of the most simple strategies are most effective:
Leave the phone at home sometimes. It’s one thing to take all the apps off of your phone but its another to just not even have it on you to worry about. Going for a run without my phone is strangely gratifying. Take social media off of the phone. This is the obvious time-suck and there’s really no redeeming quality to it. At least with email, you can make the excuse that it is serving some productive purpose for you. Social media — not so much.
Overall, it was a great year of reading for me. I read a lot of amazing books about incredible historical figures. Looking back on the year, its apparent that I’ve been drawn to biographies of successful people. I’ve always been good about tailoring the cultural and intellectual inputs that I take in, but my goal in this next year is to focus on outputs. It feels good to be conscientious of what content I’m taking in but its not the same as creating something of my own.