EDITOR’S NOTE: Tis the season of “tops of 2023” lists – so here we go … book reviewer Jim Heffernan gives us his Top 20 books.
By Jim Heffernan
Another year, another list of books. I question what fuels my urge to always look for another book. I also wonder if I’m missing something by focusing on non-fiction.
My mania accelerated after the 2020 election. I was bewildered that so many Americans saw things diametrically opposite of how I did. I think it boils down to a mixture of escapism and a hope to find the wisdom that might bring us together so that we might forge a constructive way forward.
Anyway, here’s my favorite 20 books, some new, some new to me. Books with an asterisk (*) have been reviewed in the Pioneer. As always, discussion is welcome at codger817@gmail.com
1. A Gentle Answer: Our ‘Secret Weapon’ in an Age of Us Against Them*
By Scott Sauls Published June 2020 Written by Presbyterian minister and affected my very much.
2. Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis*
By Jimmy Carter Published Sept 2006 Way too many of us missed this book written nearly two decades ago.
3. The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves*
By Alexandra Hudson Published October 2023 Delightful romp of storytelling with a healthy helping of classic thinking.
4. Mansfield and Dirksen: Bipartisan Giants of the Senate* By Marc C. Johnson Published Aug 2023 Great slice-of-time history of 1960’s, a magic time when Republicans and Democrats worked together in the Senate.
5. Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt By Arthur C. Brooks Published March 2019 Author is long-time president of American Enterprise Institute and a true conservative who dispenses an even-handed prescription for curing our “culture of contempt.”
6. The Ruby Rule: How More Listening and Less Labeling Brings More Healing and Less Hating* By Arthur F. Coombs III Published August 2022 Superb advice on communicating with others from noted motivational speaker.
7. Talking Across the Divide: How to Communicate with People You Disagree with and Maybe Even Change the World* By Justin Lee Published August 2018 LBGQT Christian activist brings unique perspective to problems with talking to others.
8. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants* By Robin Wall Kimmerer Published October 2020 129 weeks on NYT best-seller list because of beautiful writing and philosophy.
9. The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy* By Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter Published June 2020 Penetrating analysis of how our politics has devolved into an industry that benefits our two party system and not the citizens of America.
10. Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War*
By Joe Bageant Published June 2008 Long time journalist paints picture of rural working class.
11. The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens*
By Richard Haass Published January 2023 Short book with very good advice from long-time Republican.
12. A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream* By Yuval Levin Published January 2020 Another voice from American Enterprise Institute with a sharp insight into how institutions have shifted from formative to performative.
13. Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet
By George Monbiot Published Aug 2022 British journalist with well-written tale that weaves soil ecology and a ,perhaps, radical solution for feeding the world.
14. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization
Neil deGrasse Tyson Published September 2022 A warm and eloquent application of science to the problems of out civilization.
15. Locked in the Cabinet
By Robert B. Reich Published February 1998 Former labor secretary and fellow Rhode Scholar with Bill Clinton details his time in first term.
16. The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How To Restore Its Greatness
Thom Hartmann Published September 2022. Thom Hartmann traces how neoliberalism has led us to today.
17. Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
By Katharine Hayhoe Published September 2021 A Christian climate scientist explains how we should be talking about climate change so that we might solve the planet’s biggest threat.
18. The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
By Peter Zeihan Published June 2022 An account of what happens when globalization collapses because we have run out of “more”.
19. The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future
By Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway Published July 2014 Written as predictive science fiction set in the year 2393, the authors survey the likely havoc caused by climate change.
20. The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life
By Anu Partanen Published June 2016 A journalist from Finland emigrates for love and writes a wonderful account contrasting systems in Scandinavia and the US.
