These are a few of my favorite books that I read in 2023.
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011 by Lizzy Goodman
An oral history of the NYC Indie rock scene during the early 2000s. This is a fun read full of engaging stories that can almost make you feel like you were actually there at the first Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and LCD Soundsystem shows. Highly recommend if you have any interest in those bands or the many others covered in this book.
Chip War by Chris Miller
This is a fascinating exploration of the global battle for control over the semiconductor industry. Miller gives a nice history of the development of semiconductor technology, from the first transistor to modern EUV lithography. This memorable quote highlights just how amazing and central semiconductors have become in the modern world: "Last year, the chip industry produced more transistors than the combined quantity of all goods produced by all other companies, in all other industries, in all human history. Nothing else comes close."
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman
I stumbled on this biography of Paul Erdos in a used book shop and am very glad I picked it up. It has super engaging stories about Erdos and just enough math to understand the amazing depth and breadth of his contributions.
Dubliners by James Joyce
A classic collection of short stories describing life in early 20th century Dublin. Much easier of a read than I expected given Joyce's reputation.
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
This seems to be a somewhat contentious book, with many people I respect dismissing it as faux-profound woo nonsense. I disagree, I found the book to actually contain profound insights that, while they may not be ground-breaking in their novelty, are delivered in a beautiful, easily-digestible, and actionable way.
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
An extremely presceint critique from 1985 of how television was shaping culture for the worse. The book describes how the shift from a print-based culture to one dominated by TV has changed everything from politics to religion to education, effectively turning all public discourse into entertainment. Feels even more relevant today given the rise of social media.