Books of the Year (Part II)

Books of the Year 25-17

25. Dead Presidents, Brady Carlson. How they died, why it matters, and the manner we honor them, from Lincoln’s god-like esteem to the forgotten ones like Chet Arthur. 

24. Seinfeldia: How A Show About Nothing Changed Everything, Jennifer Armstrong. Another book I was fully prepared to love and only liked. My full review

23. Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, Steven Hyden. A book made up of the arguments you used to have in your dorm room (or at the bar) about whether DLR Van Halen was better than Van Hagar, Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam, etc. My full review

22. Going Red: The Two Million Voters Who Will Elect the Next President & How Conservatives Can Win Them, Ed Morrissey. Right wing writer identifies eight counties that will tilt the election (turns out he was mostly right). Who knew. 

21. Ike’s Bluff, Evan Thomas. Thomas argues that Ike’s subtle form of leadership, a combination of playing possum, playing dumb, and having the benefit of everyone knowing you led the largest land invasion in the history of the world, saved mankind from any number of bad outcomes while he was President.

20. Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies, Hadley Freeman. I’m pro-80s nostalgia in all its various iterations and forms. 

19. We Were Feminists Once, Andi Zeisler. Consumerism killed feminism (and other observations). My full review

18. Andy Warhol Was A Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities, Claudia Kalb. A little post hoc mental health assessment of some people you may have heard of - Marilyn Monroe (borderline personality), Charles Darwin (anxiety), etc. Pithy and enjoyable. 

17. 50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S., Brent D. Glass. A wonderful survey of interesting places right here in the good old U.S. of A.