2024 in Books

Late bloomers, therapy, and Shakespeare.

Last year, I didn’t read that much. So, it feels fitting to post this report out of season.

I dipped in and out of books and re-read a few classics.

• Second Act by

  Henry Oliver
  
  
  Well done. It’s a book that pushes you to aspire to something more. If there’s a central theme from the book, for me, it’s that Late Bloomers are never static, they are busy growing wherever they are.

  
  The line said of Gibbon, “Sooner or later, the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working” is not strictly true, but essentially every figure Henry lists was always working, exploring, and learning.

• Disclosure by Michael Crichton

  
  I read this because someone described it as good conservative fiction from the 90s. It didn’t really stick for me. The conservative reading is not obviously the correct one. A fine book for a short flight. I haven’t seen the movie.

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

  
  My sense is that this book is too negative on social media, or at least focuses too much on the case that social media is not good for teens' mental health. But Facebook is other people. And how good is forced schooling for teens? Anyway, its assault on safetyism is on point. The tu quoque that the book itself promotes safetyism in the digital realm strikes me as fair.

  
  But the best part of the book is the last argument – the noise of the internet distracts from the sacred.

  
  This is an underrated point and requires no social science to support it. After largely removing social media (including Substack notes) for Lent, it just seems obviously true that the clutter of the internet, the mass of information we expose ourselves to, is not good for aligning oneself with Nature / God / the edge of things.

• Colonialism by Nigel Biggar

  
  Generally fair. A liberal (by historical standards) and Christian defense of British colonialism. There’s a lot to say here, but Nigel is directionally correct even if I suspect he’s fighting a losing war. We need a better frame for these kinds of discussions. Nigel recently joined Substack.

• Get Better At Anything by Scott Young

  
  Good.

• Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington

  
  Worth reading if you’re interested in critiques of liberalism, transhumanism, and feminism. A lot to say here. Deserves its own review. Like Louise Perry’s book it’s at once incredibly insightful and wildly wrong.

• Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier

  
  Almost the best book I read last year. It may not exactly be new, but it’s culturally important and entirely correct.

  
  Some more notes.

• Antifragile by Nassim Nicolas Taleb

  
  Equal parts genius and forgettable airport book. I’ve wanted to write something about Taleb for a while, but I think

  Branko Milanovic
  still has the best piece on him:
  
  

  The importance of Taleb’s system

• Romeo and Juliet

  
  Without question the best work I read last year.