What I read in 2025

Bush at War Bob Woodward · 2002 · read Dec 2025Bob Woodward's 2002 inside account of the George W. All the President’s Men Carl Bernstein · 1974 · read Dec 2025Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's 1974 reconstruction of their Washington Post Watergate reporting — the foundational text of… The Last of the President's Men Bob Woodward · 2015 · read Dec 2025Bob Woodward's 2015 reconstruction of the Nixon White House through Alexander Butterfield — Nixon's deputy assistant who revealed… Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber Andy Borowitz · 2022 · read Dec 2025Andy Borowitz's serio-comic argument that American political culture has systematically rewarded ignorance over expertise across… Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency Joshua Green · 2017 · read Dec 2025Bloomberg reporter Joshua Green's 2017 history of Steve Bannon's path through Breitbart, the Goldman Sachs years, the Mercer… The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century Tim Weiner · 2025 · read Dec 2025Tim Weiner's history of the CIA from 9/11 to the present — the post-9/11 expansion, the torture program, the bin Laden hunt, the… Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare John Lechner · 2025 · read Dec 2025John Lechner's investigation of the Wagner Group and its successors — the Russian-state-aligned private military company that… After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made Ben Rhodes · 2021 · read Dec 2025Former Obama deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes's reflection on the post-Trump-1 international landscape — Hungary,… Mad House: How Donald Trump, MAGA Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby, and a Man with Rats in His Walls Broke Congress Annie Karni · 2025 · read Dec 2025NYT reporters Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater's account of the 2023-24 House Republican majority — the McCarthy speakership… The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces Seth Harp · 2025 · read Nov 2025Rolling Stone reporter Seth Harp's investigation of a pattern of drug-trafficking and homicide cases involving active-duty… Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America Jonathan Karl · 2025 · read Nov 2025Jonathan Karl's fourth Trump book — covering the 2024 campaign and the early second-term restoration — built on continued direct… The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip Stephen Witt · 2025 · read Nov 2025Stephen Witt's biography of Jensen Huang and the company he founded — Nvidia's evolution from graphics-card maker to the central… Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers John W. Dean · 2020 · read Nov 2025Former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean and University of Manitoba psychologist Bob Altemeyer's analysis of Trump and his… The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir John Bolton · 2020 · read Oct 2025John Bolton's memoir from his 17 months as Trump's third National Security Advisor — Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, and… Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling Jonathan D. Cohen · 2025 · read Oct 2025Jonathan Cohen's history-and-policy book on the explosion of American sports gambling after the 2018 Murphy v. 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in History – and How It Shattered a Nation Andrew Ross Sorkin · 2025 · read Oct 2025Andrew Ross Sorkin's narrative reconstruction of the 1929 stock-market crash and its immediate aftermath — the specific days, the… 107 Days Kamala Harris · 2025 · read Oct 2025Kamala Harris's 2025 account of her 107-day presidential campaign — Biden's withdrawal, the nomination, the campaign itself,… Source Code: My Beginnings Bill Gates · 2025 · read Sep 2025The first volume of Bill Gates's planned three-volume autobiography — his Seattle childhood, parents, Lakeside School, the early… The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy Brian Klaas · 2017 · read Aug 2025Brian Klaas's 2017 comparative-politics-trained case that Trump's first-year behaviors were continuous with the pattern of… The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy (James Patterson True Crime, 3) James Patterson · 2025 · read Aug 2025James Patterson and Vicky Ward's true-crime account of the November 2022 University of Idaho student murders — Bryan Kohberger,… Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall Zeke Faux · 2023 · read Aug 2025Bloomberg's Zeke Faux on the 2021-22 crypto bubble and collapse — Tether's mysterious backing, Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX rise and… Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? Graham Allison · 2017 · read Aug 2025Harvard scholar Graham Allison's framework book on the structural risk of war between a rising power (China) and a ruling power… The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World Noam Chomsky · 2024 · read Jul 2025Noam Chomsky and Nathan Robinson's 2024 compact restatement of Chomsky's long-running structural critique of US foreign policy —… Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream Megan Greenwell · 2025 · read Jul 2025Megan Greenwell's investigation of private equity's effects on American working life — told through four extended worker case… Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters Charan Ranganath · 2024 · read Jul 2025UC Davis neuroscientist Charan Ranganath's accessible synthesis of contemporary memory research — what memory is biologically,… Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror Michael V. Hayden · 2016 · read Jun 2025General Michael Hayden's memoir from his vantage as director of NSA (1999-2005) and CIA (2006-2009) — the operational and legal… The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy David Gelles · 2022 · read Jun 2025NYT business reporter David Gelles's polemic-and-history of Jack Welch's reshaping of GE and, through its alumni and imitators,… Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis Scott Payne · 2025 · read Jun 2025Former FBI undercover agent Scott Payne's memoir of his years infiltrating white-supremacist organizations — Aryan Nations, the… Dawn of the Code War: America's Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat John P. Carlin · 2018 · read Jun 2025Former DOJ National Security Division head John Carlin's account of building the legal framework for treating state-actor cyber… How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle (Principles) Ray Dalio · 2025 · read Jun 2025Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio's continuation of his "Principles" series — applying his big-cycle framework to sovereign debt,… The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma Mustafa Suleyman · 2023 · read Jun 2025DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman's argument that AI and synthetic biology are converging revolutions whose containment is the… Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company Patrick McGee · 2025 · read Jun 2025FT reporter Patrick McGee's investigation of Apple's deep operational integration with China — not as a vendor relationship but… No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson Gardiner Harris · 2025 · read Jun 2025Veteran journalist Gardiner Harris's investigation of Johnson & Johnson — across baby powder (asbestos contamination), opioid… Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs Luis Elizondo · 2024 · read May 2025Former Pentagon intelligence official Luis Elizondo's memoir of his time running AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification… Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again Jake Tapper · 2025 · read May 2025Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's 2025 investigation into Biden's cognitive decline during his presidency, the staff and family… Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Clint Hill · 2016 · read May 2025Clint Hill's memoir of his career on the presidential Secret Service detail across five administrations — most famously the agent… Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign Jonathan Allen · 2017 · read May 2025Allen and Parnes's earlier book — their 2017 inside account of the Clinton 2016 campaign, built on hundreds of confidential… Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America's Politics Forever Chris Wallace · 2024 · read May 2025Chris Wallace's day-by-day reconstruction of the 1960 presidential campaign — Kennedy vs. Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation Brenda Wineapple · 2024 · read May 2025Brenda Wineapple's narrative history of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial" — Dayton, Tennessee; Bryan vs. The Age of AI and Our Human Future Henry Kissinger · 2021 · read Apr 2025Kissinger, Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO), and Daniel Huttenlocher's 2021 framework book on AI as a paradigm-shifting… Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment Jason Schreier · 2024 · read Apr 2025Jason Schreier's institutional history of Blizzard Entertainment — Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, World of Warcraft, Overwatch —… Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right Jane Mayer · 2016 · read Apr 2025Jane Mayer's foundational 2016 investigation of the donor network — Koch brothers, Scaife family, Olin, Bradley, DeVos, and… Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House Jonathan Allen · 2025 · read Apr 2025Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes's behind-the-scenes account of the 2024 presidential race — built on hundreds of confidential… Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy Katherine Stewart · 2025 · read Mar 2025Stewart's 2025 follow-up to The Power Worshippers — updated for the Trump-2.0 environment, Project 2025, and the explicit… The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism Katherine Stewart · 2020 · read Mar 2025Katherine Stewart's investigative mapping of the institutional infrastructure of American Christian nationalism — the legal… White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America Nancy Isenberg · 2016 · read Mar 2025Nancy Isenberg's history of poor white Americans from English colonization forward — the language ("waste people," "lubbers,"… On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything Nate Silver · 2024 · read Mar 2025Nate Silver's expansive book on the culture of professional risk-taking — poker, sports betting, prediction markets, hedge funds,… Madoff: The Final Word Richard Behar · 2024 · read Mar 2025Veteran financial journalist Richard Behar's biography of Bernie Madoff — the longest-running, largest-dollar Ponzi scheme in… The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty Valerie Bauerlein · 2024 · read Mar 2025WSJ reporter Valerie Bauerlein's narrative of Alex Murdaugh — fourth-generation South Carolina legal-dynasty heir, prolific… Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator Jung H. Pak · 2020 · read Feb 2025Former CIA senior analyst Jung Pak's analytical biography of Kim Jong Un — drawing on the intelligence-community methods she was… Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds David Goggins · 2018 · read Feb 2025Navy SEAL / Army Ranger / ultra-endurance athlete David Goggins's memoir-and-self-help — a brutal childhood,… A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Mike Rinder · 2022 · read Feb 2025Former Scientology Office of Special Affairs head Mike Rinder's memoir of his decades inside Scientology's senior leadership, his… Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past Steve Benen · 2024 · read Feb 2025MSNBC producer Steve Benen's argument that the Republican Party's most effective post-2020 move has been the systematic rewriting… A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them Timothy Egan · 2023 · read Feb 2025Timothy Egan's narrative history of the 1920s second Klan — particularly its Indiana stronghold under D.C. Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty Hillary Rodham Clinton · 2024 · read Jan 2025Hillary Clinton's 2024 essay collection — written after she'd left active electoral politics — across topics from marriage and… Autocracy, Inc. Anne Applebaum · 2024 · read Jan 2025Anne Applebaum's 2024 argument that the world's autocracies are no longer isolated regimes but a functioning international… Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions John Grisham · 2024 · read Jan 2025John Grisham and Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey's collection of ten wrongful-conviction case studies — false… Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College Jesse Wegman · 2020 · read Jan 2025NYT editorial board writer Jesse Wegman's compact, argument-driven case for abolishing the Electoral College — historical, legal,… Revenge of the Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell · 2024 · read Jan 2025Gladwell's 2024 reassessment of his own foundational framework — both expanding it (the concept of "overstories" — the narratives… Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Mary L. Trump · 2020 · read Jan 2025Mary Trump's 2020 family memoir-and-diagnosis — drawing on her clinical psychology training and her direct experience as Donald… The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Malcolm Gladwell · 2000 · read Jan 2025Gladwell's 2000 breakout book reframing social change as epidemiology — ideas, products, and behaviors spread through populations…