What I read in 2026

Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism Jeff Gramm · 2016 · read Aug 2026Hedge fund manager and Columbia professor Jeff Gramm's history of shareholder activism, told through eight case studies built… The History of Money: A Story of Humanity David McWilliams · 2024 · read Aug 2026Irish economist David McWilliams's sweeping global history of money — from clay tablets in Mesopotamia and ancient Babylon… Shameless: Republicans' Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy Brian Tyler Cohen · 2024 · read Aug 2026Progressive media creator Brian Tyler Cohen's #1 bestselling first book — an argument that the modern Republican Party weaponizes… Biological War: A Scenario Annie Jacobsen · 2026 · read Jul 2026Annie Jacobsen's companion to Nuclear War: A Scenario — a minute-by-minute account of how a biological attack or lab-released… The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Craig Whitlock · 2021 · read Jul 2026Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock's Pentagon Papers-style exposé of the war in Afghanistan — built on… The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters Gregory Zuckerman · 2013 · read Jul 2026Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman's inside account of the American shale boom — how a handful of risk-addicted… The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World Brian Tyler Cohen · 2026 · read Jul 2026Progressive media creator Brian Tyler Cohen's strategic playbook for the Democratic Party — arguing that Republicans have abused… The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Gregory Zuckerman · 2019 · read Jul 2026Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman's biography of Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies — the secretive… Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan · 2026 · read Jul 2026New York Times White House correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's inside account of the first year-plus of Trump's… The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind · 2003 · read Jul 2026Fortune journalists Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind's definitive account of Enron's rise and collapse — growing out of McLean's… The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court Jeffrey Toobin · 2007 · read Jun 2026Jeffrey Toobin's group portrait of the Rehnquist-to-early-Roberts Supreme Court (covering roughly 1990–2007), built on interviews… Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection John Green · 2025 · read Jun 2026John Green's narrative history of tuberculosis, braiding the disease's social and scientific past with the present-day story of… Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History Yasmeen Abutaleb, Damian Paletta · 2021 · read Jun 2026Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta's account of the Trump administration's COVID-19 response from… The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court Jeffrey Toobin · 2012 · read Jun 2026Jeffrey Toobin's account of the fraught relationship between the Obama White House and the Roberts Supreme Court — sequel to The… The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson Jeffrey Toobin · 1996 · read Jun 2026Jeffrey Toobin's definitive contemporaneous account of the O.J. True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump Jeffrey Toobin · 2020 · read Jun 2026Jeffrey Toobin's account of the Mueller investigation and the first Trump impeachment, framed as a legal thriller about why a… Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World Tom Wright, Bradley Hope · 2018 · read Jun 2026Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope's investigation of Jho Low — the Malaysian financier who orchestrated… Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President Michael S. Schmidt · 2020 · read May 2026NYT's Michael Schmidt's 2020 inside account of the Mueller probe and adjacent obstruction-of-justice questions — built around the… The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy Christopher Leonard · 2022 · read May 2026Christopher Leonard's 2022 history of the post-2008 Federal Reserve — the quantitative-easing era from Bernanke through Yellen… A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness Michael Pollan · 2026 · read Apr 2026Michael Pollan's 2026 follow-on to How to Change Your Mind — moving from the psychedelic-medicine reporting into broader… Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America Christopher Leonard · 2019 · read Apr 2026Christopher Leonard's 2019 history of Koch Industries — Charles Koch's 50-year construction of one of the largest privately-held… End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America Chris Jennings · 2026 · read Apr 2026Chris Jennings's 2025 reconstruction of the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff — Randy Weaver, the ATF firearms charges, the… Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind Jason Zengerle · 2026 · read Apr 2026Jason Zengerle's biography of Tucker Carlson — Carlson's path from preppy conservative young writer through CNN, MSNBC, and the… Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup John Carreyrou · 2018 · read Mar 2026Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's 2018 investigation of Theranos — Elizabeth Holmes's blood-testing startup that… Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland Salena Zito · 2025 · read Mar 2026Salena Zito's reconstruction of the July 13, 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt on Trump — including her own… Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America Robert B. Reich · 2025 · read Mar 2026Robert Reich's 2025 memoir — across his career as Labor Secretary, Berkeley professor, and progressive public intellectual —… Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department Carol Leonnig · 2025 · read Feb 2026Carol Leonnig's 2007 investigation (republished in updated form, given the topic's renewed relevance) of the Bush-era… The Fall Michael Wolff · 2023 · read Feb 2026Wolff's 2023 book on the Murdoch family and Fox News — Rupert's late years, the succession question, the Dominion lawsuit, the… Siege: Trump Under Fire Michael Wolff · 2019 · read Feb 2026Wolff's second Trump book — covering 2018-2019, particularly the Mueller probe period — built on the same Bannon-source-dominant… All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America Michael Wolff · 2025 · read Feb 2026Wolff's fifth Trump book — covering the 2023-2024 campaign and the indictments-comeback dynamic — built on the same uneven access… Too Famous Michael Wolff · 2021 · read Feb 2026Michael Wolff's 2021 essay collection — pieces on Trump, Boris Johnson, Murdoch, the Clintons, the post-2016… Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story Julie K. Brown · 2021 · read Feb 2026Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism Sarah Wynn-Williams · 2025 · read Feb 2026Former Facebook (Meta) global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams's 2025 insider memoir — covering her seven years at the company… Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction David Enrich · 2020 · read Feb 2026David Enrich's 2020 investigation of Deutsche Bank's catastrophic three-decade arc — from German blue-chip to global… Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful David Enrich · 2025 · read Jan 2026NYT editor David Enrich's 2025 investigation of the coordinated legal campaign to weaken NYT v. When the Night Comes Falling: The Definitive True Crime Investigation into the Idaho Student Murders Howard Blum · 2024 · read Jan 2026Veteran investigative journalist Howard Blum's account of the November 2022 University of Idaho student murders and the… State of Denial Bob Woodward · 2006 · read Jan 2026Woodward's 2006 third Bush book, covering the Iraq War's deteriorating execution from 2003 through 2005 — the gap between… The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America David A. Graham · 2025 · read Jan 2026Atlantic staff writer David Graham's 2025 walkthrough of Project 2025 — the Heritage Foundation's 900-page blueprint for the… The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink Thom Hartmann · 2025 · read Jan 2026Progressive talk-radio host Thom Hartmann's 2025 polemic-and-analysis of the Trump second-term opening — written from the… The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It Scott Patterson · 2010 · read Jan 2026WSJ reporter Scott Patterson's history of the quantitative-finance revolution — Ed Thorp, Ken Griffin, James Simons, Cliff… Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future Dan Wang · 2025 · read Jan 2026Dan Wang's 2025 book on China's "engineering state" — the deliberate national-level capacity to build at scale across… The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich Evan Osnos · 2025 · read Jan 2026New Yorker writer Evan Osnos's 2025 collection of his pieces on the contemporary ultra-rich — superyachts, doomsday prepping,… Abundance Ezra Klein · 2025 · read Jan 2026Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's 2025 manifesto for "abundance liberalism" — the argument that progressive governance has come to… Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq Bob Woodward · 2004 · read Jan 2026Bob Woodward's 2004 inside account of the 16 months between 9/11 and the March 2003 invasion of Iraq — the specific NSC meetings,…