1. The Westmark Trilogy by: Lloyd Alexander

2. RoadKill by: Dennis E. Taylor

3. Slicing Pie Handbook: Perfectly Fair Equity Splits for Bootstrapped Startups by: Mike Moyer

4. Fables for Young Wolves by: Thomas O. Bethlehem

Would you like some genetics in your politics?

The Origin of Politics: How Evolution and Ideology Shape the Fate of Nations – Social Disintegration, Birth Rates, and the Path to Extinction

By: Nicholas Wade
Published: 2025
256 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

Wade offers up an evolutionary psychology account of how to make politics actually function; how, when you try to disconnect politics and the exercise of power from core human nature, as shaped by evolution, things go off the rails.

What authorial biases should I be aware of?

Nicholas Wade worked as a science writer for the NYT for 30 years. For the bulk of those years he was the science and health editor. He left the paper in 2012 and in 2014 he published A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. The book argued that human evolution is ongoing and that it has been "recent, copious, and regional". The regional part got him "cancelled" or at least it attracted a lot of negative attention, since it implied that differing national outcomes might be partly genetic in nature rather than wholly the result of chance, culture, or colonization.

Who should read this book?

If you're looking for a strong pushback against blank-slateism along with a defense of the traditional nation-state (and of tradition in general). Or if you're looking for another reason to worry about decreasing fertility.

What does the book have to say about the future?

The aforementioned fertility decline looms large in his warnings about the future, but as I mentioned he also warns about any policy that tries to exercise power in ignorance of evolutionary drives. One of the major drives is tribalism and immigration directly conflicts with that instinct. All of this points to the potential for a demographically declining society with lots of disorder.

Specific thoughts: Children are the ultimate civilizational scorecard

I feel like I should make some clever connection between this book and the discussion which raged about the Shroud of Turin, but nothing occurs to me.

A Case for Latter-day Christianity: Evidences for the Restoration of the New Testament's "Mere" Christian Church

By: Robert Starling
Published: 2019
360 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

A broad, and intensive defense of the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). With a special focus on tying that theology to the theology of the early Christian Church. As such it spends a lot of time examining differences between LDS theology and other Christian denominations (things like the Trinity, Grace, The Book of Mormon, etc.) and how those differences look in relation to actual scripture.

What authorial biases should I be aware of?

Starling has obviously been compiling stuff and working the "Mormons are Christians" beat for a long time. Which is to say he definitely has a dog in the fight. This gives the work a somewhat tendentious tinge.

What about my biases?

I met Starling at a conference and he asked me to read his book. Outside of that meeting and a follow-up email he sent me there hasn't been any further interaction. So I wouldn't say we were close. I am however pretty close to the topic of "Latter-day Christianity", so that's a pretty big bias.

Who should read this book?

Anyone who wants to see the comprehensive case for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being the same Church Jesus Christ established in the 1st Century.

Specific thoughts: Who is this book for?

In which I mostly talk about the Shroud of Turin. Murray only spends seven pages on the it, so my review is not comprehensive. Actually, never mind. That's what the top sections are for.

Taking Religion Seriously

By: Charles Murray
Published: 2025
152 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

Murray's journey from agnosticism to belief, a journey that is largely intellectual rather than spiritual. Because it was largely intellectual, it's also more explicable. This allows Murray to write a different sort of conversion story, one that's more amenable to being mapped out as a straightforward guide with sources and citations.

What authorial biases should I be aware of?

Murray has been a libertarian thinker for decades, though he's probably best known for The Bell Curve which he co-authored. So Murray is approaching things from a conservative/libertarian milieu. That said, it's a very balanced book. When he provides his sources for a particular idea he also includes sources that are critical of that idea.

Who should read this book?

I've read a lot of books that fall in this general area. Too many to list (consider The New Testament in Its World, Modern Physics and Ancient Faith and Believe just in the last six months) I would read Murray before reading any of them. It's clear, comprehensive, short, and meaty. Even if you're a raging atheist I would read this book because it's the quickest way to understand your opponents' best arguments.

Specific thoughts: The surprising strength of the Shroud of Turin

Back when Rome was just one Italian settlement out of many, but a settlement with a dream!

Children of Mars: The Origins of Rome's Empire

By: Jeremy Armstrong
Published: 2025
288 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

The deep history of Rome. What we actually know about its legendary founding, its early rise to prominence, and the shape of its military. Additionally, the development of Roman identity and how that identity interacted with the other elements.

What's the author's angle?

This belongs to that genre of book which takes recent scholarship and archaeological evidence and uses it to puncture the previous, more simplistic historical view.

Who should read this book?

Military history buffs, or anyone who's interested in Rome, particularly the period from roughly 8th–3rd centuries BC.

Specific thoughts: How video games get Rome wrong

We have a lot of nice things. We're really good at making nice things. We should preserve these nice things. But also nothing lasts forever?

The Origins of Efficiency

By: Brian Potter
Published: 2025
384 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

The clever and incremental ways we've vastly increased humanity's ability to make stuff. We're constantly finding ways to build stuff cheaper, faster, and with fewer resources.

What's the author's angle?

Potter is probably best known for his Substack Construction Physics, which covers infrastructure, manufacturing, and building stuff in general. He also works at the Institute for Progress. Put those two together and you've got someone who's a big fan of material progress, or what is sometimes referred to as a techno-optimist.

Who should read this book?

If you want some amazing stories of how processes have improved, and a stirring defense of the modern world and all its wonders this is a great book. If you're looking for higher level reflection on what it all means, particularly any sort of caution around progress and efficiency, then this is not the book for you. Potter is definitely an "onward and upward!" kind of guy. He does note that efficiency can't be applied everywhere, and that it's often constrained by other goals, like safety, but he still treats it as being inherently good.

What does the book have to say about the future?

The book does point out that efficiency has become a "sociotechnical" issue. Particularly in the West, we often make choices to constrain efficiency as part of some broader societal goal. Potter doesn't talk very much about China, but one could imagine that their drive for efficiency is not constrained in the same way and, going forward, this could give them the edge in our ongoing competition.

Specific thoughts: Fantastic, awesome, hopeful, and scary

Everything you wanted to know about 1st Century Palestine, but were afraid to ask…

The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians

By: N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird
Published: 2019
992 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

An deep dive on the New Testament covering (as the subtitle suggests) the history: Second Temple Judaism against a Greco-Roman background; the literature: the New Testament's genesis, structure, authors and audience; and theology: the religious claims of the book, the doctrine, miracles, and contentions.

What's the author's angle?

Despite me saying that this is a deep dive, it is also something of a sampler for Wright's other, even more expansive books. Also it's important to note that Wright is very much a believing Christian and while the book is exceptionally scholarly, it's also backgrounded by the idea that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who died for the sins of the world and was gloriously resurrected.

Who should read this book?

This is a long book, and I ended up deciding to read it, rather than listen to it. As such, it honestly took me several months to get through, so you should certainly take that into account. This should not be construed as saying the book is difficult. It's very accessible, and reads easily. I will say that I learned a lot, but I'm not sure that will be true for everyone. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) don't generally focus on straight down the line Bible scholarship. To the extent that we do deep scholarship in this area it's in search of parallels between early Christianity and LDS Christianity. (For example in 1 Corinthians 15:29 when Paul mentions baptisms for the dead. Something no major denomination does, other than us.) This is all to say that I think LDS individuals might find this book particularly enjoyable, as being somewhat outside of our normal wheelhouse.

Specific thoughts: It's both shocking how much New Testament we have and how little we have of everything else

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart

By: Nicholas Carr
Published: 2025
272 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

On its surface, this is a fairly typical anti-social media book, though Carr does have some interesting things to say about weaknesses inherent to the medium: content collapse, algorithmic engineering, and hostility generation. All things I'll get to in a bit.

What's the author's angle?

Carr comes from the Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman school of media criticism. Media have inherent properties that lead to different sorts of communication, and different strengths and weaknesses. Carr, like many, thinks that social media has some particularly salient weaknesses.

Who should read this book?

When considering whether to read a non-fiction book, one has to consider where it fits with one's various interests. If you're really interested in the negative effects of social media, then I would definitely read this book. If it's one of many interests, but not in your top 5-10, then you can probably skip it.

What does the book have to say about the future?