This is the reading list for 2025.

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Happy City by Charles Montgomery
3. Welcome to Pawnee by Jim O'Heir
4. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
5. Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Perhaps with Trump coming in, I was in the mood for a post-Totalitarian story. It’s pretty amazing that this book was written in the 80’s, and how prescient it is on many of the new-conservative topics now. This book is very well written, maximizes on mood and mystery, and is ultimately satisfying to read.

Happy City by Charles Montgomery

This is a nice, nerdy read about urban design, and specifically about moving away from car dependence. Montgomery gives a few examples of cities and communities that have successfully emphasized more bike paths and walking. While it was nice to learn, the book doesn’t actually take a stand on HOW cities can transform, or what citizens can do.

Welcome to Pawnee by Jim O'Heir

Parks and Recreation is quite possibly my favorite TV show ever, and it is also probably the one that I have rewatched the most times. Jim O’Heir plays Jerry (Garry, Berry, Larry, Terry) Gergich on the show, one of the side characters but nevertheless a member of the core cast. Since the show ended up more than 10 years ago, O’Heir has become somewhat of a mascot for the show. He hosts a rewatch podcast for the show. And he has recently written this book, which is a combination of his memoirs and his stories from the show.

The book is a short and breezy read. The role of Jerry Gergich is probably the one that Jim O’Heir is most known for. Throughout the book, O’Heir talks about his good fortune but especially about his imposter syndrome. As a working actor in Hollywood, he is always wary of either his part being written out or the show being cancelled. It really shows that even some people that we would find to be traditionally successful still have their own internal struggles.

O’Heir tells wonderful stories about his fellow cast mates, but really the book is one long love letter to the show. The show is relentlessly positive and uplifting, which is probably the main reason why I’ve rewatched it so many times.

There is a wonderful quote from the show runner Mike Schur that sums up the show well:

The message of the show that Amy and I used to talk about all the time was that optimism beats pessimism. As tempting as it is to give in to pessimism or denialism, and to throw up your hands and say "None of this matters; it’s all bullshit. The world is screwed up, we’re all going to die, and climate change is going to ruin the planet." Yes, that is an option and if you do that, congratulations. Now what? Or you can be Leslie Knope and you can say, “I’m going to keep fighting. I don’t know, maybe it won’t work, but I’m going to keep fighting. I’m going to keep trying.”

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

I had previously read Ezra Klein’s Why We’re Polarized and I sometimes listen to Derek Thompson’s Plain English podcast, so I was well aware that this book was coming and the marketing blitz behind it. This will probably be the most “popular” book that I read this year, in terms of just how many other people will read it this year. The central tenet of the book is the espousal of a Democratic politics platform of abundance, in terms of building more, encouring innovation and science, and cutting red tape. Unfortunately, much of what the Democratic party has been focused on over the past several decades is the addition of MORE red tape, which this book does a great job of documenting.

Ultimately, while the message behind the book is admirable, I’m not sure that it will lead to much if any real change in the leadership of the Democratic party. At least, as I write this, it’s unclear even who the leadership of the Democratic party is, since it’s clearly not Kamala Harris, and no one else has really taken up the mantle.

Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

One of the best TV shows I’ve seen this year is Adolescensce, a Netflix miniseries about a young boy that murders a female classmate. It tangentially explores the incel community, and the young boy’s complicated feelings toward the opposite sex. I was definitely familiar with the concept of incels, but after watching the show, I wanted to learn more. This book by Laura Bates is a very exhaustive (and very depressing) deep dive into what she coins as the “manosphere”, which comprises of several overlapping communities, including incels, pickup artists, and men who intentially stay away from women. What they all have in common is the objectification of women (and particular of sex), and a healthy amount of hate for themselves and for women.

Bates does a great job of diving deep into all these communities and highlighting their dangers. The most eye opening is probably tying several recent mass shooters to these communities, which the media pretty much ignored alltogether (for example, the Christchurch shooter). While mass media are eager to highlight Islamic terrorism and even starting to highlight alt right and white supremacist terrorism, misogyny is almost never touched on. Part of the reason I guess is that there is a massive amount of overlap between these manosphere communities and the alt right. The vast majority of members are white men. So misogyny is just another ingredient into the general hate soup, which includes racism as well. I learned a lot reading this book, if only just to understand where this hatred starts from and the signs to look out for. I’m terrified that my daughters are entering ages soon where they might start dating boys, and I’m certain that many of these boys will have been exposed to this misogynistic rhetoric.

One small nit pick of this book is that it is very highly dense, with very long chapters, and there is only a loose structure within the chapters. Having some section headings would have been nice just to orient the reader.

Topics: Book ReviewsLists

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