15 memorable books from my last 7 years of reading

I have joined the website Goodreads in the beginning of 2015. Some weeks ago I suddenly realized that I have passed my 400th registered read title in the website, and I have been going through the lists to try to distill the books that have left the strongest impression. I found out many books that would fall into that category, but when forced to shorten the list I came up with the somewhat arbitrary number of 15 works. So here it is, my list of  15 memorable, interesting, captivating, and somewhat unusual titles that I have read in the last 7 years. They comprise both fiction and non-fiction, a bit of biography, science and history. There is an overweight of technical/historical books on these list. The books are ordered by chronological order of reading (from 2015 to the present).  

So here it is. 

1. The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Richard Rhodes, 1986): This list starts with a bang! This is an impressive book, combining both the history behind the Manhattan project, short biographies of the main people involved, an explanation of the historical and societal context of the time, and some final considerations regarding the ethics and the purpose of the development of the atomic bomb. Besides that, it is a lesson of physics. The author explains basic concepts of nuclear and quantum physics, and how they would be applied in the construction of the bomb. I liked the fact that the story is told following the chronological line, so that the reader is confronted with the same dilemmas and challenges, both technical and ethical, as the main protagonists. For people who would like to dive deeper into this subject, I also recommend the successor Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb from the same author (not as good, but still interesting), the terrifying Command and Control (Eric Schlosser, 2013) explaining how the military control of nuclear weapon is organized and the (many!) accidents that were reported in the US side only, and American Prometheus: the Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin, 2005), a biography of the leader of the Manhattan project that is been recently adapted to the big screen by Christopher Nolan.  

2. The Sagas of Icelanders (Penguin Classics): on my first visit to Iceland in 2012, I filled my evenings with reading Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (great read!). While I was browsing the amazing bookshops of Reykjavik, I found a superb compilation of icelandic sagas from Penguin Classics. History intertwined with literature, the best of both worlds in one volume. This compilation does not go through the entire collection of sagas of the period, but it gives the reader an overview of the best and/or most representative of the genre, including the full text of Egil Skalagrimsson's saga, Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue's saga, the sagas of the Vinlanders, and much more, complemented with notes, illustrations and references from experts. On the same track, you might as well enjoy Den Svarte Viking (Bergsveinn Birgisson, 2013), most works of the (wonderful) scotish orcadian poet George McCay Brown or, going further south, Herodotus Histories.    

3.  First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong (James R. Hansen, 2005): Another long but interesting read (768 pages), it served as the base for the movie with the same name. The in-depth authorized full biography of our first ambassador to the celestial bodies gives an insight into the psychology of an astronaut. It is an humble monument to the men and women of the space race period. I especially like that it focus both on his career and public achievements, but also on its not-so-successful private life, and it gives the reader a glimpse into the motivations and struggles of this silent giant. You might as well enjoy the story of  Yuri Gagarin in Beyond: The astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave our Planet and Journey into Space (Stephen Walker, 2021) or The Moonlandings: an Eyewitness Account (Reginald Turnhill, 2007). In a tangent to the theme, I also read Hidden Figures (Margot L. Shetterly, 2016), although I was a bit disappointed due to the lack of technical details.

4. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Reza Aslam, 2013): in the Easter of 2016, I read The New Testament. I enjoyed the fact that it is a sort of shared biography between four different authors, supplemented with the epistles of Peter and Paulus, something that renders it as literarily exciting and, for its time, innovative. But back to Zealot. The book basically argues that Jesus was just one of many passionate zealots trying to expel the romans out of Judea. However, his attempt failed and he ended up being crucified. Later, his disciples try to explain the failure with the interpretation that the kingdoms that Jesus was preaching about refer to heavenly/religious realms, rather than earthly ones. And so came Christianity. Christianity is an historical accident, according to Aslam, and he builds up his arguments with historical facts. My view on christian religions has never been the same after this read. I learned that even scholars in the field agree that the resurrection episode is an a posteriori add to the original gospels, for example. Around this period, I also read a (lighter) version of parts of the Old Testament in The Book of Genesis Illustrated (R. Crumb, 2009) and, the (almost) contemporary Josephus The Jewish War.       

 5. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software (Charles Petzold, 1999): once I asked a data engineer if he could recommend me a book that gives the reader a general overview of how computers work. "I know exactly what you need", and I was referred to this book. This book is amazing! It goes from zero to building-your-own-PC-at-home level in the course of less than 400 pages. It starts with the very basics of binary code and information theory in the first chapters and it builds up gradually into how modern computers work and why they have memory devices and operating systems. Even though the book has now more than 20 years, it is still relevant (and necessary). This is fundamental knowledge for (amateur) programmers like me and a good general overview for anyone working with computers. A similar, but less comprehensive book, is The Pattern on the Stone (Daniel Hillis, 1998). For a fun but interesting read about cryptography and information theory, I also recommend The Code Book (Simon Singh, 1999), the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma (Andrew Hodges, 1983), or for a light read about AI, Artificial Intelligence: a Guide for Thinking Humans (Melanie Mitchell, 2019). 

6. Comics Story Book of Beer (Jonathan Hennessey & Mike Smith, 2015): This one was a real surprise. Tired of hearing friends and colleagues discuss the merits and the differences between different types of beer, I decided to plunge straight into the subject by reading this graphic documentary. It is wildly entertaining and very informative. It is not just about the history of beer, but also how it affected societies and cultures. This should be basic knowledge for the cultured masses. A (poorer) companion is Wine: A Graphic History (Benoist Simmat & Daniel Casanave, 2020) or, for a graphic overview of world history, The Cartoon History of the Unverse (Larry Gonick, 1990-2009) series. 

7. Or I'll Dress You in the Morning (Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre, 1970): Ok, this is, for some, an odd choice. But well worth the read. The biography focus on the life and career of the Spanish matador (bullfighter) Manuel Benitez aka El Cordobés. From his humble origins in an impoverished Andalucía during the Spanish Civil War, to triumph, fame and nation-wide recognition as an icon of his generation. It is not just a biography, it is a portrait of Franco's Spain. It is also a look into a (slowly dying) way of life that is rarely met with understanding or recognition outside the iberic peninsula. It asks the reader to suspend their prejudices for 500 pages and immerse itself into another culture and another world. I recommend reading it while touring through Andalusian pueblos blancos (Ronda would be perfect) in the summer. Worthy companions are Ernest Hemingway's debut novel The Sun Also Rises (1926) and the semi-technical Death in the Afternoon (1932), for an introduction to bullfighting culture. P.S.: I am not defending bullfighting. I personally think it belongs to the past. However I understand the cultural frame surrounding it, and I respect the people who were or are part of it. My own family is split in the middle on this topic, and I grew up hearing the views from both sides.   

8. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Jung Chang,1991): a family (auto)biography spanning three generations, having the tumultuous China's last century of history as background. This novel covers the end of imperial China, the civil war, Mao's China and the cultural revolution through the eyes and ears of someone that experienced them. Political and personal, partial and polemic in native China, definitively an essential read for western readers. I hope this book would entice the reader for a deeper exploration of China's rich culture and history. I would also recommend Jung Chang's Mao: the Unknown Story (2006) and Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine that Launched Modern China (2013). I got my general introduction to chinese history through Torbjørn Færøvik's Midtens Rike: en Vandring i Kinas Historie (2009). I also found interesting to read Henry Kissinger's On China (2011). A much lighter read, describing the perspective of common people during the Culture Revolution, is the graphic novel A Chinese Life (Philippe Otie & Li Kunwu, 2012).  

9. Beam: The Race to Make the Laser (Jeff Hecht, 2010): this is another example of the nerdy history/science/technology subgenre that I so deeply love. Most people have heard about the Manhattan project and the Apollo program in regards to the atomic age and the space race respectively. But what about all the other small wonders of modern day-to-day technology? Who knows about the development of Information Theory, or the modern computer, or the invention of the electronic transistor, or the integrated circuit? Laser technology is an integrated part of our everyday lives and we are rarely aware of its history, and this book goes through the first steps in this technology and the impact it has had since then. A bit technical, a bit dry, but very interesting. Also - spoilers alert - a tale of the underdog taking the prize. For people who like this subgenre, you would also like The Idea Factory (Jon Gertner, 2012), The Chip (T. R. Reid, 2001) and The Innovators (Walter Isaacson, 2014).   

10. L'Arabe du Futur (Riad Sattouf, 2015-...): Another graphic novel series. It is currently unfinished, with new volumes coming out every two years or so. Originally in french, it is an autobiography of the cartoonist Riad Sattouf, recounting growing up in France, Syria and Lybia, and his relationship with his father during that period. I like that the series give a first-person account of the culture shock and challenges of growing up in a multicultural environment, that has probably become much more common in the 21st century, due to globalization. Especially relatable since the author is approximately my age, his contextual references are temporally overlapping my own. If you like this, check out Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, 2000 & 2004), or for a darker themed background, the classic Maus (Art Spiegelman, 1980-1991).   

11. War and Peace (Leo Tolstoi, 1869): my book for the corona lockdown. Reading this book is surely an experience. It is long, for sure, but it covers a whole society for a couple of decades, under one of the most destructive conflicts in european history. It comprises both fictional and real characters, and believable descriptions of historical events. Tolstoi is a master of psychological description and analysis, his characters are plastic and change through the course of his novels. Tolstoi pours in addition some essays of phylosophy and history through the novel. The edition I chose was also a linguistic challenge, since it was mainly in german interspread with chapters fully in french and italian. It took me a while. But it is a good book. From the same author, Anna Karenina (1877) is also a masterpiece, and the much lighter The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) is also good. To help me with the historical background, I was happy to have read 1812 (Adam Zamoyiski, 2005) and Napoleon (Herman Lindqvist, 2004) beforehand. For a history of the last russian dynasty, I recommend The Romanovs (Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2017). 

12. The Twelve Caesars (Suetonius, 121): Roman imperial history written by an almost contemporary author, but spiced with anecdotes and gossip about the private lives of the emperors. It covers more than a century of roman history, but it is fluid and never boring. Especially entertaining are the lives of Caligula, Nero and the year of the four emperors. Julius, Augustus and Claudius are always interesting. It was a pleasure to read, something that is not often said about historical (?) works from antiquity. From the same period, I recommend Plutarch's Parallel Lives. For good novelizations of emperors lives, I recommend I, Claudius (Robert Graves, 1934), Augustus (John Williams, 1972) and Mémoires d'Hadrien (Marguerite Yourcenar, 1951). To get a more accurate historical/military biography of Julius Caesar, Caesar, Life of a Colossus (Adrian Goldsworthy, 2006) is good.      

13. One of us (Åsne Seierestad, 2015): This is the most disturbing book of this list, and the one that was the hardest for me to go through. The investigative journalist Åsne Seierstad describes the terrorist attack of the 22nd of July of 2011. The author tries to analyze the life and the psychological development of the perpetrator, his motivation, the role of family members, acquaintances, ideological partners, how the attack was perceived by the national and international press, the reaction of the family of some of the victims and how norwegian society as a whole cope with it. Especially heavy is the chapters that give a detailed account of the events in Utøya island. Certainly unforgettable and makes the reader question how society should deal with mass murderers. Although I have not read it, I feel that We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lionel Shriver, 2003)  would be relevant in connection with this book.   

14. Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir, 2021): This was one of the most exciting books I have read in the last decade, and it opened up my eyes for the science fiction genre. It is a page turner and I love the way the author deals with the theme of alien contact in a scientifically sound, although improbable, way. I also like that Andy Weir always gives an optimistic twist to all his books and that he strives to build fiction with solid science backing the plot. I especially like the way in which he describes the culture, science and psychology of a whole alien civilization in this book. For reference, I recommend another of Andy Weir's work, The Martian (2011). For other good first contact scifi novels, Contact (Carl Sagan, 1985) or the works of Arthur C. Clarke (ex.: Rendezvous with Rama, 1973 or Childhood's End, 1953). For a (terrifying) first contact scifi trilogy that has been getting a lot of attention in the last decade, Remembrance of Earth's Past (Cinxin Liu, 2008-2011).  

15. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote, 1958): I want to conclude this list with something light, but good. Breakfast at Tiffany's is not only a good novella, but also a movie, a feeling, a sense of nostalgia or sorrow, a longing. It is very short (I think it took me an hour or two to go through it), but it is superbly well written and portrays not only a time, a place and a mood, but also a sort of person that everybody has met once or twice in their lives. Its interpretation is ambiguous and each reader interprets Holy Golightly in their own different way. The endings in the book and the movie are different, and that only makes them better, in my opinion. Capote's writing style is simultaneously convulsive and natural, fitting to the sort of characters that he's trying to portray. Since I read it, I have been saving In Cold Blood (1966)  in my "to read" list, hopeful to find the same level of writing. On that note, I also enjoyed The Virgin Suicides (Jeffrey Eugenides, 1993), The Talented Mr Ripley (Patricia Highsmith,1955) and To Kill a Mocking Bird (Harper Lee,1960) for providing me with a portrayal of both the protagonists and a frame, societal and contextual, around them. 

Enjoy! :)