Danielle

Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir

John McCain

I have always admired John McCain as a noble statesman and true patriot, but had no idea the extent of his courage, wisdom, and even humor until this book. I finished it saddened that such a level-headed and virtuous statesman is no longer providing a check on the impulses of other politicians today. 

McCain's grandfather and father reached the highest echelons of service as Navy four star admirals. He was proud to emulate their service, but he also talks of his childhood tension with that paved course due to his crude individuality. That individuality never fully dissipated, and served him well during his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, when his plane was shot down and he was captured. He remained in captivity for 5 years, enduring obstacles more testing and challenging than most of us can ever imagine. He never regretted his service, and his story of his and his fellow Americans trials and tribulations in prison is at once inspiring and tragic. It is a reminder how lucky we are not only for our liberty but to have men and women willing to make such sacrifices and endure such hardships so that the name of their country is not tainted. I will certainly be reading his other memoirs next. 

The Snake Eaters: Counterinsurgency Advisors in Combat

Owen West

Not every day that you see a Goldman commodities trader deploying into Iraq's toughest province as a Marine reservist. Interesting story and his experience in the civilian world makes the book readable even for non-military. His book did a magnificent job straddling combat reporting, objective analysis, and opinion rooted in experience. It was fascinating. The story of the advisors spanned the many emotions you feel reading about the war in general: disdain for poor decisions and military bureaucracy, hopelessness with regard to Iraqi corruption and the local sentiment of general distrust for protocol and order, inspiration at the singular acts of bravery by US and Iraqis alike, and hope that even in some small ways we did make Iraq a better place. It also brought up many feelings of frustration - in just about every page there is evidence of the at best confusing and at worst delusional grasp the US had on counterinsurgency and urban warfare. I think we understand it better now, with much credit I'm sure to the soldiers who acted courageously and creatively in times of uncertainty and set an example for others to follow. 

Hillbilly Elegy

J.D. Vance

Combine Kentucky and the Marines and I suppose it will come to no one's surprise that I loved this book. This memoir traces J.D. Vance's life as he grows up in Eastern Kentucky and then in Middletown, Ohio. It details the sometimes harrowing, sometimes inspiring, sometimes plain sad life of middle class America. It touched home in many ways - I had a feeling it would as soon as he called his grandparents Grandma and Pappaw (as I do) and allowed me to reconcile many pieces of my life I saw painted in this book, from rural Kentucky to an elite university. In final reflection it is pretty pitiful that anthropologists, political scientists, statisticians, and many other professionals have hailed this book as so revolutionary. I loved the book, but I didn't need the stories of the book to know that is an average life in middle class, midwestern America. 

Wild: A Journey From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail 

Cheryl Strayed

This book made me feel like I was alongside Cheryl hiking the PCT (a hike I'd only vaguely heard of prior to reading it). Her life pre-PCT is a true mess, one that for the most part was self-induced, and her hike along the PCT is her much needed, long awaited rehab. She describes her trials and triumphs along the trail with a beautiful voice, one that is brutally honest. Cheryl is funny and charming, as are many of the people she meets along the PCT. This biography feels a lot more like a biography regular people can relate to compared to others I read this year (though I appreciated those for different reasons). I know what hike I'll be trying next.

Decision Points

George W. Bush

Bush structures his memoir with each chapter devoted to the most consequential decision points of his life -- a refreshingly new way to approach a memoir, which I appreciated. This book was not the classical political memoir; Bush does not use the pages as a medium to denigrate political opponents or critics. He sets up each issue that came to his desk and how he approached its solution -- everything from Afghanistan, to stem cell research, to AIDS funding, to Iraq and the surge. It revealed the grey areas in all of the challenges that make their way to the President's desk, and Bush was fair in addressing those. He squarely took blame when he believed he could have done better, and he fairly distributed credit to his aides - both attributes that often fail to make their way into political memoirs. The book is written the way Bush talks, and it lacks the beautiful and sophisticated prose I enjoyed in McCain's memoir, though I appreciated the humor both leaders have. I don't agree with every decision Bush made, but I respect him and how he approached each of those choices. Bush is a decent, upstanding man and President who did what he believed to be right, and who loves America deeply.  He was a solid leader that led us through one of the most volatile periods of our history, and I imagine history will be kinder in reflecting on his Presidency than the media was when he left office.

The Undoing Project 

Michael Lewis

This book traces the lives and work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologists who wrote a number of original studies undoing our assumptions about our internal, sometimes unconscious decision making process. Their research uncovered how the human mind erred, systematically, when forced to make judgments in uncertain situations. Their studies were part of what initiated the field of behavioral economics and revolutionized big data studies. Their studies led to powerful that essentially recreated much of how professionals in fields from medicine to baseball examined their human intuition in decisions. The book can get a bit in the weeds and technical when discussing their research but is simply fascinating in its exploration of Kahneman's and Tversky's decades-long friendship.

Call Sign Chaos

Jim Mattis and Bing West

Mattis is one of the most accomplished leaders in the defense apparatus today. He was an unselfish, focused, intellectual, and driven commander who was always willing to visit the front lines with his Marines, even as a General and later as SecDef. He understood the fine nuances of civil-military relations in the U.S., exemplified when he wrote in his SecDef resignation letter to President Trump that though he disagreed with the President, the President serves as the Commander in Chief and has a right to choose a SecDef who agrees with his policies. His book details his pursuits from his early Marine Corps days and later into his days as Commander of the now-disbanded JFCOM, which Mattis recommended be disbanded while he was Commander -- something hard to imagine today. I wish he had spoken more of his personal motivations and the consequences of such a mobile lifestyle in service to his country, but that would not be Mattis fashion. Overall a good book of a fantastic leader - one I wish our political system had more of today.

The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames

Kai Bird

Bird traces the life of CIA case officer Robert Ames, the CIA's top Middle East Analyst, who was killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, which at that point was the largest ever attack on a US diplomatic mission, killing 17 Americans, 8 of which were CIA employees. Though the US condemnations of the attack strangely never condemned a single actor or even included an explanation, it is widely believed (and confirmed via a court ruling in 2003) that the suicide bombing was carried out by Hezbollah, funded and approved by Iran. This book integrates the developments of the broad Middle East with Ames's life and cultivation of sources there, making it both interesting and informative. It also shows, through stories by Ames's and others, the challenges of running intelligence work that is ultimately subordinate to a politician and civilian. I left hoping we have officers like Ames - level-headed, convicted in his work and able to operate testy waters with a strong moral compass - to handle the complex geopolitics of the Middle East today.

Mindset 

Carol Dweck

I enjoyed reading Mindset. I took away important lessons, and think it helped to change my own mindset. It did get quite redundant at times, though I think it was making the point across different spheres of life, which was appreciated. Dr. Dweck's research is intertwined with personal stories and well known people as examples, which makes the research not only more interesting but more relatable. 

I would recommend this book to all parents, educators, coaches, and anyone that manages people. I also found it valuable as someone who came out of a place like Vanderbilt, where the "low effort means natural intelligence" myth persists widely and with little question on how or why that holds as the conventional wisdom of high-pressure institutions. 

Warriors & Citizens

Edited by Jim Mattis and Kori Schake 

Given my research topic for the year, I thought this would be higher on my list of favorites. Mattis and Schake only authored the introduction and conclusion, and did edits throughout, as far as I understand. Different authors who have expertise on various aspects of civil-military relations wrote each chapter - needless to say, some more interesting (to me) than others. I appreciated the robust exploration of civil military relations and the incredibly comprehensive data gathering that was attained as part of their study. I agreed with some authors more than others, but overall, I think Mattis and Schake hit the nail on the head in their conclusion - our civil-military relations are fundamentally strong. I am more confident in Mattis as SecDef knowing he wrote and edited a book with such a breadth on this subject. 

Pipe Dreams: The Plundering of Iraq's Oil Wealth

Erin Banco

Pipe Dreams is a succinct, quick and dirty overview of oil in post-invasion Iraq and specifically in Iraqi Kurdistan. I walked away feeling jaded on behalf of the Kurds, who have long been promised wealth -- both material wealth and wealth in the form of a functioning society, economy, and well-kept government services, but have long been disappointed by such promises. This already difficult-to-navigate landscape was only exacerbated with the entrance of ISIS into Iraq, as it overtook oil fields to fund its exploits. Post-Saddam regime change seemed to finally be the time when the Kurds would prosper, but again brought a failed government, rife with corruption. To be clear - the oil exploration of a post-invasion Iraqi Kurdistan has been successful, but most of that wealth remains with the elite class - those negotiating the contracts and agreements with international companies. This book explains in detail the complex world of navigating the KRG and Baghdad as an international company looking to set up a concession in the region. Sadly, these complexities have caused many international companies to pull out. 

The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

Timothy Snyder

This seemed to be a timely book as I was traveling to Ukraine. I am glad I read it - Snyder is chilling in his assessment of the current state of US politics and the breadth of Russia's influence. In addition, I - probably along with most Americans - have always lacked clarity about what was happening in Crimea and Ukraine generally around 2014. Snyder lays out the facts and analyzes. The first part of the book is rather dull - Snyder is obsessed with classifying the world and its political systems by his theory of political philosophy, which I found to be boring though accurate enough. The second half is much more interesting - it brings to light the war in Ukraine and Russia's attempt to mold such a conflict with its twist. Putin's use of oligarchs, corruption and cyber capabilities is bringing down democracies around the globe, and I don't think his philosophy is widely understood, which may have consequences as we have a President who refuses to condemn Putin's actions. 

The Culture Map

Erin Meyer

This author works internationally and consults for businesses with global clients, so has a robust perspective on how to manage these cultures, and all their quirks, harmoniously. She measures 8 attributes where the different cultures are put on a continuum, from the way they disagree with each other in meetings to the way hierarchy is followed in organizational structure. This book is not a page turner and is not even necessarily well written but does make worthwhile points on the subject of cross-cultural business. For example, she writes of the way Americans precede their negative comments with 2-3 positive comments, but for some cultures who believe in direct feedback, they take this holistic approach as overwhelmingly positive, often missing the hidden message in the fourth piece of feedback that is the criticism. The book describes the chaos that can ensue from these types of cultural misunderstandings but gives no real solution other than saying the best solution is simply acknowledging these differences. 

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Carmine Gallo

This book wasn't exactly a page turner, but how many instructive development books are? Gallo dives into the rabbit hole of public speaking - its misconceptions and its unwritten rules. By studying those who created the most watched TED talks and her experience coaching executives, she compiles lessons on how to engage audiences. You could probably glean the lessons by watching enough renowned TED talks, but Gallo spells it out for you. Not my favorite book by any stretch but not a bad book - would recommend if you speak in public or give presentations within a company often. 

Make Your Bed

Admiral William McRaven (ret.) 

The only reason this is slotted last is its length. It is an expanded version of Adm. McRaven's viral graduation speech at the University of Texas. 

It is a short motivational book outlining ten pillars of wisdom. It has occasional humor, and who doesn't love a good anecdote of BUDS training? I enjoyed it, and it's an easy finish in a day. Something short and succinct but still substantive.  

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War

Joe Bageant

I figured with a title like this one, Bageant would produce a humorous, self deprecating book about his life in a working class town. I was misguided. Bageant's book is a thinly veiled attempt to classify himself as "one of them" while deeming everyone in the town around him to stupid to read, write, think, or otherwise function as a productive or civilized member of society. This book was recommended from Amazon after I read Hillbilly Elegy, but its similarities stop at the fact that they're both books written about working class Appalachian towns. Bageant is a condescending leftist, and he seems to be genuinely satisfied disparaging those around him for everything from their Christian schools to their inability to afford higher education. To give credit, there are a few parts of the book I do appreciate, particularly his insight on how guns became embedded in Southern working class culture. This was also written before anyone was mentioning the word "populism" and before people were talking about "class wars." I think that's about all the credit this book deserves - though I was sick of his relentless criticism on page 50, I forced myself to finish and read the next 227 pages, and it never got any better.