As much as I hate the word “content” (since it is so generic), it is true that social media is a place for sharing information and debating topics.
There are times when you might struggle to come up with enough content to share, but these insightful books are full of new material you can quote and discuss. These are my favorite books of the last few weeks and months.
1. The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All―But There Is a Solution
If X (formerly Twitter) is known for one thing, it is cancel culture. We know how it works — someone says or does something stupid, and then everyone pounces. This book argues that we sometimes get our facts wrong, and that we rarely engage in healthy, fruitful dialog.
2. Making It So: A Memoir
Patrick Stewart is one of my favorite actors, and his autobiography is a revelation. He is at turns open and honest about his failures, celebratory about his remarkable successes, and charmingly home-spun when it comes to what it’s like to be Captain Picard.
3. Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will
Another highly quotable book makes the point that we all lack free will. As if that isn’t controversial enough, the author goes on to explain that we can actually get along even with this knowledge — that we are primarily products of science and emotion.
4. Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
Any book with so many maps at the front of the book is going to be detailed and expansive. Revolutionary Spring is highly quotable because of the rich history and political discord of this revolutionary time period, running from 1848 to 1849.
5. Germany 1923: Hyperinflation, Hitler’s Putsch, and Democracy in Crisis
Another book that takes a look at one specific epoch of time, Germany 1923 is about the economics of invasion. This detailed account starts by explaining how rampant inflation led to unrest and also the rise of a magnetized and malevolent figure named Adolf Hitler.
6. Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World
Emperor of Rome would have been boring and stale if it just recounted the lives of the Roman emperors one by one. Instead, it does the near impossible: The book explains why the emperors even existed and even how the empire was structured, told with wit and humor.
7. The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City’s Soul
Non-fiction books provide plenty of quotable material, mostly because the topics are so richly explained. This historical account of the Great Chicago Fire reveals details most of us have never heard before, including how the conflagration even started.
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