10 Favorite Books From a Weird Year

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Issue 41 | December 30, 2020 | 10 Favorite Books From a Weird Year

In a year like no other, of course our reading habits hit some twists and turns. Perhaps you can relate to my experience; I struggled to read in the most stressful periods of the pandemic

What a terrible shame though – reading is an enormously effective way to reduce stress! In fact, a 2009 study found that it can lower stress by about 68%, faster and further than drinking a cup of hot tea or listening to music.

But here’s the caveat – it only works if the reading is enjoyable to you. No guilt-laden trudging through the latest ‘literary triumph’ that doesn’t appeal. If an oral history of Dazed and Confused lights your fire, that’s the only reading worth your time. Alright, alright, alright!

Hunter-gatherers: The interest that got me reading in 2020
What roped me back into reading was actually pandemic-inspired. When my family’s normal social connections suddenly shut down, I got very curious about the social structures of humans ‘in the wild’ – i.e. before civilization and in present-day hunter-gatherer societies.

I took a dive into anthropology and any hunter-gatherer related books I could find. I wound up learning all manner of fascinating things that changed my thinking about some aspects of child-rearing, eating habits, exercise, work and other daily activities, and especially the human need for company and connection.

Here’s my top 5 from that topic. Call me if you want the complete hunter-gatherer reading list!

1. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. Harari is an Israeli history professor who wanted to write a complete history of humans – and here it is. It’s a page-turner which crams in a full narrative of humanity from our evolutionary origins to our globalizing present. I didn’t agree with all of his conclusions, but I think he astutely pegs that, like consolidating mergers among companies, our societies are on a giant trajectory of merging progressively to one super-unit.
2. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. McDougall is a journalist with a lighthearted storytelling style. I’m not a long-distance runner and never, ever plan to be, but this story is super interesting. McDougall spends time with a traditional tribal society of epic long-distance runners, and he carefully observes the mismatches between modern living and the norms of pre-civilization living. He also wrote a fun book about adopting a deeply anxious, damaged donkey and rehabbing him to participate in a crazy donkeys-and-humans race.
3. Tribe by Sebastian Junger. This book comes at our evolutionary roots from the perspective of veterans returning to society from active warzones. Thanks to our origins of living and surviving only with the deep connection to a tribe, we still harbor the longing for belonging. It gave me a new perspective on the toxic side of emphasizing personal identity and individual success in modern America especially.
4. The Old Way by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. Thomas was a teenager in the 1950s when her father took the family on an anthropological journey to live with the Kalahari Bushmen. She recounts in wonderful detail the way of life among their hunter-gatherer hosts. It’s an easy read, like a friend sharing her most interesting observations. After reading, I had some new context for relationships and the rhythms of family life. For the dog lovers out there, I also enjoyed Thomas’s more popular book about dog behavior called The Hidden Life of Dogs.
5. Affluence Without Abundance by James Suzman. Suzman writes a lot about work, and you may have seen his recent FT piece about how traditional societies only work about 15 hours per week. Sounds marvelous! In this book, Suzman focuses on how the definition of ‘enough’ drives the workload of traditional people – and surprise – they reach the ‘enough’ point far before we do, partly because the status of ownership is deeply frowned upon. This custom enforces equality – equal contribution and equal consumption – across a tribal group. Another fascinating plunge into the day-to-day life of traditional tribal people! 

Worthy fiction
I always struggle to find fiction that I like enough to read all the way through. I counted at least five major novels this year that I got halfway through before ditching, forgotten, on a bookshelf. Here’s the three that I found thrilling in 2020:

6. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This is a Pulitzer winner from the 1930s and the story absolutely stands the test of time. Buck writes of a farming family in pre-revolution China, their struggles and triumphs through the years, and the changes in their family over a generation. I loved it!
7. Hatchet by Gary Paulson. I actually plucked this right out of my third-grader’s school assignments (don’t worry – I gave it back!). After hearing that lots of friends read this Newbery winner in their school days, I figured it was worth the time. Right on theme – it’s a survival story, a modern teenager forced to become a hunter-gatherer overnight. It inspired me to put a few more Newbery winners on my 2021 reading list!
8. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni. I read this one before the pandemic. It’s about a guy who is born with a genetic condition that gives him red pupils, for which he is bullied and discriminated against. He survives his challenges only to face an enormous moral decision relating to his childhood bully later in adulthood. Not the most lighthearted read, but it was a good story and a unique reflection on what it means to not belong, also a point on theme for my anthropology interests later in the year.

A productivity shift
I love fresh thinking about productivity and work, and one book I read this year has really stuck with me:

9. Deep Work by Cal Newport. Newport tackles a problem that we all cope with in modern work – distraction. Given the value that arises from true focus, it’s worth our time to hone the practice of focusing intensely. This book gives concrete tips that I used all year long. It also shifted my thinking from task-oriented (have to clean out the shed) to time-oriented (I will spend 25 uninterrupted minutes cleaning as much as I can from the shed). Ever optimistic about how much I can do in a day, this shift has helped me manage my time and expectations more realistically.

A rollicking memoir
Don’t miss this easy read:

10. A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost. Jost is a lead writer at SNL, married to Scarlett Johansson, and really fun to spend 15 chapters with. Do yourself a favor and grab this before your next vacation or break.

Happy New Year to you all, and happy reading in 2021! Thank you for your business in 2020!