Books

A list of Book Reviews.

This is a collection of Book Reviews that I've done over the years. To me, why you like/don't like something is more important than whether you like it, at least for others to get an understanding on wether they might like it or not, as they might not have the same currency as I do.

ℹ️ Info

~ Aristotle Sabouni

Books • [30 items]

10 Books that Screwed Up the World
This discusses the origins of the failed philosophies that influenced the far left. Most of the left aren't deep thinkers on history/philosophy, but they did get exposed to false belief systems. These are some of the false beliefs of the intellectual left that lead to the cascading failures of their ideology on the follower left.

A Promised Land
The least accomplished President in my lifetime had another ghostwriter (Bill Ayers?) complete his 768-page alternate-reality fan-fiction book pretending to be an autobiographical memoir. The 3rd in the series of self-worship, and he's promising volume 2 in this set is still coming.

Breaking History: A White House Memoir
A good listen on Jared (Trump's Son-in-Law) accomplishments and view of the Whitehouse. Definitely a lot better than leftist pandering/grudge books, that used drama to fluff up book sales. But like many books, it spins a yarn that, "without me, things would have been worse". Especially, with the media bias against Jared/Trump.

Bullies (Book)
Decent read on how the Left (Obama and allies) bully the opposition while pretending to oppose bullying. In truth, they oppose conservatives/Republicans and will use every tool at their disposal, and one of their strongest tools in the culture war, is the media and collectivism to intimidate (bully) and lie about the other side.

Capital in the 21st Century
Economists can't agree on anything, but one thing that 80% of economists do agree on: that Piketty's r>g and is the cause of rising income inequality, is just wrong.

City of Lies
“City of Lies” by Ramita Navai. Ramita is a bit of a Social Justice Warrior, traveling the world and telling you what's wrong with it. Tehran, Iran was seen through that lens. Still, it is very interesting vignettes that point out a lot of the hypocrisy and contradictions, as any culture would look to "outsiders". So biased, but definitely worth the read.

Countdown to Zero Day
My knowledge runs pretty deep into cyber-security, and I loved the book, even I wanted it a bit more technical in some areas and a bit tighter overall. Definitely a good book for overview on how these hacks and attacks become more common. And for the future history of the first publicly visible shots fired in cyber-warfare.

Fossil Future
"Fossil Future" focuses on the role of fossil fuels in shaping the future and the ethics around advocating for them. This is a relevant and important topic, as fossil fuels have been the primary source of energy for the world for many decades and continue to play a significant role in shaping our economies and societies.

Guide to Widowing
After 32 years with the "love of my life", I got to join the worst club ever: the Widow's Club. My life experiences and situation let me cope with it better than most, magnified by me diving into the pain/grief, and learning everything I could on the topic. After participating in dozens of forums, helping others, participating in some podcasts, I decided to summarize what I could in this book.

What Happened?
Hillary's book was a spiteful, divisive, finger-pointing-fest. It was everyone else's fault but her. Fake apologies like, I should have campaigned harder, or it was her fault that others didn't understand how brilliant she was, and so on. But it was as tone deaf as her campaign, and it was an attempt to gaslight anyone that would question her version of events.

Hillbilly Elegy (Book)
JD Vance wrote about Appalachian values, his Kentucky family, and growing up in Middletown, Ohio. Some of it is personal about his family's struggles, and a lot of it is about how his issues were the socioeconomic and cultural norms for many in either the Appalachians or Rust Belt working class.

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
Scott Adams (Dilbert) has a fun way of looking at the world. "How to fail at almost everything and win big" was an enjoyable set of vignettes that talked about overcoming adversity (his focal dystonia and spasmodic dysphonia), his ideas of implementing improvement (instead of just goals).

Irreversible Damage
Despite not having an "agenda" against trans, the facts are shocking and offensive to the Woke Mob that doesn't like what the facts and what the science shows. Since the facts aren't on their side, they attack Abigail, her book, and anyone that doesn't denounce it vehemently.

Islam: A Short History
The book by the British writer Karen Armstrong, former Roman Catholic nun and author of popular books about the history of religion. Her book tries to offer context and corrections about the negative stereotypes: extreme faith that promotes authoritarian government, female oppression, civil war, and terrorism. While some of that reputation is earned, it's not always for the reasons people think.

The Jungle
While it was debunked at the time, pro-Government types used this book as an excuse to create the precursor to the FDA, which has become a boondoggle that's killed or hurt more people than it has ever helped. But it's a lot easier to convince the gullible than it ever is to de-program them.

Liberation Trilogy
Rick Atkinson won the Pulitzer, and his writing is quite good. What he's done is pieced the battles together not just from historical accounts, but from personal letters of those involved, to tell many very individual views of the war. (An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle, The Guns at last light).

Lies the Government told you
I enjoyed the book, as while Napolitano is biasd Libertarian, so am I. A lot of it was rehash, and he doesn't dwell on the other sides perspectives on things. But he has lots of examples of real history, and the fictions we're told by teachers, media, and politicians on the left.

Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution
Disclosure: I love the "Politically Incorrect Guide's"... and Kevin Gutzman is a FB friend. So I went in a bit biased. But on a piece like this, even if you're a history buff, and know 2/3rds of it, there are going to be lots of new nuggets or spins that you'll enjoy. It certainly was for me.

Predictably Irrational
Fun book into what the author coins as Behavioral Economics -- which amusingly blurs psychological behavior (and human irrationality) with economics, and looks at how people behave, when they aren't behaving rationally. Which isn't really economics... but amusing nonetheless.

Road to Serfdom
Nobel Economist details the origins of leftist movements: what motivates them, and how does it play out. More sterile and academic than Orwell's 1984, but also looking at causes and methods more than just outcomes. A must read for anyone wanting to have an informed opinion on the topic of Capitalism or the leftist ideologies (Communism, Socialism, Fascism).

The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
Jonah Goldberg covered this ground better in "Liberal Fascism", but it is still a readable and interesting book with Dinesh's own style and observation. What you'll get out of it is inversely related to how much you already know about the History of the American left.

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story
This is a really good book about a spoiled girl from North Korea, who selfishly and irresponsibly escapes from North Korea, and gets astonishingly lucky in the whole process. Then creates a better life for herself, convinces her family to leave, and burns down any opportunity for them to stay or go back to the oppressive regime.

The Population Bomb
Marxist-sponsored hippie environmentalists re-invented the Malthusian catastrophe as "The Population Bomb". This suicide cult believed that if we don't give the government supreme power to enact compulsory population control, then there would be mass starvation and war by the early 1980s. It didn't happen. But they assure us that Marxism is the only cure for what's coming any day now.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck
After you read a few dozen self-help books, they all seem to look alike with just a different schtick. After the first chapter beat the title into the ground, it gets interesting with some brilliant anecdotes about perspective, and I walked away quite happy having read/listened to it.

The Trayvon Hoax (2019)
Trayvon was a drug-dealing thug that ambushed a Latino guy, and was beating the shit out of him, when he was shot in self-defense... and not some innocent tween shot for wearing a hoodie. This goes on to also expose that Rachel Jeantel was not Trayvon's real girlfriend (Diamond Eugene), and the prosecutors were either incompetent or perpetrated the fraud out of malice.

The Triumph of Injustice
In a follow-up to Saez's first fraud, He and Gabriel Zucman (two Berkeley polemics) flim-flam the gullible with anti-Economics called "How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay". They seem to not understand the difference between tax rate versus effective tax rate to pretend that the rich are paying less than the poor in taxes.

The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy

It's a fascinating, well-researched, disection of the myths and propaganda that happened for the general public. It turns out McCarthy's name should remain synonymous with libelous witch hunts, not because he was the perpetrator of them, but the victim of them. McCarty was the victim of McCarthyism, not the perpetrator. FDR, Truman, the media, and our education system have all distorted what happened and why.

Think like a Freak
A lot of it is confirmation bias: I already think like a freak (much of the time), so most of their stories were snippets of things I'd read, or ways that I try to approach problems, or ways I like to think. But I still enjoy it, and there's always a few tidbits of new in there.

What is a Woman?
A 2022 documentary about gender and transgender issues by Matt Walsh / Daily Wire..

Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter
It's very interesting/enlightening on analyzing how persuasion works. But it's also a fairly cynical analysis of people's willingness to gobble down confirmation bias.

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