5 Books That Changed My Mind
If you know me at all, you know that I love books and I love reading. My favorite show as a kid was Reading Rainbow. I would create stories that I wanted to send into the show, in the hopes that one of them would be read on an episode. That never happened, but I think it highlights how much I have enjoyed both reading and writing from early on in my life.
Like many, I have a never ending list of books to read and I constantly am buying new books when I have a shelf full of books that I haven’t opened yet. You probably don’t need to add any to your list, but when I get asked for book suggestions, I have a handful that I happily recommend. These are not fiction books (to be honest, I rarely read fiction books), but I found them to be just as engaging and hard to put down as any good fiction book. These books challenged my perspectives and, in the end, changed my mind. I didn’t include the Bible on this list, even though it was the one book that actually changed my life, because in reality that is the only book anyone needs. But here are a few books that gave me a fresh perspective on otherwise tough topics.
The Dictators Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
written by Bruce Bueno de Mesquite and Alastair Smith this book completely flipped the way I understood politics, foreign policy and foreign aid. It gives depth and understanding to the phrase, “never let a crisis go to waste” and will puts almost everything that involves politicians, politics, and even business into perspective. For those who don’t have a naive view of politics, like I did in my early twenties, you may not find the book to be that earth shattering. But for me, who thought that all politicians in democratic republics were out for the good will of all, it rattled my world. For anyone interested - even slightly - in politics, this is a must read.
The Quest for Cosmic Justice
written by Thomas Sowell, one of my favorite thinkers and economists. He deserves much more public adoration than he currently receives. Regardless, anyone who claims to be a champion for social justice absolutely needs to read this book and anyone who wants to understand the claims of social justice needs to read this book. From the preface: “The heady rush of rhetoric and visions are the stuff of everyday politics and everyday media discussion. That makes it all the more important that, at some point, we step back and examine what it all means underneath the froth and glitter. This book is an attempt to do that.” And it achieves its goal. Highly recommend!
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
written by Hannah Arendt. Arendt is another one of my favorite thinkers. She is, and was, one of the more controversial intellectuals of the 60s. If you want to know why she was so controversial, look no further than this book. Arendt published what is now this book as a series of articles in The New Yorker as a report on Eichmann’s trial. In the introduction of the Penguin edition, Amos Elon states, “Three years after the publication of the book, people were still bitterly divided over it. No book within living memory elicited similar passions.” For context, Arendt was Jewish and her work stirred up a lot of anger amongst the Jewish community. To understand why, I suggest reading the book! Even if you don’t care about the controversy, but you enjoy true crime or trial documentaries, I am sure you’ll be able to enjoy this book since it was written to report on one of the most historic trials in modern history.
Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route
written by Saidiya Hartman. Hartmann shares her journey to Africa, where she was hoping to find her home, in conjunction with retracing the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Hartman mixes history with personal memoir. She highlights her personal struggles of coming to terms with the reality of the trip (that didn’t exactly go as she had hoped) with the truth behind how the slave trade impacted African families and communities. To be completely honest, I probably wouldn’t have picked this book up on my own. I was required to read this for a graduate history class, but I am glad that I did. I think it does a wonderful job at discussing the complexities of dealing with one’s own past, the bitter truths of history, and the realities of today. As a supplement to this book, which more confirmed my thoughts than changed them, I would also suggest reading Shelby Steele’s Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country, particularly Chapter 6 titled “Characterological Evil.” Steele discusses his journey to Africa in the late 1960’s with the same intentions as Hartman’s in mind. Hartman’s book makes it on this list, because she provided another perspective I hadn’t read before.
Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory
written by David W. Blight. This is a 395 paged book that you probably won’t finish in a weekend. Now you could prove me wrong, but what made this book so interesting to me, is its focus on the politics of memory. Specifically, as the title states, how the United States healed from the Civil War despite not achieving justice. Aside from the political drama of the post-Civil War era, this book highlights how modern day political rhetoric leads people to believe falsities about the past. Truths that don’t get much airtime, because if they did, the modern day talking points would quickly dissolve. Did you know that it was Republicans that wanted to end slavery? Did you know that it was Democrats that brought about Jim Crow laws and didn’t want Blacks voting in elections? Did you know that after the Civil War the presidential election was hotly contested and it all came down to what the legislative branch did in order to try and maintain order? There is so much I learned about American politics, and history, from this book that it made me look at modern American politics differently. That’s why you’ll also find this book on my list and why I recommend checking it out!
If you happen to pick up ones of these books - or you have read one already - tell me what you think!