Nadia Zhuk's Blog

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What a hectic summer it was… So much has changed in my life, most importantly, I’ve moved from Kraków to London, all my usual habits have been disrupted, and it’s been harder than usual to find long uninterrupted periods of time for thoughtful reading. True, when you are overwhelmed by visual and intellectual stimuli, reading becomes more of a challenge, and the kinds of books you can process change as well...

Still, I read some great books during these months, some of which will probably have a lasting influence on me, and perhaps on you as well.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

What a masterpiece! If you have time to read just one novel by Dickens, I think this is the best one. You get all that Dickens is famous for: child labor, unfairness, romance, robbery and murder, crushing poverty and unimaginable cruelty… It is a difficult book to read, and so much of the pain and misery is hidden behind Dickens’s trademark sarcasm and irony, but my heart quite literally hurt for little Oliver when I was reading this story. The plot is, well, as with many Dickens’ novels, complex, but also easy to guess from some point, and I sometimes found myself rolling my eyes at yet another weird “coincidence” that happened in the book. I wonder whether this is the issue with the book or rather with me: after thousands of hours of movies and series I’ve watched, I’m probably more cynical and jaded than Dickens’ contemporaries who used to clamor for each chapter of Oliver Twist. Still, a definite must-read and a perfect example of what a great novel should be like.

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

My new manager mentioned this book as one that has made an impression on him, and I got curious. I’m glad I did. The book resonated with me on so many levels and also made me question some of the ways I approach work and cooperation with others. The author talks about the importance of preparation, sweating the small details, preparing for the worst, and always treating your job with the utmost seriousness, as if your life depended on how prepared you were (as is the case with astronauts). I bookmarked many of the tips given in the book, most notably, the idea of being a zero in a new work environment (i.e. being reasonably competent but not trying to show off and prove your superiority). This is hands down one of the best career (and relationships) books I’ve read, and it is also a space book, which I guess is an added bonus.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Here is a weird story. I was staying at an airbnb that had a decent library. While I was browsing the books and thinking of which one to pick up, I was for some reason compelled to pick up this book by an author who I wasn’t familiar with. Oh man, the next few days were a blur… I was so lost in the story that I was impatient to get through an apartment viewing so that I could get back on the tube and continue reading. With a book like this no commute seems too long, and you are completely immersed in the story. It is a brutally honest book, and utterly politically incorrect. It is unapologetic about Islam and particularly its treatment of women. It wasn’t exactly news to me, but awful things like that still shake you to the core.

The story in the book wraps up around 2003, when Taliban had been mostly subdued by Americans, with the main characters looking into the future of Afghanistan with hope. We all know how this hope was crushed. A few days after I finished the book, Taliban took control of Afghanistan…

I also picked up The Kite Runner, which was an equally strong read. Very impressed by Hosseini’s storytelling. Who else writes like him? Let me know in the comments.

Life in the Fasting Lane: The Essential Guide to Making Intermittent Fasting Simple, Sustainable, and Enjoyable by Jason Fung

I got on the fasting lane almost three months ago, and the lifestyle change has been transforming. I lost a lot of weight without much effort, I gained more mental clarity, got rid of mood swings, and also, it seems like I’ve massively increased my immunity. I would recommend this book to anyone who’d like to learn more about fasting, its benefits and also the correct way to do it. Since fasting and low carb diets go hand in hand, I also recommend Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet by Jimmy Moore. Jimmy is a legend in this space, and I’ve learned a lot about low carb from this book and also from his podcast.

I started fasting without any preparation, and this made the whole thing unnecessarily difficult. If I was starting over, I would probably read a few books to make the process easier on my body and my mental health. Then again, if I started reading books, I might have never taken the plunge and stopped stuffing myself. Who knows?

As always, I hope you will enjoy some of the books I have recommended, but most importantly, I hope you continue reading anything that spikes your interest. Building up a reading habit is truly one of the best things you can do for yourself and your future.

And, if you are in London and would love to meet up, let me know by replying to this email.

Happy reading,

Nadia.

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In the past I used to stress out about all the books I still had to read and watched my “to-read” shelf grow, with increasing horror. I will never get to read all of this, I thought, and the more books I read, the more I still had left to read. Or so it seemed.

Not sure exactly when this shift happened, but now I think about all the unread books with joyful anticipation. I see years of happy reading in front of me, and chances are some of my favorite books are among those I haven’t even heard of yet. Isn’t it exciting?

With so many great books out there how can we ever feel bored? Or lonely, for that matter.

Emma by Jane Austen

Last month I tried (and failed) to read “Infinite Jest”, and as often happens when I interact with post-post-modernist literature, the pendulum swings back and I have to urgently read something as “normal” as possible, and what can be more normal and more linear than Jane Austen? I went with “Emma” this time because I’ve seen it described as “the best English novel ever written,” and yes, I have to admit it is exceedingly wonderful. On the one hand, I feel slightly ridiculous reading about people obsessing about matchmaking when the world is on fire and come on, who cares about all of this in 2021... On the other hand, I understand full well that this exact quality of being “outside the world” is something that makes Jane Austen not less, but more popular and more relevant with time. Austen herself lived through some turbulent times in British history, but her books give us a glimpse of a different, seemingly tranquil world, where someone’s word or gesture could be mulled about for weeks. There is calmness and beauty in the world that Austen captured as it was in that exact moment, and then that world disappeared without much of a way to remember it, but for books like this. I wonder who is capturing the world we live in and how will future generation learn about our lives and our loves...

This is an exquisite, beautifully written book, where simultaneously much and nothing happens, which is so very true of our lives as well, is it not? Most of what happens to us is mundane, but mundane is also meaningful, especially if it happens daily: it is essentially what life is made of.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson

I got on Naval Ravikant’s fandom bandwagon only a month ago, and how I wish I learned more about him and his philosophy earlier! It is not that he has an especially unique philosophy or that I’m hooked either on buddhism or stoicism (not really), but the way he patched all of the different thought traditions together with his own life experience into a way of thinking that is uniquely his own, made a strong impression on me. Naval is a person who is very successful but also really smart, not in a superficial kind of way, but someone who has thought deeply about many issues, and his depth shows in everything he says and writes.

I’m nowhere near the peace and wisdom that Naval exudes, I’m still anxious and angry way too often, and the pain and evil of human existence is still too often overwhelming for me, but I felt more hope when reading Naval’s thoughts than I felt in a while.

Alternatively, you can listen to Naval’s interview on The Tim Ferris Show, the 2-hour podcast is well worth your time.

Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper

Reading this book about the early years of bitcoin helped me realize why it has been hard for me to get truly excited about this technology for a while (apart from the obvious reason of the underlying tech being too complex for me to understand): it felt too abstract and too out of touch with the world I lived in. Thanks to this book, I saw the people behind this amazing technology, I learned their stories, I understood their hopes and their ambitions much better, and I got inspired by the underlying ideas of personal liberty and the potential blockchain has for one day freeing people from the everpresent boot of the state. I wonder what the future will bring for this technology, and I’m excited (and scared) to live through times like ours, when authoritarianism seems to be on the march (as it tends to do, more or less always).

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal

It might not be the most well-written self-help book, but definitely an important one. I’ve been worried about my diminishing attention span for years, and although building strong reading habits has helped me stave off the process of my brain turning into mush, I still find myself distracted much more than I care to admit. I know I’m not living the life I could be living and squandering what little energy I have each day on meaningless doom scrolling, notifications, slack emojis, and all the bullshit that modern life increasingly consists of. 

If you feel the same way, I think “Indistractable” can be a useful tool for starting the process of controlling your attention and ultimately controlling your life. Note: it is just a start. It’s not like my life completely changed the moment I finished this book, not really. I’ve tried adopting some of the tips described in it, and some worked for me, many didn’t, but most importantly, I’ve become more aware of how awful I’m with battling distractions. I guess time will show how much of what the book teaches will stick with me. Let me know what you think if you decide to read it.

The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman

If you grew up in the former USSR like I did, you are likely to have been brought up with mental models about careers that are fully out of whack with reality. I was completely unprepared for starting a career or in general making something of myself after finishing high school, and I’m still learning my ropes at 29. This book is something I would love to have read at 20, when I was so lost and uninformed… Your career can indeed be seen as a startup, iterated on, managed and invested in a more structured way. It’s difficult to be successful, but also it is not as difficult as we are taught to believe. There are tricks you can use to hack your way through life, and this book is full of very, very useful advice and actionable tips. A must-read.

Quite a few new people joined my reading list last month: welcome, and I’m glad you have read this far. I hope you found something that piqued your interest in this newsletter. If not, feel free to browse through previous editions or reply to this email to ask me for a book recommendations. I’ll be glad to help.

If you have been reading this newsletter for a while and have benefited from it, may I please ask that you share it with someone who is also a reader. Newsletters are hard to grow, and it will mean a lot to me if you took a few minutes to spread the word. Thank you ❤️

Happy reading,

Nadia.

P.S. If you don’t know any readers, you can still thank me by buying me a coffee or purchasing my book (readers seem to like it a lot).

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“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”

— George Orwell, 1984

Like many of you, I’ve waited for that awful winter to end, for the current situation to resolve itself, and for things to go back to “normal.” I now find myself thinking that there is no “normal” to go back to, or rather that the “normal” we are now being sold doesn’t look like anything I would ever call “normal.” If you feel this way, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not… then hooray, enjoy the fun and freedom (while they last.)

Spring of 2021 for me was a period of grief for the lost way of life. I was reading a lot but seldom had the desire to write about what I read. This edition of the newsletter is a selection of some of the books that made an influence on me during these last couple of months. It’s a weird collection of books, but I hope you’ll find something you like.

1984 by George Orwell

There is probably no year when reading 1984 doesn’t scare you, but in 2021 re-reading this book was especially terrifying. I guess I woke up only this year and found myself living in the world where we, supposedly free people, have rapidly traded in all of our freedoms for the false promise of security — all without firing a metaphorical shot. The world where the truth is always changing, and where the science deniers of yesterday are the experts of today. How do we go on in this world? How do we fix it? Why did we allow this to happen and what else will we allow to happen? It’s scary to ponder these questions.

Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life by Jordan B. Peterson

I’ve become a slightly better-functioning human being thanks to Jordan Peterson's books, and I am eternally grateful for that. I've learned more about pain, suffering, happiness, and love. The lessons Peterson teaches are very uncomfortable, but they are also true, and that is the secret to his success. That is also the secret to why people hate him that much or love him that much, and it is hard to stay indifferent to what he says if you really listen, and you need to listen. You need to listen to finally hear someone tell you the hard, sad facts about the cruelty of the world and the people in it, and why we are all so unhappy, and that perhaps existence doesn't have to be that difficult, though it certainly will be tough no matter how hard you try to avoid reality.

Nomad Capitalist by Andrew Henderson

This is a must-read for anyone who would like to grow their wealth, diminish their financial risks and increase their freedom.

I’m not new to the ideas described by the author, so I didn’t expect to be influenced by the book in any significant way. After all, I already knew much of what Henderson had to say and agreed with his general approach to life. I’ve tried to go where I’m treated best, and I’ve tried not to rely on governments to take care of me or my family.

Curiously enough, the book left a strong impression on me and kind of shook me. It helped me see that despite some of my efforts to diminish my dependence on just one government and just one financial system, I still haven’t done what I should have done to diminish my financial risks or grow my wealth.

If you are worried about your financial future or feel like the country you are currently living in is not treating your well, this book might give you some ideas about improving your situation. It’s an uncomfortable read, but very necessary, now more than ever.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

This was one of my favorite books when I was growing up, and I was scared to re-read it now: I was afraid I would hate the book and one more memory of my adolescence will be ruined (as happened with “Thorn Birds.”)

Well, I loved “Gone with the Wind.” The only thing I hated was the fact that the novel was racist as fuck, with not some, but all major white characters being unabashedly racist, and even the omnipotent narrator’s voice being racist. It’s a prime example of Anti-Tom literature, and the racism of it oozes out of every chapter, there is no ignoring it.

Other than that, it’s hands down one of the best-written historical novels I’ve read so far. It’s so readable that I could easily spend hours on it without noticing. The characters are vivid and truly lifelike. Once you read about them, you will never forget their stories, just as I have had their images in my memory for more than a decade. In contrast to many other war epics, this novel is fast-paced, gripping, and heart-wrenching. Honestly, I’ve never been able to care that much for Andrey Bolkonsky as I cared for Rhett Butler.

I realize the movie and the book will probably be canceled and purged from the world at some point. In my opinion, we should study such books, not ban them, so as to understand how millions lived under that disgusting system, how they viewed it, why they fought the war to maintain states’ rights, I mean slavery, how their lives changed during and after the war. It’s a very, very uncomfortable book to read, but that’s one of the reasons it’s so great. True art is not supposed to be easy to digest.

If you’ve never read it, I envy you. This might be the best 1,400 pages of historical fiction you’ll ever get to read. 

I also re-read “Brave New World” this week. It feels weird to recommend a classic book like this, but I’m sure at least some of you haven’t read it yet. You should. If you read it, but only in high school, re-read it now.

That’s all from my side. I really shouldn’t take such long breaks from writing this newsletter: hitting “publish” gets too nerve-racking after a while.

Happy reading,

Nadia.

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

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Exactly a year ago I sent out the first edition of Nadia’s Reading List Email. Initially, I saw the newsletter as a way to help people discover unknown books that were worth their time. Along the way, I realized that I wasn’t as well-read as I would have liked to believe and there were whole swathes of classical books that I’ve never even heard of, so it would probably be wise to read the famous great books before–or in parallel–to the unknown great books.

So the newsletter naturally followed the changes in my reading habits and became a mix of classical fiction and relatively unknown non-fiction books on topics that I was interested in. This year it will likely continue in this direction. I don’t plan to read 100 books in 2021, but I’ll still probably read a lot: I built up some pretty strong reading habits last year.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

This year I was lucky to spend two weeks of my winter holidays in Paris. Seeing how borders are all closing down again all over the world, it seems like a miracle that just a few weeks ago I was walking down the streets of one of my favorite places.

The thing about Paris is that when you have to leave it, you want to keep the memory of it alive for as long as possible, and these memories sustain you between your visits. This time I started binge-watching French movies and finally read “A Moveable Feast.”

It's hard to put in words just how much I loved this book, and if I could give more than five stars, I would. Every sentence, every passage of it was perfect, it was such a joy to savor each word. I've never been that impressed with Hemingway's writing before (he is obviously a great writer, but all the bullfighting and the violent imagery of some other books used to put me off). In this book, Hemingway's genius shines through in every line. It's undeniable.

And Paris, of course, is more than a perfect backdrop for the story, it's an integral part of it. A perfect city that is always worth it.

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

I have only recently discovered Steinbeck as an author, but so far I’ve been impressed by his writing. This book examines the issues of morality, of right and wrong, and whether it is still worth being a good person when everyone around you is crooked. Can you steal or kill if nobody is looking and you are absolutely sure you won’t be caught? 

Not a terribly original question, but with a good plot, vivid characters, clever references, “The Winter of Our Discontent” makes for an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose, James A. Lindsay

A solid intro to the topic of postmodernism for those uninitiated.

They say you must know what your ideological opponents are thinking to defeat them, and this is definitely a must-read for anyone who thinks Western civilization and the ideas of classical liberalism are worth preserving. I would also recommend it to anyone who doesn't really care about politics but has been living with this nagging feeling that something is out of whack and the world has gone insane in recent years. For instance, this book will help if you are wondering why people are getting "canceled" and words are being purged. A lot will start to make sense after you read it.

How much I wish I could laugh all of it off as the self-perpetuating mumbo jumbo that it is... Sadly, the postmodern theory is so pervasive and so destructive that it shouldn't merely be laughed off. It should be studied, recognized, and challenged, i.e. treated just like any other idealogy should. This book is definitely a step in the right direction.

I also read “The Scarlett Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have mixed feelings about the book. I felt that it was too drawn out to be truly captivating, but it was still fairly interesting and I finished it in just three days. Readers also often complain about the old-fashioned writing style, but I had no trouble getting used to it, and thou won't hast problems either. I learned a lot about the reality of the Puritan way of life in 17th century Boston, so from a strictly historical and cultural point of view, the book is definitely a must-read, though I don’t see myself re-reading it. 

 

February promises some great reads as well, I brought “The Lord of The Flies” from the library along with “Gone with the Wind”, so that’s got to be… interesting 🤔

What are you planning to read?

Happy reading,

Nadia.

In December 2019 I decided to take my yearly reading challenge up a notch and read 100 books in 2020. It seemed like a crazy idea back then. Yet, I managed to read 100 books last year. It was tough but definitely doable.

A hundred books is a nice, round, and slightly ridiculous reading goal. It made for perfect water cooler conversation (in the world where water coolers existed). When you tell people you plan to read 100 books this year, their eyes widen in disbelief, their jaws drop slightly. It’s a marvelous sight.

Since I started being public about my challenge, people have often asked me how I managed to read so much. They wanted to know my secret.

Spoiler: there is no secret, but there are tips that will help you read more, much more.

1. Make more time for reading

When I say I read so much, people usually assume that I either speed read or read really short books (yeah, say it to a 1,000-page biography of Napoleon I read in summer). There must be a mystery, a trick of some kind, they think.

Well, there is not.

I am a fast reader, but I don’t use any special technique to speed read. Neither do I specifically choose to read only short books. That being said, you would have to be a special sort of a psycho to only read short books in order to succeed in a reading challenge and write blog posts about it later on.

Do you still want the secret? Here it is: I just spend a lot of time reading. That’s it. I read no less than an hour every day, on weekends I can read for 2–3 hours. If I am sick in bed or I am on vacation, I can read for 4–5 hours a day.

Where do I get the time? Well, I don’t watch Netflix. On top of that, I don’t have kids or a second job. In my opinion, if you don’t have kids and work just one job, the reason why you don’t have time to read is Netflix. Or perhaps PlayStation. Or TikTok.

Or a dog. That’s a big one. From what I’ve heard, the upkeep of an average dog can take up to 4 hours a day. Four hours a day on a dog. And then people then ask me where I get the time to read or write…

Once you eliminate the things that steal your time from your schedule, you can simply use this time for reading. If this doesn’t work for you, create a reading schedule, and stick to it. Book a 20-minute reading slot in the morning (the time you are checking Instagram stories or Twitter can be used for reading), a 20-minute reading session during a lunch break, and a 20-minute reading session before you go to sleep. Here you go, magically you are reading an hour each day and you are on your way to reading dozens of books a year. You are welcome.

In all seriousness though, if you want to read more, you need to use every available free minute for reading. There are some easy tricks you can use to help you get into this new habit of reading.

Keep a book on your desk. When you need a break at work, don’t go to Facebook—open a book instead and read a few pages. You can’t do that with any book: but you can get through a lot of fiction this way, and reading fiction is a wonderful way to meditate, calm down and take care of your inner artist.

Make sure you have a book with you at every moment. Some people carry physical books in their bags, others stick with e-readers or smartphones. The medium is less important than the fact that you have access to reading materials at all times. The idea is that whenever you are stuck in traffic or in a doctor’s line, reading a book or listening to an audiobook should be a default way to kill time for you. Removing social media apps from your phone is one step in the right direction.

Get physical books (buy or borrow from a library). Not every book deserves to have a physical representation in your home, but there are lots that definitely do. Having a real book lying around can serve as a physical reminder that you need to read. Sometimes I find myself spacing out in a room when my eyes fall down on a book lying on a sofa. I stop spacing out and flip through the pages for 10–15 minutes. Those little chunks of time really do add up.

These are all fairly simple tips, but as it often happens with simple tips, they are not easy to implement. Be patient with yourself when you embark on the journey of reading more. You’ve been gaining harmful non-reading habits for years, it would be naive to expect to change them in a week. You can start by slowly reducing the time you waste on social media or Netflix, and over time it will be much easier to give up on those activities entirely.

2. Make a public commitment to read more

It’s helpful to have an external accountability system when you have an ambitious goal. I’ve always used Goodreads reading challenges to keep me motivated. Last year, for the first time ever, almost all of my colleagues became my friends on Goodreads. What it meant was that everyone could see how much I was reading or not reading. In some twisted way, it motivated me to stay on track with my reading, though I doubt anyone cared about my reading challenge.

Another awesome way to get an external pressure system is to join a book club. I actually started a book club at work. It turned out to be a great way to get through some extremely challenging books with my colleagues. With a book club, you always have a deadline for the next meeting, and the book needs to be finished by then, no matter how tedious.

3. Read widely and impulsively

Most readers have a topic they are obsessed with at a certain period of time. That’s fine. However, you should also remember to read something outside your sphere of interests on a regular basis. Reading widely can help you discover new topics and new voices you were not aware of before and keep your interest in reading alive.

If you see a book that grabs your attention, go ahead and read it. If you don’t do it immediately, chances are you will forget about your impulse and never get to that book. If I watch a movie about a topic that touches me, I try to immediately find something connected to the topic and start reading it. If I hear someone mention a book that sounds relevant to what I am interested in at the moment, I try to find it immediately. If a certain event is occupying the news and is weighing on me, I try to immediately find time to read a book on the topic while I am still interested in it. In March 2020 I read a detailed history of the Spanish flu, in June 2020 I attempted a deep dive into race history and politics (it failed because most of the widely recommended books on the topic are so badly written).

The idea behind this tip is to beat down your internal resistance to reading. Reading needs to be fun, and it’s much easier to be engaged if you are reading something that is top of mind at the moment.

4. Drop the books that you hate

For a long time, I’ve believed you have to finish every book you have ever started. Well, actually, you don’t. The obsession with finishing each and every book can help you complete a reading challenge much quicker but it can also damage your reading habits and put you off reading for a while. For many people, the act of reading itself is tough enough. If you are just building up your reading muscles, don’t force yourself to finish books you don’t enjoy at all.

There are many great books that are extremely tough to read: either they are about a complex topic, or their language is above one’s intellectual level. There are techniques to read books above your level, but yet again, this is not something a novice reader needs to try. Be honest with yourself: if you don’t enjoy a book, try something else.

5. Read several books at a time (if you feel like it)

There is another toxic reading habit that’s quite popular: the belief that you can only read one book at a time. In reality, avid readers often read several books simultaneously.

I usually read three to four books at any given moment in time. There is usually a programming book I am working through, one or two non-fiction books, and a fiction book. This allows me to stay interested in all of the books and eventually finish them: whenever I need some time to process what I’ve learned in one book, I can simply switch to another book and come back later. This technique gives me a more balanced reading schedule.

And no, the books don’t get all mixed up in my head 😂

What about you? Which habits help you read more? Are there reading habits you’d like to build this year? Let me know by leaving a comment.

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This is Part II in my two-part series on the best books I read in 2020. It has been such a productive year for reading that I’ve had to create separate lists for fiction and non-fiction. Check out the list of the best fiction books if you have missed it.

The best non-fiction books I read 2020 (in the order I read them)

“Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman

I have read this book many times, and each time I read it, it scares me more. Postman starts with the idea that of the two prominent prophets of the depressing future—Orwell and Huxley—perhaps it was Huxley who was right after all. Orwell feared a totalitarian dystopia where books would be banned, whereas Huxley feared that there would be no reason to ban books since there would be no one who wanted to read them. The end of the typographic age brought on the death of certain ideas and forms of discourse since the media we use necessarily define which ideas can continue to be discussed and analyzed. In short, you can’t share complex ideas via an Instagram story or a tweet, or, as Postman puts it, “You can’t use smoke to do philosophy. Its form excludes the content.”

This is an important book that should be read by anyone willing to understand what is happening to our culture. I re-read it every year.

“Liberal Fascism” by Jonah Goldberg  

When I first read this book a few years ago, I knew very little about fascism. It’s hard to describe the impact that book had on me—I learned so much about Hitler, Mussolini, Woodrow Wilson and FDR, and what all those dear leaders had in common. I learned to connect the seemingly disconnected events, trends, personalities. This book helped me build a foundation for my future understanding of the history of totalitarian thought.

It’s a fascinating book that is hard to put away, filled with little known facts from the history of the “fascist moment.” And even though the book describes the roots of some of the most evil regimes in the history of the world, somehow it makes for a fairly light read.

“Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard 

I remember I hesitated to buy this book for a couple of months: I didn’t believe that you can write a gripping book about an assassination of an American president I’ve never even heard of. Was I wrong!

It’s so much more than simply a story about a killing of a largely forgotten president by a lunatic. It is a story of how a man rose from abject poverty, became a scholar, a Civil War hero, a widely respected senator and a reluctant president—and how his slow death united the war-torn country. It’s also a story of how different life was in America 150 years ago. Back then it was possible for someone like James Garfield to pay for a college education by working as a janitor at the university where he studied (yes, he really did that and felt no shame about it). Back then it was also possible for the government to run out of money—Washington Memorial stood unfinished for years because first, the government ran out of funds to finish it, and then the Civil War started. Back then anyone could actually go talk to the President at the White House Garfield accepted visitors every day, for several hours, which was exhausting but was considered a part of a President’s job. Back then presidents had no security to guard them whatsoever—Americans still believed that assassinating a President was an ultimately un-American thing to do. Why bother if you can just elect a different guy in a few years? 

Candice Millard is one of the most brilliant writers of history books of our times, and I look forward to reading The River of Doubt though I am not a fan of Teddy Roosevelt. Her book Hero of the Empire got me hooked on everything Churchill, and is also a must-read.

“Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel” by Francine Klagsbrun

Golda Meir led an impressive life, moving from her humble beginnings as a carpenter’s daughter from Tsarist Kyiv to being the third female prime minister of an independent state in the history of the world. Although people liked to view her achievements in the context of her gender, Golda never associated herself with feminist movements and didn’t like to think of her as a female prime minister, rather simply as a prime minister. That’s refreshing.

Golda was an idealist throughout her whole life, a hopelessly misinformed socialist, as they tend to be. She believed the state had the responsibility of taking care of people and did a lot to set Israel on a road to its ruinous socialist future (her obsession with building roads particularly amused me). The curious thing is that no matter how much I despise socialists, I found a lot about Golda’s idealism and dedication to certain first principles to be endearing. She never saw people in terms of color and found racism abhorrent. She made it a lifelong mission to fight for the right of Israel to exist and did her best to make sure Israel was never seen as a beggar or a victim, but always as a serious force to reckon with. After the horrors of pogroms and the Holocaust, she made it her life mission to never see Jews in a position of weakness. And Israel was always at the forefront of her existence, from her early childhood to her youth days at a kibbutz to her career as a world diplomat. 

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a thick, beautifully written biography about someone remarkable. This is the kind of book that shakes you and makes you wonder what the hell you are doing with your own life. This is also a story about women's empowerment, or rather about the fact that women often have all the empowerment they need within themselves. Nothing could ever stop Golda from achieving her dreams, and she was born more than a century ago. Her parents disapproved of her going to high school because she was a girl and they thought she didn’t need that much education. She ran off from Milwaukee to Chicago to live with her sister and go to school. She was 14 years old back then. It was 1912, not exactly an empowering time for anyone.

What is stopping you? Be a badass, be like Golda.

“The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield

It’s a curious combination of a self-help book and a book about creativity. However, it is definitely not meant only for artists. It’s a book that explains how any creative process is much more about hard work and showing up than about creativity or inspiration. We all are inspired every five minutes of every day, but how much work does actually come out of it? Not much. If you want to do some great work, you have to put in the hours, and inspiration will follow, and things will start falling into place. There are also a lot of great insights into procrastination, or Resistance, as Pressfield calls it, “the most toxic force on the planet.” In his view, we are all so miserable because we aren’t doing what we are supposed to be doing. There is something to this, right?

I also agree with the author’s idea that you were born, or created, for a reason, and you have a mission. So if you aren’t doing what you are supposed to be doing, the whole universe suffers. This idea is easy to grasp if you think that your life mission is to cure cancer and you don’t do it out of laziness or fear. Then you hurt everyone, even people who haven’t been born yet. But your mission in life doesn’t have to be that heroic to be important. Any kind of creative work is a gift to the world. Nobody can do what you can do.

“Turning Pro” by Steven Pressfield

This book is a sequel to “The War of Art,” and while “The War of Art” is mostly about the Resistance that keeps you from doing what you are supposed to do, “Turning Pro” is about how we can beat down the Resistance by adopting certain work habits that distinguish pros from amateurs.

There are no groundbreaking productivity rules in this book. I didn’t exactly fall off my chair when I read that in order to do great work  I have to show up every day, remove distractions, do the actual work, and have a routine. However, the way that Pressfield talks about all those self-evident truths spoke to me and helped me find strength and discipline while working on my own book. If you are in a rut and can’t bring the best of you to your art or your work, this book will help. 

“The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity” by Douglas Murray

When I was an editor at a libertarian magazine, I had to deal with the madness on a daily basis: transgender bathroom wars, gay weddings and Christian cake makers, a white lady pretending to be black for a better job, trucks killing people at Christmas markets... I stopped reading the news when we stopped publishing the magazine. The world certainly hasn’t stopped getting more messed up in the meantime though.

This book brought back all the frustrating memories of the time when I thought it was my life mission to fight this madness and preserve the truth. In “Madness of Crowds” Douglass Murray does a great job dissecting all the controversial issues of the day: sex, race, identity, and everything in between. If you feel like you can’t make sense of the battles being fought in the USA and Western Europe in recent years, read this book instead of the badly written ones condescendingly suggested in “reading lists for white people.”

“From Bauhaus to Our House” by Tom Wolfe

If you like contemporary architecture (i.e. glass boxes), this book will invoke some butthurt. Modern buildings are ugly, soulless and all the same, and it scares me that most people I meet seem to love them and want to see more of them built. It scares me that where we used to aspire for greatness and individuality, we now conform with uniformity and meekness. It scares me that people actually move from Kraków to Warsaw of their own free will. They, gulp, like it there! And Kraków has such narrow streets…

This book is the story of Bauhaus as an architectural style and the profound and destructive influence it has had on the world since it was invented by a bunch of doofuses in a German compound. Told with unmistakable Tom Wolfe’s wit, an utterly delightful read. 

This is not an extensive list by any stretch of the imagination, rather some of the books that have had the most lasting impression on me. Some other great books I read this year include:

“The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ” by Andrew Klavan. A successful writer tells his story of coming to Jesus. Don’t be scared by the Christ part though, it’s more of a writer’s memoir than a preachy tirade. It’s well-written, and you’ll learn a lot about history, religion, literature, academia, and Westen Civilization.

“Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense” by Rory Sutherland. A witty marketing book about the importance of thinking outside the box and asking stupid questions. Get the audiobook, enjoy the British accent.

“The Diary of a Bookseller” by Shaun Bythell. Sarcastic notes of a bookseller about the day-to-day realities of running a second-hand bookshop in Scotland, utterly delightful reading that you can do in chunks of 15 minutes.

"The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter" by David Sax. For everyone who is sick of all things digital and wants to understand why the analog forms of entertainment are making a comeback. You’ll learn about film photography, vinyl records, and moleskins among other things.

“Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It” by Steven Pressfield and “On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser: read these two books if you want to be a better writer. Read “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King if you also want to read some disgusting stories about King’s childhood in addition to writing advice.

“Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad” by Austin Kleon, “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” by Elizabeth Gilbert, and “The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity” by  Julia Cameron are all great books for treating your inner artists and helping unblock your creativity, these three helped me a lot while I was working on my own book.

You can check out all the books I read this year on Goodreads (add me as a friend there if we are not friends yet).

I hope you will choose to add some of these books to your to-read shelf. Let me know what you think of them. And if you find my reading list emails valuable, please share this newsletter with your book-ish friends and invite them to subscribe to receive more book reviews in the future.

Happy New Year! Happy reading in 2021

2020 is almost over. Well, that was a doozy.

This hasn’t been a good year for many things, but it has been a very good year for reading. For me, at least. I started 2020 with the challenge of reading 100 books this year, and I’m almost done with it:  I’ll be finishing the last two books in the next few days.

What all of this means is that it hasn’t been easy to select the best books of the year, there simply have been too many good books. That’s why I’ve decided to create two lists this time: fiction and non-fiction.

The best fiction books I read 2020 (in the order I read them)

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I cried when I read this book back in January, and I am not that sentimental. Somehow I tended to think I knew and understood slavery, but in reality, I didn’t. And I didn’t want to. The unimaginable brutality of it defies understanding.

In this book we see people reduced to the status of animals, all done according to the laws of a Christian nation. It is hard to see how the Bible could be used to justify slavery, but it was, and for generations, both slaves and their white masters used to find justification for slavery in the Bible: the slaves were comforted by the understanding that their position was mandated by the Scripture and they could go to heaven if they just obeyed, while slaveholders believed that they actually fulfilled their Christian duty of taking care of their fellow Untermenschen. This is one of those books that color everything around you when you finish it, and for days you are shaken and your heart aches a bit, while you go about your everyday life, and although nothing has changed, everything seems different. Right until it doesn’t, and life goes back to normal.

Good fiction does that to you, and lifts you up, and teaches you things in a way non-fiction could never do.

“Stoner” by John Williams

I waited for a week to sit down and write a review of this book after I finished it back in February, but words wouldn’t come: I just felt I’d been changed by this book. I had no idea I could be so deeply moved by a story of such an ordinary life. I felt like giving up on the book but couldn’t. Even though nothing much ever happens in the novel, there is no way to stop reading it.  It is such a devastating novel that reminds us that every ordinary person with a completely ordinary life can have an important story to tell.

A work of quiet perfection, a true piece of art.

“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

I am pretty late in the game here discovering Salinger in 2020, but that is a goddamn good book. I used to have some weird recollections about “The Catcher in the Rye.” I remember that we had to read it in high school, but with all the alcohol, sex and hookers, it was wisely determined that we would only read the abridged version, with the said hookers removed. I didn’t understand the abridged version at all, so I went ahead and read the full one, and still didn’t get it. Perhaps I was not mature enough at 16 to read a book about an immature 16-year-old American dude, or the Russian translation killed the vibe of the novel, I have no idea, but it was an absolute delight to read it this year, in the original. And although I don’t identify with Holden at all (which is probably healthy), I loved the writing, the characters, the imagery, and even the plot. I now wonder now how many great books we have all been avoiding for years because of weird high school experiences.

“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens

That Dickens could tell a story, and this book is a real page-turner, though it is fairly long. Since Dickens published this book in installments in his own magazine, he had to make each installment exciting enough for the readers to buy the next one. The book is fast-paced, easy to read, and just genuinely funny. Who knew that those Victorian-era humans could joke or have fun! What I liked most was how much I could relate to the main character of the book: I knew exactly what he felt, I’ve had the same exact thoughts at various points in my life. Our lived experiences are very different, yet Dickens managed to capture something true about human nature that I could relate to.

“Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck

Where do I start with this book? It ripped me apart as few other books did, and I couldn’t sleep for hours after I finished it, which shows just how smart I am reading Steinbeck before bed… I doubt I’ll ever be able to get Steinbeck’s imagery out of my head: people burning oranges, slaughtering pigs, and dumping potatoes into the river—all with the goal of keeping the prices up and the statist delusion going. All with the people dying of hunger, kids crying for a piece of anything edible, whole families moving across the country and picking cotton for a dollar a day just to buy bread. Honestly, if this book doesn’t make you hate big government, I don’t know what will.

Before 2020, I used to dismiss fiction as a waste of time and considered myself above it. Who has time for fiction when there are so many books on politics that still remain to be read? Why read those dusty Victorian-era classics when the world is falling apart and I have to read about all the ways it has been fucked up? 

I was wrong about that. Fiction saved my soul this year. It helped me not slide into despair, it helped me take my mind off things, it kept me grounded and hopeful. It also helped me refine my writing style and write my own book. Besides the books I reviewed above, this year I turned to Ray Bradbury and rediscovered my love for his writing. “451 Fahrenheit” is an absolute gem, as well as “Martian Chronicles”—one of my favorite books ever. I also devoured “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, cried over the guillotined destinies in “The Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, relished the carefully chosen words of “Speak, Memory” by Vladimir Nabokov, chuckled over “Twelve Chairs” by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, enjoyed the delicate bonnet romance of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen… You can view all of the books I read this year on Goodreads.

I read widely, I read above my reading level, I even got a library card and rediscovered my love for paper books. I reached out for “Best Books Ever” lists and enjoyed most of the universally loved books. It turned out I am not that original or contrarian (though I hated “Cat’s Cradle.”) It turned out that classics are classics for a reason. Who would have thought?

Truly, it was an awesome year of reading. I look forward to reading more great books in 2021 and sharing my impressions via this newsletter. I hope you’ll join me on this journey (and invite other book lovers to subscribe as well).

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2020 is almost over. Well, that was a doozy.

This hasn’t been a good year for many things, but it has been a very good year for reading. For me, at least. I started 2020 with the challenge of reading 100 books this year, and I’m almost done with it:  I’ll be finishing the last two books in the next few days.

What all of this means is that it hasn’t been easy to select the best books of the year, there simply have been too many good books. That’s why I’ve decided to create two lists this time: fiction and non-fiction.

The best fiction books I read 2020 (in the order I read them)

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I cried when I read this book back in January, and I am not that sentimental. Somehow I tended to think I knew and understood slavery, but in reality, I didn’t. And I didn’t want to. The unimaginable brutality of it defies understanding.

In this book we see people reduced to the status of animals, all done according to the laws of a Christian nation. It is hard to see how the Bible could be used to justify slavery, but it was, and for generations, both slaves and their white masters used to find justification for slavery in the Bible: the slaves were comforted by the understanding that their position was mandated by the Scripture and they could go to heaven if they just obeyed, while slaveholders believed that they actually fulfilled their Christian duty of taking care of their fellow Untermenschen. This is one of those books that color everything around you when you finish it, and for days you are shaken and your heart aches a bit, while you go about your everyday life, and although nothing has changed, everything seems different. Right until it doesn’t, and life goes back to normal.

Good fiction does that to you, and lifts you up, and teaches you things in a way non-fiction could never do.

“Stoner” by John Williams

I waited for a week to sit down and write a review of this book after I finished it back in February, but words wouldn’t come: I just felt I’d been changed by this book. I had no idea I could be so deeply moved by a story of such an ordinary life. I felt like giving up on the book but couldn’t. Even though nothing much ever happens in the novel, there is no way to stop reading it.  It is such a devastating novel that reminds us that every ordinary person with a completely ordinary life can have an important story to tell.

A work of quiet perfection, a true piece of art.

“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

I am pretty late in the game here discovering Salinger in 2020, but that is a goddamn good book. I used to have some weird recollections about “The Catcher in the Rye.” I remember that we had to read it in high school, but with all the alcohol, sex and hookers, it was wisely determined that we would only read the abridged version, with the said hookers removed. I didn’t understand the abridged version at all, so I went ahead and read the full one, and still didn’t get it. Perhaps I was not mature enough at 16 to read a book about an immature 16-year-old American dude, or the Russian translation killed the vibe of the novel, I have no idea, but it was an absolute delight to read it this year, in the original. And although I don’t identify with Holden at all (which is probably healthy), I loved the writing, the characters, the imagery, and even the plot. I now wonder now how many great books we have all been avoiding for years because of weird high school experiences.

“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens

That Dickens could tell a story, and this book is a real page-turner, though it is fairly long. Since Dickens published this book in installments in his own magazine, he had to make each installment exciting enough for the readers to buy the next one. The book is fast-paced, easy to read, and just genuinely funny. Who knew that those Victorian-era humans could joke or have fun! What I liked most was how much I could relate to the main character of the book: I knew exactly what he felt, I’ve had the same exact thoughts at various points in my life. Our lived experiences are very different, yet Dickens managed to capture something true about human nature that I could relate to.

“Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck

Where do I start with this book? It ripped me apart as few other books did, and I couldn’t sleep for hours after I finished it, which shows just how smart I am reading Steinbeck before bed… I doubt I’ll ever be able to get Steinbeck’s imagery out of my head: people burning oranges, slaughtering pigs, and dumping potatoes into the river—all with the goal of keeping the prices up and the statist delusion going. All with the people dying of hunger, kids crying for a piece of anything edible, whole families moving across the country and picking cotton for a dollar a day just to buy bread. Honestly, if this book doesn’t make you hate big government, I don’t know what will.

Before 2020, I used to dismiss fiction as a waste of time and considered myself above it. Who has time for fiction when there are so many books on politics that still remain to be read? Why read those dusty Victorian-era classics when the world is falling apart and I have to read about all the ways it has been fucked up? 

I was wrong about that. Fiction saved my soul this year. It helped me not slide into despair, it helped me take my mind off things, it kept me grounded and hopeful. It also helped me refine my writing style and write my own book. Besides the books I reviewed above, this year I turned to Ray Bradbury and rediscovered my love for his writing. “451 Fahrenheit” is an absolute gem, as well as “Martian Chronicles”—one of my favorite books ever. I also devoured “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, cried over the guillotined destinies in “The Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, relished the carefully chosen words of “Speak, Memory” by Vladimir Nabokov, chuckled over “Twelve Chairs” by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, enjoyed the delicate bonnet romance of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen… You can view all of the books I read this year on Goodreads.

I read widely, I read above my reading level, I even got a library card and rediscovered my love for paper books. I reached out for “Best Books Ever” lists and enjoyed most of the universally loved books. It turned out I am not that original or contrarian (though I hated “Cat’s Cradle.”) It turned out that classics are classics for a reason. Who would have thought?

Truly, it was an awesome year of reading. I look forward to reading more great books in 2021 and sharing my impressions via this newsletter. I hope you’ll join me on this journey (and invite other book lovers to subscribe as well).

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This year it seemed as if just about everything was outside my control—except for my writing. I chose not to share it with many people, but I started working on a book back in March.

As months went by, I became obsessed with it and pushed myself to the limit of my mental and physical capabilities. Writing was exhausting, but it also became my safe harbor away from pain, death, and the seemingly endless supply of injustice.

When I was in the process of writing the book, it sometimes felt like it was killing me. Now it seems that it was the only thing keeping me from breaking down. It saved me this year.

And it’s finally out

We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintances were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one.

Charles Dickens

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I skipped last month’s reading list email because I was tired and had no energy. I am even more tired at the end of this month, but I don’t want to make a habit out of skipping.

This year holds the record for months passing by incredibly fast, with only these reading lists and paying rent to signify that October turned into November. In contrast to a shocking August, September and October have been much calmer, with horror and trauma being replaced by exasperation, when checking the news from Belarus went from an exhausted “Has it happened yet?” to a scarier “What if it won’t happen?”

Books have been a great relief from all of this though, and the biggest discovery of this year has been classical fiction. In the past I didn’t read fiction: I saw it as a waste of time, and I considered myself above it. Now I see it as the best way to recover from pain, to relax, to treat my soul to a pure art form. Also, I’ve already watched all the movies that seemed worth watching, and the only way for me to enjoy a good story now is to read a book. I don’t complain though.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Oh man, that Dickens could tell a story, and this book is a real page-turner, though it is fairly long. Since Dickens published this book in installments in his own magazine, he had to make each installment exciting enough for the readers to buy the next one. The book is fast-paced, easy to read, and just genuinely funny. Who knew that those Victorian-era humans could joke or have fun! What I liked most was how much I could relate to the main character of the book: I knew exactly what he felt, I’ve had the same exact thoughts at various points in my life. Our lived experiences are very different, yet Dickens managed to capture something true about human nature that I could relate to.

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

Shaun Bythell runs Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop, and this book is written in the form of a diary that documents the day-to-day realities of his job. I think the motivation for this book was to discourage anyone from opening their own bookstore, but somehow it does the exact opposite. The author is sarcastic and pessimistic, but he obviously loves books and his trade. I learned a lot about the mechanics of running a bookshop and how the book trade has been affected by online shopping. I also became even more convinced that the experience of buying a real book in a real bookstore from a real person can never be replaced by Amazon and its faceless algorithms (which don't even work).

Since the book is written in the form of short diary entries, you can get through it in short chunks of 10-15 minutes at a time. Definitely a better way to spend your free time than Twitter.

The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam by Douglas Murray

This book is depressing and soul-crushing, but everyone needs to read it. It tells the story of Europe’s suicide, which we are all witnessing right before our eyes. Terror attacks are again top of mind, and while journalists and leftists are busy coming up with disgusting excuses for what has happened, everyone else who is in touch with reality knows full well what turned Western Europe into the hopeless place that it is.

I was still working as a news editor when the central event of the book–the migrant crisis of 2015–was unfolding, and I closely followed the terror attacks that swept through Europe shortly after. Curiously enough, my mind has erased that information, probably as a safety precaution, and the book brought it all back. I guess we all need to pretend things are fine to continue living normal lives, and things that are too shocking to comprehend need to be forgotten. Yet things are not fine, European civilization is screwed, and there is little if anything that can be done to save it.

Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Karlgaard

It has become fashionable to think that unless you have become successful and famous by the age of 30, you can dismiss yourself as a failure and stop trying. This book disproves this myth and makes a case that many of us are late bloomers and don’t achieve our full potential until much later in life. The author tells the stories of many successful late bloomers and shares tips on how not to lose hope when you are considered too old by modern society obsessed with youth and early achievement.

Happy reading,

Nadia.

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