Best Books of 2020-2021
I’ve read over 200 books these past two years and i’m often asked for my top recommendations. I’ve selected the top twelve from both 2020 and 2021 according to me. Of course we all have our own personal tastes and things that peek our curiosity. This list is catered to my personal interests. All books non-fiction unless stated otherwise.
I encourage you to support your local bookstores and public libraries. In St. Louis I'm a long time fan and supporter of Subterranean Books.
The Best Books of the 2020's Thus Far (According to Me)
This list includes books I've read that were published in 2020 and 2021 (12 for each year). Only the first book is linked as there was a problem formatting the links. All easily searchable online.
The Dead Are Arising by Les and Tamara Payne
This book started by Les Payne and finished by his daughter Tamara after his death is a good accompaniment to Manning Marable's work and helps to demystify Malcolm and educate beyond the narrative myths of the Autobiography.
The Hardhat Riot by David Paul Kuhn (2020)
This book examines the New York “hardhat riot" of 1970 which saw construction workers, many of them veterans, attack college students and anti-war protesters, and eventually descending on City Hall to rescue a flag. Kuhn argues this was the beginning of a white working-class revolution that eventually gave birth to New Yorker Donald Trump.
I Want You to Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer
Esther is the daughter of holocaust survivors who grew-up in Washington DC. Her father committed suicide after not being able to deal with all of the death and sorrow he endured in Europe which included the death of his first wife and baby daughter. Esther travels to Ukraine in search of answers about the lives of her parents and her murdered half-sister whose name she learns (ironically the same name as my youngest daughter).
The Kendrick Brothers do a fabulous job taking readers back to the 1960 presidential election and how the incarceration of Martin Luther King in Georgia, and the responses of the presidential candidates to this, helped to sway an election. We learn a lot about King, his wife Coretta, the local Civil Rights Movement, and the Kennedy Brothers, but the star to me is King Sr. Aka “daddy king".
Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia by Thomas Healy (2021)
Floyd McKissick, former head of the Congress on Racial Equality, was one of the most prominent civil-rights figures of the 1960's. This book highlights his attempts to create an idealic planned Black community in small town North Carolina in the 1970's and what went wrong.
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Crosby (2020 Fiction)
A thrilling novel about street racers, robbers, race, and criminals in small town Virginia.
This book does a great job of getting into the nuance and weeds of how the Saudi-Iran rivalry, and the surrounding proxy wars, have dramatically effected not only the region, but global politics, religion, and economic systems.
First to Fall by Ken Ellingwood (2021)
Being from St Louis i’ve heard a lot about the 19th Century abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy over the years; but actually knew very little about the man. This book changed that. We learn about the origins of Lovejoy, his controversial existence in St Louis, and the drama leading up to his lynching in nearby Alton, Illinois.
This is by far the best book I read in 2021. Casper and Deutsch paint an intimate picture of the creation of the community of Satmar Hasidim in Williamsburg Brooklyn and how they went from a small community of holocaust survivors to a powerful and entrenched enclave. Going decade by decade we learn of the political alliances the Satmar formed, their relationship with public housing, how they reposnded to the soaring crime rates of the seventies and eighties, and how they’ve responded to the onslaught of gentrification since the 1990's.
Forget the Alamo by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford (2021)
As a certified Texas hater I enjoyed every page of this book which takes apart the many myths surrounding the Alamo and Texas history.
The Arab Winter by Noah Feldman (2021)
Feldman examines how and why the Arab Spring failed and the relationship United States foreign policy has played.
The Devil You Know by Charles Blow (2021)
Blow makes the a case for a new, more progressive, form of Black Nationalism, including Black population clustering in several southern states which will increase electoral power. As a critic of intersectionalism I appreciated this book especially how Blow illustrates how the death of George Floyd was quickly turned into white spectacle.
The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock (2021)
Coinciding with end end of the disastrous twenty-year American War in Afghanistan Whitlock breaks down step by step how we as a nation got into a quagmire that was hard to escape.
Humane by Samuel Moyn (2021)
Moyn explores the modern history of just war theories, pacifism, and the creation of “humane wars” arguing that they may have done little to improve the human condition while cutting down on the sheer numbers of dead.
Squirrel Hill by Mark Oppenheimer (2021)
Oppenheimer explores the historically Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, examines what makes it unique, and we learn about the lives of those who were taken in the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting.
Under Jerusalem by Andrew Lawler (2021)
Lawler looks at how archeology over the past three centuries has intersected with religion and culture and become weaponized and part of political argumentation.
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier (2021 Fiction)
A French novel that defies genre and leaves us with more questions than answers.
Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg
Klinberg moved to Houston decades ago to work at Rice thinking he would hate the city. He learned to like it and in this book makes the case, whether you like it or not, Houston, the most diverse city in America, represents the future demographically, economically, and culturally- for better and worse.
Reaganland by Rick Perlstein (2020)
Perlstein takes us back to the beginning of the political career of Ronald Reagan, the brewing culture wars of the 1970's against ERA and abortion and for prayer in school, and takes us to his rise, presidency, and the creation of a myth.
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah (2020 Fiction)
There is a formula for books about Muslim women that white readers tend to adore and put on bestsellers lists; unhappy girl from a repressive culture and religion, oppressed by a father, loved by a mother, in love with western culture and secretly wants a white dude. The book ends with the poor Muslim girl with the white guy. The end. This book turns all of that on its head as the main character is a serious second-generation Palestinian-American Muslim who works as a school teacher. She had her rebellious period in life, and struggled to find her way in the suburbs of Chicago, before eventually marrying a Muslim man and having children. Now she must deal with a school shooting committed by an anti-Muslim terrorist.
The Divine Boys Laura Restrepo (2020 Fiction)
I’ve loved the work of Colombian author Laura Restrepo since reading The Dark Bride. In this novel she explores a group of spoiled and wealthy young Colombian men and how money and privilege interfere with criminal investigations.
Deacon King Kong by James Mcbride (2020 Fiction)
Set in the housing projects of South Brooklyn in 1969 Mcbride introduces us to a cast of characters including baseball players, mobsters, crooked cops, drunks, and the devout.
Although I don't share the Marxist lense of Johnson he does a masterful job at dissecting the centrally of race in St Louis history and the violent racism deeply rooted in local culture.
When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains by Ariana Neumann
Neumann grew-up in Venezuela as the daughter of a prominent and successful businessman who spoke nothing of his Jewish identity and past in what is today the Czech Republic. Using papers, letters, and diaries left behind after his death Neumann recreates a history few in her family survived.