This year I traveled through systems, human & machine, from the mathematics of complexity to industrial espionage.
- The Complex World: An Introduction to the Foundations of Complexity Science: Donella Meadows’ Thinking in Systems introduced me to feedback loops a decade ago. This book goes deeper, surveying where complexity science stands today.
- Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman: A vivid & accessible tour of abstract mathematics. Beckman covers topology, infinities larger than infinity, & other mind-bending concepts, all without a single digit & with proofs to explain it all.
- On Democracy by E. B. White: White, New Yorker editor, Charlotte’s Web author, Elements of Style co-creator, is among my favorite writers. These essays provide a time capsule to help us understand where we are today. Written as fascism spread across Europe & America debated isolationism, White’s defense of America provided a window into another era of rapid political change.
- Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang: Wang argues that the US & China each have a dominant form of government problem-solving : through laws in the US, or through engineering in China.
- God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright: Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning exploration of the Lone Star State. Both California & Texas value independence & innovation. As a Californian, it was fascinating to see Texas through Wright’s eyes.
- The NVIDIA Way: Jensen Huang believes Nvidia’s worst enemy isn’t competition but complacency. Kim’s portrait reveals a CEO who spends late nights alongside his team, torturing them into greatness.
- The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies: Davies argues that modern organizations function like runaway AIs, making decisions no human intends. A hotel executive cuts staff to improve the balance sheet. Later, you can’t check into your room & the clerk can only offer a voucher. There’s no one to call, no way to communicate back. That’s an unaccountability machine.
- Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway: I’ve read every le Carré. His son Harkaway picks up where his father left off, adding a bracing entry to the canon.
- Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway: Before spy novels, Harkaway spent fifteen years writing science fiction. Curious about his earlier work, I was not disappointed. Titanium Noir explores a world in which the wealthy have access to drugs that double their lifespan & double their size. The novel examines what happens when health becomes a function of wealth.
- Boom: Bubbles & the End of Stagnation by Byrne Hobart & Tobias Huber: Why does transformative progress require financial bubbles? This builds on Carlota Perez’s work on technology innovation cycles. Hobart & Huber argue that bubbles’ poor accountability shelters the world’s most important breakthroughs.
What should I read in 2026?