Reading: 2023

I read (sometimes reread) across economics, history, politics, science, and fiction, as well as other forms of writing such as doctoral theses. This page collects brief notes on books I found illuminating, enjoyable, or worth revisiting in 2023.

2023

Tyranny of Experts — William Easterly (2014)

Non-fiction | development | political economy

A sharp critique of technocratic development thinking by one of its most forceful internal critics. Easterly’s main lesson is that policy experts should be much more attentive to local context and much less tempted by blank-slate solutions.

Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson (2011)

Non-fiction | biography | technology

An engrossing biography of a difficult and extraordinary figure. Isaacson writes with unusual frankness, and the result is not just a portrait of Jobs, but also of the culture of innovation, ambition, and personality around him.

Genius Makers — Cade Metz (2021)

Non-fiction | artificial intelligence | technology

A fascinating introduction to the rise of artificial intelligence, its central figures, and the ideas that shaped it. Metz is an excellent storyteller, and the book manages to be both informative and highly readable.

The Chile Project — Sebastian Edwards (2023)

Non-fiction | development | Latin America

An excellent study of Chile’s political and economic transformation. I read it partly with Indonesia in mind, especially the parallels and contrasts between Chile’s Chicago Boys and Indonesia’s Berkeley Mafia.

Lucky Boy in the Lucky Country — Max Corden (2017)

Non-fiction | memoir | economics

A memoir by one of the great scholars of international economics, and a very special read for those who knew him in person. The book is modest, humane, and quietly revealing of the life behind the scholarship.

Eve — Cat Bohannon (2023)

Non-fiction | science | evolution

An excellent and highly original book on evolution, told through a perspective too often neglected. It is full of insight and one of those books that makes familiar subjects look new again.

Atavisme — Budi Darma (2022)

Fiction | Indonesia | short stories

A posthumous collection by one of Indonesia’s most distinctive literary voices. Budi Darma’s stories remain strange, sharp, and memorable, and this volume is a reminder of just how singular a writer he was.

Other books read in 2023

The following titles were also part of my 2023 reading.

Membaca Goenawan Mohamad — Ayu Utami, ed. (2022); Keluarga Kudus — Various authors (2022); The Price of Time — Edward Chancellor (2022); My Evil Mother — Margaret Atwood (2022); Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies — Neil McCulloch (2023); The Bankers’ New Clothes — Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig (2013); The Entrepreneurial State — Mariana Mazzucato (2018); The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State — Deirdre McCloskey and Alberto Mingardi (2020); The Guest Lecture — Martin Riker (2023); Unfollow — Megan Phelps-Roper (2019); Enter Ghost — Isabella Hammad (2023); Back to the Futures — Scott Irwin and Doug Peterson (2023); The Best Girls — Min Jin Lee (2019); Left Behind — Sebastian Edwards (2010); Bui — Alan TH (2023); Kapten Hanya Ingin ke Dili — Felix Nesi (2023); Kenanga — Oka Rusmini (2003); Intimacy — Hanif Kureishi (1998); Promoting Global Monetary and Financial Stability - Claudio Borio et al., eds. (2020); The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism — Martin Wolf (2023); Trade Reforms and Food Security - FAO (2003); The Infidel and the Professor — Dennis Rasmussen (2019); A Crash Course on Crises - Markus Brunnermeier and Ricardo Reis (2023); Free Trade Under Fire — Douglas Irwin (2020); Understanding Global Trade — Elhanan Helpman (2011); Hamlet — William Shakespeare (1600); International Trade: What Everyone Needs to Know - Anne Krueger (2020); Trade Policy Disaster - Douglas Irwin (2011); Bobo (50) — Various authors (2023); A Day in the Life of Abed Salama — Nathan Thrall (2023); Writing for Busy Readers — Jessica Lasky-Fink and Todd Rogers (2023); A Man of Two Faces — Viet Thanh Nguyen (2023); The Netanyahus — Joshua Cohen (2021).