Reading: 2024
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 2024.
2024
The Material World — Ed Conway (2023)
Non-fiction | global economy | materials
A very good book on the physical foundations of modern life. By focusing on six materials—sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium—Conway reframes globalisation in a concrete and highly readable way.
China’s World View — David Li (2023)
Non-fiction | China | international relations
A useful account of how China’s historical experience, governance traditions, and strategic culture shape its view of world order. One of the book’s strengths is that it serves as a corrective to accounts of China written mainly through Western lenses.
Making Sense of China’s Economy — Tao Wang (2023)
Non-fiction | China | economics
A clear and historically informed interpretation of China’s economic development. Particularly interesting on the shifting balance between state and market, and on the pragmatism that has often characterised Chinese policymaking.
Question 7 — Richard Flanagan (2023)
Fiction | memoir | history
Difficult to classify in any single genre, this is part memoir, part history, and wholly compelling. The sections on Flanagan confronting the legacy of the war and the suffering of his father are especially moving.
How Big Things Get Done — Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (2023)
Non-fiction | public policy | infrastructure
A very useful book on why megaprojects so often go wrong, and what can be done better. I read it while thinking about Indonesia’s new capital city project, and it was highly relevant.
Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative — Jennifer Burns (2023)
Non-fiction | biography | economics
An engaging and well-written biography of Milton Friedman. Beyond the life itself, the book is valuable for what it reveals about the making of economic ideas and the public influence of economists.
The Red Emperor — Michael Sheridan (2024)
Non-fiction | China | biography
An excellent biography of Xi Jinping by a seasoned foreign correspondent. It offers a sharp and readable account of both the man and the political system he has come to dominate.
Other books read in 2024
The following titles were also part of my 2024 reading.
Nickel Unearthed — Climate Rights International (2024); Namaku Alam — Leila Chudori (2023); Dialog — Umar Kayam (2005); Unequal — Swati Narayan (2023); Ekonomi Enak Dibaca dan Perlu — Sjahrir (1994); The Escape Artist — Jonathan Freedland (2023); Aku Ini Binatang Jalang — Chairil Anwar (2022); Seribu Kunang-kunang di Manhattan — Umar Kayam (2003); Krisis Ekonomi Menuju Reformasi Total — Sjahrir (1998); Economics in America — Angus Deaton (2023); Until August — Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2024); Power and Prediction — Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb (2023); Hujan Bulan Juni — Sapardi Djoko Damono (2014); The Problem of Twelve — John Coates (2023); Why Nations Fail — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson (2012); Magic Pills — Johann Hari (2024); Pingkan Melipat Jarak — Sapardi Djoko Damono (2017); Burn Book — Kara Swisher (2024); Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class — Bikram Choudhury and Bonnie Jones Reynolds (1980); The Making of Economic Policy — Avinash Dixit (1996); Sajak-sajak Seorang Mahasiswa Tua — Maddaremmeng (2020); All the Beauty in the World — Patrick Bringley (2023); My Journeys in Economic Theory — Edmund Phelps (2023); EAF Quarterly 15 & 16 — EAF Editors (2023–24); The Political Economy of Development — Robert Bates (2021); Developmental States — Stephen Haggard (2018); Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll (1865); Through the Looking Glass — Lewis Carroll (1871); The Dying Art of Disagreement — Bret Stephens (2017); Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance — Douglass North (1990); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — L Frank Baum (1900); Indonesia’s Paradox — Prabowo Subianto (2022); AI Snake Oil — Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor (2024); Perjamuan Khong Guan — Joko Pinurbo (2020); The Evolution of Karate — Filip Swennen (2010); Best Laid Plans — Sean Turnell (2024); Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E Frankl (1959); Orbital — Samantha Harvey (2024); Spy x Family — Tatsuya Endo (2019); Obituari untuk Faisal Basri — LPEM (2024); Ihwal Nama Majid Pucuk — Kompas (2023); Boy Swallows Universe — Trent Dalton (2019); Emak — Daoed Joesoef (2003).