2021 was another successful reading year. In total, I read 40 books that are included below in my best books of 2021. Book categories included in my best books of 2021 are World War I and II, Finance and Investing, the American Revolution, Fiction, Sports, New Orleans, General History, Self-Help, Entrepreneurship, and Energy. I went the deepest in terms of the number of books read in the Fiancne and Investing, Fiction, Sports, New Orleans, and General History book categories. For previous best book lists, check out my best books of 2020, 2019, and 2018.
In terms of my favorite books from my best of 2021, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Flash Boys, The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business, A Confederacy of Dunces, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload, and Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last top my list. Now, let’s dive into my best books of 2021 list.
World War I & II
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
Author Malcolm Gladwell weaves together characters in a story like no other. In The Bomber Mafia, we learn about the Dutch genius with this homemade computer, a group of brothers in central Alabama, a British nutjob, and pyromaniac chemists at Harvard. Together, these characters show the difference in airstrikes like by General Curtis LeMay and General Haywood Hansell.
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Winston Churchill stepped into a firestorm on his first day as prime minister. Hiter was on a warpath and London received an endless bombing campaign that lasted 12 months. Between Churchill’s time spent in his prime ministerial home in Chequers, his wartime retreat in Ditchley, and his political meeting at 10 Downing Street, it’s insane how he kept Britain together. With a combination of convincing Franklin Roosevelt to have the Americans join as allies plus Germany’s ambitions to take over Russia, England preserved the bombing campaign with the allies coming out on top. For more books by Erik Larson, check out The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America. World War II books to consider reading include The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, and Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies.
Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies
World War II history may be my favorite book category. Books like Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History, Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan, Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General are interesting World War II books I’ve read. In Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, you learn about the Double Cross spy network. This network turned German spies into double agents allowing the Allies to learn what the Nazis were planning. All in all, the Allies were successful in preventing the Germans from gaining ground in Western Europe. The rest is history.
Finance and Investing
Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
Cheap credit flooded the world’s financial markets between 2002 and 2008. This credit gave otherwise normally sane countries the ability to extend and indulge beyond their means. As the description of Boomerang states well, “Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a pinata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish.” Author Michael Lewis shows you how debt fueled the chaos of the derailed financial markets leading to the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Other Michael Lewis books to check out include The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, The Fifth Risk, Flash Boys, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and Liar’s Poker.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
In terms of trainwrecks, the only thing worse than the 2008/2009 financial crisis was The Great Depression. Driven by greed, Wall Street created complex securities using the bond and real estate markets. If I’m being honest with myself, some of the financial structure of these arcane securities is hard to comprehend. At a high level, Wall Street extended cheap debt to Americans who couldn’t afford it to get Americans to go more into debt. You hear about Mexican strawberry pickers having million-dollar mortgages. Strippers in Vegas with multiple mortgages all collateralized against one another. Author Michael Lewis tells this story with characters as he always does. In The Big Short, Lewis takes a complex topic and distills it down into digestible chunks. I can’t recommend this book enough if you want to learn about how the financial crisis happened.
Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression
Author Christopher Knowlton introduces readers to three Florida real estate titans Carl Fisher, George Merrick, and Addison Mizner. Through these characters, you are taken on a wild ride that was the Florida speculative real estate bubble of the 1920s. What makes this book interesting is how speculation in Florida land was directly responsible for the Great Depression. At the time, Florida was a rural and wild environment. That all changed when these real estate developers convinced the nation that buying Florida real estate would make them rich. It turns out, the opposite happened and the US experienced the worst economic collapse on record.
Flash Boys
I know, I know. High-frequency trading isn’t a book topic many people get excited about. However, Flash Boys is so well-written that it’s worth reading. Michael Lewis tells the story of how a group of Wall Street vigilantes set to create fairness in a rigged market. High-frequency traders could jump ahead of investors’ orders, inflate a stock’s price, and then unload said stock to investors. As Lewis always does, he finds the characters that make this story. Other finance books I enjoyed include Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Liar’s Poker, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, and Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. Michael Lewis’s books to check out include The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, The Fifth Risk, and Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.
American Revolution
Washington’s Crossing
David Hackett Fischer tells the incredible story of the leadership of George Washington leading his men when all hope was lost after the Declaration of Independence. On Christmas night, Washington led his men on the attack against the Hessian forces in Trenton. Days later, Washington’s men held off Britain’s Lord Cornwallis defeating his men at Princeton. Battling the Hessians and British through terrible weather during the winter of 1776-1777 shows that Washington’s only goal was to have an independent nation.
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
Do you need to read another George Washington bio after reading Chernow’s Washington: A Life? Probably not. However, George Washington is an endlessly fascinating character. Initially taking up arms against the British, Washington became a war hero by leading troops in the Revolutionary War. Eventually, he becomes president and retires from public life soon after retiring and the rest is history.
George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
New York City was the crown jewel in England’s empire in the US in 1776. General George Washington knew this and knew he was outmatched. The only way to defeat Henry Clinton and the mighty British was to outthink them. And what better way to outthink the British than to run a spy ring in New York City? The Culper Spy Ring was ultimately successful in helping Washington defeat the British during what appeared to be a lost cause in the American Revolution. This rag-tag group Culper Spy Ring included a reserved Quaker merchant, a tavern keeper, a brash young longshoreman, a curmudgeonly Long Island bachelor, a coffeehouse owner, and a mysterious woman.
Fiction
The Messenger
Book six of the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva delivered. Gabriel Allon, art restorer, and Israeli spy tracks al-Qaeda’s next move after a suspect was killed in London. After sifting through these suspects’ photographs on his computer, Allon learns an attack at the Vatican is imminent. Gabriel Allon being Gabriel Allon takes you across Europe and to the Caribbean and back to stop this attack. attacks ever aimed straight at the heart of the Vatican.
Prince of Fire
Price of Fire starts with the Israeli embassy in Rome being bombed by terrorists. While investigating the bombing, Israeli Mossad agent Gabriel Allon and his team connected a series of terrorist attacks to Palestinian Khaled al-Khalifa. Al-Khalifa is the mastermind behind terrorist attacks under an assumed French identity. Allon meets with Yasser Arafat to find out where to find al-Khalifa. Through this meeting, Allon learns that al-Khalifa’s collaborator is a female based in Cairo. This female leads Allon into a trap where he must choose between stopping the next terrorist attack in France or saving his wife. Unfortunately, Allon is too late, a bomb explodes at a train station, and many people are killed. However, Allon ultimately gets his revenge against al-Khalifa.
A Death in Vienna
Dan Silva knows how to write. And I mean write. A Death in Vienna is the fourth installment of the Gabriel Allon series. In this book, Allon goes to Vienna to investigate a bombing that killed an old friend. His world quickly gets turned upside down as he searches for answers. Typical of any Allon series book, the plot bounces all over the world in search of justice.
The Confessor
Gabriel Allon, Israeli assassin and art restorer finds himself investigating the murder of a colleague in Munich. As he uncovers the truth about this murder, Allon becomes embroiled in a cover-up by the Vatican. The coverup relates to the Holocaust so Allon entangles himself to the upper echelons of the Catholic Church. Allon must bring the truth to the surface while making it out alive. Other books in this series that are fun reads include The Kill Artist and The English Assassin.
The English Assassin
In The English Assassin, the second book in this series, Israeli spy Gabriel Allon finds himself framed for murder. This is while he’s attempting to restore a painting in Switzerland. While Allon attempts to clear his name, he gets looped into Nazi art theft in the country. As the plot brings Allon to cities throughout Europe, a host of characters helps him try to escape after he’s been tortured.
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
The Cold War, between the USSR and its allies and the US and its allies, was kicking into overdrive in the ’80s. Both sides were on the brink of nuclear war. Luckily for the US and the British, KGB double agent, Oleg Gordievsky was willing to spy for the British. Gordievsky, a KGB man through in through, couldn’t take it any longer. After the Prague Spring of the ’60s was quenched by Soviet tanks, Gordievsky wanted to do something about it. So, he turned to MI6 (British intelligence) and for more than 10 years spied on the KGB, nearly losing his life. Gordievsky ultimately makes it out of Russia alive but not after a grueling test of willpower and luck.
The Kill Artist
The Kill Artist introduces the world to legendary Israeli intelligence operative and art restorer Gabriel Allon. His partner is a fashion model who helps him to take down a Palestinian terrorist. The story takes you from the Middle East to Europe to Canada and the US. Along the way, Allon tries to escape his past during this final mission for the Mossad (the national intelligence agency of Israel).
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
I’ll admit. I’m a sucker for spy novels. I’ve read some of the Ian Fleming James Bond series and loved those books. After reading I Am Pilgrim, a friend recommended The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Author John Le Carré introduces you to British secret agent Alec Leamas who is on his last mission in Berlin requested by The Circus (British intelligence service). Leamas is ultimately successful in his mission but may not come out alive.
I Am Pilgrim: A Thriller
Fiction is not a book category that’s treated me well. I simply haven’t found many books that are interesting enough to keep me engaged. I Am Pilgrim: A Thriller changed what I think about fiction. Think Jason Bourne trying to stop a Middle East terrorist plot using a variant of the smallpox virus against the US. I’ll be reading more of these books in the months to come.
Sports
The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul
Coach/author Phil Jackson hooks me when it comes to the mental side of basketball. In The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, Jackson takes you behind the scenes of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2003-2004 season, otherwise known as The Last Season. You learn about why future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton were acquired. How Kobe Bryant’s rape case impacted the team dynamic. Why Shaq and Kobe butted heads. I simply love reading about the inter-team dynamics that are best told by the head coach.
Gridiron Genius: A Master Class in Building Teams and Winning at the Highest Level
When you work with NFL coaching legends Bill Walsh of the San Franciso 49ers, Al Davis of the Raiders, and Bill Belichick, you learn a thing or two about how to win at the highest level. Author Michael Lombardi in Gridiron Genius takes his 30 years in NFL front offices to explain how the best leaders evaluate and acquire employees (NFL players), and then use employees in ways that no one thought possible. A key to the success of any organization is the atmosphere you create per Lombardi. He also shows how the best teams script everything leading up to an NFL game. Attention to detail is key to building a winning culture and dynasties that withstand time.
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior
Phil Jackson is the Zen master for a reason. He knows human psychology and how to calm the mind. Sacred Hoops highlights Jackson’s zen approach to the game of basketball. He shows how he engages his players, competing against his opponents without resorting to anger, as well as how to live in the moment and stay calm during chaos.
The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business
Wright Thompson has one of the best voices in sports. He also happens to be an incredible writer. This includes both sports articles and books. In The Cost of These Dreams, Thompson takes you through the personal struggles of sports icons like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Pat Riley, and Urban Meyer. He shows how the relationships of these individuals with their fathers created the challenges they faced to become great. At points the stories are sad but ultimately you find out about the sacrifices these icons were willing to endure to become great.
Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty
Growing up an LSU fan, you loved Shaquille O’Neal. This larger-than-life figure is one of the central characters in Three Ring Bus joining Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson. These three combined for three straight NBA titles and built a dynasty from 1996-2004. Winning meant everything, especially for Kobe. None of these individuals come across as likable because each has major flaws. However, Kobe’s attitude and selfishness make it difficult to like him after reading this book.
Flip the Script: Lessons Learned on the Road to a Championship
I’ve been able to distill some of the best life lessons from sports books. In particular, books from head coaches. Some of my favorites include Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership, and The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership. In Flip the Script, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron tells his life story. From quitting LSU as a football player because he was homesick, to being a member of the Miami Hurricane’s championship teams in the ’90s, to his battle with alcohol, you learn how hard he worked to get to LSU. This book is chock-full of leadership lessons we can all learn from.
New Orleans
Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table
Author Sara Roahen takes you into the history of the New Orleans food and drink culture. From the Sazerac cocktail to raw oysters to gumbo to po-boys to red beans and rice to braciolone to ya-ka-mein, readers learn all there is to know about why this city punches above its weight when it comes to food and drink. It was fascinating to learn in Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table how many iconic cocktails and dishes were born in New Orleans.
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is the first play I’ve read as an adult. I believe the last play I read was in high school, which was quite a while ago. A Streetcar Named Desire, set in New Orleans, tells the story of how Blanche DuBois comes into the tornado of a life that is her sister Stella and husband Stanley Kowalski. While the story is an American classic that launched the careers of film stars like Marlon Brando, this play just wasn’t for me.
The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans
New Orleans became the city that it is today as a result of imperial expansion. France, Spain, and England needed to control the Mississippi River. This would allow each empire to control what is now the US. When France founded the city, while at war with Britain, the city was a circus. Think snake infestations, swamps, regular hurricanes, and flooding. Certainly, not the type of place you’d call home. However, the French did call it home because they knew how important it was to have a stranglehold on this port. The Accidental City tells the story of imperial power, land grabs, and jockeying for power. Not too dissimilar to present-day New Orleans. Other books about New Orleans to check out include The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square, Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny, and A Confederacy of Dunces.
The Last Madam: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld
Norma Wallace lived an action-packed life. Opening a legendary prostitution house in the 1920s, Wallace had a five-decade career running a prostitution house. Before she died, she tape-recorded her memories including scandalous stories from New Orleans ‘ elite circle. While the title sounded interesting, the story never gained any legs
The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square
New Orleans is a city that endlessly fascinates me. The rich history of the empires in France, Spain, and England, who once held the city, shaped New Orleans into what it is today. Slavery also played a massive role as did religious beliefs amongst the citizens. Author Ned Sublette takes readers through the beginning of the city, its transition into statehood, and the various traditions prevalent today. This is a fantastic book to learn about one of the most unique cities in the US.
Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny
President James Madison was in a massive bind during the War of 1812. The British were wreaking havoc on our new nation. So much so that the White House was set on fire. So, the President turned to Major General Andrew Jackson from Tennessee to assemble a rag-tag group of soldiers to defend the incredibly important city of New Orleans. If the British took control over New Orleans, it was likely game over for the US. This should come as no surprise but Jackson was able to defend the city against the British and ultimately put the nation on more solid footing. Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny is fantastic.
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces made me laugh hard. I mean, hard. It’s the story of 30-year-old Ignatius J. Reilly. He’s an overweight slob who can’t seem to get his life on track. The story takes you through his adventures throughout the French Quarter introducing you to insane characters from New Orleans. I never realized how fun fiction can be to read until I read this book.
General History
Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America
Organized crime in America is an endlessly fascinating topic. From the days of John Dillinger to the mafia, Killing the Mob covers legendary gangsters and mobsters throughout history. Two things that opened my eyes were how much power J. Edgar Hoover wielded as FBI director as well as how tied in with the Mafia the Kennedy family was. After reading this book, I’m convinced the Mafia was involved in JFK’s assassination. Other books in this series to check out include Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Patton, and Killing the SS.
The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation
Albert Hicks, otherwise known as the last pirate of New York, was a terror to the cities’ residents in the late 1800s. He was good-looking, had a family, and worked on ships as a deckhand. An otherwise fairly normal existence. That’s what made tracking him down and ultimately catching him challenging. Hicks was able to hide in plain sight.
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story
No one can tell a story better than Michael Lewis. The Premonition: A Pandemic Story tells the story of what went wrong during the pandemic. COVID-19 was a force that the highest levels of the US government didn’t take seriously until it was too late. The Premonition tells the story of the unsung heroes who were willing to figure out how to stop this deadly virus. Other Lewis books that I enjoyed were The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar’s Poker, and Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
The 1918 Spanish Flu is estimated to have killed 100 million people worldwide. Think about that. Nearly a third of the US population died in a pandemic. That puts the COVID-19 pandemic into perspective. Author John Barry tells the story of the 1918 Spanish Flu in The Great Influenza. What started as a lethal virus in an army camp in Kansas during World War I erupted into a pandemic. As troops moved east, so did the virus. Similar to COVID-19, misinformation and a lack of presidential leadership meant there was no way to contain the disease. Another book about pandemics to read is The Premonition: A Pandemic Story.
Self-Help
A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
Like Michael Lewis, Cal Newport is one of my favorite authors. In A World Without Email, Newport makes the case that the modern knowledge worker is constantly distracted. Whether it’s email, social media, or messenger applications, someone is always vying for our attention. This inhibits our ability to go deep and get work done and eventually disconnects at the end of each day. After reading this book, my use of email and communication platforms has changed. Gone are the days of constant distraction. Other Newport books to check out include Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.
Entrepreneurship
Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last
Pappy Van Vinkle may be the most famous and hard-to-find bourbon in the world due to its cult following. Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last is the story of how the grandson of the founder, Julian Van Winkle III, preserved his grandfather and father’s bourbon legacy. While other bourbon manufacturers sold out and skimped on quality, Van Winkle stayed true to his family’s history. Author Wright Thompson makes you feel as though you are there with the Van Winkles as they fought for many years to keep the family business afloat.
Energy
Modernizing America’s Electricity Infrastructure
Mason Willrich offers a well-thought-out strategy on how to modernize America’s electricity infrastructure in Modernizing America’s Electricity Infrastructure. He takes readers through the history of electrification from Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb to the proliferation of wind and solar. While his plan makes sense, the reality is that it’s an uphill battle to get this done. Read Russell Gold’s Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy and you see what I mean.
Electric Power System Basics for the Nonelectrical Professional
Electric Power System Basics for the Nonelectrical Professional is the most technical book I’ve read in quite a while. Steven Blume teaches you the fundamentals of the power grid including transmission and distribution systems, and power generation equipment. This book is too in the woods for most people so it’s hard for me to recommend.
