I’ve done a number of book reviews this year, and I figured I’d do a quick recap of the five I’d most highly recommend, and why.
- The Immoral Majority by Ben Howe – The most important factor for any political book its its timeliness. The Immoral Majority was an effective work for its time, but the value was greatly damaged because its audience was extremely limited. He was talking to Christians who supported Trump and were therefore unlikely to purchase, much less read, the book. Times have changed. With the release of the Christianity Today pro-removal article, a conversation has been started among those who profess to religious belief. The time for this book to be given to those Christians was in the week after the article, but it’s still recent enough that it may be enough to hold the attention of those who have been stirred from their lockstep devotion. It holds the potential to shift from an interesting book to a powerful tool toward reasserting decency in the country.
- Winter Is Coming by Garry Kasparov – Written in 2015, before the advent of President Trump, this book is a stark warning against all of the moves that Vladimir Putin is currently taking on the world stage. By presenting his criticisms against the President of the time, Obama, Kasparov effectively nullifies the argument that he is simply anti-Trump, providing an inroad to getting the book into the hands of Trumpists. Simultaneously, his current tweets against Trump provide an opening to getting Democrats to read it. This is very helpful, as the book is a strong reminder of the oppression and evil that Putin represents and may encourage people of all political stripes to embrace the worldwide defense of freedom
- The Theory of Cat Gravity by Robin Wood & Diana Harlan Stein – Cute, short, cheap and funny, it’s a nice “palate cleanser” of a book for just about anyone.
- Mindf*ck by Christopher Wylie – Well-produced and informative, this book explained exactly how personal data was gathered and then used to target people for messaging. If you want to break people out of their bubbles or convince them to knock down their walls, there is little more valuable than knowing how the messaging is getting to them and how to defuse it.
- A Warning by Anonymous – The obvious choice to round out the list, this book’s value is weighted heavily by the promise by its author to reveal themselves prior to the 2020 election. While many of the “bombshells” contained within are not particularly surprising to those who have been following Trump’s overreaches and failures, their exposure was the subject of much concern within the beltway. The book’s effectiveness was dramatically hindered by only moderate sales; if the author reveals him or herself, there will likely be an explosion of interest in the book. People who’ve already read it will be prepared to maximize the effectiveness of that moment by being able to stress the offenses and swat aside any makeshift defenses crafted to con people who haven’t actually read the charges.
