BOOKSHELF: More Entertaining Books for Winter Reading

Special to KySportsStyle.com Magazine

--A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings by Peggy Noonan (Portfolio / Penguin, $31) is a new collection of her recent columns in The Wall Street Journal where she discussed a little bit of everything about America, including stories about famous people. The bestselling author calls balls and strikes on the political shenanigans of recent leaders and she honors the integrity of great Americans, ranging from Billy Graham to the heroes of 9/11.  A thinker who never allows her tenderness to slip into sentimentality, she writes with clear-eyed urgency about the internal and external dangers facing our country. The 335-page hardcover is a celebration of what America has been, is, and can be. The author was a special assistant to and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan.

--Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America's Politics Forever by Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss (Dutton, $35) offers readers a front-row seat to history. The 439-page hardcover follows a group of remarkable politicians, civil rights leaders, Hollywood stars, labor bosses, and mobsters during a pivotal year in American history. The 1960 election ushered in the modern era of presidential politics, with televised debates, private planes, and slick advertising. We saw Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts become the nation's first Catholic president. During the explosive National Democratic Convention, we saw JFK chose Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas as his running mate over the impassioned objections of his brother Bobby Kennedy. Like with many popular history books, readers may be familiar with the story, but few will know the behind-the-scenes details, told here with gripping effect.

--Genesis: Artifical Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit by Henry A. Kissinger, Craig Mundie and Eric Schmidt (Little, Brown and Company, $30) is the last book of elder statesman Kissinger, written with technologists Mundie and Schmidt. The book charts a course between blind faith and unjustified fear as it outlines an effective strategy for navigating the age of artificial intelligence (AI). As it absorbs data, gains agency, and intermediates between humans and reality, AI will help us to address enormous crises, from climate change to geopolitical conflicts to income inequality. It might even solve some of the greatest mysteries of our universe and elevate the human spirit to unimaginable heights. But it will also pose challenges of usurping our power of independent judgment and action. Kissinger, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 100, was an advisor to American presidents and many other world leaders. Schmidt once served as CEO and chairman of Google. Mundie is the former chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft.

--The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Moment by Steven Gow Calabresi and Gary Lawson (Encounter Books, $39.99) explores how Ed Meese became the most powerful and important Attorney General in American history. Meese was at the center of virtually every major accomplishment of Ronald Reagan’s transformative presidency, from winning the Cold War without firing a shot to the economic boom that by the end of the 1980s was the envy of the world.  The book states Meese is the person most responsible for the rise of constitutional originalism, which treats the text and original meaning of the Constitution rather than the policy fads of the moment as authoritative law.  Many years later, originalism is a major force in the courts in 2024, with a majority of Supreme Court justices and a stack of lower-court and state-court judges at least taking it seriously as a major contributor to decision-making. 

--A Way to Live Now: How Journalism Shaped Ernest Hemingway by John Fenstermaker (LSU Press, $45) studies the dual roles of fiction writer and journalist throughout the legendary career of Ernest Hemingway. The book traces the evolving nature of Hemingway's work through his articles in Esquire over a period of 40 years. Filled with concise commentaries on his roles as reporter, essayist, and fiction writer, the hardcover offers new perspectives on the eventful life and work of one of the 20th century's most influential authors and complicated personalties. Hemingway died in 1961.

--We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson (Portfolio / Penguin, $35) guides us through the ancient, foundational stories of the Western world. The 544-page hardcover analyzes the Biblical accounts of rebellion, sacrifice, suffering, and triumph that stabilize, inspire, and unite us culturally and psychologically. Dr. Peterson, whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide, notes it's time for us to understand such things, scientifically and spiritually, as we journey with the author through the greatest stories ever told.

--Reinventing Marcos: From Dictator to Hero by Keith Dalton (Dalton Books, $22.43) is a fascinating book about former Philippine president Ferdinand E. Marcos as well as author's adventurous journalism career in Asia. A foreign correspondent for major media outlets, the author reported extensively on the 21-year dictatorship of Marcos which ended in a People Power revolution in 1986. Dalton remembers the real Marcos as an autocrat before the days of social media. The 447-page paperback, written in Australian English, points out the social media disinformation has transformed Marcos into a hero even though he was known as one of the 20th century's most corrupt leaders despite his friendly partnership with the U.S. government. Many years of social media propaganda have whitewashed Marcos, sanitized his regime, transformed him into a man he never was. This reinvented Marcos was the false legacy that helped his son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., become president in 2022. The author lives in Australia.

--Walk Ride Paddle: A Life Outside by Tim Kaine (Harper Horizon, $29.99) is a compelling memoir of one man’s physical journey through the Virginia wilderness along with a moving testament to the optimistic spirit of America. In 2019, Kaine -- a U.S. Senator and former Democratic vice presidential candidate -- celebrated both his 60th birthday and his 25th year in public office by undertaking a three-part journey across the Virginia landscape as he hiked, cycled, and canoed across the state. His story became an integral reflection of the extraordinary events occurring across the nation during that time, including two impeachment trials, a global pandemic, growing racial protests, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and more. During weekends and in Senate recess weeks over a period of several years, Kaine hiked 559 miles of the Appalachian Trail, biked 321 miles along the crest of the Virginia Blue Ridge and canoed the entire James River.

--Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West by John J. Sullivan (Little, Brown and Company, $32.50) is a memoir written by the U.S. ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when President Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The 404-page hardcover is the first behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their lowest point—and a playbook for our unfolding confrontation. The ambassador leads readers into the offices of the U.S. embassy and the halls of the Kremlin during this critical period—among the most dangerous since World War II. He shows how the Putin regime repeatedly lied about its intentions to invade Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the attack, while also devoting huge numbers of personnel and vast resources to undermining the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. Sullivan shows how our relationship with Russia has worsen, where it’s headed, and how far we should be prepared to go in standing up to the menace in Moscow.

--Tiger, Tiger: The Prince Harry of Sports by James Patterson (Little, Brown and Company, $32.99) is the first full-scale Tiger Woods biography of the decade. And the entertaining book is written by the most popular storyteller of our time. On April 13, 1986, 10-year-old Woods watches his idol, Jack Nicklaus, win his record sixth Masters. Just over a decade later, chants of “Ti-ger, Ti-ger!” ring out as the 21-year-old golfer wins his first Green Jacket. He blazes an incredible path, winning 14 major titles (second only to Nicklaus himself) by the time he’s 33 years old, smashing records and raising standards. Then come multiple public scandals and potentially career-ending injuries. The once-assured champion becomes an all-American underdog. “YouTube golfer” is how his two children know their father—winless since 2013—until he wins the 2019 Masters, his 15th major, before their eyes. But the story doesn’t end there.

--Truths: The Future of America First by Vivek Ramaswamy (Threshold Editions, $29.99) is an attempt by the conservative author to show how honesty about the most important issues will get our country back on track. The America First movement emphasizes the issues that bring us together, not what divides us. It asks that we put our country over politics, merit over grievance, and truth over lies. A former presidential candidate, Ramaswamy is a first generation American, the founder of several successful companies, and a bestselling author.

--The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll (Penguin Press, $35) is an intimate look at the decades-long relationship between the United States and Hussein as well as the investigation of one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, its message was clear: Hussein's Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that, if left unchecked, posed grave danger to the world. But when no WMDs were found, the U.S. and its allies were forced to examine the political and intelligence failures that had led to the invasion and the occupation, and the civil war that followed. With unpublished and underreported sources, interviews with surviving participants, and Saddam’s own transcripts and audio files, the author managed to put together a comprehensive portrait of a strongman who was convinced the world was out to get him and acted accordingly.

--Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human by Dr. Guy Leschziner (St. Martin's Press, $30)

takes readers on an exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins -- gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, envy, lust, and anger -- as the author looks at their neuroscientific and psychological bases, their origin in our genes, and, crucially, how certain medical disorders may give rise to them. The author, who is a professor of neurology, introduces us to patients whose physical and psychological conditions have given rise to behaviors that have for centuries been labelled as “sin.” It is a book that is certain to cause debate and raise controversy.