The year is still in its early stages, and it can already feel overwhelming to navigate the multitude of new book recommendations available. We have compiled a list of nonfiction and novels that have left a significant impression on us, presented in no particular order. Among these titles, some stand out as particularly noteworthy, while others may resonate more with specific readers. We anticipate that several of these selections will remain prominent as we approach our end-of-year best-of lists.
Our editors and critics have thoughtfully chosen a diverse range of compelling, notable, and engaging reads that span various themes and styles. It is important to approach this list with an understanding that our reading experience is vast, yet not exhaustive.
Curating such a selection inevitably involves both inclusion and exclusion. While some titles have garnered enthusiasm from certain members of our team, others have proven to be less captivating. Therefore, we invite you to explore this wide-ranging sampling of what the CEOWORLD magazine editors consider to be some of the year’s best books.
We wish you happy reading!
- 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia by Philippe Sands
This book combines elements of a travelogue, a detective story, and a legal drama, revealing the long-rumored connection between Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, and Walter Rauff, a Nazi officer. It is the third installment in a loose trilogy that explores themes of justice and impunity. - The CIA Book Club: The Gripping New History of the Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War by Charlie English
The story of the CIA’s most highbrow covert operation. The agency smuggled 10m books into the eastern bloc, including George Orwell’s “1984”, John le Carré’s spy thrillers and Virginia Woolf’s writing advice. The leader of the scheme described it as “an offensive of free, honest thinking”. - The Einstein Vendetta: Hitler, Mussolini, and a True Story of Murder by Thomas Harding
As a world-famous Jew, revered physicist and vocal critic of Nazism, Albert Einstein had long been an assassination target for the Nazis, but he was out of reach. Did Hitler order the murder of his cousin, Robert, instead? The author doggedly pursues his own investigation into the triple murder of Einstein’s relatives. - Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church by Philip Shenon
How did the Catholic church go so wrong? A journalist chronicles its failures through the history of seven popes. An ecumenical council, known as Vatican II, might have changed everything, but the reforms that followed were footling, not revolutionary. This book is gripping and damning in equal measure. - The Last Days of Budapest: The Destruction of Europe’s Most Cosmopolitan Capital in World War II by Adam LeBor
At one time Budapest almost rivalled Berlin, Paris and Vienna in intellectual heft; the city was one of Europe’s finest cosmopolitan capitals. But the second world war changed Budapest for ever. This book is a reminder of how quickly a liberal, sophisticated society can be overrun by baser, crueller forces. - Peak Human: What We Can Learn From History’s Greatest Civilizations by Johan Norberg
A Swedish historian charts the rise and fall of golden ages around the world over the past three millennia, ranging from Athens to the Anglosphere via the Abbasid caliphate. He finds that the polities that outshone their peers did so because they were more open: to trade, to strangers and to ideas that discomfited the mighty. - Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life by Tiffany Jenkins
A highly original and perceptive take on how thinking about the private sphere has evolved from ancient times to today, in domains ranging from religion and free speech to sexuality—and, of course, privacy in the digital era. - The Third Reich of Dreams: The Nightmares of a Nation by Charlotte Beradt
This remarkable work of journalism—unique in the canon of Holocaust literature—has been newly translated into English. It shows how authoritarianism affects the subconscious. - The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping by Joseph Torigian
There are only a handful of ways to understand Xi Jinping, such as poring over party records or studying the people who most influenced him. Few have shaped Mr Xi more than his father. Xi Zhongxun’s relationship to the Chinese Communist Party and his thwarted ambitions offer clues to what his son wants for China. - Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments by Kenneth Roth
Having run one of the world’s most effective human-rights groups for three decades, the author has sparred with more nasty regimes than most people could name. Here he distils his hard-earned insights. The key to shaming powerful wrongdoers, he argues, is to avoid name-calling and “stigmatise with facts”. - Russia’s Man of War: The Extraordinary Viktor Bout by Cathy Scott-Clark
A richly reported and detailed biography of Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, which benefits from rare extensive interviews with him. In 2022 he was swapped for Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, after 15 years in American custody. Was it one of history’s most reckless prisoner exchanges? - Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s by Charles Piller
An investigation into how dishonesty and dogma steered Alzheimer’s research off-course. A fascinating story of medical groupthink and warped incentives; some chapters read like a scientific whodunnit. - Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Through a mixture of storytelling and argument, supplemented with a touch of derring-do, the author makes a convincing case for rivers being living subjects that must be endowed with rights. - Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash by Alexander Clapp
The basic information about recycling is well-known. However, this book explores the expansion of the global waste trade and examines the consequences of our consumption by tracking waste to some of the world’s most undesirable locations. - More and More and More Hardcover by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz
A crucial and enlightening book by a French scholar, recently translated into English. It clarifies how the concept of energy transition is often misused and misunderstood to the point of losing its meaning. - Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America By Sam Tanenhaus
William Buckley revived American conservatism in the second half of the 20th century with his love of argument and erudite, incisive prose. This biography runs to more than 1,000 pages—yet is not a word too long. - Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism By Sarah Wynn-Williams
Sold as “the book Meta doesn’t want you to read”, this memoir is a riveting corporate kiss-and-tell. It portrays Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder and boss, as unfeeling and shallow. - The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI and the Race to Invent the Future By Keach Hagey
A deeply researched, gripping account of OpenAI. Though the author had access to Sam Altman, its co-founder and chief executive, this is no hagiography. - Source Code: My Beginnings. By Bill Gates
The tech billionaire-turned- philanthropist recounts his origin story, from his birth in 1955 to the early years of Microsoft in the late 1970s. Mr Gates’s programming prowess and entrepreneurial zeal were entwined from the start, it shows. - The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip. By Stephen Witt
This book is a guide to Nvidia and Jensen Huang, the man who turned the company from a pedlar of graphics chips for computer gamers into the semiconductor titan at the heart of the artificial-intelligence revolution. - Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company. By Patrick McGee
Can Apple thrive without China? A journalist at the Financial Times explains how the company became enmeshed in the country and what the fracturing of global trade means for one of the world’s most valuable firms. - The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck. By David Spiegelhalter
Using some intuitive assumptions and (very) simple algebra, this book offers an invaluable guide to thinking about uncertainty. It will appeal to many more than just aspiring mathematicians. - Chokepoints. By Edward Fishman.
An insider’s guide to economic warfare. With a satisfying amount of dash and drama, the author takes readers on a global tour of American sanctions. Ingenious technocrats have forged new, more precise tools of economic coercion. - The Corporation in the 21st Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong. By John Kay.
One of Britain’s leading economists asks what firms are for. Texts about purpose in business are all too often waffly and worthy, but this one is admirably clear. - Empire of AI. By Karen Hao
A journalist explores the murky mix of missionary zeal, rivalry and mistrust at OpenAI in the run-up to the birth of ChatGPT. This tale reveals disturbing truths about the culture of Silicon Valley. - House of Huawei. By Eva Dou
A technology-policy reporter has parsed decades’ worth of documents to piece together how Huawei’s enigmatic founder rose from poverty to lead what is probably China’s most powerful company. - Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World’s Greatest Museum. By Elaine Sciolino
Few of the nearly 9m people who visit the Louvre each year leave feeling as if they have truly mastered it. The author is a chatty, amiable tour guide; she focuses on themes and small details. - Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words. By Michael Erard
This book dismantles many long-held beliefs about utterances at both the beginning and end of life. It may sound a hard read, but it is a beautiful and even strangely comforting one. - Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power. By Augustine Sedgewick
An American scholar describes how thinking about dads has changed over time. What is striking is the sheer variety of nonsense that people have believed. Another common theme is cruelty. - John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs. By Ian Leslie.
An in-depth look at the complex relationship between John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney. Their friendship evolved from a shared bond to a rivalry, then to a bitter fallout, and ultimately to devastating loss. - Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. By John McWhorter.
Readers might expect some fiery cultural commentary, but instead, the author offers a thoughtful exploration in five chapters, one for each of the pronouns: “I,” “you,” “we,” “he/she/it,” and “they.” - Raising Hare. By Chloe Dalton
Here, joy and wonder are wrapped up in a four-legged, long-eared, and skittish little package. As the author cares for the leveret, her eyes are opened to the natural world; she’s an elegant writer and a keen observer. - Among Friends. By Hal Ebbott.
This accomplished debut revolves around two wealthy families that come together to celebrate a birthday at a country house. Simmering tensions and festering rivalries test relationships, but eventually a brutal betrayal threatens to upend lives and maybe even destroy them. - Beartooth. By Callan Wink.
Thad and Hazen, two brothers, earn a living by cutting down trees in Montana. But when a mysterious outsider named “the Scot” shows up with a tempting yet treacherous proposal involving an illicit scheme in Yellowstone National Park, their lives are about to change forever. A gripping, page-turning novel. - The Dream Hotel. By Laila Lalami.
Here’s a captivating novel that explores the dangers of technology and the sacrifices we make for convenience. The author crafts her dystopian story by weaving together classic storytelling with snippets from a company’s terms of service, medical records, and meeting minutes. - Flesh. By David Szalay.
One man’s life unfolds through a series of pivotal moments, from his teenage romance with an older woman in Hungary to his time as a wealthy businessman in Britain, and finally to a period of uncertainty after a personal loss. The author’s refined, straightforward writing drives a narrative filled with emotion and depth. - Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way. By Elaine Feeney.
Back home in the west of Ireland, Claire cares for her father as he’s nearing the end. As she tries to adjust to life again in her family’s house and sort out a new future with an old flame, she’s forced to face her past hurts. A powerful and poignant story. - Ripeness. By Sarah Moss
Summer 1967 finds 17-year-old Edith heading to Italy to lend a hand to her sister during the last weeks of her pregnancy. Years later, in modern-day Ireland, Edith’s willingness to help reemerges when a friend considers meeting a man who claims to be her half-brother. This poignant look at family bonds and identity explores the complexities of belonging. - Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Badar, Fauzia and Karim—three people from different walks of life—come of age in Tanzania. The author’s first novel since winning a Nobel prize in 2021 is a tightly focused, beautifully controlled examination of friendship and betrayal. - Twist: A Novel by Colum McCann.
Reporter Ben Miller heads to South Africa to cover a team that’s repairing underwater cables in the Atlantic. He butts heads with the ship’s chief, John Conway. After Conway vanishes, Miller sets out not only to find him but to uncover the truth behind the man. - We Do Not Part: A Novel by Han Kang
The latest Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Ms. Han, who chronicles a tragic chapter in South Korea’s history: the killings that occurred on Jeju Island from 1947 to 1954. In her novel, she incorporates quotations from archival material, creating a powerful narrative that juxtaposes beauty with tragedy.
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