I've noted that there have been a lot of books in the recent past that were judged interesting, and heard wishes for them being suggested again. So, this time my new suggestions are kept at a minimum, to give us a chance of selecting something that was reluctantly passed over previously.
Tim Gregory - Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World (2025) {384pp} [Goodreads link]
Was it Rosling that pointed out that energy consumption and prosperity seems to go hand in hand, and that the former is required for the latter? I do not remember. This seems to be an interesting book in which the author urges us to rethink the path to net zero. He argues that the solution to climate change lies not simply in replacing fossil fuels with renewables, but in fully embracing another energy source that emits zero carbon dioxide: nuclear power. Gregory dismantles the conventional wisdom that renewables such as wind and solar are completely ‘green’, and debunks myths surrounding nuclear waste and radiation, demonstrating that nuclear power is not only reliable, safe and potent, but the most environmentally responsible way to harvest energy. Having briefly stumbled upon claims elsewhere stating that the aversion to nuclear power might be rooted in fictitious narrative more than reality, it may be cool to read something that makes such arguments more clear.
Sven Beckert - Capitalism: A Global History (2025) {1344pp} [Goodreads link]
Yes, you might think "Ugh, 1344 pages!", and I'd sympathize. However, autumn is still progressing and Christmas holidays are coming up. I think we have celebrated this pinnancle of capitalist holidays by reading some grand capitalist scripture in the past as well. There is an audiobook out that's "just" 42 hours and a half - easy peasy. The book sets capitalism's infancy around the year 1450 and covers it from there on. This brick of a book is rather recent so it's not possible to judge it by public reception yet, but it has received praise by other authors in the field. Previous books on - more America-focused - economic history by Beckert have been well received by the public. I usually find that if a historical perspective of a topic is well written, it often liberates how I think about it. The word capitalism has seemingly become a renewed political bat, which might make the topic of understanding the contrast between what it has evolved into and how it is narrated about today even more interesting.
Cory Doctorow - Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (2025) {352pp} [Goodreads link]
Suggested by Andreas, saying that "Doctorow is a polarising personality, but I really enjoyed his latest"! Goodreads says: "Explaining the process of the “enshittification” of digital platforms over time and what to do about it. Cory Doctorow's Enshittification takes a witty yet incisive look at the tech landscape, where platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Google start off great—before they inevitably turn terrible. In this contemporary moment of digital decline, Doctorow explores how tech giants lure users in with convenience and then degrade their services over time, squeezing profit at the cost of user experience. With a mix of sharp humor and deep insight, he unveils the slow creep of "enshittification," turning the online world into a worse place, one algorithm at a time."
Laura Bates - The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny (2025) {352pp} [Goodreads link]
As the well-read probably intuits, the marketing of recent tech and the reality they bring about may differ quite some. The author of this book looks at current developments of gender inequality exacerbation and reinforcement. "This isn’t a dystopian warning about what might happen. It’s a harrowing account of what’s happening now and the dangers we face if we don’t act. With clarity and urgency, Bates reveals how these advancements are dragging society backward, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, and jeopardizing decades of progress in the fight for gender equality." - says Goodreads.
Peter Robin Hiesinger - The Self-Assembling Brain: How Neural Networks Grow Smarter (2021) {384pp} [Goodreads link]
What neurobiology and artificial intelligence tell us about how the brain builds itself. Explores the similarities and discrepancies between computer scientific AI and the neurobiological search for how neural networks become brains.
Karen Hao - Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI (2025) {496pp} [Goodreads link]
With ChatGPT 5 having been recently released and having its awesomeness boasted by capitalist slaves on social media (a k a influencers) this book offers a contrast in the form of reminding us of the workings of modern business models. In particular it looks inside one of our times most publicised AI companies and brings forth what lies beneath the shallow and glorified presentations.
Branko Milanović - The World Under Capitalism: Observations on Economics, Politics, History, and Culture (2025) {496pp} [Goodreads link]
A collection of essays from an expert on global inequality. Includes topics ranging from the struggle to achieve a more equal and prosperous world against not only the predictable forces of deregulation and distraction but new ideas about shrinking the economy to protect the environment to reflections on subjects including migration, globalization, the politics and economics of Russia and China, the crisis of liberal democracy, economic and literary history, and the intellectual giants of economics.
Vali Nasr - Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History (2025) {408pp} [Goodreads link]
Written by a western scholar with a PhD from MIT but with roots in Iran, this book attempt to build a deeper understanding of Iranian politics - attempting to amend, or even overturn, the simplistic portrayals offered by consumer media. Regardless of actual level of truth content, this book surely broadens the understanding of western narratives about the middle east.
Helen Lewis - The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea (2025) {320pp} [Goodreads link]
A journalist picks apart the idea of genious to challenge our assumptions about creativity, productivity, and innovation. Ought be a smart, funny and provocative text.
Frank Verstraete & Céline Broeckaert - Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics: And Everyone Needs to Know Something About It (2025) {352pp} [Goodreads link]
One of the hardest subjects for "ordinary mortals" is demystified by a husband-and-wife duo. He, Frank Verstraete, one of the world’s leading physicists, peels back layers of the quantum world with unparalleled insights into the latest research. She, Céline Broeckaert, a writer, puts these scientific revelations into everyday language with wit and charm. Together, they unravel the reasons the universe behaves in the weird ways it does – and just why it’s so important to understand them. A mix of pop-sci, gender equality, wonder and humour!
Rebecca Lemov - The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion (2025) {464pp} [Goodreads link]
I feel like I've seen an increase of books on this topic - that is on the topic of loss of groundedness, control and free thought. The topic is not new, and has been likely received more wide attention with the continued expansion of diverse one-way communication tools. The current book seems to be an updated work that wants to equip us for the increasing challenges we face from social media, AI, and an unprecedented, global form of surveillance capitalism.
Gardiner Harris - No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson (2025) {464pp} [Goodreads link]
In our book club, we have yet to read about the business of medicine. This new publication - from earlier this spring - may or may not be a good place to start. Perhaps too much of a human vs corporate evil book. Nevertheless these kinds of works often not only detail how things work but also offer insightful contrasts between presentation and reality.
Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff - The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life (1991) {512pp} [Goodreads link]
Dixit is a name I've heard in the context of game theory several times, and this book is praised by many. The focus of the book is to explain game theory in a readable way. The drawback with this title is its age; even if the theory itself has not evolved much since its publication, it's always nice with examples and anecdotes that are from the present. I'd definitely read it.
Erez Yoeli and Moshe Hoffman - Hidden Games: The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behavior (2022) {368pp} [Goodreads link]
A more recent work from two MIT economists that aim to reconcile classical and behavioral economics - two schools of thought and observation that often predict quite contrary things. This is a fun introductory read to game theory: Technical details are kept at a minimum, and the authors offer game theoretic explanations to amusing stuff like the sex ratio of humans, vengeance and indication. Certainly a book club book.