For the past year or so I’ve been reading a lot of political books. I was motivated by our tumultuous Presidency, but the books have not all been directly about the election or Mr Trump’s his White House. Rather, although the situation got me looking that, it also got me interested in a variety of related areas of concern. I’m not interested in the Fox news defense or the titillating exposés of the sensationalists.
I’m far more interested in the economics, foreign policy, environmental issues, military concerns and thoughtful analyses of what’s happening and why as well as how we go forward.
The books I’ve read range from Has the West Lost It? – A Provocation by Kishore Mahbubani which has relatively little to do with Trump or his administration itself, to Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward and Everything Trump Touches Dies: by Rick Wilson which are specifically about Trump in getting to the White House or his first year in office. So far I count 12 books. (The links are to my own reviews on this site and I tend to rate a bit high, but there are no 10s on recent releases.)
Fascism: A Warning
by Madeleine Albright
2018 / 289 pages (Kindle)
read by Madeleine Albright
rating 9 / current events – international trends
(both read and listened 2x)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/9-2018/fascism-a-warning-by-madeleine-albright-x2/
*******
Fear: Trump in the White House
by Bob Woodward
2018 / 358 pages
read by Robert Petkoff – 12h 20m
rating 9 / current events – White House
(both read and listened)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/9-2018/fear-trump-in-the-white-house-by-bob-woodward/
*******
The Coming Storm
by Michael Lewis
2018 / 2h 27m
read by Michael Lewis 2h 27m
rating: 9.5 / nonfiction – weather and technology and the current administration
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/9-2018/the-coming-storm-by-michael-lewis/
*******
Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence
by James R. Clapper and Trey Brown
2018 / 431 pages
read by Mark Bramhail – 18h 43m
rating: 9 / memoir – US intelligence
(read and listened)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/08-2018/facts-and-fears-by-james-r-clapper-and-trey-brown/
*******
Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever
by Rick Wilson
2018 / 336 pages (Free Press)
read by Rick Wilson – 9h 25m
rating: 7.75 – / current events – political
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/08-2018/everything-trump-touches-dies-by-rick-wilson/
*******
Has the West Lost It? – A Provocation
by Kishore Mahbubani
2018 / 102 pages
read by Jonathan Keeble – 2h 21m
rating: 9.5 / global current events
(read and listened)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/08-2018/has-the-west-lost-it-by-kishore-mahbubani/
*******
Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Russia’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump –
by Michael Isikoff and David Corn
2018 / 353 pages – Twelve (publisher)
read by Peter Ganin
Rating: 9.5 / current events (politics)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/08-2018/russian-roulette-by-michael-isikoff-and-david-corn/
*******
The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
by Timothy Snyder
2018 / 346 pages
read by Timothy Snyder – 10h 9m
rating: 9.5 / history
(both read and listened)
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/07-2018/the-road-to-unfreedom-by-timothy-snyder/
*******
The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
by Michiko Kakutani
2018 / 208 pages
read by Tavia Gilbert – 3h 45m
rating: 8.5 / politics
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/07-2018/the-death-of-truth-by-michiko-kakutani/
*******
The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age
by David E. Sanger
2018 / 384 pages (Kindle)
rating – 9 / nonfiction – current events
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/07-2018/the-perfect-weapon-by-david-e-sanger/
*******
The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
by Jon Meacham
2018/ 416 pages
read by Fred Sanders – 10h 54m
rating: 10 / history and current events
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/06-2018/the-soul-of-america-by-jon-meacham/
(read and listened)
*******
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
By Michael Wolff
2017 / 336 pages
Read by Holter Graham – 11h 56m
Rating: 8+ / nonfiction-politics
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/01-2018/fire-and-fury-by-michael-wolff/
*******
I’ve got more to go – they seem to be coming out weekly or more often.
The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy
by Greg MIller –
due out 10/2/18
House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russians
by Craig Unger
8/14/18
The Fifth Risk
by Michael Lewis
due out 10/2/18
Mr Trump’s Wild Ride: The Thrills, Chills, Screams, and occasional Blackouts of an Extraordinary Presidency
by Major Garrett
9/18/18
Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World
by Adam Tooze
8/17/18
From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia
by Michael McFall
06/12/18
How Democracies Die
by Stephen Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
1/16/18
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
by Masha Gessen
10/03/17
Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President – What we Don’t, Can’t and Do Know
by Kathleen Hall Jamieson
9/24/2018 – no Audible
Here’s another little bibliography:
Trump White House:
https://www.businessinsider.com/books-about-trump-white-house-2018-9
Becky's Books - 
I’ve really appreciated your posts about current politics this year. I tend not to read the day-to-day stuff about Trump: it’s depressing, but ultimately it’s also trivial. What matters as you say, is how we got here. (And I see ‘we’ because internationally, we all have to put up with Trump though we don’t get to vote him in or out).
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A couple of the books deal head on with international issues and people: “Fascism” by Albright and “Has the West Lost It?” by Mahbubani. I can understand turning away from this depressing news – I have to read other books, history, literature, crime novels – whatever!
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Yes, there is no doubt that a good novel is essential for taking one’s mind off the world today!
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Great reference page, Becky! 🙂 I have read most of the reviews since you’ve reading politics stuff so I won’t revisit. I look forward to the new releases and your takes on them.
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Thank you, Carmen. It really came time to make a list of what I’d read.
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Interesting list and I totally understand why you’ve gravitated towards them lately. I’m reading a book right now called Red Horizons which is about Nicolae Ceaușescu and written by a former head of Romanian Intelligence. Not even done with the first chapter and the level of corruption and insanity is staggering.
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I know almost zip about Romania, only reading a bit on Wikipedia. I remember reading about Ceaușescu in the papers many years ago. Reading these books has got me interested in all sorts of facets of government from campaign irregularities to official foreign policy. Yes, “the corruption and insanity is staggering.”
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This is a wonderful list of titles. There has been such a rise in the demand for books covering political issues lately, it is helpful to find a place to see them all listed and recommended together.
As a book blogger, I mainly focus on YA books, and even in that genre I am finding a huge shift from the coming of age story to a story confronting real time social issues.
Anyway, I’m really glad I came across your blog ; happy reading! 🙂
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Thank you, Delphine! 🙂
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