My 2011 Holiday Book List
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 5:06PM That time of year again! I want to wish everyone a lovely, healthy and peaceful holiday season. If you’ve got any down time, here are some books to consider for your reading list (in addition, of course, to Black Tuesday :)) Some will make you ponder, some will make you angry, and others will make you smile. Happy New Year!
Nonfiction
1) Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline by Morris Berman
An intensely thought-provoking read. Berman pulls no punches in laying bare the truths behind America’s hustling culture, and how destructive that mentality has been for the country since its inception. The book is a post-mortem of a societal notion that at its core, relies upon crushing the weak to become stronger.
2) Vultures Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates, and High-Finance Carnivores by Greg Palast
Palast strikes again – lazer-beaming on the corporate kings that literally feed upon the carcasses of the human population – whether in financial terms by ripping off small towns, pension funds and mortgage holders, or through the slaughtering of forests, sea-life, animals, and village children. Vultures’ Picnic is an eye-opening, heart-pumping, mind-blowing experience that should not, MUST not, be missed.
3) With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful by Glenn Greenwald
Before Jon Corzine dodged Congressional questions about MF Global’s stealing $1.2 billion in customer funds with impunity, there was Glenn Greenwald. In this book, he walks us through Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, and Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials, revealing how the media, both political parties, and the courts conspire to foster a system that effectively exalts torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud committed by the elite at the expense of everyone else.
4) Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence by Christian Parenti
Parenti’s epic new book describes the harrowing condition of catastrophic convergence, or the “collision of political, economic and environmental disasters.” It is a wake-up call to humanity, particularly to the richest nations (with the U.S. at the top of that list). The detrimental effects of our environmental gluttony at the heart of our economic avarice are not blurry fatalistic hypotheses—they are here, today. Parenti breaks them down.
5) Zombie Banks: How Broken Banks and Debtor Nations Are Crippling the Global Economy by Yalman Onaran with a forward by Shelia Bair
With Bank of America trading below $5 and the world’s biggest banks merely appearing solvent due to enormous government subsidies, Zombie Banks is crucial reading. In extremely accessible prose, Onaran shows how ongoing government backing of risk-laden banks will only prolong global economic crises.
6) Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism: Build it Together and Win by Ralph Nader
This book is Vintage corporate-raider Nader, and it reads like a horror story, delineating a terrifying cornucopia of corporate crimes that not only continue unabated, but constantly pummel us financially, socially, physically, and mentally. Nader's commentary on this astonishing array of corporate transgressions (during just one year) is imbued with the passion and experience of decades as a crusader for justice.
7) Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer
Schweizer spares neither political party in his exhaustive research on how politicians use their knowledge, position, and influence to make money – for themselves. This book will disgust you – because it reveals the extent to which the people that make the laws in this country, don’t abide by them when it comes to personal wealth accumulation.
8) The 99%: How the Occupy Wall Street Movement is Changing America by Alternet Editors
There remains no meaningful federal opposition to the systemic destruction of Main Street's economy by the titans of Big Finance. The Occupy movement, physically and conceptually, could be that opposition. This book gathers in-depth information abut this struggle from Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, James Galbratih, Robert Johnson Yves Smith, myself and many others.
Fiction
9) The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
I have been a Julian Barnes fan since reading one of his earlier novels, Talking it Over. No one gets the human condition better than Barnes. This book follows the story of a man facing his old age, trying to make sense of his past – but it’s so much more. I finished it in one plane ride. You won’t want to put it down.
10) The Devil Himself: A Novel by Eric Dezenhall
This fall, I had the pleasure of sharing an NPR radio show segment with Eric Dezenhall and had no idea beforehand, that he was a novelist. I’m glad that I know this now. The Devil Himself is fast-paced, intricately woven historical fiction, focusing on World War II in America and a colorful set of ‘gangstas’ fighting Nazis.
11) IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
I just started reading this book (global economic crises taking up so much mental space and all) and am completely hooked. More ethereal and darker than Murakami’s other novels, it follows the story of a young woman encountering an alternate reality, and an aspiring writer at the precipice of a life shaken to its core.
For the kids:
12) Turbie the Turtle Duck by Rich Arons
Political Cartoonist Rich Arons focuses his immense talent in the direction of children’s books. Turbie the Turtle-Duck is reminiscent of the best of Dr. Seuss from Turbie, the turtle-duck himself, to all the wonderful inhabitants of the Lost Isle of Animoxie, like the Pea-cocker spaniels at High-Biscuit Forest and elephant mice at Cheesy-Tree Park. The best review – my three-year- old niece wants me to get her a turtle-duck NOW.
13) The Rise of the Seven Stones (The Gem Series) by Jamie Austin
This book, the first in a series, came out last year, but in kindle form, this year. Debut author, Jamie Austin weaves an enchanging story that is JK Rowling’esque. it begins in Manhattan where twelve-year-old Lillian is struggling to make sense of her parent's impending divorce. She and her younger brother James are sent away to their eccentric grandmother. On their first night in her home, they are transported to a bizarre universe., shrunken down to the size of a mite, and lost inside the world of their grandmother's magical brooch. It’s terrific.
2011 Holiday Book List 
Reader Comments (13)
I know you're too humble, but let's not forget your book, Nomi. Happy holidays.
Fantastic list Nomi! I read Berman's Why America failed and with liberty and justice for some by greenwald. Great writers they are. I'm going to the library tomorrow to pick up a couple more from this list, probably being the getting steamed to overcome corporatism and the occupy wallstreet book. Im not too much into novels but I might get the devil himself because world war two always interest me. Thanks for share and I hope you have a safe holiday Nomi. :)
Don't get me wrong by the way, I just don't read too many novels but I loved black Tuesday!
Thank Brian - Happy Holidays to you, too.
ANd John, cool you read some on that list and are looking toward other. I'm glad that you enjoyed Black Tuesday!
Where JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon is sure to be this Christmas:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6543440007_151cd2f34d_b.jpg
Great list, but I would have included Retirement Heist by Ellen Schultz, because it demonstrates the by-now obvious sociopathic kleptocratic behavior which appears to be the norm among the corporate CEOs.
Also, that FCIC report, as that should be must reading for all American citizens (and anyone who hasn't read it, shouldn't consider themselves a citizen!):
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fcic/fcic.pdf
Especially significant is that paragraph, tying in the bankruptcy law in 2005, to the bankster/credit derivatives guys:
[In pdf physically page 76/662, in printed version, p. 48]
The CFMA effectively shielded OTC derivatives from virtually all regulation or oversight. Subsequently, other laws enabled the expansion of the market. For example, under a 2005 amendment to the bankruptcy laws, derivatives counterparties were given the advantage over other creditors of being able to immediately terminate their contracts and seize collateral at the time of bankruptcy.
Plus, another study which might be of interest:
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1112/1112.3095v1.pdf
"AFTER" reading "NOMI's" book: Consider:
James G. Rickards - Currency Wars
Leopold kohr - The Breakdown of Nations
John Kenneth Galbraith - The affluent Society
Friedrich A. Hayek - The Road To Serfdom (Yeah, read it...again!)
Steve Keen - Debunking Economics
*and of course: "Ever got the feeling you've been cheated"? (Lydon, @ the Longhorn 1978)
Regards
Robert.Johnsson
Merry Hanukkah - 2011 - Menorah, Dreidels, Latkes; Happy Christmas! or versa Visa.
Thanks Michael - and to you.
And yes definitely - Robert....thanks for your terrific additions!
Plus - Another book to add to the list: (as another reader pointed out to me):
Lawrence Lessig's Republic Lost
So many great books to read - so little time....
True. I love good books. Wish we could do a Vulcan mind-link with great books. Just hold the cover up against one's forehead, got it! Next, got it; next, got it! Ok, my brain is full for today, I'm absorbing. I'll read the rest of them in a few seconds, tomorrow! No-can-do, it takes Time... it's important to pick and choose, so your list comes in handy. I'm glad you added Republic Lost by Lawrence Lessig, for some reason that one screams out at me! Black Tuesday, as well. IMHO bring back the horse & buggy days because on the other hand things move too fast. It's an imperfect world, what can you do?! READ, that always helps.
Being a lifelong believer in transparency (an oft-abused and misused word) and freedom of the press, please allow me to add this to the reading mix, as it really seems to impact on a series of events today: Wikileaks, Assange's extradition (and Sweden's political obsession with it), Stieg Larsson and his Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc.), African massacres, a Swedish oil company, and a former Swedish prime minister:
http://www.thelocal.se/38102/20111222/
Nomi: I'm a huge fan of yours. I used your stats in Pillage to counter the remarks of a certain brainwashed friend. Many people are totally ignorant of what went on through the entire bailout episoide, and he was a prime example. These kinds of people mouth the talking points of the Tea Party or Fox News, that Obama is a socialist, he created the bailout, he's the worst big spender driving our country into deep debt, etc. I saw you on RT today and I must say, you are a compelling and convincing speaker. Please take care of yourself. WE NEED YOU. You are like an angel out to reveal the villians and pronouncing judgment upon them. Please keep up your valuable work. I'm going to buy a couple more of your books.
Also watched you on RT most articulate & persuasive commentator I ever heard on the MF Global saga
Michael - thanks so much for those inspiring words of support - it's so good to know my work connects...
Hanief - thank you as well - the MF Global saga is a very clear example of everything that's wrong with politics/regulation/finance.