EdenIncorporated

I have had the privilege of reading some incredible novels:

• East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, is my favorite novel. Read it, and you may understand my soul.
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, is easily the greatest novel I have read. It reads itself after the first hundred pages.
• Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman, is the 20th century analog of War and Peace.
• The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is the most ecstatic work I have had the pleasure of reading.

I enjoy reading biographies. My favorites include:

• Napoleon, A Life, by Andrew Roberts. I believe Napoleon is one of the great catalysts of our early modern era.
• Bismarck, A Life, by Jonathan Steinberg. A stunning portrait of the Iron Chancellor.
• FDR, by Jean Edwards Smith. He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees.
• Mao, The Real Story, by Pantsov & Levine. The history of a nation commanding a billion souls is one worth knowing.

History is a dream from which we may never awake:

• Battlecry of Freedom, by James McPherson, is a complete yet approachable history of the Civil War.
• From Third World to First, by Lee Kuan Yew, tells the remarkable story of Singapore's rise to international prominence.
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer, is a striking history that sheds light on the Third Reich.
• The Rape of Nanjing, by Iris Chang, reveals, in excruciating detail, the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Nanjing.

I recommend some delightful reads:

• A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Charming and unforgettable.
• Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck. A love letter to Monterey.
• The Order of Time, by Carlos Rovelli. It fills you with wonder.