Flushed with the success of reading a whole one book so far this year, and then having pummelled into a state of what feels like mindless ignorance by Recent World Events, it’s time to add a stack more to my stupidly ambitious want-to-read list.

Here we go, starting off with what I’m going to call The Geopolitical Section; desperately in search of answers to what is the world like and why is it that way? And humbled by my increasing inability to answer some very basic questions about the organisation of the planet without looking it up.

📚 Want to read: The World: A Brief Introduction by Richard Haass.

📚 Want to read: Not One Inch by M. E. Sarotte - “America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate”.

📚 Want to read: The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine by Michael Scott-Baumann - “From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace”

📚 Want to read: Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall - " Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics". Although a revised version is due to come out in May 2025, might be worth waiting for, all things considered.

Now into a section a less ecumenical version of myself might call “know your enemies”. Obviously, because I’m such a saint, it’s actually all about understanding the minds of those whom I otherwise cannot.

📚 Want to read: A World after Liberalism by Matthew Rose - “Five thinkers who inspired the radical right”.

📚 Want to read: Money, Lies, and God by Katherine Stewart - “Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy”.

📚 Want to read: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Although not if he personally gets any money from it of course. And the biography might be due a hefty update soon I suppose.

📚 Want to read: Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum - “The dictators who want to run the world”.

On more miscellaneous topics:

📚 Want to read Limitarianism by Ingrid Robeyns - “The Case Against Extreme Wealth.

📚 Want to read: The Sirens' Call by Chris Hayes - “How attention became the world’s most endangered resource”. There was a great discussion of this one on a recent episode of Know Your Enemy podcast.

📚 Want to read: How Civil Wars Start by Barbara F. Walter - “And how to stop them”. Can’t imagine why I’m drawn to this one.