It's time to start this year's book thread - welcome to 2023! ♥️
First, links to the previous threads.
2022
https://tweets.berjon.com/1477498379047473153
"Abondance et liberté. Une histoire environnementale des idées politiques" by @picharbonnier.
A thorough and pointed philosophical & historical study of the affluence/freedom dynamic that maps out how to reinvent freedom for a world in which we can no longer rely on exploitation. 
It's out in English too, though maybe not in the US yet.
twitter.com/picharbonnier/…
He captures very well what I have in mind when I say that the Internet is dominated by companies that operate on pre-Internet mindsets. In fact, the Internet is often governed in pre-Internet ways. We have yet to rise to the reinvention potential that sits at our fingertips.
We don't have much of a choice other than to learn how to do better, or we won't survive the climate catastrophe. The required institutional deepening to integrate into rather than dominate a complex world is the same both ways.
"Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan
Cool space noir. I'm still annoyed the show was cancelled. 
"Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature" by Peter Godfrey-Smith
Lots of good bits, but I was looking for more about the interactive mechanics of becoming complex to deal with complex, etc. 
"The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy
A thickening mystery with brilliant parts. 
"The Humane Interface" by Jef Raskin
Oldies but goodies.
I can't believe we're still trying to make applications happen. 
"Artificial Condition" by @marthawells1
Murderbot is just *so* good. 
"Finding the Mother Tree" by Suzanne Simard.
An antidote to the other scientific forestry that you'll know from Seeing Like A State. Uncovers the shadow noosphere threaded through a memoir. 
"Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity" by Stephen Toulmin
A brilliant and captivating review of the history of modernity, anchoring the marginalisation of humanism by rationalism in its context and leading up to a vision of the future just as fresh thirty years later. 
Case in point: 
"Development as Freedom" by Amartya Sen
Sen describes the basics and motivations of the capabilities framework and then uses it to analyse a wide range of development issues. It would be wonderful to do the same for tech. 
"The Tower of Swallows" by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Things are set for the grand finale. There's less humour than in the earlier ones, it only pokes up now and then which is a bit of a shame. 
"Even Though I Knew The End" by @clpolk
Noir and mystical magic and bittersweet romance all in one. Impossible not to love it. 
"Institutional and Organizational Analysis" by @IncompleteRules, Lee Alston, Bernardo Mueller, and Tomas Nonnenmacher.
Clear and stimulating overview and a great toolbox to think about these issues. 
"The Mimicking of Known Successes" by @m_older
A detective story set on Jupiter which the remnants of humanity have settled after the Earth became uninhabitable. (The weather is bad, but the views engrossing.) I also loved the casual world-building and the characters. 
I'm particularly fond of how Older can conjure and convey subtle emotions with just an understated interaction. I felt like I was hiding in Pleiti's hair, behind her shoulder, biting my lip at the subtle inflections of a relationship that may be rekindling.
"Return to Reason" by Stephen Toulmin
A very interesting series of arguments in favour of leaving rationalism behind and returning to reason. I preferred his earlier Cosmopolis, however (see upthread). 
"Too Like The Lightning" by @Ada_Palmer
Absolutely amazing, the intricacies of this world, the characters, the logic and surprises, the polylaw system (which has precedent)... I'm very excited to read the rest! 
I know that someone recommended this after reading berjon.com/internet-trans… but I can't recall who 😐
If it was you, thank you, awesome suggestion, I owe you drinks!
"Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol" by @marthawells1
"I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can't just stop." 
"Why Preserve Natural Variety?" by Bryan G. Norton
Book-length treatment of precisely that question. I particularly liked the parts on stability and succession.
It's depressing to read 40 year old ecology though. We've had sophisticated, detailed knowledge a long time. 
"Sea of Tranquility" by Emily St. John Mandel
Very soothing, if a bit predictable. 
"Pirate Enlightenment, or The Real Libertalia" by David Graeber
Lots of vague assumptions and anecdotes, not much to sink teeth in. A number of the tidbits are interesting but they don't add up to a book much. 
"How Data Happened" by @chrishwiggins and Matthew Jones
An excellent history of how we got to where we are and of the often checkered past of data and statistics. 
This notably had this great bit which fits well into my current thinking about warlord technocracy. (I couldn't fit it all in alt text, sorry, but the gist is there.) 
And this will be the very last update to this series of threads. It was fun to share and I hope you enjoyed some of these books! But there's no future on this sinking shithole.
The adventure continues in the blue skies! bsky.app/profile/robin.…