The Best Books I've Read Halfway Through 2023

If you’re struggling, consider therapy with our sponsor BetterHelp. Click betterhelp.com/jaredhenderson for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a licensed professional specific to your needs.
→ Links
Patreon: patreon.com/_jared
Discord: Discord: / discord
Newsletter:jaredhenderson.substack.com
Second channel: @jaredminus
→ Books
We: amzn.to/43v2udq
Player of Games: amzn.to/46SAfZ0
The Individualists: amzn.to/3XZlM9W
The City & The City: amzn.to/3XWsHAw
Macbeth: amzn.to/3XUUi5c
→ Video Gear
Mic: amzn.to/3Uw7ZVw
Recorder: amzn.to/3Tz1uQp
Camera: amzn.to/3Ust3MT
Camera (upgrade): amzn.to/3EFGW4e

[@tamerlaaane]

Jared, please be aware that Betterhelp was just fined 8 million dollars by the FTC for sharing sensitive information with advertising platforms including Facebook.

[@baonguyenthai3840]

Two of my favourite reads so far this year are "The Dispossesed" and "Plato's Apology". Guess which KZbin channel I've been watching!!

[@ww9923]

I have read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis, and "Abolition of Man" by the same. It sounds like "We" and "Abolition of Man" have much in common. Thanks for sharing your recent reading.

[@DUFMAN123]

Great list, some fantastic novels there. My favourite from the last half year have been: - Pride and Prejudice by Austen - The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin - Wind, Sand and Stars by Saint-Exupery - North and South by Gaskell

[@NikoN-xw6xy]

First, Congrats for the baby, I wish you and the rest of your new family a lot of happiness and joy for many years to come ❤. Second, I think I’ll take this as a sign to read Macbeth since I been wanting to read some Shakespeare plays (besides Romeo and Juliet). The only book I read so far that was good, was Marcus Aurelius “mediations.”

[@bradykelso8682]

Just discovered your site and am really enjoying your talks. Happy reading!

[@MaggieEmm]

Congratulations on your new baby! I have just discovered your videos and am really enjoying them and all your recommendations - thanks! Some books I have particularly enjoyed this year: Elmet - Fiona Mozley Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World - Barry Lopez The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt The Stone Book Quartet - Alan Garner The Overstory - Richard Powers The Way of the World - Nicolas Bouvier Brief Peeks Beyond - Bernardo Kastrup

[@ephemeralsolidity1004]

The best books I've read thus far this year are the Collected Fictions by Borges, The Peregrine by J.A. Baker and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Joyce.

[@captain_cloudd]

Great taste

[@50palmyra]

Just recently added The Peregrine to my reading list, funny to notice your comment. Heard great things.

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

Peregrine is great

[@itsruiguerreiro]

Hi Jared! First of all, congratulations on your newborn. I’ve been following your work for a couple of months now, and really enjoying it. I keep wondering about one thing in particular: how, and where do you find new books to read? Do you just browse the book shop? Read lots of magazines about books? I’m super curious, and would love to watch a video about it 😉 Thank you for the great work.

[@VeraGolosova]

I love how you talk about We

[@maddssmithy]

congrats on the baby! great list here. gonna put some of them on my to-read list

[@greyone40]

Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Now returning to continue reading "Scalia Speaks," collection of Antonin Scalia's speeches. Before those I read "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers, which is a bit intimidating at 800 pages, but quite good. I really need to keep a log of what I read, because the only others I remember from this year are re-readings.

[@seycamanza2833]

I discovered TPOAYM by Joyce last year. Love at first read. I highly suggest both paper and audible for this one. There is a wonderful rendition with Colin Ferrell as narrator and he does a superb job. I also bought a large print copy, not because there is anything wrong with my eyes, but because it allows more room for me to write all over it.

[@devinklanderson]

Jared, one thing I will say (aside from your great list) is that I have been ripped off by Amazon quite a few times with books. 25% of the books I have bought have been bootlegged and I can’t get behind their neglect in this matter.

[@Gruso57]

Sadly that can happen. Ive had that once or twice but not often enough. I try and buy from local bookstores to support them but I also need to support my own wallet from time to time.

[@devinklanderson]

@@Gruso57 You're right. I am not a super activist when it comes to that. I have bought a lot of books on Amazon in the past few years and about ~15% were bootlegged so I'm still a little salty.

[@trya314]

I've read the Paper menagerie by Ken Liu, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Duck, Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, the Three-Body Trilogy by Liu Cixin; and I like the Paper Menagerie best so far. I’m about to take on the Dispossessed by Le Guin, thanks to your recommendation😊

[@e.matthews]

So glad your Miéville and Banks experiences have been good surprises! I adore the ideas that Miéville works into a novel, I read New Paris and Embassytown this year. I do find that structurally those two books do not work for me. However I do want to make it to The Scar. Embassytown is worth it for anyone interested in language(s). Player of Games is a fantastic work that truly holds a mirror. It masters the art of ostrananie, of making strange. If you keep exploring New Weird, I hope you get to Jeff VanderMeer who is, for my money, a master of tone and one of the best prose writers alive.

[@williamwenholz3407]

Congrats on your newborn. My wife and I also had a baby this year so I can relate to time management adjustments when it comes to reading. Favorite read of the year by far has been Catch 22. First time read through and loved it so much I started it from the beginning. Have never done that with a book before

[@battybibliophile-Clare]

I was fascinated by your remarks about "We" as I am a big fan of Orwell. It was a reminder that I have an unread copy. Of course, when I went to look dor it, I couldnt find it. I have an epaper tablet that enables real note taking o the actual pages of books or an attached notebook file, so I have downloaded a copy to read until I have time to look for it this afternoon. I am rerired so have read 50 books so far this year. The highlight has been reading Shakespeare's works chronologically. I am about halfway theough now. It's been a joy to see Shakespeare's growth as a playwright and poet. I have enjoyed the Henry plays most so far. Wvery year I read some Shakespeare, but this year has proved to be special. Another joy has been "The Count of Monte Cristo" a book I'd always thought of as boy's qdventure. However, it has surpassed my expectations. The last great read was "Seneca: the madness of Hercules" translated by Dana Gioia, a book worth reading for the introduction alone. Thanks for finding the time to make this video Jared. I know you are ti e poor at the moment, but in a few years you can teach your son to read. What a fun thing to day that will be. My grandfather taught me to read at 3 years old, when my little brother was on his way.

[@norap7357]

I loved We! I read it based on your recommendation and I read the Clarence Brown translation but found when I bought the physical copy under a different translator it was not as good. I didn’t realize how big of a difference it could make!

[@laurapedrosa3992]

I’m a brazilian, and I found your channel recently.. and I’m just so adicted! What a precious content!

[@GoomusicLtd]

Thanks for the recommendations, I first learnt of Ursula K. Leguin's books from your channel, and now she's one of my favourite authors! My favourite reads of this year is "Poet Warrior" by Joy Harjo, "Faith, Hope and Courage" by Nick Cave and "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Leguin. :)

[@carinha12345]

Mate, your videos give me such peace just like reading a good book. Keep on the good work!

[@RadiationStyle]

I read about 50/50 fiction and non-fiction so I have 2 from both categories For fiction -Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher, a short novella and a new fairytale for our darkening age. I cannot describe how much I love this book -Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, it’s Children of Time… if you know, you know For non-fiction -The Good Life by Robert Walldinger and Marc Schulz tells the stories of participants in the Harvard longitudinal study of human happiness and discusses the findings. It was fascinating and moving at turns -The Great Unknown by Marcus du Satoy explores the edges of what science knows about reality and existence, about how consciousness arises from the brain, about the different shapes of infinities. It was the first thing I read this year and I still keep thinking about it.

[@Eral_from_Earth]

Dispossesed is on my re read list this as well! I highly recommend Banks' fiction novels (under his name w out the middle initial). The Wasp Factory and Espedaire Street are among my favorites

[@donaldcohen5196]

I read We many years ago and I agree with you about its influence on later sf writers and Orwell.

[@i_dont_know_who_i_am69]

glad to see you read and like Miéville, C&C is probably his least weird book, so it's a good entry point. Embassytown is my favorite of his and it's one of those dense, philosophical sci-fi books. My favorite book of the year so far is How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. a really great exploration of grief wrapped around a thrilling scifi story. A very close second is Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future. an optimistic and very well-researched climate change sci-fi book, which I really needed after all the climate related news recently.

[@pixilixy]

i loved the How high we go in the dark too!!! it still lingers in my brain. I can't get over that roller coaster. Embassytown was too dense for me at first try but i really want to read it, just it makes me feel so stupid lol

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

4 favorites for me this year include Apartment in Athens by Glenway Wescott, World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig, Civilization & Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud, and Mental Healers by Stefan Zweig

[@50palmyra]

Really coming into your own with your recent videos. Good production value. Authentic analysis, less fluff. Good stuff. Best books I’ve read this year hands down have to be Ethics Of Authenticity - Charles Taylor, Beyond Good and Evil - Neitzche, (basic in know) and currently The Destiny of Man - Nikolai Berdyaev. All philosophy thus far, last fiction I read was at the end of 2022 when I read Demons by Dostoyevsky Cheers!

[@_jared]

That Taylor book is great. I’ve been reading a chapter every once in awhile lately. I’m nearly done.

[@50palmyra]

@@_jared indeed, really exemplary philosophy, very poignant. Wish there was a way to inject its knowledge to the masses lol. I picked up “A Secular Age” by him as well but have not had the guts to open it up yet.

[@rajmohanpillay862]

My two favourites for this year are 'Flowers for Algernon' and 'The dispossessed'.

[@runagaterampant]

The third Culture book, Use of Weapons, is my favorite. My best reads this year so far are: Foster by Claire Keegan Martin Eden by Jack London A Disaffection by James Kelman

[@rishav6134]

I have started my journey of reading books. I am beginning with something easier and thinking of building myself to a good stage for better books. Any recommendations from the readers for young reader would be appreciated? ❤

[@baonguyenthai3840]

Currently reading "All the light we cannot see" and MY GOD that book sure has done something to me. I'm also a new reader, and I'm sure that book is perfect for people like us: the proses are exquiste but not overdone, the chapters are short and straight to the points, the characters are so easy to love and the plot is just... I cried 3 times within only the first half!!

[@nilahrios531]

- The Giver by Lois Lowry - Son by Lois Lowry - Animal Farm by George Orwell - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway -The Call of the Wild by Jack London - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Most of these books are fairly short classics and have inspired me in the beginning of MY reading journey. Most are simple to understand, and so would be suitable for a younger reader. Hope this helps!

[@eliseopaulsantos3725]

Hey Jared. Again another great book recommendations. I didn't know you were a chess player. Do you have any recommendations on good chess books? So far the chess books that I have read are the mastering chess series by Johan Hellstein.

[@_jared]

I’m not skilled enough to recommend much. I enjoy chess, but I am hardly a good player. (I’ve also gotten a lot worse since we had the baby.)

[@plume-watcher]

A favourite read so far this year has been Ghenghis Khan and the making of the modern world by Jack Weatherford. Have you read the wasp factory by Iain Banks? It's well worth a day or two.

[@khalilagboola9116]

Congratulations Jared ❤

[@luiscrespo9902]

Congrats! on the baby!

[@pixilixy]

My fave so far this year has to be Martian chronicals. it was so much funnier than i thought it would be. I also really liked Roadside picknic. Of your list I LOVE Mieville and I am a bit meh on Banks. I have WE as paperback so will give it a go after your review

[@nenyeo6090]

I haven’t read much this year 💀🙃 so sad. Only 2-3 books, one of which I’m still reading.

[@dionysianapollomarx]

As someone who still calls himself a Marxist, We by Zamyatin is my favorite dystopian fiction. (City and the City is my favorite New Weird book and my second favorite overall after We.) A clear critical narrative against the Stalinist USSR.

[@venceslaumari]

Cool to see such a prominent reader read Macbeth the same year as me. Loved the list!

[@LamentaFortuna]

If anyone wants to watch an amazing rendition of Macbeth, the version with Patrick Stewart is beautiful.

[@jameswight6259]

Oh dear! Dilemma: you and Bookpilled are my main sources for book recommendations these days. What to do about Player of Games? Guess I’ll have to read it and decide for myself. You guys are bad for my wallet! Thanks for the video!

[@wonderwoman5528]

Does anyone know if Jared has a video explaining Nietzsche’s beyond good and evil. I found it too hard to understand and need a breakdown

[@timbushell8640]

Seem your vinyl needle needs lifting : ((((( Sounds like... Player of Games and We, great choices. And China Miéville is a treat...

[@elyse49]

This year so far I loved The Player of Games, Empire of Silence, Other Minds and Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants. And yes, The City and The City is such a fantastic book. I pretty much decided I want to read everything China Miéville writes.

[@patelmeet973]

Please reply which edition should I read on marcus valerius meditation because there are tons of please reply

[@_jared]

I like Waterfield's translation/annotated edition.

[@ww9923]

A new translation by Gregory Hays was recommended to me. I enjoyed both the introduction and translation.

[@patelmeet973]

@@ww9923 can you give me the link I couldn't find

[@MarcoFlores-um7cj]

I had a baby too, congratulations man!!!! mine was born on june 30th

[@MartinLetendre]

Chess is dry. I recommend modern boardgame: Brass: Birmingham, Viticulture Essential Edition, Puerto Rico, et...

[@LiterateTexan]

Your suggestion about Shakespeare is great but doesn't go far enough. We should all be reading Shakespeare all the time.

[@RenkotheLibrarian]

It's funny that two of the books on the list are also one's I've read. We is amazing; The Individualists is good if you are already interested in Libertarian/Anarchist thought. Would not recommend for a causal reader.

[@_jared]

I think that’s right. I already had an interest in anarchism, so the book was very interesting for me.

[@rishabhaniket1952]

Shakespeare is bloody hard to read and assimilate which is ironical for history's most famous Englsih author.

[@hipcrusher1]

Title made me think this video was about good books that you didn’t finish

[@SilphionBooks]

Also, Ayn Rand 100% ripped off 'We' with her 'Anthem'. Just sayin'.

[@avantgardenovelist]

I thought the title meant good books you nevertheless couldn't finish.😉

[@again5162]

I've aged well, my trick is don't have kids

[@allenmorales959]

Promo sm

[@carpetedbathroom2248]

If you enjoyed the books so much why didn't you read them all the way through?

[@NanSaurus]

Please stop supporting better help, please inform yourself about who you allow as a sponsor, as better help is not something you want to recommend to people who are in need of help and probably vulnerable. You are probably unaware of this. Please look into all the issues with better help, as there are plenty and it is hugely covered on KZbin.

[@_jared]

I stopped working with them after this video, as that’s when people reached out to me.

[@captain_cloudd]

Bro wtf, accepting a BetterHelp sponsorship in 2023. I like your channel and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but get my dislike for this one.

[@jujijiju6929]

Congrats on the baby 🎉

[@milo31448atgmail]

Well I hope you finish them!