My Favourite Books of 2023

Here are the books that have stayed with me from 2023.

This touched me deeply, profoundly – it spoke to the part of me that is yearning for some deeper connection with land, with time … with All.

An exploration of the foundations of ‘Free’ Trade and ‘Free’ Markets.

We derive meaning through comparison and relationship. Before reading this, I hadn’t realised the crucial role metaphors play in how we understand the world.

What is the point of reading books – why do it? For enjoyment? Not with this book [I actually hated it at times]. To learn? Mm, 700 pages is a lot to communicate that complex things arise from simple systems [ironic, perhaps?]. But if I’m reading to be changed? Well, this book made me feel incredibly stupid at times – but I certainly won’t forget it.

At the other end of the scale, this book is barely 100 pages long – and manages to be an excellent synopsis of why civilisations fail.

A beautiful book about complexity and how everything is an ecology …

As AI starts to filter into our lives, understanding some of the fundamental paths, dangers and strategies feels important.

Challenges some of the concepts and ideas I hold most closely – values, purpose, control, self-awareness … maybe we’re not what we think we are?

Why our current ideas about where we are – and where we’re heading – might not be as ‘inevitable’ as we sometimes think.

Grab this, slow down, and remind yourself how extraordinarily beautiful the world around us is.