Top 3 Must-Read Books Of 2019
Being a Senior in college means I'm doing a lot of reading, but little to any of it is actually voluntary reading for pleasure. With this in mind, I did get time to read some books throughout the year, and I have compiled a list of the Top 3 books I recommend for reading in 2019! No category is excluded, so fiction, non-fiction, and everything in-between is allowed. With that, let's begin!
1: The Transhumanist Wager – Zoltan Istvan
If a work of fiction could also be a manifesto for a movement, then Zoltan Istvan's The Transhumanist Wager is just that! What Zoltan has achieved is a manifesto on Transhumanism, packaged in a fictional story that could just as easily be all too real. The story begins with the protagonist, Jethro Knights, initial struggles with college, his initial support of Transhumanism, sailing around the world, the woman he loves, and with his life. As the story progresses, however, Jethro's hardest struggle arises from increasingly aggressive attempts at stamping out Transhumanist thought, ideas, and experiments. As Jethro works in an increasingly hostile environment for Transhumanist research, he finds himself and his research under constant attack by politicians, bureaucrats, fundamentalist religious fanatics, and moral authoritarians. After the death of his wife by the hands of a group of religious fanatics, Jethro and his growing group of Transhumanist confidants begin working on a plan to remove themselves from the reach of world governments. Their plans come to fruition in the form of the sea-steading, floating city of Transhumania. On this floating city, research on Transhumanist projects and ideas may be done unhindered by oppressive laws and violent fundamentalists. However, the world is not willing to let the Transhumanists live in peace, and soon the governments of the world begin plotting to attack and seize the city. In an epic climax, the governments of the world attempt to attack the city, but are shown to be woefully impotent against the Transhumanists. The Transhumanists, lead by Jethro Knights, then proceed to overthrow the governments of the world and establish a unified, global country of Transhumania. In this nation, research is focused on obtaining omnipotence and scientific revolutions abound, all in a world where the rights of the individual are protected universally.
There is a reason why Zoltan's book The Transhumanist Wager is placed at the number one spot on my lists. It is nothing short of a seminal work on Transhumanism that is worthy of reading by all. In reading it, one can see the heavy influences of Ayn Rand, as well as other Libertarian-Transhumanist ideas. Zoltan's creation, though, is unique on its own. Not all may agree with his views and stances, as even I do not agree with him in entirety in his book. However, what Zoltan lays out are groundbreaking ideas, some of which go too far by his own admission, but many of which would fundamentally revolutionize the world we live in, and it is for that fact alone that his book is worth reading. Combine this with a fantastic story plot, and you have a book that is a must-read for 2019!
2: Life After Google – George Gilders
A powerful and blunt prediction of technology, from a man who predicted, before I was even born, that you would most likely be reading this on an internet-connected mobile device. George Gilder's Life After Google is a powerful indictment of the current breed of large, oligarchic internet companies, namely Google, and offers a highly foretelling prediction of where technology is heading. He offers a strong rebuke to the Marxist-Materialist attitudes of large companies such as Google and Facebook, while also showing how growing trends and movements in burgeoning technology fields can fundamentally change how the individuals in the world interact with each other. He covers a wide range of mainstream technology and the upstart tech movements and innovations that will soon displace them, starting with blockchain technology disrupting normal forms of commerce, trade, and contracting, to the rise of quality data analysis for artificial intelligence as opposed to quantitative data analysis. Indeed, a short summary could easily be quantity versus quality, more data versus better data, more users versus a better user experience. Gilder's lays out a series of predictions for what technology, and as a result, our entire world will look like in the near-future. His book is absolutely worth reading, and should be a necessity for anyone who wonder's where technology is already heading!
3: A Dearth of Eagles – Andrew Bernstein
This is the only writing on this list which can be called a truly fictional work, yet one might be mistaken for thinking it is not. This is because Dr Andrew Bernstein's work A Dearth of Eagles is an absolutely brilliant story of a true hero fighting for physical freedom, intellectual freedom, and artistic freedom. The story focuses around Kalin, a Bulgarian Freedom Fighter, who lives a dual life of battling for the freedom of the Bulgarian citizens while also working on a creative writing degree in New York City. In the story, Kalin works with the mysterious "Ghost" to fight the physical enemies of the Bulgarian secret police and the intellectual enemies sympathetic to communism. A fantastic storyline and a very unexpected plot twist at the end makes this a must-read book for anyone who values liberty, freedom, and independence! Dr Bernstein infuses a strong blend of philosophical principles mixed with strong characters and a story plot to emphasize all of these traits in a way that few authors are able to achieve. I am proud to say I have been able to speak directly with Dr Bernstein. He is a fantastic guy and he is fully committed to the principles he lays out in his book. His fantastic story combined with his philosophical commitment earns A Dearth of Eagles a place on my Top 3 Book List of 2019!
This wraps up my Top 3 Books to Read in 2019! I hope everyone is able to read one of these three great books in the coming year, and I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I did.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!