Eli Bendersky's Q1 2026 Reading List: From Baboons to Bible History

Intellectual Discourse and Historical Analysis

Thomas Sowell's "Intellectuals and Society" offers a critical examination of left-leaning thinkers, though the author acknowledges its clear bias. Written in 2009, the essays focus primarily on early to mid-20th century intellectual movements, demonstrating how historical patterns continue to resonate today.

James C. Scott's "Seeing Like a State" attempts to explain why well-intentioned government plans often fail catastrophically. Through examples like scientific forest management, pre-planned cities, and monoculture agriculture, Scott explores the gap between theoretical planning and practical outcomes. However, the analysis becomes muddled when mixing private enterprise failures with state-driven initiatives, leaving the central thesis somewhat unconvincing.

For those interested in modern geopolitical conflicts, Ben Buchanan's "The Hacker and the State" provides an overview of major state-sponsored cyber attacks over the past 15 years. While necessarily surface-level due to limited public information, the book offers valuable context for understanding how digital warfare has become normalized in international relations.

Science, Nature, and Personal Discovery

Robert Sapolsky's "A Primate's Memoir" transcends typical scientific writing by blending rigorous baboon research with vivid accounts of life in Kenya. Though only about a quarter of the book focuses on primatology, the author's adventures and interactions with local communities create an engaging narrative that's both educational and humorous. The book reveals how field research often involves as much cultural navigation as scientific observation.

John Barton's "A History of the Bible" provides an exhaustive examination of the world's most influential religious text. While the author maintains scholarly objectivity, his position as a priest creates subtle tensions in the analysis. The book's thoroughness comes at the cost of readability, with some sections becoming quite tedious despite the fascinating subject matter.

Martial Arts and Cultural History

Gichin Funakoshi's "Karate-Do: My Way of Life" offers a fascinating glimpse into the relatively recent history of karate. The founder of modern Shotokan reveals how karate was once an obscure Okinawan practice before World War II, with Funakoshi himself playing a crucial role in its global popularization during the mid-20th century. The autobiography's flowing, succinct style makes it particularly accessible.

Fiction and Narrative Exploration

Ilan Sheinfeld's "A Tale of a Ring" presents a multi-generational saga of two families migrating from Danzig to Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, incorporating magical elements. Despite the ambitious scope, the narrative failed to engage the reader significantly.

Hampton Sides' "The Wide Wide Sea" chronicles Captain James Cook's final voyage, with particular emphasis on his encounters with Polynesian peoples, especially in Hawaii where he made first European contact. The book provides valuable historical context for understanding early cross-cultural interactions during the age of exploration.

Sergei Dovlatov's "The Suitcase" delivers connected short stories in his characteristic humorous style, offering a pleasant reading experience. Similarly, Kim Ho-Yeon's "The Second Chance Convenience Store" presents connected stories centered around a Seoul convenience store and its unusual night-shift employee, creating a sweet, short fiction collection.

Michiko Aoyama's "Hot Chocolate on Thursday" follows her previous work "What You Are Looking For Is in the Library," presenting connected short stories about ordinary people in Japan with one Australian detour. While slightly less compelling than her earlier book, it remains an enjoyable read.

Technical Deep Dive

Mara Bos's "Rust Atomics and Locks" provides an overview of low-level concurrency in Rust. While decent for beginners, the book lacks practical implementation details that would strengthen its claims. The absence of test harnesses and benchmarks in the accompanying repository makes it difficult to verify performance assertions or experiment with the code examples.

Epic Fantasy and Literary Achievement

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien represents a monumental achievement in world-building, though its reputation for difficulty is well-earned. The reader finally tackled this epic after 25 years, inspired by their children's enthusiasm for both LOTR and this prequel. The book's challenge lies partly in Tolkien's extensive use of names - introducing 3-4 new ones per page for characters, locations, and magical objects, often with multiple names for the same entity across different cultures.

Despite these challenges, the book's scope is breathtaking. The Silmarillion encompasses multiple stories of epic proportions, making LOTR seem comparatively modest in scale. Tolkien created an entire mythology with its own consistent history, languages, and aesthetic - establishing the template for modern fantasy world-building.

Re-reads and Continued Exploration

The quarter also included re-reading several favorites: John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley in Search of America," Cal Newport's "Deep Work," Jessica Wapner's "The Philadelphia Chromosome," and Madeline Levine's "The Price of Privilege." These returns to familiar works suggest the value of revisiting important books to gain new perspectives with accumulated life experience.