Pun Salad

[A New Year's Day tradition, adapted from past years.]

Just in case you're interested in what I found informative, interesting, thought-provoking, etc. last year. The cover images are Amazon paid links, and clicking on them will take you there, where I get a cut if you purchase, thanks in advance. Clicking on the book's title will whisk you to my blog posting for a fuller discussion.

I am restricting the list to the 17 books I rated with five stars at Goodreads. Nota Bene: Goodreads ratings are subjective; they do not necessarily reflect a book's cosmic quality, just my reaction. And perhaps also my mood at the time, grumpy or generous. In other words, don't take this too seriously. A lot of the four-star books there are pretty good too.

The complete list of books I read in 2025, including fiction, is here.

In order read:

	The Indispensible Right — Free Speech in an Age of Rage by Jonathan Turley . A detailed and powerful discussion of "free speech", its long history, and why it should be considered a natural right, interpreted widely, up to and including "sedition".
	We Have Never Been Woke — The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi . The author is an honest, sharp-eyed observer of the self-proclaimed "woke" fractious faction. And he makes a convincing case that their nostrums are ineffective at solving the problems they describe.
	The War on the West by Douglas Murray . A fine job of demonstrating just how nuts we went just a few years ago, as summed up in the book title. It became extremely fashionable to attack All Things West. (And, often, its associated evil, "whiteness".)
	John Adams by David McCullough . Even though John Adams gets a (somewhat deserved) bad rap for the Alien and Sedition Acts, this biography is balanced with showing his deeply patriotic side as well. Get to know him, and also his Mrs., Abigail, as real people.
	Bad Therapy — Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier . The subject is the psychological damage to children caused by mental health professionals, semi-professionals, and (yes) even some parents. Parents beware of shrinks bearing the latest nostrums!
	Build, Baby, Build — The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation by Bryan Caplan . A comic-book coverage of the various governmental barriers to housing construction. Bryan makes his convincing case: most zoning and building regs are a net negative to prosperity and a cause of homelessness.
	Believe — Why Everyone Should Be Religious by Ross Douthat . The first of two books I read this year that encourage the secular reader to consider the reality of the divine, and the possibility that the bible-thumpers might have a point.
	Freedom Regained — The Possibility of Free Will by Julian Baggini . A very detailed philosophical/scientific discussion of (yes) the possibility of free will, taking seriously the objections, and showing why they are flawed.
	Stiff — The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach . One of Mary Roach's pop-science books that lean toward the morbid. As with her other books, she likes to explore the areas that polite people don't discuss. (Her newest book, Replaceable You, also overlaps some with the topics covered here. Where do you think they get "replacement" parts?)
	Challenger — A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham . An impressively researched, detailed look at the 1986 destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Also an indictment of NASA's deadly combination of hubris and sloppiness.
	The Essential Scalia — On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law by Antonin Scalia . Opinions and articles from the late, great SCOTUS justice. A great overview of a fine legal mind.
	Hope I Get Old Before I Die — Why Rock Stars Never Retire by David Hepworth . Insightful and witty takes on the methods rock stars use to maintain their marketability after their initial rise to fame and fortune.
	Let Colleges Fail — The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education by Richard K. Vedder . A painfully brutal advocacy of true reform of American universities, by cutting them loose from government subsidy and regulation. "Creative destruction" isn't a lot of fun for the formerly comfortable, but it's a necessary step for getting innovation and improvement, as we see in the private sector.
	Tribalism is Dumb — Where it Came From, How it Got So Bad, and What To Do About it by Andrew Heaton . A funny (but also wise) look at how our long-ago evolution in Africa is working somewhat to our detriment today.
	Taking Religion Seriously by Charles Murray . My second book this year about religion, pretty good for a guy who only enters churches for weddings, funerals, and concerts. Murray's take is similar to Douthat's above, but covers other issues too.
	The War on Science — Thirty-Nine Renowned Scientists and Scholars Speak Out About Current Threats to Free Speech, Open Inquiry, and the Scientific Process edited by Lawrence M. Krauss . Bad news: the "war" considered here is not the usual one conducted by knuckle-dragging right-wing know-nothings, but is coming from internal sources, primarily from the left. Science just can't catch a break, can it?
	The Parasitic Mind — How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense by Gad Saad . A wide-ranging diatribe against all thinks "woke". But also Islamism.