8. Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk
It has been the year of Cunk in my reading/watching life in 2022. I discovered Cunk on youtube, watching clips here and there. Finally searched her out and discovered Cunk on Britain, which I saw three times start to finish this time. Was elated to watch Cunk on Earth as soon as it came out. Cunk on Everything is a dictionary or encyclopedia “by Cunk”. There is a surprising amount of new material, with some repetitive stuff, which you will only notice if you binged the two tv shows multiple times like I did. Hilarious book and my number 8 for the year.
7. Adonis Attis Osiris by James George Frazer
My quest to finish the whole of Golden Bough by the iconic James George Frazer continued with two volumes which mainly discuss Adonis, Attis and Osiris. Every time I return to this colossal work or religion and anthropology, I can’t help but be impressed, both by the amount of knowledge and insight Fraser has for his subject, but also for his writing. There is a lot of well-crafted style to his prose, but also a piercing sardonic attitude that can deliver both laugh and knowledge at equal degree.
6. War and the Iliad by Simone Weil
Simone Weil was one of the thinkers on the very top of my to read list. An episode of the podcast Philosophize This by Stephen West made me put her on the very to and start reading her. This short work is the first one I read, and I have to say Weil floored me right away. The amount of insight into the discussed work, combined with her ability to intertwine the struggles of the characters with the worst malice of the human condition is something to behold. The way she discussed Priam kissing the bloodied hands of Achilles, I can’t stop thinking about it and I can’t get that image out of my head.
5. The Theologico-Political Treatise by Baruch Spinoza
Its been so long since I last read a work by Spinoza and my mind sort of slipped and forgot just how brilliant, concise and precise of a thinker he is. You read just a few sentences and you realize this person is a genius. The way he approaches a subject, his ability to both define and examine every facet of a problem that he is interested in, superb. I did find the first part of the treatise much more interesting, simply because studying the history of ideas and stories is more of my thing than utopias and history of politics.
4. Thinking Basketball by Ben Taylor
I loved Ben’s work for years, both the YouTube stuff, which he is now even doing in collaboration with the NBA, and his podcasting which he does most often with his wonderful and always energetic cohost Cody Houdek. The book is an attempt to improve the knowledge and analysis of basketball. Ben is great at showing just how far we have come in terms of analytics. Now we have so much more than just looking at points rebounds and assists. If you are a basketball fan the book is a must read, just like his podcast is a must listen, and his Youtube channel is a must see.
3. The Barcelona Legacy by Jonathan Wilson
Barcelona is one of my three favorite football clubs. Jonathan Wilson is one of my favorite writers. This book had the potential to be fantastic, and it was. Wilson has the uncanny ability to intertwine sports and history like nobody I read. His prose is one of the most readable, sentences flow one after the other, never exhausting. The page turner feeling you get by reading most of his books, and this one included, almost leaves you feeling like you are reading a thriller not a book that is about a football club.
2. Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
In this book, Anna Lembke examines our ever-growing struggle with dopamine. We are a species didn’t evolve to handle so much available dopamine in our surroundings. She discusses some of her patients and through them, as well as her own struggles, she suggests what can be done to minimize our addiction to various forms of ever-growing number of dopamine sources. Nonstop search for pleasure can only lead to pain.
1. War for Eternity by Benjamin Teitelbaum
This book really surprised me and opened a whole new world to me. An investigative piece into the various creatures and figures that lurk in the far-right ecosphere, both in the USA, but also in other places like Hungary or Brazil, this book reads like a thriller. I still struggle to believe that so many acolytes of these obscure Traditionalist figures managed to instill themselves in so many centers of power. It is incredible that a few years ago, both Russia and the USA both had people close to their leaders who are followers of Evola and his ilk.
What To Consume 