The Last 100 Books I’ve Read

by John Hawkins | February 13, 2008 7:00 am

Currently Reading: Chris Jones: The Ecomancer[1] (An apocalyptic work of fiction that I’m enjoying thus far)

100) Bill Newman: Soaring with Eagles: Principles of Success[2] (A-: A small, inspiration book that reminds me a lot of Rhinoceros Success, which is a classic motivational book)

99) Thomas Sowell: Dynamic People Skills[3] (B: Very solid, very well written, like all of Sowell’s books)

98: Dexter Yeager: Dynamic People Skills[4] (A-: Yeager is a rich, successful guy and the book is a great read, although it focuses more on life skills than people skills per se)

97) Patrick Buchanan: The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization[5] (A: I’m generally not much of a Buchanan fan, but the demographic and cultural arguments he puts forth in this book are well written, convincing, and more than a little scary)

96) Peter Haugen: World History for Dummies[6] (B: The “For Dummies” series books tend to be very uneven in quality, especially when they’re covering broad topics. However, this is a good one. It does a great job of keeping it interesting although it seems a little shallow in places, which is, of course, unavoidable when you’re covering the history of the world in less than 400 pages)

95) Jean Raspail: The Camp Of The Saints[7] (A: This riveting, fictional book describes the collapse of Western society after it’s inundated with hordes of unwanted immigrants. It’s a hell of a good story and it’s surprisingly how much of the book you can see unfolding in the world today)

94) Peter Heather: The Fall Of The Roman Empire[8] (A-: The book does a particularly good job of coherently explaining the conditions that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire while keeping you from getting bored)

93) Stanley Coren: How Dogs Think: What the World Looks Like to Them and Why They Act the Way They Do[9] (B: Parts of the book are a little too dry and “sciencey” for me, but there is some fantastic info in this book, too)

92) Rick Warren: The Power To Change Your Life[10] (B: This is a short book written in Rick Warren’s self-help-book-meets-Christian book style. It’s no Purpose Drive Life, but then how many books are?)

91) Neal Boortz: The Terrible Truth About Liberals[11] (B-: This is a short book with some decent insights in it)90) Brian Lynch & Franco Urru: Spike: Asylum[12] (C-: This is another “Buffyverse” graphic novel, but unfortunately, it’s not a very good one)

89) Joss Whedon: Fray[13] (A-: This is a graphic novel from the same guy who’s behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s a tale of another slayer from the future and it’s good)

88) Ian Coburn: God is a Woman: Dating Disasters[14] (A: This is a funny book from comedian Ian Coburn about his dating experiences — mostly the bad ones. It definitely keeps you laughing and every so often, you get a little bit of good advice to boot)

87) Cesar Millan: Be The Pack Leader[15] (B-: This was readable, but bizarrely, most of the info that diehard “Dog Whisperer” fans will want to see, about dealing with the nitty gritty of dog behavior, is contained in an appendix)

86) Clarence Thomas: My Grandfather’s Son[16] (A-: This reminds me of David Horowitz’s Radical Son. It kept me locked in and paying attention from beginning to end)

85) Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: The Book of the Dead[17] (C: This is a mystery/crime novel with some interesting elements, but there were several people who were so super-humanly competent that it made it impossible to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the story).

84) Atul Gawande: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science[18] (B: A very readable, somewhat frightening book from a surgeon who goes to great lengths to explain how very fallible doctors really are)

83) Rick Warren: The Purpose Driven Life[19] (A+: Without hesitation, I would recommend this book to any Christian over anything else I have ever read on Christianity outside of the Bible).

82) Alan Moore: Watchmen[20] (A-: A gripping graphic novel that imagines all too human costumed crime fighters in a world that they gradually tilt off kilter.)

81) Thomas E. Woods Jr.: 33 Questions About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask[21] (C+: Informative, but a bit dry and overly concerned with minutiae at times)

80) Bob Novak: The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington[22] (B+: I really enjoyed the book, which covers Novak’s 50 years of reporting in Washington, which mostly seemed to consist of meeting important people for lunch, getting info out of them over drinks, and reporting it in his column. However, I am a blogger and a hardcore political junky. If that definition doesn’t fit you as well, you may not enjoy the book nearly as much as I did.)

79) Drew Curtis: It’s Not News, It’s Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap As News[23] (A-: I thought this was a funny, extremely effective, non-partisan critique of the mainstream media. It was rather enjoyable.)

78) Michael Moorcock: The Weird of the White Wolf 3[24] (A+: This is book 3 in what I consider to be the best fantasy series of all-time and I wanted to reread it to see if it was as good as I thought it was. It was…)

77) Col David Hunt: On the Hunt: How to Wake Up Washington and Win the War on Terror[25] (C: While Hunt definitely scores some points and says some things of interest, he complains so incessantly, about almost everything related to the war on terror, that his complaints come across as contradicting each other in places. Also, because he seems to like almost nothing about the war we’re running on the war on terror, it’s hard to separate the “signal from the noise” and know how much stock to put in his ideas.

76) Popular Mechanics: Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can’t Stand Up to the Facts[26] (B: As you’d expect, it’s a bit dry and it can’t cover every cockeyed theory, but it very thoroughly debunked a lot of the more popular “Truther” nonsense that you’ve probably heard about 9/11)

75) James Bowman: Honor: A History[27] (A: A very well done book that helps explain our own culture’s history with honor and that of other nations. This book does an outstanding job of explaining behavior that at times, appears downright mysterious to people not steeped in a culture of honor.)

74) George Washington: George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation[28] (D-: The book is, not unexpectedly, very out of date at this point. However, it’s really too short to even be a book. It’s more like an essay.)

73) Allan Bloom: The Closing of the American Mind[29] (C-: This is supposed to be a conservative classic and it does have an exceptional start, but it quickly becomes very tedious, spends far too much time on philosophy, and comes across as mere crabby complaining in many places.)

72) Angela McGlowan: Bamboozled: How Americans are being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda[30] (A: This is a fantastic book that covers how the Democratic party has Bamboozled black Americans into voting for them despite the fact that the Democrats do little for black Americans and have been a traditionally racist party.)

71) Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn: For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women[31] (B: There were some interesting insights into the female mind in this book.)

70) H.W. Crocker: Don’t Tread on Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting[32] (B+: The book is a bit too concise in places, which is sort of a given in a 464 page book that covers all of America’s wars, but it is extremely well written. I liked Crocker just a shade less than my two favorite historical writers, Robert Leckie and Victor Davis Hanson.

69) Frank J. Fleming & Sarah C. Fleming: The Chronicles of Dubya Volume 1: The Defeat of Saddam[33] (B: This is a book based on IMAO’s[34] “In My World” series. It was extremely funny and well put together, but because I was already a fan, I’ve read a lot of the material in the book already on IMAO’s blog. That’s why it got a “B” rating. On the other hand, if you haven’t read a lot of the series on IMAO and are looking for something funny to peruse, I’d highly recommend this book.)

68) Greg Bear: Blood Music[35] (C: The first 3/4 of the book was really exceptional, but Bear went all M. Night Shyamalan at the end and ruined what was shaping up to be an extraordinary work of science fiction with plot twists too bizarre to be taken seriously.)

67) John Leppelman: Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier’s Thirty-five Months in Vietnam[36] (A: A magnificent, first person account of the fighting, misery, and incompetent officers that ordinary soldiers had to endure in Vietnam.)

66) C. S. Lewis: Mere Christianity[37] (B: The first 3/4 of the book was simply brilliant, but the book bogs down a lot at the end when Lewis goes from explaining Christianity simply, in an easy to understand way, and gets deep into theology.)

65) John Lewis Gaddis: The Cold War: A New History[38] (B-: The book was supposed to be a concise history of the Cold War and it was — perhaps too much so. It’s probably a good summary for people who aren’t familiar with the Long, Twilight Struggle, but it also seemed like a lot of key episodes weren’t covered as well as they should be.)

64) William Easterly: The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good[39] (D+: The book had a few nuggets of interest in it, but was dry and quite frankly, didn’t say much that couldn’t have been said just as well in a 5000 word essay.)

63) Eric Bischoff & Jeremy Roberts: Controversy Creates Cash[40] (B+: You won’t like this book unless you like wrestling, but if you do, it’s a good read about the fall of WCW.)

62) Dick Wirthlin and Wynton C. Hall: The Greatest Communicator: What Ronald Reagan Taught Me About Politics, Leadership, and Life[41] (A-: A superb book with lots of stories about Reagan and what people can learn from him.)

61) Frank Miller: 300[42] (A+: Shorter than I expected, but an exceptional read. The book was every bit as good as the movie (edited)!)

60) Robert Leckie: “A Few Acres of Snow”: The Saga of the French and Indian Wars[43] (A: This is a typical Leckie book. In other words, it’s superbly written and covers what happened in great detail although fortunately, this one was a little shorter than many of his other books.)

59) Dwight Eisenhower: In Review, Pictures I’ve Kept[44] (B: It was fascinating to read about WW2 and Eisenhower’s time in the White House and little details jumped out at you. The UN seemed to actually function back then. Eisenhower said he had opposed using nukes against Japan, but let it be known that he was willing to use nuclear weapons against China if there was a conflict. It’s a good historical perspective.)

58) Scott Williams: Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW[45] (B: I can’t fully explain why I read this book so soon after reading the other except that perhaps I thought it might have some better stories. It did — a little better anyway, although it covered a lot of the same ground.)

57) Tony Robbins (Reread): Awaken the Giant Within : How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! [46] (A+: This is one of my favorite books of all-time and it was nice to read it for a 3rd (or is it a 4th?) time.)

56) Thom Loverro: The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling[47] (C+: Not a terrible book, but I had heard a lot of this before.)

55) Victor Davis Hanson: Why the West Has Won[48] (A-: VDH describes how and why some of the greatest Western military victories — and defeats — took place.)

54) Maddox: The Alphabet Of Manliness[49] (C: Maddox is about the funniest writer you’ll ever run across on the net, but the book is really uneven. Some chapters (where Maddox sticks to what he does better than anyone else, biting sarcasm) are laugh out loud funny and others are very ho-hum.)

53) David Maraniss: When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi[50] (B: This was a well written and detailed book about Lombardi, but I may not be enough of a football fan these days to fully appreciate it.)

52) R.A. Salvatore: The Two Swords (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, Book 3)[51] (C: Not Salvatore’s best work and inexplicably, he doesn’t wrap things up in the the third and presumably final book of the trilogy. Most unsatisfying.)

51) R.A. Salvatore: The Lone Drow (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, Book 2)[52] (B-: Salvatore’s heart doesn’t seem to be in this series.)

50) R.A. Salvatore: The Thousand Orcs (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, Book 1)[53] (B: Great characters, but the dialogue seems a little stilted at times.)

49) Donald Kagan: The Peloponnesian War[54] (A: As you read about this epic 25 year long war between Greek States that happened 2500 years ago, you will, believe it or not, see parallels very applicable to the war on terror pop-up.)

48) Robert B. Cialdini: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion[55] (B: Lots of info on how sales techniques play upon particular human tendencies.)

47: Desmond Stewart: Early Islam (Great Ages of Man)[56] (B+: It was interesting to read a book about Islam that was done pre-9/11. Lots of details about Muhammad and the power struggles after his death)

46) Roger L. Depue, Susan Schindehette: Between Good and Evil: A Master Profiler’s Hunt for Society’s Most Violent Predators[57] (B: If he had spent the whole time talking about his career at the FBI instead of his personal life, this probably would have been an A)

45) Ann Coulter: Godless: The Church of Liberalism[58] (A: another great, great read from Ann. See the interview here[59] and the quotes here[60].)

44) Fletcher Pratt: The Battles That Changed History[61] (B: This was a good read overall and Pratt is a skilled writer, but a little more detail at times would have been helpful)

43) Joe Klein: Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You’re Stupid[62] (B-: Klein is a liberal and I didn’t agree with everything he said, but the book was a quick, fun read with lots of “inside baseball” nuggets of interest tossed out to political junkies. See the quotes here[63].)

42) Henry Hazlitt: Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics[64] (C: I know this is supposed to be a classic, but it seemed a little too dated for my taste)

41) Mona Charen: Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us)[65] (B+: Read it, enjoyed it, and created a batch of quotes[66].)

40) Roy Hazelwood & Stephen Michaud: Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide and the Criminal Mind[67] (B: If you enjoyed abnormal psych in college or are interested in profiling, this is a capitivating, albeit disturbing, book)

39) Claire Berlinski: Menace in Europe: Why the Continent’s Crisis Is America’s, Too[68] (B: Her style, which involves taking personal stories and weaving them into broad narratives works extremely well in most cases, but not so well in others. Still, this was a thought provoking book that showcased some seldom discussed, but very relevant ideas about Europe)

38) Edwin Feulner & Doug Wilson: Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today[69] (B: This is chock full of good ideas and interesting factoids.)

37) Tom Bethell: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science[70] (D: This book has a lot of fascinating information in it, but some of the chapters, for example on cancer and aids in Africa, struck me as a bit flakey and “off.” That left me unsure of how much of the book to trust.)

36) Larry Elder: The Ten Things You Can’t Say In America[71] (A-: If it wasn’t for the chapter advocating legalizing drugs, this would qualify as a conservative masterpiece.)

35) Barry Goldwater: The Conscience of a Conservative[72] (C+: I didn’t agree with some of Goldwater’s views on race issues and the book feels a bit dated, perhaps because so many of his ideas have already been adopted and talked to death by conservatives and libertarians, but it was readable.)

34) Charles Pickering: Supreme Chaos: The Politics of Judicial Confirmation & the Culture War[73] (B-: Pickering is magnificent, as good as you’re going to come across, when it comes to putting contentious issues that have come before the court into perspective for conservatives, but the book bogs down a bit when he talks about his own story.)

33) Ken Starr: First Among Equals: The Supreme Court In American Life[74] (C-: Extremely informative, but also dry as dust. I’m not even sure this book is intended for a layman.)

32) Stuart Bell, Stan Campbell, James S. Bell: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Bible[75] (A+: Very well written, very informative, easy to read through, and great reading. Highly recommended, especially if you want to learn more about the Bible, but are intimidated by the length and all the, “who begat who’s.”)

31) Rush Limbaugh: The Way Things Ought to Be[76] (A — Reread: This is one of the conservative classics. It’s still a great read, although it feels a bit dated since it discusses a number of current events and it’s more than a decade old.)

30) Robert Leckie: Story of World War I[77] (B+: I bought this one sight unseen so I didn’t realize it was for young adults and therefore shorter than the normal Leckie book. Still, it was an excellent overview of WW1. Probably the equivalent of reading one of those World War 1 for dummies books, except better written)

29) Peter Schweizer: Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy[78] (A: Lots of entertaining dirt on the hypocritical left. Full review here[79].)

28) Dean Koontz: Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son[80] (B: This was obviously meant to be the first part of a trilogy or a series which in part, alleviated my dismay at the fact that there wasn’t all that much Frankenstein in this book about Frankenstein.)

27) Tammy Bruce: The New American Revolution: Using the Power of the Individual to Save Our Nation from Extremists [81] (B: A good read. Bruce reminds me of David Horowitz in some places. No one loathes the left like a convert to the right who has the scales ripped from his/her eyes.)

26) Victor Davis Hanson: Wars of the Ancient Greeks[82] (D: This is by far the worst thing I’ve ever read by Hanson, perhaps because it was part of a Smithsonian series and they put too many restrictions on him.)

25) Jenna Jameson: How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale[83] (B: I thought reading a book by the world’s most famous porn star would be a nice change of pace — and it was, although it got a little dull in the middle when she killed time by talking about her childhood. Also, while — as you’d expect — this is a very racy book, it really is a cautionary tale.)

24) Noam Chomsky: Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World[84] (F: Don’t waste your time with this garbage. Full review here[85].)

23) Katherine DeBrecht: Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed![86] (A for kids: I had a media copy of this one sent to me since it got so much attention. I thought it was an excellent children’s book with a great message and some very funny illustrations.)

22) Tommy Franks: American Soldier[87] (C: Lots of interesting tidbits — for example, the guys at the Pentagon think Douglas Feith is a clown — but very, very dry in some places.)

21) Robert Leckie: Delivered from Evil: The Saga of World War II[88] (A: Typical Leckie. Very long with lots of detail, but so well written it keeps you interested.)

20) Ric Flair: To Be the Man[89] (A+: The best wrestling book ever, even better than Mick Foley’s, “Have a Nice Day![90].”)

19) Roger Ailes: You Are the Message[91] (A: This is a reread, but it’s always good to brush up on your communications skills)

18) Ann Coulter: High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton[92] (B: Lot of good info on the scandals in the Clinton administration, but it’s a little dry and incessant lobbying for impeachment feels a bit dated at this point)

17) Michelle Malkin: Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild[93] (A-: I proofed this book when it was months away from being published and I thought Michelle did a great job of cataloguing how loony the left has gotten.)

16) Robert Leckie: The World Turned Upside Down the Story of the American Revolution[94] (A: You’ll learn more about the American Revolution by reading Leckie than any history class you’ll ever take)

15) John Douglas & Mark Olshaker: The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI’s Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals[95] (B: It’s a good read and if you enjoyed other books by Douglas or on profiling, you’ll probably like this one, too)

14) Brian Anderson: Southpark Republicans[96] (B: This is a good intro to the blogosphere, Southpark Republicans, and the “new face of conservatism.”)

13) Steven Pressfield: The Virtues Of War[97] (A-: Not as good a piece of historical fiction as, “Gates of Fire,” but what is? This was still a great read)

12) Milton & Rose Friedman: Free To Choose[98] (B+: Good book, but I still think Sowell is better at breaking down economics issues)

11) Robert Leckie: Conflict: The History of the Korean War, 1950-53[99] (A: Only VDH is better at making history come alive than Leckie)

10) Mark Dubbin: Shadow Patriot[100] (C-: Great concept, but the execution was a little flat.)

9) Thomas Sowell: Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One[101] (B: Good stuff, but I liked Basic Economics[102] better)

8) Ann Coulter: How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter[103] (B-: If you’ve regularly read Ann’s columns for the last few years. A- if you haven’t)

7) Paul Cartledge: The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece, from Utopia to Crisis and Collapse[104] (C: Good information, but very dry reading and poorly organized)

6) Steven Pressfield: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae[105] (A+: Incredible read, loved it, loved it, loved it)

5) Ed Rollins: Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms : My Life in American Politics[106] (B: Great for political junkies)

4) Dick Morris: Power Plays: Win or Lose — How History’s Great Political Leaders Play the Game[107] (A-: Great for political junkies)

3) P.J. O’Rourke: Peace Kills: America’s Fun New Imperialism[108] (B-: Readable, but not’s P.J.’s best work)

2) Joe Scarborough: Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day : The Real Deal on How Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America[109] (A-: The real deal on how Congress wastes your money)

1) Scott Keith: Wrestling’s One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation[110] (A for wrestling fans)