We Are Not Saved

Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History
By: Kyle Harper
Published: 2021
704 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?
A comprehensive historical overview of the never-ending war between humanity and disease. From its earliest days all the way down to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a specific focus on what he calls the "paradox of progress": every new advance creates new opportunities for diseases. But it's not just us driving diseases, they're driving us as well. Efforts to mitigate the negative effects of these pathogens are scattered throughout our history, our civilization and our genes.
What authorial biases should I be aware of?
None that you'd really be surprised by. He explicitly takes a very global view of humanity's disease burden, knowing that the story of European diseases like smallpox and the plague have already received plenty of attention. (Which is not to say he ignores them. Merely that he locates them as just one among many.)
Who should read this book?
I think everyone should be more aware of the potential dangers of pandemics, and the monstrous impact plagues have had on the development of humanity and civilization, and this book does a fantastic job with the second part, but it has less to offer on future danger than I hoped. Speaking of which:
What does the book have to say about the future?
Harper definitely takes the stand that our long war against diseases is far from over, and there is a lot of great discussion about how pathogens evolve alongside us, changing tactics as we change our environment. But there's almost no discussion (none that I really remember) of the danger of bioengineered pathogens, which felt like a significant oversight.
Specific thoughts: Two things which continue to baffle me

Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
By: Annie Jacobsen
Published: 2017
544 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?
An exhaustive history of the government's attempts to systematize and weaponize paranormal abilities. It also covers the broader paranormal research landscape, with lots of discussion of Uri Geller.  
What authorial biases should I be aware of?
Jacobsen claims to be approaching the subject as a neutral observer, but I got a strong "I want to believe" vibe from the book. Her approach appears to assume what it claims to be investigating. The overarching question of the book is: "Why did the government spend so much time and effort on these areas if there's nothing there?"
As one example of bias, I grew up reading Carl Sagan, and in his telling the appearance of Uri Geller on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was the smoking gun. Carson went to great lengths to make sure that Geller couldn't influence the demonstration, and, what do you know? Geller failed to bend any spoons. I read about this when I was a teenager and it has loomed large in my memory ever since, so I was very interested to see how Jacobsen would handle it. She devotes one sentence to it:
Geller was nervous, he said, having recently been unable to demonstrate psychokinesis on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
 
I'm sure I'm reflecting my own biases with this focus, but if she was truly being a neutral observer, I would have expected Geller's Carson appearance to have gotten several pages.
Who should read this book?
...

Black Easter by: James Blish

The Day After Judgment by: James Blish

Into the Storm by: Larry Correia

A Prisoner's Cinema by: Justin Lee

Delano is very much an example of something being wrong with psychiatry, the question is how emblematic is her experience?
Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance
By: Laura Delano
Published: 2025
352 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?
An autobiographical tale of Delano's experience with the mental health industry starting at the age of thirteen. Among other things, it covers her bipolar diagnosis, eating disorders, cutting, and one, nearly successful, suicide attempt. On the treatment side of the ledger she took at least a dozen drugs, engaged in constant therapy, and was committed to psychiatric hospitals and treatment programs on several occasions. In the end she decided that most of her problems stemmed from the substances she was taking, both those that are recognized as harmful, like cocaine and alcohol, and those that were supposed to help her. A major theme of the book is that the horrible withdrawal symptoms that accompany most psychiatric drugs go a long way towards creating the impression that "the drugs are helping". 
Woven through all of this, Delano provides significant research illustrating the bad incentives, and shoddy testing engaged in by the pharmaceutical industry, along with critiques of the DSM, the paradigm of mental illness as a chemical imbalance, and reliance on drugs as a first line of treatment. 
What authorial biases should I be aware of?
Delano includes some extensive research. This is not merely an n=1 anecdote, there are clearly a significant number of people who are taking too many psychiatric drugs, and don't have the skills to taper off those drugs. Also Delano is explicitly not "antimedication" or "antipsychiatry". Nevertheless, it is clear that she is not a neutral observer, that she is profoundly distrustful of the pharmaceutical industry, and that she came by this distrust honestly, even if it doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. 
It should also be mentioned that money was never a problem for Delano, which probably meant both that she received too much care, but also that she had a large support network available during every phase of her journey. 
Who should read this book?
The debate over how to care for the mentally ill is both fascinating and fraught. It sits at a convoluted nexus that includes healthcare availability, cost, worries over youth, violence, homelessness, anti- and pro- drug narratives, and a weird tangle of culture war issues. Navigating this mess is going to take as much information as we can get and this is a great book describing one of the many angles available for approaching it.
As a more specific matter I would recommend it to psychologists and psychiatrists as something of a counter-narrative/steelman for those who are wary of medications and interventions.
Finally, for those seeking to taper or get off of medication, this book is essential reading, and the idea of hyperbolic tapering may be the single most important bit of knowledge it contains.
If you want a taste of things, I read this as part of the Blocked and Reported book club, and they had an interview with Delano which was quite good.   
Specific thoughts: Mental health treatment is crazy complicated

The Obstacle Is the Way Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by: Ryan Holiday

The Enchiridion & Discourses by: Epictetus

The Lives of the Caesars by: Suetonius