My Reading List

In large part because I love tweeting thoughtful passages from books I’m reading, many have asked me for my reading list. Below is a small portion of books I’ve read and am planning to read, broken down by topic (and twitter handle added for some). My scholarly paper/SSRN reading list is at the very bottom. These are my favorites/ones I expect to be my favorite.

Constitution

• ***Read this first. Terms of Engagement — Clark Neily—@ConLawWarrior
• Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People—Randy Barnett—@RandyEBarnett
• Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty—Randy Barnett
• The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty—Timothy Sandefur—@TimothySandefur
• The Right to Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law — Timothy Sandefur
• Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America’s Founding Document—Senator Mike Lee—@SenMikeLee
• Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court—Damon Root—@damonroot
• A Republic, If You Can Keep It—Justice Neil Gorsuch, Jane Nitze, David Feder—@GorsuchBook @DavidJFeder.

Regulations/Economic liberty

• How to Become a Federal Criminal: An Illustrated Handbook for the Aspiring Offender—Mike Chase—@TheMikeChase and @CrimeADay
• The Permission Society: How the Ruling Class Turns Our Freedoms into Privileges and What We Can Do About It — Timothy Sandefur—
  @TimothySandefur
• The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet—Jeff Kosseff—@jkosseff
• The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality 1st Edition — Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles — @lindsey_brink
• By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission — Charles Murray — @charlesmurray

Police, justice, 4th Amendment

• The Future of Foreign Intelligence: Privacy and Surveillance in a Digital Age (Inalienable Rights) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition—Laura K. Donohue—@Laura_K_Donohue
• Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration — and How to Achieve Real Reform — John Pfaff — @JohnFPfaff
• Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission Kindle Edition — Barry Friedman — @barryfriedman1
• Law Man: Memoir of a Jailhouse Lawyer — Shon Hopwood — @shonhopwood

Politics

• A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream — Yuval Levin
• Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt—Arthur brooks—@ArthurBrooks
• Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy—Jonah Goldberg—@JonahNRO
• Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle — Senator Jeff Flake— Jeff Flake
• The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up)—Kristen Soltis Anderson—@KSoltisAnderson
• Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Went from the Party of Reagan to the Party of Trump—Matt K. Lewis—@MattKLewis
• Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature … America (or at least the Republican Party)—Rod Dreher
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion—Jonathan Haidt
• The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation—Drew Westen
• The Conservative Sensibility—George Will—@GeorgeWill
• The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas—Jonah Goldberg—@JonahNRO
• The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America—Arthur Brooks—@ArthurBrooks
• The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas—Daniel Drezner—@dandrezner
• Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought—Jonathan Rauch—@jon_rauch

Libertarianism, philosophy

• Abolition of Man—C.S. Lewis
• The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV—Paul A. Cantor
• The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom—David Boaz—@David_Boaz
• The Conservatarian Manifesto: Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Fight for the Right’s Future—Charles Cooke—@charlescwcooke

Philosophy

• A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy—William B. Irvine
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life—Mark Manson

Social Science

• Dataclysm: Love, Sex, Race, and Identity — What Our Online Lives Tell Us about Our Offline Selves—Christian Rudder
• Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game—Jon Birger
• The Love Gap: A Radical Plan to Win in Life and Love Hardcover — Jenna Birch
• Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love—by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
• The Marshmallow Test: Why Self-Control Is the Engine of Success—Walter Mischel
• Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil—Paul Bloom—@paulbloomatyale
• How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds—Alan Jacobs—@ayjay
• The Erotic Engine: How Pornography has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google
• A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships—Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam
• Modern Romance—Aziz Ansari
• The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic—Dan Ariely
• If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?—Raj Raghunathan
• The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves—Curt Thompson MD
• The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters—Tom Nichols—@RadioFreeTom
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion—Robert B. Cialdini PhD—@RobertCialdini
• Swearing Is Good For You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language—Emma Byrne—@SciWriBy
• The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50— Jonathan Rauch — @jon_rauch
• Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing—Jamie Holmes

Higher Education

• Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech—Keith E. Whittington—@kewhittington
• The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money—Bryan Caplan—@bryan_caplan
• Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College—Andrew Ferguson
• The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure—Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt—@glukianoff and @JonHaidt

Founding Fathers/History/Philosophy

• An Essay Concerning Human Understanding—John Locke
• Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration—John Locke
• The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America—Louis Menand
• The Federalist Papers
• Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787—James Madison
• The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents — The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume 2)

Interesting People

• Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law—Haben Girma—@HabenGirma

Parenting

• The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis — and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance—Senator Ben Sasse—@BenSasse
• The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World—Amy McCready

Business

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers—Ben Horowitz
• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses—Eric Ries

Quantum Physics

• How Consciousness Became the Universe: Quantum Physics, Cosmology, Relativity, Evolution, Neuroscience, Parallel Universes

Judaism

• Letters to the Next Generation 2: Reflections on Jewish Life—Rabbi Jonathan Sacks—@rabbisacks
• Community of Faith — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Fiction

• The Hellfire Club—Jake Tapper—@JakeTapper

Scholarly Papers

4th Amendment law

• The Curious History of Fourth Amendment Searches—@OrinKerr
• The Fourth Amendment in a Digital World—@Laura_K_Donohue
• The Heritage Guide to the Constitution: Fully Revised Second Edition: Orin Kerr excerpt—@OrinKerr
• The Original Fourth Amendment—@Laura_K_Donohue
• Computer Crime Law (Introduction)—@OrinKerr
• Why the NSA Data Seizures Are Unconstitutional—@RandyEBarnett
• Encryption Workarounds—@OrinKerr

9th, 14th Amendment law, unenumerated rights

• The Ninth Amendment: It Means What It Says—@RandyEBarnett
• Does the Constitution Protect Economic Liberty?—@RandyEBarnett
• Judicial Engagement Through the Lens of Lee Optical—@RandyEBarnett
• An Originalist Theory of the Due Process of Law—@RandyEBarnett and @evanbernick

Originalism broadly, judicial deference, legislative intent

• The Letter and the Spirit: A Unified Theory of Originalism—@RandyEBarnett—@evanbernick
• The Judicial Duty to Scrutinize Legislation—@RandyEBarnett