A 2023 summer reading list for public servants

Let’s start with our annual disclaimer: it’s not summer everywhere. Moreover, summer doesn’t always mean time for rest, recess and reading. If the cold evenings — or your deadlines — are drawing in, bookmark this for when the time is right for you to dive between the pages once more.

Now, to the joy of reading. Find your next page-turner or perspective-shifter below. A special thanks to everyone in our community who sent in their suggestions. If there’s anything you’d like to see on the list, let us know in the comments section at the bottom.

Oh, and don’t forget to share this list with your colleagues!

Policy reads for government nerds 🔬

Non-fiction recommendations deepen your expertise and explore new subjects.

Dear Minister, Letters from a public servant

Amber Guette, 2022

“Tired of all her colleagues whispering in corridors and crying into their beer, one public servant decided it was time to talk truth to power.” Written as a series of witty, yet exasperated letters to a sympathetic minister, all public servants will see themselves and their colleagues in this book. Plus, it was written by a wonderful Apolitical member!

Recoding America

Jennifer Pahlka, 2023

Ezra Klein called this “the book I wish every policymaker would read." It explains how the growing hierarchical wedge between policymaking and delivery is preventing government from keeping up with pressing modern challenges — with deadly consequences.

Leadership in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Presidents

Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2019

Choppy waters test the mettle of good leaders. This book boils down five decades of research into four great presidents and tries to identify what made them succeed beyond expectations.

The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies

Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, 2023

Consultancy giants have a growing footprint in government. This book argues that their services are undermining the strength and sustainability of the public sector. Moreover, as in the case of McKinsey in South Africa, they can often have nefarious goals.

True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change

Jody Wilson-Raybould, 2022

“This book describes how to become an Indigenous ally, including what steps you can take. It also includes the history and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples. (Consider writing a Cultural Safety Policy for your organisation)”

—Thanks to Deborah Bontempo, a Policy & Practice Analyst in Vancouver for the recommendation

Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape

Henry Dimbleby and Jemima Lewis, 2023

Given how central food is to staying alive, we give surprisingly little strategic planning for keeping the stuff on our plates. Henry Dimblebey, author of the UK’s National Food Strategy and scion of the Dimblebey political family, shares his research on the critical challenge of feeding a hungry, unstable planet.

Radical Help: How we can remake the relationships between us and revolutionise the welfare state

Hilary Cottam, 2019

“Good examples of what can be achieved when you engage local communities in public sector policy”

—Thanks to Wyn Jones, Workforce Transformation Lead, within the English National Health Service for the recommendation

Algorithms for the People: Democracy in the Age of AI

Josh Simons, 2023

AI is reshaping the world, government included. Whilst it is built upon our collective endeavours, its benefits won’t be spread evenly. How to protect democracy from declining in the face of such a transformational shift?

How to be a climate optimist: Blueprints for a Better World

Chris Turner, 2022

“With our skies filled with smoke and the news chock full of heatwaves and flooding, this book is a much-needed pick-me-up. Winner of the National Business Book Award and a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction.”

—_Thanks to Catherine Hana, Support Services Librarian at the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the recommendation _

How to Make an Entrepreneurial State: Why Innovation Needs Bureaucracy

Rainer Kattel, Wolfgang Drechsler and Erkki Karo, 2022

There’s a tired myth of lone disrupters making bold inventions free from the chains of red tape. Most modern tech breakthroughs have their roots in the state, and policy decisions today make a dynamic economy tomorrow possible.

Audiobooks: An honourable mention 🎧

If you prefer to read through headphones, we have an excellent tip for you. The Great Courses is a library of university-level lecture series. Countless subjects are free on Audible. It’s a great way to intensively learn something new.

Fiction to bring policies to life 🌆

People and policies are so much more than data points and balanced budgets. Sometimes fiction brings the importance of your work and your world to life.

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

R.F. Kuang, 2022

“Around an interesting and exciting story Babel reminds us of the impact and power of colonialism. And how intellectual superiority is used to enhance that impact.”

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi, 2017

Three continents and three generations. From Ghana to Harlem. This powerful novel explores how slavery, migration and trauma echo across the lives of ordinary families.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

Wole Soyinka, 2022

From the titan of Nigerian literature, this new novel has been described as “a whistleblowers book” and “a caustic political satire, a murder mystery, a conspiracy story and a deeply felt lament for the spirit of a nation”.

Venomous Lumpsucker

Ned Beauman, 2023

A hilarious, but terrifying satire set in the not-so-distant climate future. Tradeable extinction credits vie with mist-spewing seacraft for naff attempts to halt climate collapse, whilst an unlikely duo search for the last-remaining groups of an otherwise unloved fish.

Catch 22

Joseph Heller, 1961

“I have read this more than once and it has always given me a few laugh-out-loud laughs. I believe there is a film, but I have never seen it - preferring the written word. Try it and let me know how it goes.”

—Thanks to Janet Reynolds, an Auditor with Internal Audit, for the recommendation

The Every

Dave Eggers, 2022

A terrifying sequel to The Circle, this novel explores a world when tech monopolies take control of our societies, beliefs and behaviours.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Shehan Karunatilaka, 2022

Set in the latter days of the Sri Lankan civil war, Maali Almeida spends the first days following his death navigating endless bureaucracy and exploring the possibility of reconciliation in the face of horror.

Whips

Cleo Watson, 2023

Described as “50 shades of grey meets Prime Minister’s questions”, Whips takes a witty salacious look at the London government bubble.

Banyan Moon

Thao Thai, 2023

Minh escaped the Vietnam War carrying a secret. When she passes away, it’s up to her granddaughter to piece together the story of her life.

Fiction to escape your work altogether 🖼️

Government is tough, and this year has been no exception. Treat your weary brain to some comfortable curl-up escapism.

Bad Summer People

Emma Rosenblum, 2023

If your post-Succession quota of “rich people behaving badly” needs refilling, this is the perfect binge read for you.

Whale

Cheon Myeong-kwan, 2023

Set in a remote village, this is South Korea’s answer to _One Hundred Years of Solitude. _

Mischief Acts

Zoe Gilbert, 2023

This book poses as a collection of English folklore pertaining to Herne the Hunter, set between the 1500s and the 2040s. Weber refers to the “disenchantment” of nature in industrialised society, Mischief Acts toys with this idea, and explores the possibility of re-enchantment in the face of climate collapse.

The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales

Vasily Eroshenko, 2023

A new translation of stories by one of Ukraine's most remarkable literary figures. The life of Vasily Eroshenko, a blind Esperanto speaker who became an East-Asian political activist and globetrotting storyteller, is worthy of several novels. His stories are more magical still.

Paradais

Fernanda Melchor, 2022

Set in an elite, gated community in Mexico. Paradise unearths the fragility and violence of an unequal society, and how the myths we tell ourselves can fall apart with the slightest provocation.

Non-fiction to become an omnivorous learner 🧠

There are so many fascinating things left for you to learn. Follow what interests you, and see where you end up.

The Body Is Not an Apology

Sonya Renee Taylor, 2021

“This is a book that will make you think about the systems we were all born into, who they benefit, and how to disrupt them for ourselves and others. Radical self-love has both inward- and outward-facing facets that jointly work to disrupt racism, misogyny, anti-fat bias, homophobia, transphobia, and more. The book revolutionised the publishing company that released it - the editor that worked with the author in particular.”

—Thanks to Ursula Mogensen, a Data & Planning Librarian for this recommendation

Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World

Otto English, 2022

We all too often confuse national memory with history. “This book helps highlight the need to think critically about what we see in the news and how past events are recalled. There are lots of interesting and informative examples, but crucially there is some focus on more recent events.”

—_ Thanks to an anonymous public servant for this recommendation_

There Is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century

Fiona Hill, 2021

How does democracy decay? When opportunity dries up. This powerful book casts a withering light on social immobility in the USA, and why that might set the country on a path to totalitarianism.

I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees, Code Names, and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism

Andrew Kirsch, 2022

“This was an interesting view into a federal agency most of us know little about, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Written by a former CSIS employee and real-life ‘spy’, it covers his experiences ranging from undertaking covert operations to navigating the internal bureaucracy.”

—Thanks to Allison, a Senior Policy Advisor, for the recommendation

Love + Work

Marcus Buckingham, 2022

“Finding your true passions in work and life. Determining what you are doing when time just flies by, and helping you to figure out how to do more of those ‘red line’ activities for the rest of your life!”

—Thanks to Devon Denis, Resource Manager, Ministry of Forests, British Columbia, Canada for the recommendation

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

David Graeber and David Wengrow, 2022

The more we learn about “deep history”, the more it challenges our stereotypes of the ancient (and pre-historic) world. This book invites us to reconsider what we believe lies at the root of so-called human nature.

Lions, Liars, Donkeys and Penguins: The Killing of Alison

Tom Bell, 2020

“A challenging read of how the English health care system failed an individual and then their family.”

—Thanks to Wyn Jones, Workforce Transformation Lead, within the English National Health Service for the recommendation

A quickfire longlist ⚡️

As ever, we received a wealth of excellent recommendations. We couldn’t fit them all in, so here are a few more in our longlist. Scroll for hidden gems.

#futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country. Jane Davidson, 2020. The story of how Wales created a commissioner for Future Generations

**Where the Crawdads Sing. Delia Owen, 2019. **“A beautiful story which mixes a variety of genres, from murder, abuse and loneliness to love and a shock. It will keep you gripped. I couldn't put it down.” —Thanks to Sam Marshall - Senior Manager, HMPPS, for the recommendation

Sacred Nature: How we can recover our bond with the natural world ** Karen Armstrong, 2022

Making Climate Policy Work. Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor, 2020

Stitching Governance for Labour Rights: Towards Transnational Industrial Democracy? Juliane Reinecke and Jimmy Donaghey, 2023

The Bickford Fuse. Andrey Kurkov, 2017

Ready player one. Earnest Cline,** 2011**. “I love this book, it's pure geek heaven with several themes that resonate well today.” — Anon

Care: Reflections on Who We Are. Todd May, 2023

Traffication: How Cars Destroy Nature and What We Can Do About It. Paul Donald, 2023

The Invisible Enemy: A Global Story of Biological and Chemical Warfare. Girish Kuber, 2023

Time and Power in Azraq Refugee Camp. Melissa Gatter, 2023

Indigeneity in Real Time: The Digital Making of Oaxacalifornia. Ingrid Kummels, 2023

The Memory We Could Be: Overcoming Fear to Create Our Ecological Future. Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik, 2018

The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism. Adrienne Buller, 2022