The reading list for June 2025

Book recommendations from David Pakman

I read some great books this month, both fiction and non-fiction. If any look interesting, consider checking them out. Also my book is out and it instantly made The New York Times Bestseller list, and subsequently made the list two more times! If you haven't yet ordered it, please do. If you have already received it, please review it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads! The book is available here: http://www.davidpakman.com/echo

Here are this month's books:

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford

A chaotic, hilarious behind-the-scenes look at the food world—think investigative journalism meets culinary obsession. Buford dives into kitchens and butchershops to explore what it really means to become a chef. It’s less about recipes and more about ego, ambition, and a bit of madness.

Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America by Brendan Ballou

If you want to understand how private equity is quietly hollowing out America, this is the one. Ballou’s a former federal prosecutor and names names—this isn’t vague. It’s a brutal, fact-heavy look at how wealth is extracted from nursing homes, housing, and entire communities. Rage-inducing.

AI by Design by Catriona Campbell

Campbell makes the case that AI doesn’t have to steamroll society—it can actually be ethical by design. Whether you’re AI-optimistic or deeply skeptical (I lean skeptical), this is a thought-provoking take on how to regulate the machine before it regulates us. Important book to understand the current boundaries that exist, and those that need to be created, to deal with the inevitable AI future. Surprisingly prescient despite being a couple of years old.

The Family Experiment: A Dark and Twisted Sci FI Thriller of Virtual Parenthood in a Dystopian Future on Reality TV by John Marrs

This one’s fiction, but the premise hits close to home: a near-future world where a reality show creates an AI child for couples or individuals wanting to have kids, but struggling to afford them in the real world. Dark and dystopian in ways that surprised me. Definitely worth a read, enjoyable but also chilling.

If you aren't in the habit of reading, it's very easy to get started: Get an interesting book and commit to reading just one page per day, which takes about one minute. Over time, just read a bit more.

You can also order my new book The Echo Machine anywhere that books, e-books, or audiobooks are sold, and at http://www.davidpakman.com/echo