There’s No Place Like Home: 2026 Reading Lessons
By Randy Kaufman
With musical inspiration from Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry Back in the USA.
Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today
We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the U.S.A.
New York, Los Angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol' St. Lou
Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the U.S.A.
- Chuck Berry
I let my books find me.
There’s no system. No grand design. A mention in the New York Times, a passing recommendation, a title that lingers just long enough. And then I read.
In 2025, my reading drifted to dark, cold, and lonely places—icy landscapes, Cold War shadows, and lost ships. My mind often lived behind the Iron Curtain and in the most remote corner of the planet, Antarctica.
(If you’re curious: Where Ice Meets Fire)
But as 2026 dawned, something shifted.
I found myself going home.
Back to the U.S.A.
Is it because the 250th anniversary of our country approaches? Maybe.
Did I grow tired of the ice and snow? I don’t think so.
But America beckoned—and I followed.
Icons and Role Models
Breaking Glass: Tales from the Witch of Wall Street - Patricia Walsh Chadwick
A remarkable story of a woman who escaped a cult as a young girl and rose to become a force on Wall Street.
I couldn’t help but compare it to my own career. Whatever I’ve accomplished felt modest by comparison—but the parallels were there. Different paths, similar grit.
Sagas of Woe and Intrigue
A Night to Remember - Walter Lord
The definitive account of the Titanic.
I’ve read my share of shipwreck stories. Is this the best? Not even close.
But it is gripping—a reminder that even the most familiar stories still have much to teach.
The Indifferent Stars Above - Daniel James Brown
The Donner Party story—one we think we know.
I wondered: What more is there to learn? And do I really want to go there?
The answer to both: yes.
This isn’t just history. It’s a study in survival, decision-making, and human limits.
History Lessons
1776 - David McCullough
The master at work—bringing history to life with clarity and narrative power.
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written - Walter Isaacson
Another master. A reminder that ideas—and how we express them—matter.
Forged in Crisis - Nancy F. Koehn
Five leaders. Three Americans—Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Rachel Carson—alongside Ernest Shackleton and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Different eras. Different battles.
The same question: What does courage look like when it matters most?
Thirteen Days - Robert F. Kennedy
The Cuban Missile Crisis.
An old story that feels uncomfortably current. Power, pressure, and decisions made in the shadows.
Myth America - Kevin M. Kruse
I’ve always been drawn to what we think is true—but isn’t.
It’s a theme I explore in my False Gods series.
This book goes further, dismantling deeply held narratives—about the New Deal, immigration, feminism, and more. It challenges not just history, but how we choose to remember it.
Closing Thoughts
At first glance, these books seem scattered.
But they’re not.
They’re about identity.
About leadership.
About survival—of individuals, of ideas, of a nation.
In 2025, I searched the edges of the world. In 2026, I came home.
And what I found here—was just as complex, just as fragile, and just as worth exploring.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Randy Kaufman, formerly a corporate tax attorney and investment banker, is now a wealth advisor who prides herself on focusing on what matters most: clients’ peace of mind, family dynamics, and getting enough, not more. Randy is a passionate student of impact investing, strategic philanthropy, and behavioral psychology (while not a psychologist, she occasionally plays one in the boardroom). She is dedicated to helping the underprivileged and is a proud member of global venture fund Acumen's advisory board. A thinker, learner, and pursuer of overarching truths, she is always eager to discuss big ideas about money, and its off-and-on associate, happiness.