re: I'm looking for a good, recent political book to read. Any sugggestions?

My advice is to either find something older and generally outside your wheelhouse, or something written by an academic or specialist in a particular specialized field. Nothing being rolled out by the modern political media industry (which has grown huge, both driving and being driven by an increase in hyper-partisanship) is likely to add anything of value to your actual political understanding. You may pick up a couple of clever arguments or turns of phrase, but it'll simply be a different way of restating something you've doubtless read/heard a thousand times and likely already believe (if you choose a conservative writer).

I'm looking for a good study on why Congress is so dysfunctional (outside the obvious) and ways in which changes in elections, procedures, and rules can strengthen the institution and make it more effective irrespective of partisan alignment in the two houses.

ETA: The last "modern" book written by the political class that I could recommend would be The Price of Politics by Woodward. It's about five years old and was okay, but nothing special.