A comprehensive list of every book I recommended in 2019, taken directly from my bimonthly book recommendations email.
Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River by David Owen – In my experience working in the West, there are few, if any, topics that are more controversial and maddeningly complicated than water. Every time I proudly learn a new tidbit of water-related information, I’m just opening the door to a dozen more concepts that I now have to struggle to understand. That being said, this is the most user-friendly book I’ve found that digs into all the complex issues, without the Ambien-like effects of most water-related books. Owen, a New Yorker writer, follows the Colorado River from its source just west of Longs Peak all the way to Mexico, delving into water concepts and controversies in an engaging and easy-to-read style. Given that I spend so much of my professional time deep in the nitty-gritty details of water, it was valuable for me to revisit the issues from the 30,000-foot view that this book provides. To understand the West, you need to understand water, and this book is an excellent resource. [The “bible” of water in the West is Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner. But be forewarned, it’s dense.]
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport – Newport is a tenured professor of computer science at Georgetown University who has built quite a side gig around calling b.s. on the ubiquitous assumption that constant connectivity improves our lives. His last book, Deep Work, is one of the most influential books I’ve read in the past five years, so I had high hopes for this one… and he delivers. Rather than the typical “quit all social media and trash your phone” solution that some “experts” propose, Newport concedes that many new technologies (smartphones, social media, etc.) do offer benefits that can improve our lives. But rather than embrace every aspect of every new technology, we must choose our technologies carefully and establish a strict, thoroughly considered philosophy around how we use them. His big-picture arguments make perfect sense to me, and his specific proposed strategies for managing technology are reasonable and actionable. I HIGHLY recommend this book. [If you haven’t already, read his first book: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.]
Body of Water: A Sage, A Seeker, and the World’s Most Elusive Fish by Chris Dombrowski – Truth be told, the accountability of this email list sometimes causes me to plow through books with a solemn, workman-like approach. But then I’ll pick up a book like this one, and my plodding immediately transforms into effortless, purely enjoyable reading. Body of Water has all the ingredients I love: honest memoir, outdoor adventure, fascinating history, captivating characters, and lyrical nature writing. But to be clear, you do not need to be an angler to enjoy this book—the story surrounding the main character, Bahamian David Pinder, is heartbreaking, inspiring, and infuriating, and it caused me to think long and hard about the unintended effects of adventure travel to faraway places. Dombrowski is an accomplished poet, and his mastery of words and rhythm shine through, particularly in his descriptions of stalking and reeling in bonefish on blue-water flats—again, no fishing experience required to marvel at his master wordsmithing. I’m so happy that I happened across this book, and it has already secured a spot on my Favorites of 2019 list. Pay attention to Dombrowski—it will be exciting to watch his career continue to evolve and flourish. [One of my favorite fishing-centric books ever is The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark.]
Return on Courage: A Business Playbook for Courageous Change by Ryan Berman – It’s about damn time Ryan Berman wrote a book—he put in years at big-time ad agencies, then started his own and grew it into an award-winning branding machine. He recently walked away from his “sure-thing” career to start two brand new companies, one of which focuses on solving complex social issues. Given Berman’s ability to lay it all on the line time and again, he’s more than qualified to write this book about the importance of courage in business. Based on his own experience, as well as extensive interviews with startup founders, a Navy SEAL, an astronaut, and other badasses, Berman has curated time-tested wisdom and presented it in this fun, motivating, tactic-filled book. Whether you’re running your own one-person business or toiling away at a billion-dollar behemoth, there are very important lesson to be learned from this book. [Full disclosure: The author has been a great friend of mine for 20+ years, but even if I’d never had the honor of knowing him, I’d still recommend this book. Excellent work, Berms!]
The Prince’s Speech: On the Future of Food by HRH The Prince of Whales – This is probably the shortest book I’ve ever recommended, but it packs a serious punch. It starts with a foreword by farming demigod Wendell Berry, whose thinking and writing is legendary. The meat of the book is a transcribed speech that Prince Charles gave at the “Future of Food” conference at Georgetown University, and it is one of the best summaries I’ve read of the impending (and terrifying) challenges to our global food system, coupled with proposed solutions for solving these problems. Much of my daily work revolves around farming, so I’m becoming much more aware of the many complex forces that make sustainable food production so difficult. Like the water book above, this speech gives a solid overview of the issues, and pointed me toward several sub-topics that I want to dig into deeper. [Here’s an extensive list, crowdsourced from my podcast listeners, of the Best Books on Farming.]
A Man’s Life: Dispatches from Dangerous Places by Mark Jenkins – My eleven-month old daughter’s favorite hobby is to crawl to our bookcase and rip off every single book on the bottom two shelves—which means my hobby is re-shelving them. During one of my recent clean-up sessions, I started flipping through this book, having last read it over a decade ago. The flipping led to focused reading, and I was quickly reminded why Mark Jenkins is the Billy Shakespeare of adventure writing. This book is a “best of” compilation of his magazine stories—well-known works to anyone who’s ever picked up an Outside magazine. I grew up reading and re-reading Mark’s monthly column The Hard Way, long before I moved West or had any real adventures. I credit his writing (and his insanely hardcore adventures) with planting the seed that led to my own pursuit of ridiculous self-inflicted endurance tests in the mountains. If you’re new to Mark Jenkins, this book is the perfect entry point, and the chapters can be read independently and relatively quickly. I specifically recommend the chapters Zen Master, Meditation on Meditation, and Biking Vikings, but the reality is that every chapter is excellent. [Another excellent book made up of short, independent chapters is Fire by Sebastian Junger.]
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller – If you’ve subscribed to this list for a while, then you know that I struggle mightily to finish fiction books. But once again, fiction by Peter Heller seems to be the glaring exception to the rule. I devoured The Painter last year and did the same with The Dog Stars a few weeks back. Heller’s formula is irresistible to me—beautifully written prose, vivid descriptions of familiar Rocky Mountain landscapes, and action-packed storylines balanced with masterful character development. On the surface, the plot of The Dog Stars may seem dark—a man struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic, lawless, lonely Colorado. But I found the book to be fast-paced, at-times funny, and suspenseful enough to keep the attention of an easily bored reader like me. If you’re familiar with the area around of my old stomping grounds of Boulder, Colorado, then you will especially enjoy Heller’s depictions of the area’s foothills, prairies, and man-made landmarks. [I’ve long been a fan of Heller’s non-fiction, and one of my favs is Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave.]
Down from the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear by Bryce Andrews – In my experience, there are very few topics in the American West that consistently evoke such emotion (i.e., fury) as the conflict between people and predators. Very generally speaking, it’s the agricultural community on one side, the environmentalists on the other, with very little common ground between the two. Enter author Bryce Andrews, whose resume gives him a unique and invaluable perspective on all sides of the conflict. Bryce is an experienced rancher, advocate for large carnivores, and a sharp, insightful writer who can describe these complex relationships in an even-keeled style that resonates with folks on both sides of the argument. In Down from the Mountain, he gives an educational, entertaining, and sometimes-heartbreaking account of the interactions between a specific grizzly bear and corn farm located in Montana’s Mission Valley. It’s a damn good story, and I read it in two sittings. No matter your stance on predators and people in the West, this book will provide much-needed empathy for “the other side,” and hopefully lay the groundwork for more productive, less adversarial conversations around these topics in the future. [I had an enlightening discussion with Bryce about bears, Montana, his writing process, and more.]
The Deer Camp: A Memoir of a Father, a Family, and the Land that Healed Them by Dean Kuipers – Every so often, I daydream about writing a memoir. Then I read a book like The Deer Camp and realize that I have no chance of ever writing well enough to justify sharing shelf space with a writer like Kuipers. He’s obviously a highly skilled author, but his brutal honesty and willingness to write so candidly about the inner workings of his family is amazing to a neurotically private person like me. (Privacy: yet another reason I couldn’t write a memoir!) But this book is far from a depressing deconstruction of family dysfunction. It’s more of a heart-warming tale of how the land—specifically a hunting camp in rural Michigan—helped to build meaningful bonds between a father and his nearly estranged sons. I’ve read an absurd amount of “nature writing,” and I can honestly say that Kuipers is in the tip-top tier of authors who can accurately and credibly explain the healing powers of purposeful activities in wild places. [Another vastly different but equally great memoir is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight.]
The Whale that Lit the World by Josh Churchman – I would’ve never come across this under-the-radar book if not for a kind podcast listener who sent it my way. It’s written by a commercial fisherman who has spent most of his life exploring and working the seas around his home harbor of Bolinas, California. There’s no flowery language or self-indulgent parlance in this book—just straightforward, utilitarian writing that clearly and efficiently tells his story. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes involving squids, whales, sharks, and other sea creatures, but I was particularly interested in Churchman’s informed and open-minded ideas around fishery management and conservation. Despite being deeply entrenched in the fishing business, he clearly understands and appreciates the need to balance his short term needs to harvest fish with the broader, long-term needs of maintaining a healthy ocean ecosystem. In very plain English, he’s able to summarize many of the complexities and competing factions found in all kinds of conservation, issues that I personally grapple with in my work on a daily basis. [One of my favorite books about the ocean is In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick.]
This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West by Christopher Ketcham – In spite of its blatantly over-the-top subtitle, I found this book to be a valuable deep dive into many modern-day controversies in the West—topics I thought I understood, but now realize I was only scratching the surface. Ketchum digs into a wide range of hot-button issues, including the Bundy gang’s takeover the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, states’ desires to take control of federal public lands, the history of Mormon settlement of Utah, the Endangered Species Act, and the cattle industry’s sway over public lands management. The book is well-researched, skillfully written, and surprisingly easy to read given its density. But fair warning—if you prefer books written by supposedly unbiased journalists, this is not for you. Ketcham is Edward Abbey-esque in his disgust toward many western industries and associated stakeholders. He highlights the worst of the worst and rips them to shreds, a thrashing that seems justified in his specific examples of blatant corruption and ecological destruction. I admire Ketcham’s boldness, but I worry— especially in the particular case of ranching—that readers will lump in respectful conservationist ranchers with crank extremists like the Bundys. For every Bundy causing trouble, there are countless ranchers who use their operations to improve public and private land, increase biodiversity, and sequester carbon—respectful stewardship that has been quantified and well-documented. There is much to learn from this book, but given our divisive times, it may be a tall order for those who disagree with Ketchum’s political leanings to actually read it. [This book will not be published until July, so in the meantime re-read Abbey’s Desert Solitaire as a warm-up.]
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks – Numerous people recommended that I read this book, and after hearing several interviews of Brooks promoting it, I had Bezos send me a copy. Very quickly (i.e., page 1) I found myself underlining and dog-earring pages, trying to keep tabs on the deluge of compiled wisdom from so many thinkers I admire. The book examines the shift that happens when people lose interest in pursuing wealth and status, and instead focus their energies on meaningful, impactful, and truly fulfilling work. It’s a shift that I’ve personally experienced over the past few years, so I found many of the book’s ideas timely and helpful in expanding my thoughts on the importance of such a perspective shift. There’s a lot of overlap with books I’ve previously mentioned in this email list (e.g. Tribe and Lost Connections), with plenty of other referenced books and resources that were new to me and are now on my need-to-read list. At times I noticed a slight hint of smugness from the author, but I’m admittedly hyper-sensitive to that sort of attitude. Smug or not, I can easily overlook it given all the useful wisdom Brooks compiled into this one volume.
The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century by Clay Risen – It’s been an unacceptably long time since I read a Theodore Roosevelt book, and this one was even more of a treat than usual. Far more than a simple TR biography, it is an examination of a very narrow, often-overlooked time period that set the stage for the next 100 years of American (and world) history. John Hay famously described the Spanish American War as a “splendid little war,” and while it was quick and relatively non-violent compared to the Civil War, its results were far from inconsequential. Before this war, the U.S. was anything but a global military power—its military was laughably small and underprepared compared to its European counterparts. But the U.S. economy was rapidly expanding, as was its population and collective ego, and defeating Spain launched America onto the global stage as a world-wide power player. And if there is one man who managed to harness America’s momentum at this exact moment, then continue to drive the country forward building up steam for almost two more decades, it was Theodore Roosevelt. Yes, this book is overflowing with plenty of wonderful TR stories, as well as exciting descriptions of the Rough Riders’ exploits. But my main new takeaway was a much better understanding of the foundational role this “small” war played in defining the entire 20th century. (In honor of the passing of the great Edmund Morris, I re-recommend my favorite book of all time: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.)
Ragged Anthem by Chris Dombrowski – I’d never had a strong urge to read poetry until I got to know Chris Dombrowski. He’s a Montana fishing guide, the author of one of the best books I’ve read in years (Body of Water), and just a damn good dude. He’s also a renowned poet, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him on my podcast for well over an hour, discussing poetry, writing, fishing, and his creative process. If you’ve been sheepish about delving into poetry, I’d highly encourage you to listen to that conversation. He dismisses many of the standard school-enforced approaches to reading poetry and offers a more holistic, open-minded approach to the art. Just like you never ask what a spectacular mountain view “means,” Chris believes you should avoid approaching poetry with this investigative, figure-it-out mindset. Just dive in and enjoy it. And Ragged Anthem is a great place to start. [If you listen to our conversation, I guarantee you’ll feel the gravitational pull of Chris’s passion for poetry and words.]
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier by Hampton Sides – This is the second compilation book that I’ve recommended in 2019, and I expect there will be a few more by year’s end. Given my current stage of life, being able to bite off one quick, guaranteed-to-be-good, 10-to-15-page story at a time fits well with my current time constraints and attention span. If you’ve subscribed to this list for a while, then you know that I’m a huge Hampton Sides fan—everything he writes is educational and fun. All of the pieces in Americana are from his early work (pre-2004) writing for magazines such as Outside, and they span the full spectrum of topics, from adventure to humor to short biographical profiles. I particularly enjoyed his profile of Tony Hawk, hilarious investigation of G. Gordon Liddy’s “spy school,” and essay about his hometown of Santa Fe… but, really, they’re all great. A perfect way to enjoy good writing in book form, without having to commit to hundreds and hundreds of pages. [Another excellent book of compilations that I received as a gift in 1997 and still revisit is The Best of Outside: The First 20 Years by The Editors of Outside Magazine.]
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin– For most of my career, I’ve been a Lone Ranger—working in sales, on commission, with only myself to blame if I was not pleased with performance and results. Now, at age 41, I’m part of a team and in a leadership position, roles that I thoroughly enjoy but have required some recalibration in how I think and approach my professional life. I read this book a few years ago and enjoyed it, even though I wasn’t leading anyone other than myself. By reading it again, this time through the lens of a being a member of a team, I’ve gained many more valuable lessons than I did during my first reading. The book’s main takeaway is that everyone—no matter your position in the hierarchy or org chart—should take responsibility for EVERYTHING. It’s a powerful concept in theory and application, in professional settings and personal. So, for the second time, I highly recommend reading this book. [Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living also continues to be a valuable source of wisdom for me, both professionally and personally.]
Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West by Heather Hansman – One of the biggest challenges I face in my job in conservation is the need to communicate western water issues in a way that is thorough, but not dull. When delving into the details of water rights, there is a clear point (somewhere around the mention of jargon like “prior appropriation”) where people’s eyes predictably glaze over and the conversation trails off. Enter Heather Hansman, who has cracked the code on explaining water in the West in an entertaining and engaging style—enough detail to satisfy the most curious readers while still interesting for water novices. The book follows her mostly solo paddling adventure down the Green River, in which she floats from the base of the Wind River Mountains all the way to the confluence with the Colorado River. A perfect blend of adventure narrative and educational lesson, this book is an ideal entry point for people looking to learn more about water issues facing the West today, without having to fight off the normal narcolepsy that accompanies most water books. [You can also listen to my fun and funny hour-long chat with Heather here.]
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King – This book is repeatedly mentioned as one of the “best ever” instructional manuals for writing, so I don’t know why it took me so dang long to read it. Amazing book. While there is plenty of nuts-and-bolts technical writing advice (mostly related to fiction), the part I especially enjoyed was his discussion around the mindset needed to be a writer—the discipline to sit down every day and work hard at your craft, approaching the creative process with a blue-collar mentality. For sure, King has a deep well of inborn talent, but, after you read this book, you’ll understand that his “secret weapon” is his ability to work harder at his craft than most. I believe you can apply King’s writing approach to whatever activity you’d like to pursue—creative endeavors, athletic goals, or relationships. Show up consistently and try hard. Simple, but far from easy! [I know, I sound like a broken record here, but my favorite book about the creative process is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.]
Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships by Mitch Prinstein – Of all the books mentioned in this email, this is the one I’ve thought about most since reading it. Prinstein’s overarching thesis, backed up by extensive research, is that people who are likable and friendly lead much happier and more successful lives than those who are laser-focused on achieving high status. Prinstein explains that children who are the most likable are also the most popular. But in adolescence, there’s a switch in which “popularity” is defined by “status” (e.g. the captain of the football team who is a jerk, but for some reason is the most popular guy at school). In adulthood, we have the choice of pursuing likability or status. Unfortunately, with the rise of social media and continued growth of consumerism, more adults seem to be chasing the fancy car, the big house, latest gadget, etc, to build their status. As my career has evolved into a more service-oriented profession, I have a better appreciation for and agreement with Prinstein’s argument. I’m also glad to have this information in mind as we raise our daughters. [Speaking of raising kids, my favorite parenting book is Bringing Up Bebé by Pamela Druckerman.]
The Walk by William deBuys – I was lucky enough to be introduced to renowned western writer and thinker Bill deBuys recently and to visit him at his farm, the setting for many of his books. Even though it was my first visit to El Valle, I felt as if I’d been there before thanks to Bill’s world-class ability to beautifully describe the unique northern New Mexico landscape. The Walk is a master class in memoir writing—deeply personal and moving ruminations, perfectly blended with eloquent nature writing and history. The book is structured around Bill’s daily practice of walking through his small community—a practice he has maintained for decades and has allowed him to know this place most intimately. I’m constantly amazed by writers like Bill who can keep their personal narratives interesting to the reader without veering into self-indulgent prose. After visiting El Valle, I can honestly say that Bill’s written exploration of the landscape is far more powerful and realistic than any film or photograph could ever be. [If you like memoirs, one of the best is Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan.]
The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of the Earth’s Rarest Creatures by William deBuys – This is only the second audiobook I have listened to in recent memory, and I was completely engaged and entertained—never once did I feel antsy or sleepy, which is the standard reaction whenever I try to listen to books. The fact that the book is read by the actual author seemed to make it much more personal. It is part adventure narrative and part natural history lesson, all focused around the author’s journey to Laos in search of one of the rarest creatures on earth—the saola, a long-horned mammal never seen by a Westerner. On its own, The Last Unicorn is a fun and fascinating read, but when taken as part of deBuys’ entire body of work, it’s even more amazing—it speaks to his versatility as a writer, as well as his ability to gather, process, and communicate complicated natural history in an engaging manner, whether in the American West, Southeast Asia, or anywhere in between. [For another great tale of exploration in wild places, check out The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard.]
Some Horses: Essays by Thomas McGuane – After listening to one of the best conversations I’ve ever heard—Steven Rinella interviewing Thomas McGuane—I was immediately captivated by McGuane and his work. Part cowboy, part hippie, part hell-raiser, part solitary thinker—there seemed to be a depth and richness to the man that I found instantly intriguing. And in a weird case of serendipity, just a few weeks earlier and out of the blue, a good friend had sent me a signed copy of McGuane’s Some Horses. It didn’t take me long to read this book, which is nine short-ish essays about horses, the people who love them, and the landscapes where they live. To be clear, I’m not a “horse person,” but I loved every aspect of this book, most notably McGuane’s writing style, which I am woefully under-qualified to try to describe in words. If you’ve read McGuane, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. If not, this book is a great place to start. [For insights into how wordsmiths of McGuane’s caliber approach their craft, check out Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process by John McPhee.]
The River by Peter Heller – I’m officially a Peter Heller superfan. The River is the second Heller book I’ve read this year. And long-time subscribers know that I rarely read fiction. I started reading this book on a Friday night and finished it on Sunday afternoon—every free moment that weekend was devoted to this book. As usual with Heller, the book combines complex characters with stunning, sometimes merciless landscapes, with just enough suspense and violence to keep me on my toes. This main plotline of this book—two college-age guys on a wilderness canoe trip—reminded me of some of the adventures I had two decades ago. But as the plot turned dark, I was thankful that none of mine spiraled into this sort of chaos and terror. [If you haven’t already, you should read Heller’s The Painter and The Dog Stars.]
The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing by Thomas McGuane – I continued to dig deeper into my McGuane infatuation with this collection of fishing-related essays, several of which take place in some of my favorite places in the West. In all my reading about the outdoors, I’ve found that many people want to write about fishing, but very few do it well. McGuane is one of the best. I jumped around in this book, seeking out essays that featured familiar landscapes. I especially enjoyed Henry’s Fork, The Big Hole, and Seasons Through the Net. Even though I’ve never been much of a saltwater angler, Close to the Bone and Tarpon Hunting were fun to read. As an added bonus, the book’s short essay format offers a practical way to enjoy excellent writing without having to commit to 500 pages at a time. Especially helpful if you happen to have two crazy young kids and other obligations that are arguably more important than staring at books all day! [One of the best fishing books I’ve ever read is Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Elusive Fish by Chris Dombrowski.]
Creative Calling: Establish a Daily Practice, Infuse Your World with Meaning, and Succeed in Work + Life by Chase Jarvis – I impulse-bought this book at the airport after hearing Chase interviewed on the Rich Roll Podcast. I thought the book would be interesting, but I was not expecting it to be perspective-shifting—and it was. Big time. My main takeaway from this book is that any significant success resulting from creative work will come from focused, consistent effort over a very long period of time. This may seem like common sense, but in today’s world of internet-fueled “virality,” we can forget that most of the time, the “overnight success” has actually been honing his or her craft for years. I gleaned great value from his specific ideas around daily creative practices, practices that have fueled the author’s success. But the most valuable insights were his thoughts around the importance of taking a proactive, thoughtful, non-slimy approach to promotion and community-building—two aspects that I have shied away from in my own creative endeavors. As the ideas from this book sink into my brain in the coming months, I’ll be interested to see if this book is as impactful in the long term as it seems to be right now. [If you want a short, practical, and funny “how-to” book about creativity, read Brendan Leonard’s Make It Till You Make It: 40 Myths and Truths About Creating.]
That Wild Country: An Epic Journey through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands by Mark Kenyon. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of this book, which will be officially released in the coming weeks. It is Kenyon’s first book, and wow, what an amazing job he does weaving history, modern-day politics, and his personal story into an educational yet fun-to-read book. Thanks to my work and interests, I’m deeply immersed in the history of and controversies around public land, yet I still learned a ton from Mark and his book. And even as a self-appointed expert on Theodore Roosevelt, I sheepishly admit that I learned some new tidbits about TR’s life and conservation legacy. I just wish this book had been around several years ago when the threats to our public lands entered the forefront of American politics, as it’s the fun-to-read, deep dive we’ve needed for years. [One of my favorite books on the history of America’s public lands is The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley.]
Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress by Christopher Ryan – I read this book while on vacation in Costa Rica– a country where I lived for a year and fell in love with its landscapes, people, and communities. In the Guanacaste Province, where I lived, the locals generally reside in tight-knit communities, consume very little, and are far less “connected” (i.e., addicted) to technology than Americans like me. And overall, they seem much happier. This juxtaposition between societies served as a perfect backdrop for reading Ryan’s book, which examines the real costs of our maniacal focus on progress at all costs. Ryan argues that modern-day society is out of synch with how humans have lived for most of our species’ existence. By exploring the research around hunter-gatherer societies, Ryan demonstrates just how far we have skewed from our ancestral roots and argues that this “progress” very well may not be for the best. I’d love to hear another Ph.D.’s rebuttal of some of Ryan’s arguments because I’m sure there’s another viewpoint to consider. But overall, the book made me think, which is the whole point of reading. [Two books I’ve enjoyed that cover similar ground are Sebastian Junger’s Tribe and Johann Hari’s Lost Connections.]
On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir–the Greatest Battle of the Korean War by Hampton Sides – Building on the fun of our 2018 conversation at the Aspen Institute, Hampton invited me down to Santa Fe to interview him on stage at the Southwest Seminars lecture series. One of the main topics was going to be On Desperate Ground, so I re-read it to ensure that I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of a bunch of smart people. The book was even better the second time. Hampton is a master storyteller, and his focus on the individual people of historical events is one of the main reasons I find his writing so damn engaging. I’ve never been a big fan of detailed historical accounts of specific battles, but Hampton’s ability to bring all of the characters to life on the page makes the book hard to put down. Whether learning about General MacArthur’s obscenely massive ego or the mind-blowing toughness of Lt. John Yancey or Chairman Mao’s straight-weirdness, this book is guaranteed to educate and entertain you. [We also chatted about Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West, which is one of my all-time favorites.]
Querencia by Stephen Bodio – I received this book as a gift and had embarrassingly never heard of it before I opened the package. I started flipping through it one evening, then started reading seriously, and two days later, I had finished it. A truly heartwarming and beautiful book. It’s the author’s personal story of moving to rural New Mexico from New England, along with his partner Betsy, who was twenty years his senior. His artful and often witty descriptions of New Mexico’s arid, striking landscapes reminded me of when I moved from North Carolina to Wyoming and had trouble fathoming the wholly foreign landscape of the West. His skillful and funny descriptions of his neighbors and community also made me reminisce (and/or cringe) thinking about when I was thrown headfirst from the gentile southeast, directly into the West’s rough and tumble ranching world. But what I loved most about this book was how Bodio described slowly but surely becoming enchanted by the landscape and people, and how this foreign land eventually became his home. [For similarly powerful writing about a similar landscape, read The Walk by William deBuys.]
River of Traps: A New Mexico Mountain Life by William deBuys & Alex Harris – As you can probably tell from these book selections, I’ve grown slightly obsessed with New Mexico. Its history, landscape, culture, people, food, and sometimes kookiness (I’m looking at you, Santa Fe) have unexpectedly started to carve out a special place in my heart. This book paints an engaging picture of life in rural New Mexico in the 1970s, and touches on the history, lore, and challenges facing these mountain communities. Author deBuys and photographer Harris tell the story of local farmer Jocabo Romero, a kind, capable, and a fascinating man whose family was deeply tied to the mountain landscape. Jacobo shares his wisdom on farming and irrigating with deBuys, a highly educated, early twenty-something easterner who found himself deeply immersed in this western landscape. Friendship, land, history, and community, written with skill by a world-class author… what’s not to love? [For a raucous, hilarious, sometimes ridiculous true tale of a highly educated twenty-something finding himself immersed in a foreign culture, read Maarten Troost’s The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific.]
Modern Huntsman: Volume Four – When I met Tyler Sharp almost three years ago, he casually mentioned that he was thinking about starting a “magazine about hunting.” Talk about an understatement! Modern Huntsman is much more than a simple magazine– each edition features 200+ pages of thoughtful writing and stunning photography, impeccably designed and bundled in a volume that you’ll want to display on your shelf for years to come. In other words, it’s a book. And it’s directed at an audience much broader than seasoned, hard-core hunters– whether you’re interested in conservation, history, cooking, adventure, or agriculture, there’s a story for you. Volume Four is the Women’s Issue, which highlights the work of many strong and impressive women who are making their mark on the world’s wide-open spaces. As the father of two young girls, I greatly appreciate the tone and content of this specific issue. Here’s to next year’s Volume Five! [I’ve already recommended them in previous emails, but once again, I’ll recommend Modern Huntsman Volumes One, Two, and Three.]
