2024 Reads

A comprehensive list of every book I recommended in 2024, taken directly from my bimonthly book recommendations emails.

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Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. by David Sedaris – The more I read David Sedaris, the more I am in awe of the mind-blowing skill and soul he brings to the craft of telling hilarious stories. His observations are so specific, the dialogue so perfect, his language so precise– but nothing ever crosses into being mean. He never strikes me as being bitter or angry– if anything he’s over-the-top sensitive and compassionate. Even though many of his stories veer into topics that could be considered controversial, his genuine curiosity about people and situations allows him to magically sidestep any blowback that often accompanies outrage-inducing issues. This book is yet another collection of essays, all of which are amazing. But I especially enjoyed– and laughed hard at– Standing Still, A Friend in the Ghetto, and Loggerheads, and I love his constant references to my old stomping grounds of Raleigh, North Carolina. The only problem with Sedaris’s books is that they set an unachievable standard for normal people like me who want to write funny stories. [When You Are Engulfed in Flames was the first Sedaris book I ever read and I was hooked.]

The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It by Will Storr – Have you noticed how crazy people are acting these days? I think humans have always been a little nutty, but it seems that we’re reaching new heights of derangement as both individual creatures and a collective species. If you’re like me and have an unhealthy obsession with trying to understand exactly why humans are bananas crazy, this book is for you. Its basic premise is that we humans are driven by a foundational desire to achieve higher and higher status. “Status” does not necessarily mean being being the “coolest,” or the “richest,” or a member of the “best” frat or country club. According to Storr, there are status games played among even the most selfless of us– even, for example, monks (Who is the most pious?; The most committed?; Who can meditate the longest?; etc). The pursuit of status is hardwired into our DNA and it has been driving our species forward from the very beginning. But status games get real weird, real quick in our super-connected, highly complex modern world. Thanks to the internet, humans are now playing practically infinite status games, oftentimes against people we don’t even know. And status game overload leads to, you guessed it, nuttiness. [The last book that made me think this long and hard about humans was Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.]

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss – One of my best friends– we’ll call him “Cole”– is a master negotiator. It doesn’t matter where he’s shopping or what he’s buying, Cole will reliably negotiate any price down to a mere fraction of its list price. It could be a television at Best Buy, a mirror at a flea market, installation of internet at his house, or mattresses at the furniture store– the question is not if he’ll get a discount, only how absurd it will be. These negotiations are reliably some of the funniest, most fascinating, most confounding interactions to observe, and I’ve been observing them for nearly 30 years. Yes, I’m in awe of how he’ll manage to buy a mattress for 25% of its list price– ethically, with no under-the-table funny business. But more impressively, after every one of these negotiations, the salesperson (the guy who just agreed to a 75% revenue cut) seems to be absolutely thrilled with the way the transaction played out. Elated! Cole is the salesperson’s new best friend, and they are laughing and shaking hands and slapping each other on the back as they part ways, making plans to do business again in the future. Somehow, Cole turns these crazy interactions into genuine win-wins for everyone involved. If you want to learn how Cole does it, read this book. [One of the best business books I’ve ever read is The Future of the Responsible Company by Vincent Stanley.]

Art, Artifact, Artifice and Ocean Fishes by James Prosek – One of the great pleasures of the past year has been getting to know the artist, naturalist, conservationist, and all-around-interesting dude, James Prosek. James has devoted much of his three-decade career to studying fish, birds, eels, grasslands, and the natural world through his art– his paintings and sculptures are stunning and speak for themselves. But if you’ve ever heard James speak or read his writing, then you quickly realize that the actual artwork is just the very tiny tip of a ridiculously huge iceberg– there is a hulking mass of deep thought, research, and philosophy beneath every piece he produces. Both of these books are coffee-table-style tomes that would look great in your home for decades to come. Yes, by all means, leaf through the books and admire the one-of-a-kind art. But be sure to read (and re-read) James’s essays, so that you can begin to understand the level of depth that he brings to his art. And as a bonus, Ocean Fishes features a forward by the great Peter Matthiessen. [To hear James speak eloquently and humorously about his art and artistic process, check out our recent on-stage conversation at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.]

For some reason, over the past two months, I found myself revisiting some of my old favorites. Not reading them all the way though, but flipping through and re-reading the sections that I underlined or starred during my earlier readings. It’s amazing to me how certain passages can take on completely different relevance during different stages of life. Here are a few that I’ve likely recommended many times before and enjoyed once again:

• Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger – This book continues to unexpectedly pop up in conversations, most recently with a high-ranking Army officer who credits it with positively steering his life, family, and career during a pivotal few years of his service. I have given away countless copies of this book and consider it to be one of the most important books I’ve ever read.
• Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach – Without fail, I periodically fall into troughs of aggressive self-flagellation, all of which are very unpleasant and mostly pointless. When this invariably happens, I reach for Tara Brach to bring me out of the fog.
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield – No matter how many times I revisit this book, I find a few new nuggets that truly help me resist distraction, push through procrastination, and get my work done. After my most recent reading, I took my most aggressive stance toward fortifying my focus yet: I bought a flip phone.
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk – I’m not sure why I’m so obsessed with jiu jitsu. I’m not good at it, I don’t enjoy being choked, my pinky toes are perpetually black and sprained, it’s an in-the-face reminder that I’m a middle-aged man, and, on Monday, my earlobe started bleeding profusely. I thought Fight Club might help me understand why I love “The Gentle Art” so much, but it didn’t. But I was glad to revisit my underlined passages regardless.
  

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides – I’d been looking forward to this book for five-and-a-half years, and it was well worth the wait. As is the case with all of Hampton Sides’ books, I felt like I had taken a three-month graduate-level history course, but without the hassle of all the boring lectures and writing assignments. Yes, the book digs deep into the action-packed story of Captain Cook and his map-making compatriots, but Sides devotes equal attention to the fascinating culture and history of the Polynesian people. You don’t have to be a tenured professor of late 18th-century history to know that Cooks’ legacy is, at best, “complicated,” and this book explores all of the competing (warring?) perspectives about the man and his impact on world history. A fun and deeply substantive read– highly recommended. [Another action-packed, thought-provoking book that I will re-recommend is John Vaillant’s Fire Weather.]

Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson – A day after finishing The Wide Wide Sea, I started in on Sea People, frantically trying to jam more information about Polynesia into my already full brain. This book contains so much amazing history and analysis, and it is mindblowing to learn how the Polynesians successfully navigated and “mapped” the entire region from Hawaii to Easter Island to New Zealand. But, unlike the Europeans, their version of “mapping” did not rely on two-dimensional charts, compass readings, and mathematical calculations. Their approach was more of a three-dimensional, holistic framework– one that incorporated winds, currents, and time. For me, perhaps the biggest takeaway from this book was a reminder that our latest and greatest technologies and mental models will not always be the best or most effective ways of approaching problems. [Speaking of the sea, one of my all-time favorite books is Cod: A Biography of a Fish That Changed the World.]

Ultra-Something by Brendan Leonard – Brendan was kind enough to ask me to blurb this, his newest book, so I did my best to string together some words to make me sound like a refined connoisseur of sophisticated literature: “‘Why would you do something like that?’ is a question every ultrarunner has received– usually from a wide-eyed, slack-jawed acquaintance who seems equally concerned and confused by the idea of running 100 miles. In Ultra-Something, Brendan Leonard answers that (perfectly reasonable) question, offering a poignant, insightful, at-times hilarious examination of his unlikely journey in ultra-endurance sports. Whether you’re a Hardrock 100 finisher or just signed up for your first 50K, you’ll glean valuable wisdom and inspiration from Leonard’s deep dive into the ‘why’ of ultrarunning.” The book also features many excellent drawings of rats, pizza, 42,000 cigs, maps, and the like. [The book is officially on sale May 23rd, but you can sign up here to receive a free chapter and a reminder when it’s available.]

Patagonia National Park: Chile by Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, Linde Waidhofer, Yvon Chouinard, et al. – If, like me, you watched and loved the documentary Wild Life, then you’re most likely a superfan of Kris Tompkins. After leaving her post as CEO at Patagonia, she and her late husband Doug began their decades-long project of conserving vast swaths of South American wilderness. To date, their organization, Tompkins Conservation, has protected approximately 14.8 million acres of wildlands, transforming them into Chilean and Argentinian National Parks. This coffee-table-style book is the story of one of their most notable projects– a former sheep ranch that is now a crown jewel of Chile’s National Park System. Filled with beautiful photos and inspiring essays, the book is a case study in collaboration, trust, relationships, and overcoming the odds to achieve extremely challenging goals. Available now at Patagonia.com, everywhere else on May 22nd. [I had the great pleasure of chatting with Kris about the book, and many other fascinating topics, in this recent podcast episode.]

Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way by Lao Tzu – I somehow ended up deep in an internet rabbit hole of Taoism, a topic I vaguely remember studying in a college religion class (but promptly forgot everything except that the T is pronounced like a D). The Almighty Algorithm directed me to this book, which I bought and have been reading off and on for the past few months. As far as I can tell, Taoism is all about balancing the opposing forces in our lives, about not veering too far toward any extreme. You know, the yin and the yang. Many of the chapters remind me of Buddhist koans, which invariably jam up my second-rate mind, leaving me feeling confused and inadequate. But every now and then, one of the verses hits me really hard, miraculously allowing me to live a more balanced life for about 45 seconds. Abbreviated enlightenment– I’ll take it! [Another book that’s worth a twice-per-week scan is The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.]

Way of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way by Jocko Willink – I gave this book to my oldest daughter a while back, and recently, she casually mentioned that she had read it eight times. That’s quite an endorsement from a discerning bookworm like her, so I decided to give it a quick read. As you’d expect from anything Jocko writes, the book is laser-focused on values like humility, courage, leadership, and work ethic, but, in this book, it’s all presented in a very inviting and kid-friendly tone– a tone that obviously resonated with my violin-playing, tap-dancing 8-year-old. I can only imagine what my jiu-jitsu-doing, rock-climbing 6-year-old will think when she reads it– she very well may wander down to the local Navy recruiting office and try to enlist. [Speaking of kid’s books, Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain continue to be perpetual crowdpleasers in the Roberson household.]

In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger – I’m an unabashed Sebastian Junger superfan. I read everything he writes, listen to all of his podcast appearances, and his film Restrepo is one of my all-time favorite documentaries. He was also the inspiration behind my long-overdue reversion to a flip phone. So– surprise, surprise– I loved this book. His descriptions of finding himself minutes away from dying of a pancreatic aneurysm is unsettling and scary, especially since he was the picture of physical health before that artery burst. But what I enjoyed most was his open-minded exploration of the mystery of what lies just on the other side of our here-on-earth existence. Junger is an avowed atheist, but not so tied to that “belief” that he cannot open his mind to the idea that there may be something more to be experienced when we die. Now more than ever, I appreciate curious, open-minded people like Junger who are willing to reconsider closely held ideas that are cornerstones of their identities. [Just last week, I gave yet another copy of Junger’s Tribe to a friend.]

True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America by Betsy Gaines Quammen – Betsy is a renowned historian, gifted and skilled storyteller, and one of my most trusted sources for understanding the complexity and nuance of the modern-day American West. Whether reading this, her newest title, or her earlier work, American Zion, you will finish each book with a wealth of knowledge about the history, culture, and people who have shaped the mythical narrative of “The West.” But perhaps more importantly, I found True West to be a masterclass in learning how to think– how to embrace nuance, ask tough-yet-sincere questions, stress test all preconceived ideas, and avoid demonizing individuals with whom you may disagree. Betsy’s reporting style hammers home the power of face-to-face communication and shows the importance of approaching “the other side” with respect and genuine curiosity. While our current culture seems quick to apply good/bad, right/wrong labels to everything, True West reminded me that everything is complicated. And that’s a good thing. [Another perspective-shifting book about the West (and more) is An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.]

The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World by Matt Thornton – If you’ve been unlucky enough to have a one-on-one conversation with me anytime over the past seven months, I have likely blasted your eardrums with a breathless, wide-eyed soliloquy about the life-changing effects of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. My wife and girls continue to ask if I “joined a cult.” Whether I’ve been brainwashed or not is debatable, but there’s no question that I’ve had my eyes opened to the humbling realities of fighting and physical violence. This book thoughtfully and eloquently explores ideas around real and fantasy martial arts, pacifism, and performative aggression, without any of the macho, wanna-be-tough-guy nonsense that often defines such discussions. In my humble opinion, I don’t think the publisher did a great job with the book’s subtitle or inside-the-jacket description– the book is much more of a philosophical exploration than a “practical guide.” [The only other fighting book I remember reading was A Fighter’s Heart by Sam Sheridan, and it was great.]

This Ordinary Stardust: A Scientist’s Path from Grief to Wonder by Alan Townsend – As the father of two young girls and the husband of a way-out-of-my-league woman, this book hit me hard. It’s the story of Alan’s family being rocked to the core by two unthinkable, back-to-back tragedies– his four-year-old daughter and brilliant wife both being diagnosed with brain tumors. Alan is a highly trained, Ph.D.-level scientist who spent his entire career using cold hard facts, emotionless inquiry, and academic rigor to try and solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Yet when faced with a father/husband’s worst nightmare, he was forced to accept that science alone was simply not enough to make it through this gauntlet. I was blown away by Alan’s insightfulness and vulnerability and how he managed to constructively meld science and spirituality to make sense of an unimaginable catastrophe. I consider this one of the more important books I’ve read, and despite having to constantly clean the tears off of my reading glasses, I am a better person after reading it. [My go-to book about dealing with challenges or tragedy is Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart.]

The Colorado River: Chasing Water by Pete McBride – Like so many of my favorite authors, Pete makes it effortless– even fun– to learn about the complexities of the American West. Whether he’s delving into the threats facing the Grand Canyon, the surprising effects of noise pollution around the world, or, in this case, the plight of the Colorado River, Pete’s stunning photography and thoughtful prose makes the medicine go down. In this book, Pete explores his “backyard river,” from its headwaters in the Colorado Rockies all the way to where it peters out just short of the Gulf of Mexico. My favorite parts of the book were the substantive photo captions– extensive, hundreds-of-word paragraphs that effectively explain everything from challenges to Native communities to the unexpected water conservation success story that is Las Vegas. I was especially taken aback by the exporting of water-intensive alfalfa to Middle Eastern countries– a scheme that strikes me as pure insanity. Buy the book, put it on your coffee table, and learn from it for years to come. [My most-recommended river/water book is Downriver by Heather Hansman.]

Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime by Ben Moon – I’ve long admired Ben’s work as a photographer, filmmaker, and adventurer, and as of two days ago, when I finished this book, I greatly admire his work as an author. If you’ve ever had a dog that seemed to understand you more than any humans do, this is your book. It’s an extension of Ben’s award-winning, tear-jerking film Denali, which is 100% guaranteed to make you sob (in the best possible way). The book follows Ben’s 14 ½ year companionship with his faithful canine partner Denali, who guides him through the peaks and valleys of a very intense life– a divorce, a battle with colorectal cancer, his eventual dependence on a colostomy bag, and his commitment to a life of adventure and purpose-driven work, colostomy bag be damned. Perhaps I’m biased because I credit a sweet-but-nutty lab named Abby for patiently guiding me from idiot college kid to fatherhood, but I’m confident that this book will mean a lot to anyone who has experienced that deep, DNA-level dog-human connection. [To understand why we connect with dogs, read The Wolf in the Parlor by Jon Franklin.]

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman: If you need something to make you feel better about the frantic state of our insanely connected world, I’m sorry, but this is not your book. Written almost thirty years ago, it offers a sobering, if not terrifying, analysis of just how shallow our approach to once-serious subjects has become– and how that shallowness is eroding society. Postman places the blame on the proliferation of “electronic media,” which, in 1985, meant a handful of TV stations. How quaint. As I read this book, I was constantly thinking about 1) how eerily ahead of his time Postman was with his observations and arguments, 2) how no one could’ve ever predicted just how wacko the world of electronic information would become, and 3) how uber-wacko things will be five years from now. The most powerful passage from the book is in the foreword, and you can read that here. This was a tough and, at times, infuriating book to read, but I’m glad I did. [If you need help counteracting the daily onslaught of electronic garbage, read Deep Work by Cal Newport.]

Flow Violento: A Scott Hulet Omnibus – The reason I love surf writing has very little to do with the authors’ descriptions of riding waves. My favorite surfing tales take me to wild landscapes and underappreciated cultures, combining adventure, history, danger, and introspection with a cast of oftentimes nutty characters. For more than three decades, The Surfer’s Journal has delivered the best-of-the-best surf writing, much of which was either written or edited by the great Scott Hulet. In Flow Violento, we’re gifted with some of Scott’s most impactful stories from a lifetime of surf-driven exploits south of the border. Scott takes us far outside the well-worn, user-friendly resort areas of Mexico and Central/South America, and deep into communities and surf breaks that are not just under the radar, but sometimes straight-up hostile to interlopers. And you don’t have to be a surfer to fall in love with Hulet’s writing– fishing, music, food, and art play just as much of a role in these stories as do the waves. [No surprise here, but one of my favorite surfing books that’s about a lot more than surfing is Barbarian Days by William Finnegan.]

A Promised Land by Barack Obama – What I look for in a memoir: Fun-to-read writing; laugh-out-loud humor; deep dives into the “why” of pivotal decisions; a detailed understanding of the people/places/experiences/cultures that shaped the author’s worldview; enlightening historical context; the author’s most brutal challenges and how they were overcome; opportunities to evolve my thinking on a few topics; humility; passion; purpose; commitment; optimism; self-doubt; extreme hard work; and crazy behind-the-scenes stories. What I don’t look for in a memoir: To have my preexisting opinions confirmed; to agree in lockstep with the author’s ideas/choices/worldview; surface-level boringness; or prose obviously written by a team of insufferable PR suits. Conclusion: This book met and/or exceeded all of my criteria and now sits alongside Acid for the Children and Shoe Dog as an all-time favorite memoir. [This seems like a good place to remind everyone of FAQ #7.]

A Cowgirl’s Conservation Journey: Stories from the Dugout Ranch by Heidi Redd with Larisa Bowen – Speaking of excellent memoirs, this one also met all of the criteria mentioned above. It’s the story of the legendary cowgirl and conservationist Heidi Redd, and her lifelong commitment to stewarding the 340,000-acre+/- Dugout Ranch, which is located within the boundaries of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. From her earliest years, Heidi has lived quite an adventurous and purpose-driving life– what started with a childhood love of horses quickly evolved into a wide range of action-packed sports, including skydiving and rock climbing. She then took her willingness to push herself outside her comfort zone and applied it to what would become her life’s work: Protecting the Dugout Ranch. This is a coffee table-style book, so Heidi’s words are complimented by copious photos and maps, which I loved. If you’re a fan of history, adventure, ranching, conservation, and tough, purpose-driven people, this is your book. [For a different approach to protecting the landscapes of southeastern Utah, read Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire.]

The Necessity of Wildfire: Poems by Caitlin Scarano – I’m not cultured or confident enough to offer any sort of meaningful analysis of poetry. All I know is that every so often, I’ll read a poem and have an unexpectedly intense appreciation for the words on the page. I can’t explain why, and it would probably ruin the poetry if I aggressively focused on trying to figure it out. So I’ll keep this simple: If I had to describe The Necessity of Wildfire in one word, I’d say it’s “brave.” Scarano digs into deeply personal topics including family, relationships, and past trauma, but does so with a clear-eyed, confident, curious approach that I find both admirable and inspiring. I can’t imagine that her intended audience was a 46-year-old-father-of-two who is obsessed with jiu-jitsu and Road House, but I think this highlights Scarano’s skill as a poet– she cuts through the surface-level nonsense and connects with other humans on a foundational level. [Another poetry collection I loved was Blood Is Not the Water by Mara Panich.]

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion by Pema Chödrön – For many years now, I’ve proudly proclaimed to have read all of Pema’s books— but I was wrong! Somehow I had completely missed this one, which is one of her best. Other than The Pocket Pema Chödrön, I’d say this is her most accessible collection of writings, with each chapter being no more than two pages. It’s the kind of book I like to keep on my bedside table and read a chapter or two before bed or first thing in the morning. One of the many things I love about Pema is that she offers actionable, powerful wisdom, but with a sense of humor and without any spiritual arrogance or pretense. I’ve long said that Pema is one of the wisest humans on Planet Earth, so, if you have not explored her work, this book would be a good place to start. [If you prefer listening, check out Pema’s Don’t Bite the Hook.]

Andy Catlett: Early Travels by Wendell Berry – If you’re looking for a book to help you disconnect from the chaotic insanity of the internet and bring some balance to your brain, this one is a good choice. It was my first dose of Wendell Berry fiction, and it won’t be my last– in fact, I’m already 50 pages into my next one. Set in small-town Kentucky during the early 1940s, the book hammers home so many of the ideas Berry explores in his non-fiction writings: community, faith, family, connection to the land, and living life at a natural, human pace. But this is not some Pollyanna-esque description of the “good ol’ days”– Berry’s characters wade into the realities of racial inequality, economic pressures, and looming societal/technological threats to community cohesiveness. I underlined more passages in this book than I do in most of my non-fiction readings, and I’m still thinking about its themes many times per day. It’s only 140 pages– so read it! [My most revisited non-fiction Wendell Berry book to date is It All Turns on Affection.]

Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator by Kevin Grange – Over the years, I’ve read a lot about grizzlies, and I thought I had a decent understanding of the animal and cultural issues surrounding it. However, like any great book, Grizzly Confidential opened my eyes to just how little I actually knew about the topic. Grange is a paramedic, firefighter, and journalist, so he combines his adventurous spirit with his ability to tell a great story and explores grizzlies from a brand new perspective. He visits bear preserves in Alaska, university research facilities, hotbeds of bear poaching, and areas that have cracked the code on successful human-bear coexistence. The book is part travelogue, part adventure story, and part science– making for a fun and educational read that I highly recommend. And for any of you who have been following the untimely death of Grizzly 399 in Wyoming, you may be interested to know that that iconic bear was the inspiration for this book. You can listen to Kevin talk about it in our recent podcast chat. [Another excellent book about bears and wild places is Doug Peacock’s Was It Worth It?]

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara – This is a very important book and I think everyone who owns a smartphone should read it– but I feel bad recommending it because it will infuriate and/or depress you. It’s an exposé of the cobalt mining business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is probably the most horrifying and corrupt large-scale industry on planet Earth. Cobalt is an essential ingredient in rechargeable batteries, so every phone, computer, electric car, renewable energy array, etc. depends on a steady supply of this rare earth metal. Unfortunately for everyone involved, a significant portion of all cobalt in the supply chain was dug from the earth by the hands of desperate men, women, and children who are endangered, abused, effectively enslaved, and sometimes killed. I experienced many sad and guilty thoughts while reading this book, but the most notable were: 1) imagining my nine-year-old daughter being forced to dig cobalt out of a toxic mine, and 2) the realization that I’ve played a role in funding this humanitarian crisis through my purchases of phones and computers. Hopefully, this book and others like it will encourage/force trillion-dollar companies to use their vast resources to take responsibility and demand reform at the bottom of the markets they have created. [After finishing Cobalt Red, you can deal with your guilt by reading Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance.]

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy) by Admiral William H. McRaven – A few weekends ago, during a full-day binge of household projects, I listened to nearly eight hours of Admiral McRaven podcast interviews (here and here). I’d read his book Make Your Bed many years ago but had never heard the man speak at length. I was obviously off-the-charts impressed. Yes, he’s confident, smart, and tough, but what I found most interesting were his genuine humility and service-oriented mindset. I immediately ordered and read this, his newest book, and, given the number of notes I took while reading it, I expect to be referencing it for years to come. As the subtitle says, it’s very simple, to-the-point leadership lessons from his thirty-seven years of elite military service– lessons that seem applicable whether you’re leading an actual team of humans or, like me, just trying your best to lead yourself. [The most important leadership/self-leadership book I’ve ever read is Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.]

The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos by Mark Easter – I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed and learned from this book. I’ve spent a big chunk of my career in the conservation and environmental sectors, but have to embarrassingly admit that I didn’t fully understand many of the concepts around carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, and the specifics of greenhouse gases. Enter Mark Easter, who uses his decades of experience as a scientist and “carbon accountant” to explain these concepts as they relate to the production, consumption, and disposal of food. And now, 400 fun-to-read pages later, that gaping hole in my knowledge base has been filled! This is not a gloom-and-doom climate change book, nor does it have the patronizing, condescending tone that often accompanies many climate-related readings. While Easter is crystal clear about the massive threats facing our planet, this is a book built on the ideals of optimism, ingenuity, and taking action. And by focusing on something that we all do–eating–he is able to reduce enormously complex concepts down to an approachable, human scale– one that anyone with curiosity and an open mind can understand and appreciate. [Another favorite food book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.]

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey [Audiobook] – I read the old-fashioned paper version of this book back in 2020, and I really enjoyed it. Since then, at least twenty people have recommended the audio version, swearing that having McConaughey read it to you triples the fun. I agree. I rarely listen to audiobooks– I quickly become bored and distracted– but this one had me locked in from the first sentence. It’s a mixture of McConaughey’s life story and his mantras for living a good life, all of which are extremely entertaining. It’s positive, fun, funny, lighthearted, genuine, sincere, generous, thoughtful, wise, and aspirational– exactly what I needed over the past few weeks. [I have only read it, but people I trust swear by the audio version of Flea’s Acid for the Children.]

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry – It’ll take me a few years to know for sure, but this might be the best novel I’ve ever read. It’s one of Berry’s many stories from the fictional community of Port William, Kentucky, as seen through the eyes of the town barber and gravedigger Jayber Crow. Using his otherworldly poetic prose, Berry reveals the sweet, oftentimes heartbreaking, humanity of his characters, at times overwhelming me with feelings of empathy and compassion– two emotions that are admittedly in short supply for me these days. As is the case with all of Berry’s writing, Jayber Crow explores ideas around community, land, connection to place, encroaching technology, family, and loss. And for a guy who doesn’t read many novels, I’ve been surprised to discover that Berry’s wisdom is most potent for me when delivered via fiction. So potent, in fact, that I unexpectedly started crying multiple times while reading the book. I will only devalue this masterpiece by continuing to try and explain it– you should just read it. [In October, I read Berry’s Andy Catlett: Early Travels, which started me on what is going to be a very long and meaningful Port William journey.]

Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening by Captain Liz Clark – I love reading about surfing, sailing, and wild adventures, so I knew I was going to enjoy this book. It’s the story of Liz Clark’s 20,000-mile, multi-year, mostly solo nautical adventure that took her from Santa Barbara to the South Pacific and beyond. The book is written in the present tense and reads very much like a super-engaging travel journal, making me feel like I was experiencing the adventure in real-time, alongside (or perhaps inside the brain) of Captain Clark. I especially appreciated her vulnerability around the challenges of working with her mind during such a solitary, mentally taxing adventure, and I was glad to read that the great Pema Chödrön played such an important role in her mindfulness evolution. As the father of two young girls, I have a deepening interest in learning about the mental operating systems of strong, independent, confident women, so this book was as enlightening and educational as it was a classic, fun-to-read adventure tale. [And speaking of the South Pacific, I must re-recommend The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides and The Sea People by Christina Thompson.]

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen – Given how outraged and divided people seem to be, I feel like one of the few remaining ways to make important points about serious issues is through humor and satire. And Carl Hiaasen is the master. For many decades now, he’s been ripping to shreds Florida’s low-life scammers, unscrupulous developers, and environmental destroyers, all while making me laugh hysterically. But hidden beneath all the insanely hilarious characters and their over-the-top shenanigans is Hiaasen’s deep love (and protectiveness) of the Sunshine State, its wild places, and its quirky culture. Even by Hiaasen standards, this book is extra crazy– it features a hairless monkey people mistake for a human child, a voodoo spell-casting “Dragon Queen,” a severed human arm with a frozen-in-place extended middle finger, McMansion vandalism, and a ridiculous medicare scam involving electric scooters and elderly retirees. You know, typical Florida stuff. It’s hilarious, insightful, easy to read, and fun. Like everything Hiaseen writes, I highly recommend it! [I haven’t watched it yet, but the same guy who produced Ted Lasso created an AppleTV series based on this book, starring the always-hilarious Vince Vaughn.]

What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers – Fun/weird fact about me: I have a medically diagnosed, abnormally dull sense of taste– i.e., my taste buds don’t really work. I consider it a blessing because I don’t have to waste any of my already scarce brain cells thinking about food. But, unfortunately for my family, my inability to taste has made me a lousy cook. Thankfully, that all changed a few weeks ago when What to Cook arrived at our doorstep (thanks, Aunt Jenni!). I psyched myself up, followed the instructions with laser-like precision, and 45 minutes later, produced a batch of “One-Pan al Pastor Enchiladas” that received 100% rave reviews from the entire fam. But you don’t have to be a rookie chef like me to appreciate this book. My wife, who is an excellent cook, has found some really fun and quick recipes that taste great (so I’m told). Wish me luck with tonight’s “Turkey Taco Salad.” [The only other cookbook I’ve used successfully is Hank Shaw’s Buck, Buck, Moose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope and Other Antlered Things.]

Into Wooperland: A Photographer’s Journey with Whooping Cranes by Michael Forsberg – If you’re not familiar with photographer Mike Forsberg, you’ve been missing out. Yes, his art brings to life the magic of the Great Plains. And yes, he creates an emotional connection to this one-of-a-kind region that would make even the most thick-skulled observer want to protect it. But when you pay close attention to the meaning and energy behind all of Mike’s work, you’ll find one of the most committed conservationists anywhere– a guy who has dedicated his life to protecting one of the most important ecosystems on earth. In this book, he focuses on the imperiled Whooping Crane, mixing stunning photography with prose, history, maps, and journal entries. Embarrassingly, before reading this book, I knew next to nothing about the Whooping Crane– now I’m trying to figure out a way to get to Nebraska to experience them in person. A powerful work of art by a real-deal, purpose-driven, change-making conservationist. [Another beautiful/powerful/educational coffee-table-type book is Pete McBride’s The Colorado River: Chasing Water.]

I also revisited a few books that continue to provide great wisdom, no matter how many times I page through them: Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape edited by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney, Relentless Solution Focus: Train Your Mind to Conquer Stress, Pressure, and Underperformance by Dr. Jason Selk, All the Rage: Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance edited by Andrea Miller, Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro, Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink, and NOLS Wilderness Wisdom edited by John Gookin.