From time to time I’ll post some of the books I’ve been reading (and listening to).
Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind (Fifth Edition), is a great overview of the history of American conservationism and how public thought has evolved from the wilderness as something to be avoided and conquered to being a national treasure to being treasured and protected.
Peter Attia & Bill Gifford, Outlive, is a very approachable overview of the main drivers of premature death, the root causes behind them, and how we can take charge of our physical, mental, and emotional health. The key takeaway, exercise has a much broader positive impact than I anticipated.
Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, is the perfect read if you’re in a creative rut. Pressfield’s aphorisms provide both perspective and inspiration on the creative process and what it takes to be “a creative” professional. Don’t wait for the spark; show up, do the work.
I’ve done a lot of reading this year about American ecological history, but my favorite has been Steven Rinella’s American Buffalo. I’ve admired Rinella’s thinking-man’s hunter ethos for years, and his evocative prose transports readers to the heart of southwest Alaska in his pursuit of an American icon. Rinella stitches together his compelling adventure story with a broader history of the buffalo and the American frontier. I also recommend Outdoor Kids in an Inside World, as a short read/listen for parents looking to expose their kids to nature. (I took my 3-year-old on his first camping trip after reading).
Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire. Like Rinella, Abbey weaves together memoir, history, and policy to create a work that is sarcastic and cynical, and at the same time holds out the wonder of the desert and makes you want to visit the American West.
Dan Flores, American Serengeti is a zip line through the ecological history of North America, through the lens of the last remaining big-game species. This book helped me to see America as a truly unique & special place from a biological perspective, and also understand the push and pull between the environment and economic progress.
Mark Greaney, The Gray Man series, has redefined the action genre for me, and I'm hooked. With each installment, I find myself completely immersed in a world where danger lurks at every turn, and the protagonist's unwavering (if twisted) moral compass and commitment to determination leave me thinking about questions of justice and the use of violence.