What to say about this year in reading?
It was good! (Can there be such a thing as a bad year of reading?) I read an ok amount of books. (5 less than last year, which is understandable given how busy this year was.) I did not have any goals, other than finish Means of Ascent and meet my one per year Shakespeare quota.
Trends this year included continueing down the conservation and nature writing rabbit hole, a variety of personal development reads, and the adoption of listening to audiobooks on Libby (Thanks Grace!)
As always, here is every book I read this year, along with associated thoughts.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan: Very depressing
Our National Forests: Stories from America’s Most Important Public Lands by Greg Peters: A series of diverse accounts and experiences in our less talked about National Forests.
Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reivented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield: This book gave me a lot more knowledge and appreciation of the artistry of Ms. Swift.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt: Details the rise of depression and mental illness amongst children, since the widespread use of smart phones at very young ages. Some solid recommendations for avoiding the negative consquences that can come from too much screen time.
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West: A interesting tale of the British homefront during WWI.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert: A small monument to all the biodiversity we are currently losing in the sixth extinction, aka the one humans are causing.
The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser: Have to get to the Gardner Musuem in Boston now! The paintings that were stolen from it are now just represented by empty frames.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer: Another knock it out of the park book from the author of Braiding Sweetgrass.
Tidewater Tales by William C Garrett: A history of Essex County, the county I grew up in, written in the 1920s. A dated but interesting look into the mindset of that time.
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport: Not as memerable or as influental as Newport’s other book digital minimalism. Moral is think longterm and do a little bit at a time to accomplish your goals, which I already do.
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare: One of my top Shakespeare plays.
Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck: A rollicking, quintessentially American travel memoir.
Over the Edge: The True Story of Four American Climbers’ Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia by Greg Child: A so so account of an interesting, just before 9/11, story of islamic terrorism. However, the last fifty pages are kind of disturbing and kind of prescent glimpse into the conspiracy theories that developed afterwards, which forshadows the darker trends of today.
Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West by Micheal Punke: Glad this legend helped conserve Buffalo so that I could see them on my Dakotas trip this past summer!
Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples by Harville Hendrix: Recommended by my therapist along with the advice, “Communicate, communicate, communicate.”
Abundance by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein: Yes, I fell in on the bandwagon with this one. A lot of thought provoking points though!
The Golden Age of the American Essay 1945-1970 by various: Essays from all the major players of the era including Susan Sontag, James Agee, James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, and Norman Mailer. Some have aged very well and others haven’t.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams: An absolutely disturbing look from the inside of Facebook at the awful people who run it.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent by Robert Caro (Started 2023): It took me three years to complete this, but book two of Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson is just as good and thorough as the first. Details Johnson from 1940, immediately after his first failed campaign for Senate, until 1948, when he is successfully elected to the Senate in one of the first “modern” campaigns. (i.e. He flew around Texas on a helicopter.) Only three more books to go!
The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years 1915 to 1933 by Horace Albright: An rollicking, insider account which will make you infectiously passionate for the National Park Service.
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse: A true crime story of the Eastern Shore. Excellently written and exceedingly local.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: Suprisingly, despite being a massive John Green fan, I hadn’t read this.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle: My first audiobook! Cliche at times but deeply empowering!
Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (Audio): A short, sweet memior about grief.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Audio): Never actually had this assigned as required reading during highschool. So was shocked that this is a commonly read highschool novel based on the explosive ending.
Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts by Brene Brown: Lots of nuggets to take from this as a new supervisor.
Dare Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown (Audio): Repetitive from Dare to Lead, though this was published first.
No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson and Johnson by Gardiner Harris: Disturbing at how much awful stuff a healthcare company has done! (They knew about abestos in baby powder for 50 years and did nothing!
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose: After an unplanned detour to Fort Mandan and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in North Dakota, I had to make myself more familiar with the Corps of Discovery. Hope to be back on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail soon!
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green: Glad John Green is using his megaphone to spotlight global health inequities.