I realized I hadn’t posted my book list from 2020, so this list is a double whammy. Best books up front, full lists below. Stars in the full lists next to anything that stood out.
2021 Best Books
Stories Behind the Images– Corey Rich
Lessons from a life in adventure photography
Best book of the year so far, hands down. Maybe it had an advantage because it combined my passions of writing, photography and adventure, but it really spoke to me. Great writing, great photos from an amazing adventure photographer, and a fun balance of stories with their technical details, considerations and challenges he had getting the shot.
Cloud Cuckoo Land– Anthony Doerr
Terrific. Great piece of fiction following multiple characters over multiple time periods, all of their stories masterfully woven together by their mutual love for one ancient book. Highly recommended. (From the author of All the Light We Cannot See)
The Drop– Thad Ziolkowski
“How the most addictive sport [surfing] can help us understand addiction and recovery”.
Great. New york times writer writing about surfing and addiction- his personal experiences with both, the wider trends in the sport and specific personalities. Well written, interesting. A quick read, if not a light read. But certainly not a heavy read.
Shoe Dog- Phil Knight
A memoir by the creator of Nike. I didn’t want to like this one, maybe due to a distrust of big brands, and for the first page or two I didn’t. I didn’t like his writing, and in fact gave it up the first time I flipped through it in the store. When I heard enough people recommend it on podcasts I gave it another go, got it from the library and then gobbled it up. Knight’s story from traveling the world as a young man to falling in love with shoe making, and his journey from nothing to creating the Nike behemoth reads like a novel- a courtroom drama, a business coup, a tragic accident. Solid cast of characters, decent writing. Recommended.
2020 Best Books
Atomic Habits– James Clear
Perfect read for the beginning of the year, when resolutions and habits are on the mind. Nothing revolutionary, just solid advice for habit forming or breaking. In a nutshell: to encourage good habits: make [the new habit] obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying. Do the opposite for bad habits. Combined with Deep Work and Digital Minimalism this book gave me a positive start to the year, thinking about how I want to self-identify (circus artist, climber, good boyfriend, writer, digital minimalist, etc) and how the reality of my habits reflects how well in practice my actions reflect those identities. The book felt enabling without being too redundant or cheerleading, since part of the message is not to summon the willpower for every activity but to put that effort towards setting up systems (see the four steps, above) that will make it easier to do the right thing. Recommended.
Greenlights– Matthew McConaughey
Very positive, very fun. Autobio of MM. If you like his swaggering personality onscreen you’ll enjoy this book. Be “Less impressed, more involved.” “Consistency over intensity.” Lots of good gems, plenty of his charming, outlaw personality. A fun read that’ll put a hop in your step.
The Heavens– Sandra Newman
Great writing, fiction you can luxuriate in. Dreams and the past and the future, all mixing together… moves quickly yet also feels like you know the texture of the wood tables along the way. Tight, creative writing with a fun concept and plot. Recommended.
The Culture Code– Daniel Coyle
Great. “The secrets of highly successful groups”. A super look into what makes successful teams function well together, with lots of actionable advice. Highly recommended.
Permanent Record– Edward Snowden
Fantastic. Great writing by a smart man, told in a way that pulls you through Snowden’s personal story while also remaining pertinent to the reader. Snowden does a good job of making a scary and complicated subject accessible, interesting and important. Highly recommended.
In the Heart of the Sea– Nathaniel Philbrick
A great adventure about the true story of the whale and ship that inspired Moby Dick. Terrific research, weaving together details from the time period without feeling onerous that enrich the story and paint a full picture. Recommended.
2021 Full List
1. Who Not How– Dan Sullivan
Decent, basically whenever you face a problem instead of thinking “How do I solve this”, think, “Who can solve this for me?” Or “Who can do this better than me?” etc. Instead of spending 20 hours learning wordpress to make a mediocre looking blog, ask someone to help. This will free you up to work on the things you’re passionate about and the best at. That’s pretty much the entire book. Good advice, maybe not enough there for a full book though.
2. The 12 Week Year– Brian P. Moran & Michael Lennington
Pulls in a lot of info I’ve read in other similar books, eloquent and concise with a lot less of the redundancies from other books. A good read. Basically, do what you do in a year in 12 weeks. This forces major decisions to be more efficient since you don’t have the time to do it all yourself/ focus too much on things that don’t matter. It’s a good amount of time because you can’t control what will happen in a year, but in 3 months you can have a realistic view of what’s likely to happen. He then incorporates lots of strategies like time blocking, prioritization, accountability, etc. lead and lag measures, etc to help you reach your goals.
3. Influence- The Psychology of Persuasion- Robert Cialdini
Interesting to think of in terms of crowds and presenters buying your show, and ways to be on the look out for how you are being influenced. A little dated, but still interesting and relevant.
4. The Third Door– Alex Banayan
College age kid tries to interview a lot of famous people, ends up meeting a lot of them through persistence. Some good lessons and fun stories, but felt like he still had a lot of learning and growing to do himself.
5. What It Takes– Stephan Schwarzman
Blackstone’s founder talks about mergers and acquisitions and stuff. Some good lessons, mostly a bio of stuff he’s done. Good work ethic and solid principles behind the company. 25 rules for life at the end- it’s as easy to do something big as something small. Keep learning, figure out how to solve other people’s problems. Information is the most important asset in business. Integrity. Be bold. Sales rarely get made on the first pitch. Success comes down to rare moments of opportunity.
**6. Shoe Dog– Phil Knight
A memoir by the creator of Nike. I didn’t want to like this one, maybe due to a distrust of big brands, and for the first page or two I didn’t. I didn’t like his writing, and in fact gave it up the first time I flipped through it in the store. When I heard enough people recommend it on podcasts I gave it another go, got it from the library and then gobbled it up. Knight’s story from traveling the world as a young man to falling in love with shoe making, and his journey from nothing to creating the Nike behemoth reads like a novel- a courtroom drama, a business coup, a tragic accident. Solid cast of characters, good writing. Recommended.
7. Talking to Strangers– Malcom Gladwell
Decent. He’s making the points he wants to make, which surely have a space in a lot of the situations he’s talking about, and broader cultural implications, even if sometimes he has to ignore other issues in order to do it. General takeaway: we each believe ourselves to be multifaceted, multi-layered, often circumstantial, yet we believe we can know other people based on simple clues. A little more skepticism about our own ability to know other people and empathy that they too might not be easily summed up would go a long way.
8. Tandia– Bryce Courtenay
I’ve read this quite a few times, it’s the sequel to the Power of One. Two of my favorite books.
***9. Stories Behind the Images– Lessons from a life in adventure photography- Corey Rich
Best book of the year so far, hands down. Great writing, great photos.
10. Alone On the Wall– Alex Honnold
Cool to see behind the scenes and appreciate what it took to do what Honnold did. The first half (before the movie came out) feels immature… a lot of chasing “chicks”, etc. The addendum feels like it has a bit more reflection and empathy behind it. I liked that, because I didn’t really enjoy the first half. Not a bad read if you like climbing.
11. The Knife of Never Letting Go– Patrick Ness
Fun ride, cool world, but then a lot of running and no conclusion. Maybe you have to read the whole series but it bugs me when an entire book is just problems started but not resolved. Feels lazy. Fun while it was happening though…
12. 438 Days– An extraordinary true story of survival at sea- Jonathan Franklin
Fisherman survives at sea for 438 days. Wild survival story, good read.
13. Classic Krakauer– Jon Krakauer
A collection of Krakauer’s articles. Always fun.
14. Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell– Chas Smith
Self-described “Trash Prose” writer writes about the “Dark side of surfing” on hawaii’s north shore. About what you’d expect. Sometimes fun, if indulgent, writing. Not Krakauer. Go read Barbarian Days or The Drop instead.
15. How I Make Photographs– Joel Meyerowitz
I love this sort of book, although Stories Behind the Images was more my jam in terms of style of photography, it was cool to hear a street photographer talk about his process and what he looks for when out with a camera.
16. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry– John Mark Comer
Oof. Love the concept, couldn’t handle all the Jesus. Would probably be a passable, albeit flippant, read if every point wasn’t twisted to say “Jesus did it like this first/ better”. Comer references Silence: In the Age of Noise which is a much better bang for your buck if you’re trying to slow down a little. Skip this one.
17. Choose Possibility– Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
(got halfway through, had to return to the library. Basically… choose things that will lead to interesting possibilities, prioritize good people over specific projects etc, since they will open the most doors and make things feel the most interesting/ learn the most).
***18. Cloud Cuckoo Land– Anthony Doerr
Terrific. Great piece of fiction following multiple characters over multiple time periods, all of their stories masterfully woven together by their mutual love for one ancient book. Highly recommended.
19. Icarus Syndrome– John Long
Short stories from a climbing writer who’s been there. Some hits, some misses, often slightly purple for my taste, but he also manages to reliably find insights into passions (namely climbing, but including other, similarly abstract, risk-fueled pursuits) that don’t easily lend themselves to black and whites or right and wrongs… just feelings and justifications and consequences. Decent.
***20. The Drop– Thad Ziolkowski “How the most addictive sport [surfing] can help us understand addiction and recovery”.
Great. New york times writer writing about surfing and addiction, both his personal experiences with both, the wider trends in the sport and specific personalities. Well written, interesting. A quick read, if not a light read. But certainly not a heavy read.
2020 Full List
1. ***Atomic Habits– James Clear
Perfect read for the beginning of the year, when resolutions and habits are on the mind. Nothing revolutionary, just solid advice for habit forming or breaking. In a nutshell: for good habits: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying. Do the opposite for bad habits. Combined with Deep Work and Digital Minimalism this book gave me a positive start to the year, thinking about how I want to self-identify (circus artist, climber, good boyfriend, writer, digital minimalist, etc) and how the reality of my habits reflects how well in practice my actions reflect those identities. The book felt enabling without being too redundant or cheerleading, since part of the message is not to summon the willpower for every activity but to put that effort towards setting up systems (see the four steps, above) that will make it easier to do the right thing. Recommended.
2. ***The Heavens– Sandra Newman
Great writing, fiction you can luxuriate in. Dreams and the past and the future, all mixing together… moves quickly yet also feels like you know the texture of the wood tables along the way. Tight, creative writing with a fun concept and plot. Recommended.
3. Rock Athlete– Ron Fawcett
Bold and strong British climber back in the day writes about his life. A few nice lines, but for the most part just a lot of stuff he climbed. A glimpse into climbing in England back when climbing was first taking off. If you already knew him it might be more interesting than I found it. A critic reviewing one of the climbing movies he was featured in mentioned how inarticulate he was while struggling up a wall, which led to, for me, the best line in the book. “I’ve always thought one of the appeals of sport is that it takes you out of yourself, away from your thoughts, and so beyond language.”
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest– Ken Kesey
A good book, made more interesting when I read about its context and the background surrounding the issues the book addresses.
5. Mountain Rescue Doctor– Christopher Van Tilburg
“Wilderness medicine in the extremes of nature.” Decent read, individual stories by Tilburg, volunteer doctor on the search and rescue team Crag Rats, a group based in Oregon. Not amazing writing, but if you’re interested in wilderness adventure or medicine it’s interesting to hear the sort of situations he encounters, how he deals with them and how they could be avoided or better handled. Stories/ the style gets a little redundant by the end.
6. The Incomplete Book of Running– Peter Sagal
Peter Sagal (of NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!) writing humorously about running, his life, divorce, marathons (including finishing just minutes before the explosions at the Boston Marathon), and leading partially blind runners on marathons and learning about struggles that put his own in perspective. An extremely quick read (“the five minute mile memoir”), that is clever, and insightful and kind. Nice.
7. Lord of the Flies– William Golding
Short and sweet. A bunch of kids stranded on an island try to create their own sort of civilization and figure out how to be rescued and things unwind from there. A dark mirror about power and groups and and how we react under stress. Luckily it’s just a bunch of kids. Right…?
8. How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy– Orson Scott Card
Card wrote Ender’s Game. This is him talking about it. Short, punchy. Some of it is devoted specifically to science fiction (different methods of high speed intergalactic travel, for example), but much of it is also devoted to craft and why an author must think about those different methods, whether or not they actually happen in the book, because they will effect how the characters behave having had to go through one of those methods to get to wherever the story takes place. A good read.
9. Virgil Wander– Leif Enger
An elegantly written small town romp. Lovely writing. Plot revolved around a movie theatre, a fish, a man who liked to fly kites, a missing person and a bit of romance. Great writing and characters, plot meandered in a small town sort of way but it was more of a character development piece than fireworks. Recommended.
10. Get Out of Your Own Way– Dave Hollis
“A skeptic’s guide to growth and fulfillment.” Recovering alcoholic and former successful president of distribution at Disney bristles at the success of his wife’s book and so in response writes a self-help book of his own. Maybe some good advice in there for those that are reticent about the idea of self-improvement, most of it “I saw a therapist despite my preconceived ideas about therapists and masculinity”, but it all comes across as insecure and self-congratulatory which I found tedious. Skip this one, maybe read his wife’s NYT’s #1 best seller instead.
11. ***The Culture Code– Daniel Coyle
Great. “The secrets of highly successful groups”. A super look into what makes successful teams function well together, with lots of actionable advice. Highly recommended.
12. **Dune– Frank Hebert
Classic sci-fi/ fantasy. If you liked Ender’s Game this is a fun ride- nice combo of action and scheming, politics and feints. Great world building, hard to put down read. 800 pages, read it in a week. Recommended.
13. *** Postcards From the Ledge– Greg Child
Very fun short stories/ articles from an accomplished mountaineer and writer. Reads quick, makes you chuckle and want to get out into the mountains. Good stuff.
14. Into the Wild– Jon Krakauer
Don’t know why I hadn’t read this book before, but finally got around to it. Great. It’s more journalistic and less “action packed” than some of his other writing, presenting a detached and frank portrait of a young man that is none the less not without empathy or drama. It wouldn’t be my first recommendation of Krakauer’s, but I enjoyed it and thought he did a good job keeping the shades of grey around a character that many seemed to want to paint as either black or white.
15. Rich Dad, Poor Dad– Robert Kiyosaki
Quick read, lots of good points. Can’t say I agree with everything he says, especially ways the rich can pay less taxes, but in general a good kick in the butt to take a look at how to organize your financial life, and what sort of things to spend your money on. If you haven’t read it, it’s a classic and worth the few days it’ll take to flip through it.
16. Extreme Ownership– Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Two Navy Seals talk about leadership and their experiences in Iraq. Despite being overly-jingoistic, the stories nonetheless do a good job of keeping the book interesting as they illustrate each principle with in-action examples followed by business examples. Oftentimes they will give a business example involving a situation, their advice to the client, but not the result of the consultee following their advice, which makes it hard to judge their credibility. That said, many of the principles seem at first glance fairly useful- the title itself implies that as a leader than it is your responsibility if things go wrong, even if it was not directly ‘your fault’- there was always something you could have done better. From there they elaborate on the principles (Check the Ego, Cover and Move, simple, prioritize and execute, decentralized command, leading up and down the chain of command, etc); which all seem like sound advice. Decent read, although a summary of these principles would probably be enough.
17. ****Permanent Record– Edward Snowden
Fantastic. Great writing by a smart man, told in a way that pulls you through Snowden’s personal story while also remaining pertinent to the reader. Snowden does a good job of making a scary and complicated subject accessible, interesting and important. Highly recommended.
**18. In the Heart of the Sea– Nathaniel Philbrick
A great adventure about the true story of the whale and ship that inspired Moby Dick. Terrific research, weaving together details from the time period without feeling onerous that enrich the story and paint a full picture. Recommended.
18. Catching the Big Fish– David Lynch
Afternoon read about meditation, consciousness, and creativity. An enjoyable drift through his consciousness and way of seeing the world. No secrets or quick tricks here, but a soft focus mindset. Interesting.
19. The Checklist Manifesto– Atul Gawande
Decent, quick read. Says there are three types of problems- simple, complicated and complex. Checklists are great for simple problems that none the less catch lots of errors that arise from human’s forgetting, or miscommunication in a team etc; and you can also use checklists to make sure key people check in with each other during critical moments for the more complicated and complex problems. Statistically, implementing checklists in surgery situations (5-8 items, before anesthesia, before cutting, and before leaving the room) reduced error, cost and deaths to a staggering degree. Checklists should be simple enough that they are easy to use so that they will be used, and contain the most important items that if you forget could be catastrophic. Pilots, surgeons, high rise construction overseers all use checklists. It’s a good idea. Talks about “Do-check” where you do actions then make sure you did them all, and “read-do” where it’s more like a recipe that you follow. Useful to have another party involved, maybe reading it out loud in the case of surgery to make sure every has the opportunity to catch mistakes. Also, going through the checklist process can also help a team come together (one of the checks in surgery is that everyone in the room knows each others’ names).
20. The Four Disciplines of Execution– Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling
Interesting, albeit redundant. Basically says we are often so overwhelmed with “the whirlwind” of our daily obligations in our job that we don’t focus on the points that will really change things. Their strategy, in a nutshell: Choose a Wildly Important Goal (WIG) that can be broken down in “From x to y by when”. From there, figure out the lead measures (measures you can influence, as opposed to Lag measures, which are the results) that you bet will influence this WIG, and/or have your team members come up with these lead measures that they’re going to focus on themselves. Weekly, efficient accountability meetings on only the WIG, not the whirlwind. And have a scoreboard that the team creates that is easy to tell if the team is ‘winning’ or not. The goal is to feel like the team is ‘winning’, since it’s depressing to do a ton of work and not feel like it’s changing much. There are more tips about executing these four steps successfully, but in general I found that even just a weekly meeting and clarifying responsibilities for the week to be a very good start for our team.
*21. Bluefishing– Steve Sims
“The Art of Making Things Happen.” A sort of motivational book about making things happen, but more via outlook than any specific instructions or techniques. Sims’ job is running a company called Bluefish that basically makes things happen for rich people, so it’s a book of anecdotes from his life going from bouncer at a club to throwing top parties and eventually becoming a company that made people’s dreams come true. This involved a lot of figuring out win-wins, connecting people, digging to the core of what people wanted and asking why over and over, not just accepting whatever thing they first came to him with. A good quick read.
22. ***Greenlights– Matthew McConaughey
Very positive, very fun. Autobio of MM. If you like his swaggering personality onscreen you’ll enjoy this book. “Less impressed, more involved.” “Consistency over intensity.” Lots of good gems, plenty of his charming, outlaw personality. A fun read that’ll put a hop in your step.
23. A Slow Regard for Silent Things– Patrick Rothfuss
Meh. An interlude in the KingKiller Chronicles that doesn’t fit with the rest of the series. Doors of Stone, let’s see it. We’re ready.
24. Shadow Puppets– Orson Scott Card
A reread from the Ender’s Game world, but always fun to read Orson Scott Card. A fun mix of action and psychology, sci-fi done well.
25. This is How You Lose the Time War– Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Sci-fi fantasy romance… dueling agents an the abstract time war fall in love through letters. The end is satisfying, but can’t say I loved it otherwise.