The Glorious American Essay by Phillip Lopate
β β β β β | Essays | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Fantastic collection of essays spanning two hundred years of American letters.
Reading
The Last Lion: Visions of Glory by William Manchester
β β β β β | History | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
I read William Manchesterβs massive biography of Winston Churchill in the evenings over many months.Β I think of this an a pleasure read because the writing is so lyrical and evocative of another time and place.Β So many leadership and life lessons to be gleaned from studying Churchill.
I am patiently waiting to reach the end of the Story of Civilization before resuming this amazing biography of Churchill with the second volume.
Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
β β β ββ | Mystery-Suspense | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
β β β β β | Reading and Books | Audio | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
A delightful, hilarious memoir of running a used bookstore in a small town in Scotland.Β
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
β β β β β | Literature | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
A beautiful, wise book touching so many themes: true love, societal pressures, women’s rights, nobility excesses, religious zealotry, jealousy, the fruitless search for the meaning of life, angst over landowner privilege, thinking vs. feeling/living, capitalism vs. communism. Reading Tolstoy is the study of life.
…Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
β β β ββ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
An interesting collection of stories and anecdotes about how ego can be a destructive force in a person’s life.
…On Friendship by Marcus Cicero
β β β β β | Philosophy | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Friendship is one of life’s greatest blessings, but are seldom accounted for as such.
True friendship is selfless and must be predicated on virtue with no expectation of gain.
Riches and success tend to change a person. If he forsakes his friends for possessions, he’ll one day wonder who he bought all this stuff for, and will have no one to enjoy them with him.
In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self. So that where his friend is he is; if his friend be rich, he is not poor; though he be weak, his friend’s strength is his; and in his friend’s life he enjoys a second life after his own is finished. This last is perhaps the most difficult to conceive. But such is the effect of the respect, the loving remembrance, and the regret of friends which follow us to the grave. While they take the sting out of death, they add a glory to the life of the survivors.Β
How to Live by Derek Sivers
β β β β β | Philosophy | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
A quirky book full of dense wisdom. Thinking in such extremes is interesting. The ending was anti-climactic (and weird).
Highlights
We overestimate what we can do in one year. We underestimate what we can do in ten years.
One of the best feelings in life is to meet someone who grew up in an opposite culture but has your same humor, thoughts, or taste.
…The Lessons of History by Will Durant
β β β β β | History | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
I read this before undertaking the epic 11-volume Story of Civilization that Durant wrote over the course of forty years. He boils down the critical themes of history that he learned over the course of his lifetime of study. If you don’t have the time or inclination to read his opus, this is a good primer.
Highlights
Biology and History
Freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies. Leave men free, and their natural inequalities will multiply almost geometrically, … only the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality; those who are conscious of superior ability desire freedom; and in the end superior ability has its way.
…The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
β β β β β | Literary Fiction | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
My third book by Amor Towles who is an inspiration to me. He published his first novel, The Rules of Civility, at 47 after spending a career in investment banking in New York. Imagine that!
This one has some dear characters: Emmett, Duchess, Billy, Wooley, Sally, and a few other incidentals thrown in. Duchess is a borderline psychopath that I came to adore by looking at his situation through his own perspective.
…The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
β β β β β | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Favorite Highlights
βThe obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.β
Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm. Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessnessβthese reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings.
…Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
β β β β β | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Reading Notes
A quick, lively read. Take aways:
- Show up and do the work. Fake it til you make it.
- Studying a favorite author in depth, and then their three favorite authors, is a great way to emulate and build on their genius.
- Get away from the computer during the creative parts of the work. Grab a pen and notebook. Go outside and walk.
- Write the book you would want to read. Similar to Rilke’s advice to his young poet.
Finding Meaning by David Kessler
β β β β β | Psychology | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Reading Notes
Six Stages of Grief
- Denial: shock and disbelief that the loss has occurred
- Anger: that someone we love is no longer here
- Bargaining: all the what-ifs and regrets
- Depression: sadness from the loss
- Acceptance: acknowledging the reality of the loss
- Meaning: finding a way to sustain your love for the person after death while you move forward with your life.
The Three Steps of Taking in the Good
- Identify a positive experience or memory you shared with your loved one.
- Enrich this memory. Savor it. Think about it. Repeat it over and over again in your mind for 20 – 30 seconds.
- Absorb the experience. Sink into it and let it sink into you. Feel it in your body. Soak it in. Visualize it in your mind. Let it become part of you.
Essayism by Brian Dillon
β β β ββ | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Guardian Book Review
What a strange little book about essay writing coupled with the author’s lifelong suffering of loss and depression. There were some insights about essay structure and composition that I highlighted (see below), and, reeling from Connor’s death, I was somehow comforted by the author’s repeated declarations of woe. He used writing as a method to stave off his depression, which apparently worked until it didn’t.
…Fairy Tale by Stephen King
β β β ββ | Fantasy | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | GoodreadsΒ
A formulaic Hero’s Journey as only Stephen King could write.Β Connor passed away in the middle of my reading this.Β I had to put it down while his death was still so fresh.Β I couldn’t fathom reading about a young man putting his life on the line in a fantasy story – or any story.Β I picked it back up a few weeks later as a distraction, but never really got into it. The characters weren’t fully developed and I never really connected with the protagonist.Β Might be the time.
Highlights
Whiskey doesnβt smell the same as ginβ¦ yet it does. All alcohol smells the same to me, of sadness and loss.
good people shine brighter in dark times.
tempus est umbra in mente is a better one. Roughly translated, it means time is a shadow in the mind.
Thereβs a dark well in everyone, I think, and it never goes dry. But you drink from it at your peril. That water is poison.
Treasonβs Harbour by Patrick OβBrian
β β β β β | Nautical Fiction | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
The week after Connor passed, I could not distract myself with reading. But, I desperately needed the distraction, so I turned to the healing salve of Aubrey and Maturin. I picked up where I left off with Treason’s Harbour, which is either my third or fourth time through these books. Transporting myself to another known world outside my suffering and despair seemed to help.
As with most of these books, the story line seemed only vaguely familiar, despite multiple readings. Why is that? I believe I read O’Brian in such a comfortable state, letting the words roll over me, that I don’t pay too close attention to the plot.
…Thrive in Retirement by Eric Thurman
β β β ββ | Health and Well-Being | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Like Successful Aging by Daniel Levitin, the author’s message here is to never retire. Work for as long as you can to stay healthy and happy. If you do retire, make sure to find as much purpose in retirement as you possibly can.
The author used Thrive as his title for a reason. Thrive has a Scandinavian heritage that comes from Old Norse, thrΔ«fask, which translates βgrasp.β You thrive when you grasp what you want from life. Keep grasping, keep thriving.
…Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre
β β β ββ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Reading Notes
Foundation of Existentialism: existence precedes essence β man is born without meaning or destiny.Β His essence is created by his own will and actions.
Anguish β in Existentialism, anguish is the knowledge that each man must create meaning for his own life, and also be a responsible representative for humanity.Β The anguish comes from the awareness of this awesome responsibility.Β This definition of anguish is actually optimistic and not in keeping with traditional views of despair.
…The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
β β β β β | Mystery-Suspense | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
My first Craig Johnson / Longmire novel. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the plot. Lots of interesting themes:
Wyoming’s rugged beauty and landscape
Native American culture and wisdom
Friendship
Justice and revenge
Graceful aging
Loss (Walter’s wife, Vonnie’s death)
Small town life
Rape, human cruelty
Highlights
I always wondered about men who spent their time trying to anticipate and know a fish in a world where manβs knowledge of each other could only be called scarce.
Good friends are the ones who can remain close without losing their ability to surprise.
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
β β β β β | Nature | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | GoodreadsΒ
Reading Notes
Trees are much more complex than we observe:
- Mature trees transfer nutrients to other struggling trees through root systems (especially offspring)
- Communicate danger from invasive pests through root systems to other trees a long distance away.
- Strong indication that trees have memories of past events.
- Transplanted trees don’t have the same communication or intelligence.
- Symbiotic relationship with mycelium network of fungi (the wood wide web).
Are trees sentient? Impossible to say they’re not. Perhaps akin to an alien life form β just different?
Tree time: a tree is still a toddler until they’re 50. Mature at 500.
…