How to Know a Person by David Brooks: Uplifting, challenging.
The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein: Super positive. I like her writing. Lot of recovery wisdom sprinkled throughout, and also really good for a more expansive sense of life.
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson: My big takeaway is, “aim upward.” Pretty good read though. A little dense, but I enjoyed it.
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Surprisingly interesting book about the development of the Diesel engine and how that played into global industry, geopolitics, and World War One.
Cherished Belong by Father Gregory Boyle: Makes me want a more moral society. Makes me want to be more moral.
Barking to the Choir by Father Greg Boyle: I could listen to these books forever. Great narration, great reminders. So good for the soul. Heavy stuff, dark stuff, but I laugh so much during it. The recovery gang members are funny and inspiring. Father Greg has found a great way to spend a life.
How to Read Nature by Tristan Gooley: Not as good as Natural Navigator, but interesting nonetheless I think. It’s less about specific things to look for, and more about the journey you embark on when you start to notice more things. It’s good for your health to be in that more immersive awareness. We’re not meant to stay inside our rational, linear minds.
Zero Limits the Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More: Despite the title, actually really good book. The meditation: “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” is really quite powerful. When I meditate on this, I get a sense of what the mind of Jesus might be like.
Reread: Dungeon Crawler Carl
Reread: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
Reread: Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook
Reread: Gate of the Feral Gods
Reread: The Butcher’s Masquerade
Reread: This Inevitable Ruin
Dungeon Crawler Carl: Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman: Not the best from this series. Good moments, but kind of long and slow moving. Chaotic. I was on a long roadtrip though and this audiobook helped the drive a lot.
Biblically Responsible Investing: Interesting concept, but the anti-LGBT piece is a turn-off for me. I like the idea of stewardship and managing resources in a way that serves humanity and God’s will. And I’m impressed at their successful use of activism to advance their agenda, though I don’t really agree with what they’re doing in some cases. Still, do I feel good about owning companies that aren’t driving deriving profits from porn, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and environmentally destructive activities? Of course! And I think one is likely to get a better result from investing according to good ethical principles. Too, I think their approach is more nuanced than a lot of ESG investing, a big part of which says, “no fossil fuels, no mining, no heavy industry.” Which I think is less pragmatic than they could be. The BRI guys instead seem to say, “who are the companies that are actively reducing their environmental impact, even if they’re operating in a traditionally high impact industry from an environmental perspective?” Whereas ESG would screen out those companies categorically, I think I like the BRI guys’ approach better on the environmental issue.
The Will of The Many by James Islington:
The Strength of the Few by James Islington: I really liked Will of the Many, but struggled with this one. It switches perspectives far too often, and I just didn’t care about 2 of the 3. Didn’t see much direction or structure to the other two.
Expanse series: Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey: Another one in a great series, really enjoying these
Expanse series: Persepolis Rising James S.A. Corey: Another one in a great series, really enjoying these
Expanse series: Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey: Another one in a great series, really enjoying these
Expanse series: Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey:
Expanse series: Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey: Great series. I’d really recommend it. It’s imaginative and feels realistic, but without long technical explanations the way sci-fi can sometimes get. Great characters, great story. It’s a long series but brought me a lot of enjoyment over the last couple years.
Creating a Culture of Tenderness by Gregory Boyle and Pema Chodran: It costs an audible credit, but isn’t very long. Not sure whether to count this as a full book.
Love, Service, Devotion, and the Ultimate Surrender. Ram Dass on the Bhagavad Gita: Pretty standard Ram Dass speech, but really good. Started, not yet finished.
Reread: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: I can only read so much self-help stuff, especially in the therapy and healing vein, before I want to come back to something easy and familiar.
Broken Money by Lyn Alden: Really interesting overview and explanation into what bitcoin is and how it works. For being such a big bitcoin advocate, she’s pretty measured in her discussion. I think what makes me more optimistic on bitcoin is the idea of there being additional settlement layers that sit on top of it, because the network can’t handle anywhere near the number of transactions that happen on existing payment rails. Basically, it’s digital gold. It’s been through a few existential tests already, but things got worked out pretty smoothly in the face of various attacks on the network. Her assessment of value is more of a range depending on how widely it is used as a base layer for collateralizing other debts. Basically, it ranges from around $100,000/coin to something like $1,000,000 per coin. The $1,000,000 per coin scenario is where it starts to displace gold as a source of scarcity and collateral, and is held fairly widely on institutional balance sheets. I can see how this becomes kind of a global standard for handling transactions, particularly as it grows less volatile, which it seems to be doing. Too, it seems that Bitcoin is not nearly as energy intensive as critics claim. I can see a scenarios where governments, including the US government try to shut it down. But I also think there’s a bit of a prisoner’s dilemma there. First, attempting to shut it down costs credibility. If your currency is so sound, why impose these restrictions? Too, capital tends to seek the most favorable jurisdictions. Countries that want capital flows (and everybody does, btw), will want to accept Bitcoin.
Grant by Ron Chernow: Started not finished. Fascinating time in American history. Chernow makes Grant sound like the effing man. Definitely downplays some of his character weaknesses, but also I think helps counterbalance what seems to have been a fairly negative and one-sided characterization of Grant.
Nonviolent Communication by Marshal Rosenberg: Started. Good read, kind of challenging. But I find myself coming back to these words, “what would make life more wonderful?” I think people often get stuck into an idea that if someone gets what they want, that someone else isn’t getting what they want. But the world is really more abundant than people realize. The underlying desire is usually not zero-sum, but positive sum.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson: Great series of reminders. I really like starting the day with one of these readings.
You Are The One You’ve Been Waiting For by Richard Schwartz:
Superattractor by Gabby Bernstein:
Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix: Started. Also good. Kind of harder to get into for me. Harder to wrap my head around, and a little heavy.
Grant by Ron Chernow: Wow, super good. Incredibly interesting history and perspective. Now and then while reading it, I’d have a tough day, or be worried about something, and then read this book and think, “my life could be a lot worse.”
Wayne Dyre’s 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace: Started, not yet finished. Mostly good.
Reread: Psychocybernetics by Maxwell Maltz: Started, not yet finished. Good book, good refresher.