10 Book Recs (& Upcoming OOO)

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Issue 32 | August 8, 2019 | 10 Book Recs (& Upcoming OOO)

The summer days are waning, but there’s still time for a solid summer read or three! Speaking of, I’ll be OOO (out of the office) from August 12-23. If you need a referral for freelance writing projects in that window, just reach out – I know a guy.

In the meantime, here’s my annual take on great reads from the year. See if anything stokes your interest for those last stretches of summer sun!

Mind-blowing commentary on modern America
OOOOh these are complicated times. I found these two books to be penetrating and incredibly illuminating:

• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond. One of those books you can’t put down and can’t stop thinking about for months. Desmond looks at how housing instability creates a cycle that keeps people in poverty, through riveting stories of individuals. Incredible book.
• The Coddling of the American Mind, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukanoff. These two university professors wrote a viral article in The Atlantic in 2015 looking at the trend among (some) college students to seek emotional protection from difficult ideas. This book fleshes out the origins and the aftermath of a culture where we assume people are frail. A fascinating investigation of current dynamics, but I valued it even more as a parent trying to navigate an evolving set of childhood situations.

Revelatory examinations of humans
Eat, sleep, emote – these books all revealed intriguing insights about us funny humans:

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker. This was one of those books where I annoyed everyone around me with a daily barrage of “whoa, listen to this!” Walker is also a prof, at the forefront of sleep research with the new technology of MRIs to investigate what’s happening in the brain. His explanations of the incredible processes and benefits of sleep have completely shifted my view of its importance.
• The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss, Jason Fung. Another quick read that blew my mind, centered on the theory that our hormonal response to diet is what has driven exploding obesity rates. Basically, low-fat and high-sugar (and constant eating) have corrupted our insulin-response mechanism, turning insulin, a fat-storage director, to a permanent “on” position. Eventually, the mechanism overloads and type II diabetes sets in. Incidentally, after reading this book, I switched our family back to full-fat everything and cut our carb/sugar intake. My kids’ pediatrician, noting that the kids all had a downtick in BMI percentile, asked me what positive changes we had made.
• The Fear Factor: How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths, & Everyone In-Between, Abigail Marsh. Another fascinating read by a neuroscience professor at the forefront of MRI research, but this one studies emotions – specifically, she researches emotional responses to explain why some people are psychopaths and others are so selfless they would donate a kidney to a stranger. It includes a really interesting profile of presidential candidate Cory Booker, by the way, who lands on the extreme-altruist end.

Insightful and delightful memoirs
Speaking of humans, I enjoyed the life stories of these fine folks:

• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King. This was a fun pickup on personal and professional levels. I have never actually read a Stephen King book, but his success is undisputed, so I figured it was worth a shot. Great read, both about his life and how he approaches his work.
• Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, Sarah Smarsh. Another page-turner which could equally land in “commentary on modern America.” First and foremost, Smarsh tells a good story. But her life story also made me reflect on the vast range of American experience.
• Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, Novella Carpenter. First of all, if that’s her real name, she was destined to be a homesteader/writer, right? Second of all, file this under “gardening memoir” and/or “city-mouse daydreams.” I launched a teeny, tiny backyard garden this year with an equally puny success rate. This fun story was perhaps a more productive channeling of my aspirations.

Slim-pickin’ fiction
Dear colleagues, please send me your recommendations for your current fiction favorites! I had a tough year with fiction. I am finding that the most critically acclaimed books of the moment often reflect – monotonously? – a stewing sense of suffering, high on pain and low on story. I can definitely read a few of those, but then I overload. Anyone else finding the same? Maybe I’m adding the wrong things to my library holds. Here’s what I did enjoy this year:

• The Mars Room, Rachel Kushner. Great example of a soul in distress, but with story to move it along and get you to invest. This is about a woman on the fringes who ends up in prison. Immediately after reading, I binge-watched the new Netflix documentary series Jailbirds about women in jail, which was also fascinating.
• The Book of Mormon (the Musical), Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone. Seeking a template for a story arc that I know is compelling to the audience, I re-read (several times!) the full script of The Book of Mormon.  It’s hilarious in performance and still hilarious on the page. Read in an environment where you won’t cause a scene by laughing outloud.

Happy reading and happy August! I look forward to helping you with upcoming projects.

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