I talked about my reading and learning on the podcast a few episodes ago and said that I would post my reading list for 2019. I believe that the books (or any content for that matter) someone is reading or owns can tell you quite a bit about them. Here you’ll see both what I read for fun as well as what I read to learn…. And often they are one and the same. I would say that this is a complete list, but alas, I had a computer malfunction last fall that wiped out the document I was keeping track in. These are ones that I have emailed library receipts from or distinctly remember reading– there are probably a few I missed.
Favorites
Before jumping into the actual reading list I would like to make special mention of a couple of my favorites from the year.
First off, I highly recommend that you all read The Nature Fix by Florence Williams, while I’ve always personally believed in (and noticed in my own life) the benefit of being immersed in nature — and the corresponding issues caused by living in modern cities– it was nice to actually see some of what science says about that. Philosophy wise, another couple I really jived with were Deep Work and Digital Minimalism both by Cal Newport.
As far as instructional “how-to” books, David Asher’s The Art of Natural Cheesemaking was my favorite read of the year (I actually went through it twice)– now I just need to spend more time in the kitchen putting what I learned to use! I highly recommend the book, plan on owning it in the near future, and hope to eventually have him as a guest on the podcast.
I separated the book list into two segments, those I read and those I listened to as an audio book. . . not that it really matters to you, that was simply for my own convenience in keeping track of things. All told, I listened to 29 audio books and read 35 print books for a total of 64 books that I finished in 2019 (I didn’t include any books that I only partially read). Of those books only 4 were non-fiction, and I designated them with an * in front of the title.
2019 Books in Review
Physical Books:
- Building Wooden Snowshoes and Snowshoe Furniture– Gil Gilpatrick
- The Morning Miracle– Hal Elrod
- Absinthe and Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously– William Gurstelle
- *Brian’s Winter– Gary Paulson
- The Five-Hour Workday– Stephan Aarstol
- The Art of Natural Cheesemaking: Using Traditional, Non-industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to make the World’s Best Cheeses– David Asher
- The One Thing– Gary Keller
- Spruce Root Basketry of the Haida and Tlingit– Sharon Busby
- Digital Minimalism– Cal Newport
- The Man-eaters of Tsavo and other East African Adventures– John Henry Patterson
- Primitive Pottery– Hal Reigger
- The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-efficient, Natural Homes– Daniel Chiras
- North American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers: and Illustrated History– Otis T. Mason
- Wildwood Wisdom– Ellsworth Jaeger
- The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy– Masanobu Fukuoka
- Jungle Lore– Jim Corbett
- Man-Eaters of Kumaon– Jim Corbett
- The Temple Tiger– Jim Corbett
- The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes for Modern Use– J.N. Liles
- Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing– Edna Wilder
- Shop Class as Soulcraft– Matthew Crawford
- Indian Fishing– Hilary Stewart
- Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Coast Indians– Hilary Stewart
- Participating in Nature– Thomas J. Elpel
- Deep Work– Cal Newport
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity– David Allen
- The 4-Hour Workweek– Timothy Ferriss
- The Longevity Diet– Valter Longo
- *Jonathan Livingston Seagull– Richard Bach
- Wild Dyer– Abigail Boothe
- The Search– Tom Brown Jr.
- Father Water, Mother Woods– Gary Paulson
- Meat Smoking & Smokehouse Design– Stanley, Adam and Robert Marianski
- Duck, Duck, Goose: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Waterfowl, both Farmed and Wild– Hank Shaw
Audio Books:
- Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance– Alex Hutchinson
- Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.– Ron Chernow
- *Origin– Dan Brown
- The More of Less– Joshua Becker
- Midnight in Chernobyl: the Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster– Adam Higginbotham
- Coyote America – Dan Flores
- Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea – Barbara Demick
- The Death and Life of the Great Lakes– Dan Egan
- Skeletons on the Zahara: a True Story of Survival – Dean King
- The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival– John Vaillant
- In a Sunburned Country– Bill Bryson
- The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot– Robert Macfarlane
- The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt– Darrin Lunde
- The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors– Dan Jones
- Tribe: on Homecoming and Belonging– Sebastian Junger
- The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings– Lars Brownworth
- The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and more Creative– Florence Williams
- Desert Solitaire– Edward Abbey
- Seven Skeletons: The Evolution of the World’s Most Famous Human Fossils—Lydia Pyne
- Good to Great—Jim Collins
- Atlas of a Lost World– Craig Childs
- Leonardo da Vinci– Walter Isaacson
- The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic– and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World—Steven Johnson
- Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates– Brian Kilmeade
- The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps—Michael Blanding
- Born to Win– Zig Ziglar
- Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded– Simon Winchester
- *The Nightingale– Kristin Hannah
How about you? Any books you’ve read over the last year that you would recommend?
