Reading List

I’ll keep a list of general interest books that I recommend here, separated into categories. Consider buying them at your local bookstore!

Nature

This section includes books on geology, as well as general nature writing.

• Timefulness – Marcia Bjornerud. An excellent reflection on how we relate to geologic time, and why thinking like a geologist is important.
• Badluck Way and Down from the Mountain – Bryce Andrews. These two books explore how we relate to wildlife and wildlands. Focused on southwest and western Montana.
• Desert Solitaire – Ed Abbey. Cliche, I know.
• The Mountains of St. Francis and A Most Improbable Journey – Walter Alvarez. From the man who discovered the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, we learn about how geology shapes our lives and our history.
• Underland: A Deep Time Journey – Robert McFarlane. Elegantly written account of travels documenting how humans interact with various worlds beneath our feet.

Culture, Politics, and Other Non-Fiction

• Heartland– Sarah Smarsh. On poverty and farming in an age of inequality and agricultural industrialization.
• Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future – Bill McKibben. What a truly resilient and sustainable future might look like.
• In Defense of Food – Michael Pollan. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
• This Changes Everything – Naomi Klein. This book certainly changed my view of just how daunting addressing climate change will be.
• Young Men and Fire – Norman Maclean. An incredible true story of tragedy in wildfire. Necessary reading for anyone who lives in the west.

Work and Time Management

• Deep Work – Cal Newport. This helped me shape many of my work habits, and has helped me use my time effectively and not spill over into non-work hours.
• Digital Minimalism – Cal Newport. How to break the addiction to screens and embrace boredom and creativity.

Fiction

I’ll only post fiction that rises to the top – I think almost all fiction is worthwhile, these ones are just particularly good. You might notice I tend to go for fantasy books…

• Black Sun – Rebecca Roanhorse. The first in the Between Earth and Sky series: a fantasy epic well worth the read.
• The Kingkiller Chronicle – Patrick Rothfuss. A fantasy epic with surprisingly little violence for the genre. Totally engaging.
• Piranesi – Susanna Clarke. One of the most creative and different books I’ve read. A man lives (nearly) alone in a house with infinite halls. Who is he? Why is he there?