Read

Reading is a free education. When I was young I read a lot, mostly adventure books mixed with a healthy dose of western lore. Good guy, bad guy, gold, a woman, lots of shooting and then good guy kills bad guy, gets girl, finds gold and scores the amazing property with a river running through it. I couldn’t get enough. During school my reading fell into the more predictable categories of course books, homework and research, and reading became a grind of sorts, not the mind-adventure it had once been. A few years ago I made a decision to delete my social media accounts, stop going online unless I absolutely had to and read as much as possible. Last year I read eighty books. Something strange happened. My brain changed. My focus changed, and believe it or not, I actually began to feel more intelligent. The more I read the more I feel like I’m finally beginning to understand things, as each day I move through a written world of love, war, adventure, history and the human diaspora.

Read: River Notes

Beauty and the beast. And don’t think for a minute I’ve missed the novelty of a man named Wade writing a book about a river. Nature lover or not, reading Wade Davis’s River Notes will illuminate, educate and inspire, and … Read More

Read: Termination Shock

Climate change is just one of those things. One of those things that send rational people into fits of rage and complete breakdown. And climate change] is political, at least now when the country has lost much of its bearing. … Read More

Read: Birding Without Borders

An international Big Year is almost beyond comprehension and something I have zero interest in actually trying to accomplish but I’m not Noah Strycker. Not many people are. But reading about this adventure in Birding Without Borders should be on … Read More

Read: Kingbird Highway

If you grew up during the 1970s and 1980s then you will distinctively remember your parents providing a few warnings about life. Halloween candy is laced with razor blades. Don’t eat a pixie stick from a stranger. Don’t get in … Read More

Read: The Humbolt Current

I did not finish this book before I got my “Overdue book,” email from the library. Do I recommend you read The Humbolt Current from Aaron Sachs? Short answer, for sure. Long answer, when you have the time. This book … Read More

Read: A World on the Wing

Birds are one of the numerous topics I know virtually nothing about. I do, however, know how several species taste as I grew up bird hunting in the prickly spaces of South Texas where dove and quail filled the sky … Read More

Read: Downeast

Women are amazing. Women have grit and resilience unlike anyone else. And oftentimes, women are subjected to far more hurdles than us men. In my world, less than thirteen percent of executives are women. I’ve witnessed my female colleagues treated … Read More

Read: The Paris Diversion

This was my third Chris Pavone book. I don’t read as many novels as I’d like but only because I read so much nonfiction. Spy novels are like candy to me, light, fun, and fast. This is a follow-up to … Read More

Read: Even Dogs in the Wild

This was my first Rankin book, which is saying something as the guy is prolific. Mystery, who-done-it, cop-based, Scotland. Ducking and diving and twisting and turning. I don’t read many of this genre but I enjoyed this. With one hundred … Read More

Read: Appaloosa

Appaloosa book just landed at my house. Woke up one day and there it was. Read it in one day. Boom. In a cloud of dust, smoke, good guys who aren’t that good, women with a dark side, and plenty … Read More

Read: The Big Year

Do you like birds? Do you like a good story? If so, then proceed to read. The Big Year by Mark Obmascik is a fun read about a real story in humanity’s bird-loving history. Three men, each very different, make … Read More

Read: Bird Art Life

Beautiful book. Passages that demand a break, demand a reread, demand contemplation. Small is not only enough, but small is also good and should righteously feel okay. Kyo Maclear’s Birds Art Life shows what happens when someone is forced to … Read More