I’ll admit right up front: I’m a reader. I love to read books. I often read because I want to learn new things, but it’s seldom the actual data that I’m interested in. Most of the time I read because I want to know how the author thinks, to engage the author in a conversation. I seldom read a book without using a highlighter to mark my favorite parts and a pen to write comments in the margins, either agreeing with the author, disagreeing with the author, or linking something the author said with my own thoughts and observations.
Sometimes I want to import the writer’s thoughts into my own heart and mind, to absorb his sense of time and pace and dialogue, to be a better storyteller. There is value in immersing in a particular author, especially if the goal is to absorb his technique and his voice and his imagination. You need a broad swath to catch someone’s heart – reading only one or two books is not enough.
I often read in order to have something new to share. For me, it isn’t enough to simply journey through life; I need to talk about it. I’m not the solitary man I claim to be, even though I certainly enjoy solitude. I have a need to talk about what I’ve been through. I have to tell my story, and reading brings new stories.
Some readers get frustrated, even embarrassed, because they can’t remember something from a particular book … even books filled with personal notes and highlighting, and ask: what’s the point in reading if I don’t remember? But something from one of my favorite writers, Kathleen Norris, rescues me. She wrote, books are “a way of reading the world and one’s place in it … working the earth of my heart.” I wrote in the margin of her book: I read so many books and listen to songs and stories on my iPod, hoping the bits and pieces will compost in my subconscious, and come out as intelligent thought when I write and teach.
I don’t expect everyone to love reading as much as I do, or like the same books I like, but all of us would be better people if we read more. And so, here are some suggestions. These are listed in the order I read them (or listened to them); I didn’t try to rank them by importance or enjoyment … that’s a paralyzing and pointless exercise. However, if you’re interested, give me your email address and I’ll send you my entire reading list for 2025. And send me your own list. I’m always searching for ideas.
These twenty books turned out to be the most meaningful for me over the past twelve months. Should you choose to read one of these, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to see those, too.
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, by Roland Allen … This book is a journey through history describing how humans chose to record ideas, first on clay tablets, then on paper, in order to preserve ideas. The author wrote, “What is it about moving a pen across paper that stimulates the brain so brilliantly? The physical labor seems to play a part, as we encode memories better when muscular effort is involved. So do the tactile, sensory qualities of the paper itself, and the fact that a note on a page has a fixed location, while a note on a screen scrolls away or vanishes altogether.”
Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words, by Michael Owen … This is an excellent biography of a modest man who penned the words to many of America’s best-loved songs, like “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me; and the first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize.
What A Fool Believes: A Memoir, by Michael McDonald … Reading this was a walk through my own musical history, from Steely Dan to The Doobie Brothers to R&B. McDonald wrote this memoir at the encouragement and help form Paul Reiser
Tough Broad: From Bird-Watching to BASE Jumping―How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age, by Carolyn Paul. … I live among a tribe of strong women that stretches from Cyndi’s grandmother, Ruby, to my own granddaughter, Landry, and I love reading stories from women like them.
This particular group of strong women includes a ninety-three-year-old hiker, an eighty-year-old scuba diver, a fifty-two-year-old BASE jumper, a sixty-four-year-old birdwatcher, and the many septuagenarian Wave Chasers who boogie board together in the San Diego surf.
The author wrote: “There was a statistical correlation between thinking of aging as infirmity and disease and fulfillment of those views. Ditto for cardiovascular health. Those who equated aging with frailty and illness had twice the chance of a fatal heart attack, and at an earlier age, too. Those who held positive age beliefs from the outset went on to experience 30% better memory scores in old age than their peers with negative age beliefs. When it comes to longevity, one’s perspective is not just a significant factor, it is the most significant factor.
Alone in Antarctica, by Felicity Aston … Another powerful story by another strong woman. Felicity Aston, physicist and meteorologist, took two months off from all human contact as she became the first woman — and only the third person in history — to ski across the entire continent of Antarctica alone … She wrote about her #1 goal: “Keep getting out of the tent,” and the advice she gave herself by scrawling above the tent door in black marker: “Let routine take command of feeling.” (Strict routines often provide a momentum that can overcome any emotional reluctance.)
Flight of Passage: A Memoir, by Rinker Buck … This was my third book by Rinker Buck. It won’t be my last. In Flight of Passage, Buck tells the story when he and his brother, 15 and 17 respectively, became the youngest duo to fly across America, from New Jersey to California. Having grown up in an aviation family, the two boys bought an old Piper Cub, restored it themselves, and set out on the grand journey, in the summer of 1966, becoming national heroes.
The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crises, by Jeff Shaara … In 1961, the new president John F. Kennedy, inherited an ill-conceived, poorly executed invasion of Cuba that failed miserably and set in motion the events that put the U.S. and the Soviet Union on a collision course that nearly started a war that would have enveloped much of the world.
The Memoir Project : A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, by Mary Roach Smith … This was my second time to read this book and reading it again has changed how I write and how I think about writing … The greatest story you could write is one you’ve experienced yourself. Knowing where to start is the hardest part, but it just got a little easier with this essential guidebook for anyone wanting to write a memoir.
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas; BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatization, by John LeCarre … I can’t get enough of John LeCarre. I’ve read all of his books at least twice, and thoroughly enjoyed this BBC dramatization, which perfectly captured the atmosphere of le Carré’s taut, thrilling spy novels.
Aging Faithfully: The Holy Invitation of Growing Older, by Alice Fryling … Given to me by a friend, Gary Barkalow, this book actually made me look forward to growing up … In Aging Faithfully, spiritual director Alice Fryling guides our walk with God in a vulnerable time, listening for his voice and responding. As we age, something unusual happens: God renews us from within, when we allow him access. As we accept our responses to the aging process, we grow closer to God and experience his grace … She referenced John 2:10 when Jesus turned water into wine and the steward commented it was unusual to save the best wine for last. “Using this metaphor for the aging process, I might say, I thought you gave me the best gifts when I was young and able to use them well. I thought you would save the inferior gifts for when I am old and slow and nobody cares. Perhaps Jesus would answer me, I have saved the best for the end of the party.”
Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God, by Mark Batterson … “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ “Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surrounds Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something.
The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map, by Alex Hutchinson … Bill Bryson, in his 1988 book Notes from a Big Country, wrote about this U.S. national parks: “98% of visitors arrive by car, and 98% of those venture no more than 400 yards from their metallic wombs.” This book is about the other 2% who are driven to explore, get off the beaten path, follow an unmarked trail, and search for the unknown.
“Meaningful exploration, says Hutchinson, involves making an active choice to pursue a course that requires effort and carries the risk of failure. It requires the embrace of uncertainty, not as a necessary evil to be tolerated but as the primary attraction.”
For me, the 8 days hiking on part of the Appalachian Trail was exactly this. Facing the unknown was a huge part of the attraction. Could I do this? Am I too old? How would I fare? And most importantly, who will I be when I finish? … Several years ago my daughter, Katie, gave me a patch that said, Keep Exploring, and Cyndi sewed it onto my backpack. I need the constant reminder to keep exploring.
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working, by Shauna Niequist … New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist writes about unexpected loss, change, faith, midlife, and a move to New York City. In this book, she invites us to practice curiosity and self-compassion, to become beginners again, and to rediscover resilience and courage in our own seasons of change.
The author asked: “What do we keep? What do we let go because it makes us lighter, because it opens up space, because it keeps us right in the moment and location of where we are, not yearning for a world that doesn’t exist anymore, a self that doesn’t exist anymore? What do we keep because it’s part of the story of who we are, not just in this moment, but over years and decades, our essential selves?”
Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell, by Gabe Henry … This was a fun book to read and it left me amazed that any of us learned to spell at all. For example, why does the G in George sound different from the G in gorge? Why does C begin both case and cease? And why is it funny when a philologist faints, but not polight to laf about it? Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to write in English has, at one time or another, struggled with its spelling.
I’m Your Huckleberry: A Memoir, by Val Kilmer … A very personal look into the life of Val Kilmer, a famous actor who has played many iconic roles over his nearly four-decade film career.
The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek … In The Infinite Game, Sinek applies game theory to explore how great businesses achieve long-lasting success. He finds that building long-term value and healthy, enduring growth – that playing the infinite game – is the only thing that matters to your business.
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Wing the Space Race, by Margot Shetterly … I loved the movie, and I loved the book even more. Because I love stories when the heroes are smart people. This book tells the true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space.
The Beauty of What Remains: How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift, by Steve Leder … Practical and heartfelt stories of ministering to the dying and their families, from the senior rabbi of one of the largest synagogues in the world, Steve Leder has learned over and over again the many ways death teaches us how to live and love more deeply by showing us not only what is gone but also the beauty of what remains.
The Men We Need: God’s Purpose for the Manly Man, the Avid Indoorsman, or Any Man Willing to Show Up, by Brent Hanson … While we know what men are not supposed to be, it’s not clear to us what masculinity looks like when men are at their absolute best. Brant Hansen believes men should protect the vulnerable, be ambitious about the right things, choose today who you will become tomorrow, and take responsibility for your own spiritual life.
Do Walk: Navigate Earth, Mind and Body. Step by Step, by Libby Delana … For me, this was a personal reminder why running, and now walking, have had a hold on me my entire adult life. Like my friend, Fred Walsh, the author started walking early each morning in 2011 and hasn’t missed a day since … The author reveals how walking each day provides the time and space to reconnect with the world; to process thoughts, improve wellbeing, and unlock creativity.
2025 Ride to End ALZ
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