My goal for 2022 was to Cultivate routines to expand my knowledge and experiences. I believe that there is so much to learn from both fiction and non-fiction books. As part of this goal, I defined a supporting habit of reading daily and my target for the year was to read 25 books. I ended up reading 32 books which I was super happy with (this included no audiobooks but I did listen to a few of those too!)
I have collated all the books I read this year, month by month, in this one post as a reference for me and for you too! I listed my top 5 books for the year below (which I found really hard to choose as I loved so many books!) and you can see my thoughts about each book by clicking on the link.
- Almost Everything – Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott
- Between the Dark and the Daylight – Embracing The Contradictions Of Life By Joan Chittister
- Effortless – Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most By Greg McKeown
- The Body Keeps The Score Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
- Out of Thin Air – Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia By Michael Crawley
Books I read in January 2022
Devotion by Hannah Kent – I know I will be in the minority with my thoughts on this one but I didn’t love it. Kent is certainly a talented writer and it is beautifully written. I need to point out that I am not a lover of historical fiction and was reading it as our latest book club read and would not have chosen to read it otherwise. At the same time I was reading this, I was also watching the documentary series First Australians (see above) and there was such a disconnect for me between the Old Lutherans settling in South Australia and the devastating impact this was having on the original owners of the land. 2/5
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab – I read most of this in Decemeber and finished it in January. You can read my full review here. It is an easy to read book that has exercises/questions for you to answer at the end of each chapter. It had positive impact on me and I often ask myself “what would Nedra say/do?”. If you struggle with boundary setting I would highly recommend reading it. 3.5/5
Almost Everything – Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott – another very easy to read book and it was perfectly timed for me as COVID took over January. You can read my full review here. It touches on topics of addiction, poor behaviour, the climate crisis, the political crisis and how hard family relationships can be. But in amongst all that, it shares beautiful and exquisite moments of humans and nature at its best and this does indeed give you hope that life is or can be wonderful. If you are feeling a bit down about everything, give this book a read. Lamott is funny, honest and compassionate. 4/5
Books I read in February 2022
Australia Day by Stan Grant – I began reading this around the 26th January and I think for the first time I really beagn to understand the true pain that celebrating on this day causes our First Nations Peoples. It is a collection of essays where Grant on talks about our country, about who we are as a nation, about the indigenous struggle for belonging and identity in Australia, and what it means to be Australian. 3.5/5
How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp – this book has been a game changer for me in how I think about growing Adapt Drinks. I borrowed this book from the library but will buy my own copy as it has so much information in it that I want to refer back to. 4/5
Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford – having four sons I think a lot about the impact I can have to make sure they are respectful to women, understand consent and be allies to women. This is a powerful and confronting book. Not only does it highlight the damage that toxic masculinity and misogyny causes to women but the impact it also has on boys and men. 3.5/5
Books I read in March 2022
The Comfort Book – Matt Haig – this book could almost have been titled the little book of hope. If you have found the last couple of years tough and still feeling a little flat then this book is perfect for you. The book is a mix of philosophy, memoir and self-reflection and Haig builds on the wisdom of philosophers and survivors through the ages, from Marcus Aurelius to Nellie Bly, Emily Dickinson to James Baldwin. Haig shares his own personal struggles with his mental health and also a beautiful mantra he uses to help himself – “Nothing is stronger than a small hope that doesn’t give up.”. The book really does bring a feeling of comfort. 3.5/5
Dark Emu – Bruce Pascoe – I found this book a fascinating read and think it is an important read. I obtained a greater understanding of how the First Nations Peoples lived on the land prior to white settlement. In this book, the author builds an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. Pascoe cites food production, housing construction and clothing amongst other activities to highlight that the daily life of the First Nation’s Peoples had much more complexity and sophistication than is noted in white Australian history. Since its publication in 2014 the book has been the centre of debate around its accuracy with a recent book Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate focusing entirely on this issue. This article published on The Conversation provides an interesting insight into this debate – How the Dark Emu debate limits representation of Aboriginal people in Australia. Regardless of the debate surrounding the book I still think Dark Emu is an important work to read. 3.5/5
Life Admin Hacks – Dinah Rowe-Roberts, Mia Northrup – I was lucky enough to read chapters of this fantastic book as it was being written. It was great to read the final published version. This book is such a helpful guide to help you tame the beast of life admin. I have implemented a few changes to great effect so highly recommend the book. You can also find my podcast interview with the author Mia Northrup here. 4/5
Books I read in April 2022
The Secret River By Kate Grenville – reading this book actually ticked off two action items for me. Firstly, it had been recommended to me as part of my endeavour to educate myself more on the history and current issues of our First Nation’s Peoples, and secondly, it is an English text this year for the year 10 student. I am not someone who voluntarily chooses to read historical fiction, it just isn’t my thing. But I did really love reading The Secret River.
Last month I read Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, so it was actually perfect timing to read this book as it does detail how the First Nations Peoples worked the land at this time. “The Secret River explores how class, gender and race shape the individual. What happens when people are dehumanised? Are humans always trapped by their pasts or are we capable of seeing a larger landscape? It asks the reader to step into the lives of white and indigenous Australians and explore the conflicts that have shaped the debate we face today.” I can see why it is now included in the English curriculum for Australian students, I look forward to being able to discuss the book with the year 10 when they begin work on it next term. 4/5
Talking To My Country By Stan Grant – this book provided a personal insight into what life is like for more contemporary First Nations Peoples. It is Grant’s very personal meditation on what it means to be Australian, what it means to be indigenous, and what racism really means in this country. And he is talking to us when he asks how can we be better? 4/5
The Competition By Katherine Collette – this was the book club book for the month, it was an easy read that I thought was moderately funny. It is the second novel by Australian author Collette and is described as a “sharply observed comedy of manners and a cast of loveable underachievers, headed for self-improvement despite themselves.” I actually found most of the characters quite unlikeable until the last chapters of the book. As someone who does public speaking, I did find the discussion throughout the book on the elements of speech-making quite interesting. 2.5/5
Books I read in May 2022
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan – this was our book group choice and it came with very high reviews. I found the first few chapters tough going and it actually took me quite a while to get into it. The novel follows the life of Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans before, during and after his time in a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway. The scenes written in the POW camp are graphic and confronting and I didn’t find them enjoyable to read but it is important to remember what us humans have done to each other. For all the good he did in the POW camp I found Dorrigo quite unlikeable and it seems that he doesn’t like himself either.
I am going to be on the outer with my overall review of the book, given that it won the Man Booker Prize 2014 and some in my book group said it is on their list of all-time favourite books too! I didn’t love it. I am glad I have read it and I think it touches on some important points but I felt the book could have been shorter with parts dragging on a bit and I found it an effort to read that didn’t really give me much for my effort. 3/5
Books I read in June 2022
Four Thousand Weeks – Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman
I really loved Four Thousand Weeks – Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman. I wrote a full review which you can find here but in short, it is about accepting that you won’t have time for all the things you want to do and understanding that even if you could you wouldn’t want to. It is about understanding that to live a meaningful life you need to embrace its finitude – we have limited time on this earth – we cannot control that but we can control what we focus on.
It is not your typical time management book. There are no quick hacks, no schedules to follow, and no secrets to optimising your focus. If you are feeling constantly overwhelmed by all you have to do, or think that if you could just get more organised you would be able to get everything done, then I highly recommend reading Four Thousand Weeks – Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman. 4/5
This One Wild and Precious Life – A hopeful path forward in a fractured world by Sarah Wilson
I had been waiting for This One Wild and Precious Life to come in at the library for some time. Wilson is asking us to wake up to what is happening around us – the climate crisis, racial injustice, politcal polarisation and the list goes on. This can sound overwhelming and at times when I think about it, I do feel overwhelmed by how much work we have to do. Wilson aims to break it down into actionable steps you can take to make a difference.
It is a long book and is written with a yarning narrative. There are moments of humble bragging and where Wilson is definitely talking from a position of privilege – which she acknowledges and you are left feeling that you are really not doing enough. And for me this was okay and I do think I can be doing more. The trick is to do more without driving myself crazy in the process. 4/5
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner
Everywhere I look – This is the first book from Garner that I have read. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to read one of her publications. I adored this book and it was quite a contrast to This One Wild and Precious Life by Wilson. The book is a series of essays, diary entries and true stories spanning more than fifteen years. It isn’t pointedly flagging the big issues of the time but looks with love and detail at places, people, and objects of significance and preciousness to the author.
Garner has an amazing way of helping us see what is below the surface. I loved her writing style, her honesty and her humour. Super keen to read more of her books. 4/5
Books I read in July 2022
Between the Dark and the Daylight – Embracing The Contradictions Of Life By Joan Chittister
I really loved Between the Dark and the Daylight – Embracing The Contradictions Of Life By Joan Chittister. Chittister is a Benedictine nun, founder of Benetvision and the author of many books. In this book it looks at the common contradictions in life that make us question who we are and what we do:
There is a part of the soul that stirs at night, in the dark and soundless times of day, when our defenses are down and our daylight distractions no longer serve to protect us from ourselves…It’s then, in the still of life, when we least expect it, that questions emerge from the damp murkiness of our inner underworld…These questions do not call for the discovery of data; they call for the contemplation of possibility.
Each contradiction is given its own chapter and practical meditations on how we can better understand God and ourselves when chaos surrounds us. Some of the chapters that resonated most with me were the delusion of frustration, the fragility of achievement, the emptiness of accumulation, the productivity of rest and recreation and the emptiness of crowds. 4.5/5
How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self by Nicole LePera
I had heard lots of great things about How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self by Nicole LePera and was looking forward to reading it but I was really disappointed with it. LePera covers a lot in this book but it is very general and it lacks scientific, peer-reviewed evidence. LePera is sharing her story of personal growth in the book and I am not sure that is relatable to everyone and there lacks some real concrete, science-backed steps you can take to do the work. 2/5
The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age by Claudia Hammond
The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age by Claudia Hammond was an easy and enjoyable enough read but it was an example to me of how a great idea/article was turned into a book when it really didn’t have enough content for it. It gives you plenty of ideas of ways you can rest and how it is good for you but you pretty much get the idea in the first few paragraphs, not sure it needed a whole chapter on each. 3/5
Books I read in August 2022
The better brain: how nutrition will help you overcome anxiety, depression, ADHD and stress / Julia Rucklidge, PhD ; Bonnie Kaplan, Phd.
I had been waiting for my reserve of The better brain: how nutrition will help you overcome anxiety, depression, ADHD and stress / Julia Rucklidge, PhD ; Bonnie Kaplan, Phd. to come in at the library for some time. I would highly recommend that everyone read this book. I wanted to read it to see how nutrition could help me manage stress better and also improve my focus for work and I did pick up some excellent points on this. You can read my full book review here. 4/5
The Body Keeps The Score Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
The Body Keeps the Score sheds new light on the routes away from trauma – which lie in the regulation and syncing of body and mind, using sport, drama, yoga, mindfulness, meditation and other routes to equilibrium. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who has someone in their life that has suffered trauma or if you have suffered trauma yourself.
Van Der Kolk comes from such an interesting perspective – he was there and highly involved when drug therapies took off as a treatment for trauma. It was a number of years down the track that he realised that these therapies were not really helping those who were suffering from trauma. Van Der Kolk is a highly regarded world expert on trauma and throughout the book he shares a sympathetic exploration of the causes of trauma and the new treatments making it possible for sufferers to reclaim their lives. 5/5
Books I read in September 2022
Sick Souls, Healthy Minds – How William James Can Save Your Life By: John Kaag
I actually stopped reading Sick Souls, healthy minds after about a week because I was finding it a really tough read. I switched books but then came back to it and had another go. It was definitely a book that required more brain power from me to read but in the end, I really liked it. SIck Souls, healthy minds is an introduction to James’s life and why the founder of pragmatism and empirical psychology can teach us so much about what makes life worth living.
The author John Kaag is an American philosopher and Chair and Professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. I do not know much about philosophy but it is an area in which I want to increase my knowledge on. If you like philosophy then I think you would love this book. It made me think about how I go about my day, my thoughts on free will, what is truth and about being present. 3.5/5
Instead of attending to the pervasive differences between our experiences, we operate under the assumption of identity and similarity: this grass is the same as it was yesterday; this chore is the same as the one I did yesterday; this person will probably say the same thing she did yesterday. Sometimes life is easier this way. James, however, thinks that there is something deeply misguided about this rendering of experience. It may be easier, but not better. In the name of consistency we sacrifice particularity and possibility-and the beauty that they regularly afford.
Effortless – Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most By: Greg McKeown
I loved Effortless – Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most By: Greg McKeown. It was an easy read but it had a huge impact on me from the very first chapters. The theme of the book is all about how can we make the most essential activities the easiest ones.
Effortless Inversion means looking at problems from the opposite perspective. It means asking, “What if this could be easy?” It means learning to solve problems from a state of focus, clarity, and calm. It means getting good at getting things done by putting in less effort.
I have changed a number of key ways that I work since reading this book and while I am still on my effortless journey, I have definitely made a number of my essential work tasks easier. Effortless is an easy read, has great explanatory diagrams throughout, and excellent summaries at the end of each part. 4.5/5
A World Without Email – Find Focus and Transform the Way You Work Forever By: Cal Newport
A World Without Email was a logical follow-on from Effortless. The authors write recommendations for each other’s books that appear on their covers! It is not as easy to read as Effortless. It includes many case studies from new and very old organisations and Newport does go into a lot of detail with these. As he does with the research studies to back up the arguments he is making. I found that this did get a little boring at times and had to work hard to focus and keep reading!
Despite its name, it is not saying you need to entirely do away with email. The author himself still uses it for his work as an Associate Professor at Georgetown University but he is advocating that email should not be the centre of our work world, nor should it be the way that we decide what work gets done and by whom.
In terms of changing how I work, this book did not have as a big impact as Effortless but it has made me change a few things that I do and I think this is an important book in terms of the way organisations function and the pressure they put on employees through intense and relentless digital communications. The bigger takeaways for me will be able to be applied once I grow Adapt Drinks to the point where it is more than just me. If you work for a organisation that uses email at the centre of the work hyperactive hive mind or you run a small business that does, I can highly recommend reading A World Without Email. 4/5
The Hyperactive Hive Mind – A workflow centered around ongoing conversation fueled by unstructured and unscheduled messages delivered through digital communication tools like email and instant messenger services.
Books I read in October 2022
The Space Between the Stars: On Love, Loss and the Magical Power of Nature to Heal / Indira Naidoo
Indira Naidoo tragically lost her sister to suicide at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Her book documents how she found healing after her death. There is such great sadness in her loss and while there are many sad moments in the book, it really is an uplifting book. Naidoo turned to nature to help her heal. She found her own special tree and sought out a number of urban guides to help her explore the nature around her and how it can heal us during life’s darker chapters, whether nursing a broken heart or an anxious mind.
As long as you can see the stars, you can never truly be lost.Indira Naidoo
You can find The Space Between the Stars: On Love, Loss and the Magical Power of Nature to Heal / Indira Naidoo here. 3.5/5
The rock : looking into Australia’s ‘heart of darkness’ from the edge of its wild frontier / Aaron Smith
This book was a huge eye-opener for me. I chose it to help me with my quest to learn more about our First Nations Peoples. It is written by a white person so I could be criticised for taking on this perspective but Aaron Smith is brutally honest about the role he plays and the role that the white population plays in modern Australia and the impact we are having on First Nations Peoples.
Smith lived on Thursday Island and was the last editor of Australia’s most northerly newspaper, the Torres News, a small independent regional tabloid that, until it folded in late 2019. The Torres News was the voice of a predominantly Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal readership for 63 years across some of the most remote and little understood communities in Australia.
If you are offended by swearing, then you won’t make it past the first few pages. Even I was taken aback by the introduction but once you read on, you see why it was necessary. I learnt a great deal from this book and here are some of my key takeaways:
- I was very ignorant of just how different the cultures, heritage and customs of the First Nations Peoples of the Torres Strait Islands are to mainland Australia.
- The Torres Strait Islands are already experiencing significant consequences of climate change.
- For much of the last century, the Queensland Government controlled the lives of most Aboriginal people. This process began under the Aboriginal Protection and the Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and continued into the 1970s – less than one generation ago. Wages and savings that Aboriginal people earned were held by the Government in ‘trust funds’ and this money was spent on general Government expenditure including hospitals and roads used by the mainstream population. These Stolen Wages were also used to pay for the running costs of reserves and missions where Aboriginal people were forced to live. Aboriginal people have been attempting to receive their unpaid wages and savings since they were stolen as late as the 1980s. These Stolen Wages pushed poverty and health problems onto several generations of Aboriginal people – which continue today. {Source and more info here}.
- There is significant government mismanagement and bureaucracy in the Torres Straits.
So I guess I have been ‘blinded by the white,’ wrapped up in my own douchebaggery of being born and raised on the privileged side of the racial divide, something I think nearly all of white Australia suffers from.Aaron Smith
You can find The rock : looking into Australia’s ‘heart of darkness’ from the edge of its wild frontier / Aaron Smith here. 3.5/5
Books I read in November 2022
Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Dr Anna Lembke
I had been waiting for months for my reserve of Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Anna Lembke to be filled. I can see why it is a popular book. I really enjoyed reading it and found it to be an illuminating look at the dopamine-flooded world we live in and the impact this can have on us.
But herein lies the problem. Human beings, the ultimate seekers, have responded too well to the challenge of pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. As a result, we’ve transformed the world from a place of scarcity to a place of overwhelming abundance.Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Dr Anna Lembke
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved in a variety of important functions in the brain, including movement, motivation, and reward. It is produced by a number of different brain structures and is associated with feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. It is also involved in the regulation of mood and emotion, and in the development of addiction.
Lembke discusses the reciprocal relationship between pleasure and pain throughout the book and uses the analogy of a see-saw to help explain addictive behaviours. These behaviours are not limited to drugs but also include addictions to food, sex and smart phones.
“”Any prolonged or repeated departures from hedonic or affective neutrality….have a cost.” That cost is an after reaction that is opposite in value to the stimulus. Or as the old saying goes, What goes up, must come down.”Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Dr Anna Lembke
The book shares stories of clients of Lembke’s and how they found themselves addicted to sex, alcohol, or in the author’s case, romance novels. Lembke offers insights into how we can find the delicate balance between pleasure and pain, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential.
There is a chapter in the book that is dedicated to the pain element and it explains why we feel so great after activities like cold exposure and hard exercise efforts. This tips our seesaw to the pain side and kicks in the opposite stimuli – pleasure once we stop it. Hence the runners high and how you feel amazing after an ice bath.
Understanding how our brain works and why we respond we do the way we do is such important information to have so we can better navigate the world we live in. It certainly made me reflect on where I spend my time and the absolute importance of having time when I am not stimulated by anything – not music, not podcasts, not caffeine, not people, nothing. I need to make sure there is plenty of time in my week where it is just me and I need to sit with that. I need to embrace boredom for the tonic it is in our dopamine nation. 4/5
Boredom is not just boring. It can also be terrifying. It forces us to come face-to-face with bigger questions of meaning and purpose. But boredom is also an opportunity for discovery and invention. It creates the space necessary for a new thought to form, without which we’re endlessly reacting to stimuli around us, rather than allowing ourselves to be within our lived experience.Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Dr Anna Lembke
You can find Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence By Dr Anna Lembke here.
Running with the Kenyans – Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth By Adharanand Finn
After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world’s biggest races, from the Olympics to big city marathons, Runner’s World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover just what it was that made them so fast – and to see if he could keep up. His wife and two kids go with him from Devon, England to the small town of Iten, in Kenya, home to hundreds of the country’s best athletes.
Very often you hear people say it is genetics that set the Kenyan runners apart but after reading this book I agree with Finn that assuming their running ability is based predominantly on genetics sells the Kenyans very short. There are a number of other factors that caome into play:
- Kenyan has a high altitude which can improve endurance and speed.
- Many Kenyan runners come from a background of poverty and are motivated to succeed in running as a way to improve their economic situation not only for themselves but for their families and whole community.
- Running is a highly respected and celebrated activity in Kenya. This is a significant contrast to Australia where even when our marathoners set new Australian records, their efforts barely get any mainstream media coverage.
- The strong tradition of excellence in long-distance running is inspiring to up-and-coming runners and encourages them to pursue the sport.
To enjoy this book, I think you would definitely need some interest in running. If you like running, I would highly recommend reading it. You can find Running with the Kenyans – Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth By Adharanand Finn here. 3.5/5
Books I read in December 2022
Out of Thin Air – Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia By Michael Crawley
Last month I read about running in Kenya and this month it was about Ethiopia. While I did enjoy reading Running with the Kenyans, out of the two books I found Out of Thin Air a better read. The author of this book also spent time living and running with the athletes but he spent a much longer period of time in Ethiopia. Michael Crawley is a 2.20 marathon runner who had competed internationally for Scotland and Great Britain. He is also an Assitant Professor in Social Anthropology at Durham University.
The book comes across as part passion project and part Post-Doc Research and it is this element that I think provides some of the most interesting insights. As with the Kenyan runners simplifying the success of Ethiopian endurance runners down to genetics and living at altitude ignores the tremendous work ethic and unique running culture that exists in Ethiopia. The following are my key takeaways from the book and I have kept them as direct quotes from the books. If they have quotation marks they direct quotes by the author from Ethiopian runners, otherwise they are the author’s words:
- ‘Training alone is just for health’ is his response. ‘To be changed you have to run with others. You need to adapt to their pace, not run your own.’
- ‘Alcohol is forbidden. And girlfriends and boyfriends are not needed! Zero.’
- While they also agree that they enjoy much of the running they do, it is clear that without the twin motivations of competition and money they would stop.
- Our running is always motivated by an attempt to create novelty or find new ways of passing through the trees. Above all, to keep things interesting.
- The structure of institutions and competitions that characterise Ethiopian athletics is, if anything, more developed than in many European countries.
- Operating as a team is explicitly intended to protect the energy levels, livelihoods and dreams of all the individuals within it.
- The rooms are all shared and Desaleyn believes strongly that avoiding spending time alone is vital to avoid athletes losing hope.
- Often, though, it is not hard work but cleverness that they emphasise – that ability to know when to push and to know when to take it easy. There is an obvious expertise in their speed, but there is also at times, an expertise in their slowness.
- Much like the energy of the group being greater than the sum of the parts, the culture of Ethiopian running as a whole – the sheer number of people willing to live their athletic lives in such an all-encompassing and committed way – is what allows the individuals who emerge at the top of the sport in Ethiopia to be so incredibly good at what they do.
Crawley quotes in the book English professor, poet and runner Thomas Gardner a number of times in the book and I love the quote below. Having run 8 marathons and had a few of them go pretty poorly it resonated with me so much. What he is describing is the “bad patch” that happens to most runners in most races. While it sounds awful to experience, it is part of the pain and pleasure that comes with running and the mental challenge it brings:
At some point in almost every race you get lost. You open your eyes and realise you are in trouble. Your heart rate rises, your confidence buckles and you’re suddenly flailing around inside, with no landmark save for a familiar hatred of yourself and the ego that made you line up and race. You slow down and you turn on yourself.Thomas Gardner
Crawley then explains beautifully the human attraction to this:
Because the other side of disappointment is hope and we thrive on imagining ourselves that little bit better next time.Michael Crawley
While runners will appreciate this book more than non-runners, there is definitely much to enjoy and learn from the book. You can buy Out of Thin Air here. 4/5
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts – Close Encounters with Addiction By Dr Gabor Maté
I had listened to this podcast with Dr Gabor Maté and was struck by his compassion, kindness and willingness to share his own issues, so reserved this book at the library straight away. This book was not a light read and it made me think significantly about how as a society we have come to this point and what can we do to change the trajectory we are on. While not suggesting that he has all the answers or a perfect plan, Maté highlights that through a better understanding of the traumas that sit underneath addiction, the greater the chance we can help those individuals find a path to healing and wellness.
You can buy In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts here. 4/5
What books did you read in 2022 and what were your favourites?
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