This sampling of books from my library. I am an eclectic reader, infinitely curious about way too many things. My links are to Bookshop.org. Buying from this site supports your local independent bookstore. I do not have an affiliate link.
Influences
Simple Leader, Kevin Meyer
Bible, esp. Matt 5-7, James, Galatians, Romans as a spiritual formation guide
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance An Inquiry into Values, Robert Pirsig (it’s not about Zen or about motorcycle maintenance—the motorcycle you’re working on is you)
Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic—probably never heard of Jesus but his thinking is so close to Paul’s that some early Church leaders thought he was a Christian (There are other Stoics including Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus)
Bird by Bird Anne Lamott
Stephen King—On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Recent books
Breath, James Nestor (about breathing, and more)
The One, Heinrich Päs, not for everyone, latest thinking about quantum physics and philosophy
Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation, Dannagal Goldthwaite Young (one of several research studies about how we can be so easily sucked into a vortex of misinformation on social media and the web)
Misbelief:What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things—Dan Ariely
For the introverts: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking Susan Cain
Religion: Red Letter Christians—Tony Campolo
Spiritual writing
John O’Donohue, Anam Cara and To Bless The Space Between Us (Irish writer, brings Celtic sensibility to his thinking)
The Way of the Pilgrim—How to live praying without ceasing
The Cloud of Unknowing—on contemplation
Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times, Jonathan Sacks (former chief Rabbi of England)
Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude or New Seeds of Contemplation
Richard, J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline
Practical Advice
Adam Grant, Think Again
Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks
Cal Newport—World Without Email, Deep Work, Slow Productivity
You Can’t Screw This Up, Adam Bornstein (nutrition)
Food Rules, Michael Pollen
James Clear—Atomic Habits
Charles Duhigg—The Power of Habit
Gregg McKeown—Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless
Psychology
The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt
The Narcissism Epidemic, Twenge and Campbell
Antonio Damasio, Decartes’ Error, The Feeling of What Happens, Feeling & Knowing
How to Know a Person, David Brooks
Facing the Fracture, Tania Israel, especially this flowchart about having conversations with those of different views. This is a very important book to digest.
For math Geeks, Eugenia Cheng, How to Bake π, The Joy of Abstraction
Creativity and Design
Design for a Better World, Don Norman
Creativity, Inc. By Ed Catmull (story of Pixar)
Fiction
Novels of Umberto Eco—The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, The Island of the Day Before, and others
The Chinese murder mystery novels of Robert van Gulik (brings 7th Century China to life…and death)
The Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout
Hermann Hesse novels
Colin Dexter—Inspector Morse series
Douglass Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series
JRR Tolkein, Lord of the Rings series
Earle Stanley Gardner, The Perry Mason series (contemporary with Rex Stout, interesting comparison of Southern California with Stout’s New York City)
And, if you want to tackle something really difficult, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Four books of aphorisms, return to them often
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes
- Oliver Burkeman, Meditations for Mortals
- Seth Godin, The Song of Significance
- Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living
Faith Venture 
July 15, 2025 at 5:19 am |
Thank you. Can’t wait to start reading