I usually don’t do this… but this may be the most books I have purchased in a single week. And while I have committed to finishing John Adam’s biography by David McCullough over this winter, the season started early here in the North West and I’m sure it will linger long to allow me to finish all of these.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
When David Perell mentioned this past week the late great author David McCullough, I had my copy of Morning’s on Horseback right beside me. Curious what would be his choice, I’m not surprised it was this biography of The Write Brothers.
It will be my McCullough dessert to a meaty work on Adams.
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I’m not much a fiction reader. Why read fiction when so often history is wilder than we can already imagine? I’ve made exceptions for a few, most recently and notably, Don Quixote, but when Grace Sydney Smith mentioned this book followed by a subtle endorsement from Will Mannon I knew it would probably be my next exception.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
While I am mentioning Will Mannon, I came across this book at the top of his list for biographies and memoirs. Growing up in the surf culture of San Diego and having spent stretches of time on Oahu, I’m looking forward to something that will evoke those endless summer vibes. Especially when we’re snowed in.
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
With both Sandra Yvonne and Alan Hibbard praising this work, I’m diving in. If you’re unsure if it’s worth the read, start with Sandra’s essay on her experience.
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
This book was one of the most mentioned during Write of Passage Cohort 9. It’s been on my radar since its release now two years ago. But here we are. It’s happening. I’m going to read it.
Finally, Poetry
I have been encouraged by so many from Write of Passage to continue down the path of sharing my journey through the Spanish Mystics. And it has been humbling to see those curious be from fellow Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and practitioners of the Far East philosophies. While I still consider myself a Spanish Mystic, I would be lying if this journey to share what I’ve found in the Spanish mysteries did not lead me to some of the most beautiful English works I otherwise would not have come across.
This is a mediation from Thomas Traherne’s Centuries, a collection referenced by C.S. Lewis as “almost the most beautiful book in English”. While the work was discovered as incomplete and posthumously published in the early 1900s, Traherne’s Centuries went on to inspire Thomas Merton along with I’m sure many more English Mystics.
Below is meditation 59:
The Cross is the abyss of wonders
the center of desires
the school of virtues
the house of wisdom
the throne of love
the theater of joys
and the place of sorrows
It is the root of happiness
and the gate of Heaven