Our annual delve back into the books we have read in the last year.
Nemonte Enquimo wrote in We will be jaguars, that we read “To see little parts of ourselves in other people’s stories.” A poignant reflection. As we become more discerning in the books we choose to read, it becomes all the harder to rank those that shape our thinking subjectively.
Don’t miss the opportunity to make yourself better informed starting here
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Longitude by Dava Sobel
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The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer by Charles Graeber
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Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton
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Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell
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Canoe Country: The Making of Canada by Roy MacGregor
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Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
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Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant
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The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addition by Gabor Maté
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How to ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working With Your Brain by Jessica McCabe
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Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
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The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Longitude
Longitude by Dava Sobel
A small (175-page) yet mighty book. A 40-year obsession for author Dava Sobel. Thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating book about the search for calculating longitude. The New York Times called it “a gem of a book.” In 1714, England’s parliament offered an innovation prize equivalent to $12 m today. In our smartphone world, we take for granted that we always know exactly where we are. I had to look up the word ‘orrery.’ I was thrilled to then find John Fulton’s Grand Orrery at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. A familiar story about inventors failing to get their due credit and others profiteering from stolen ideas. It really brought to life the problems of calculating location in the dark on a rolling ship in bad weather. I can’t wait to visit the Clockmaker’s Museum in London and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to view Harrison’s clocks.
The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer
The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer by Charles Graeber
“Our bodies are constantly shedding old or damaged cells, allowing new cells to take their place. This natural process of cellular self-destruction (called apoptosis, from an ancient Greek word meaning “falling off”) is hardwired into cells. The process is a cellular spring cleaning. Over the course of a year, each of us will shed a mass of self-destructed cells approximately equal to our full body weight.” Viruses are not cells, just genetic information. “HIV is devastatingly effective at infecting T cells.” …”the HIV virus was emptied and fitted with new genetic information. The T cells could now be programmed to target cancerous leucocytes. This book perfectly complements Song of the Cell by Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee and the Emperor of Maladies.
Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives
Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton
A little embarrassed that there was so much of this British history that I didn’t know. Curious that once read, some of the characters described cropped up in other books or TV shows/films. One of my 2025 resolutions is to write 1,000 words about my reflections on 18 – Saved the places to visit in Google Maps. I will now go back to read her first book, Uproar, and hear that a third book is in the pipeline, too.
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell
It is really a book of short stories connected by a common theme. I recommended the book to others and shared some central themes among individual stories. Value the wit, stories and research. Downloaded Rosabeth Kanter 1977 paper. It’s a fascinating story about writing the Tipping Point as a side project 25 years ago. Now an avid listener to Revisionist History, The Bomber Mafia topped our recommended reads from 2021.
Canoe Country: The Making of Canada
Canoe Country: The Making of Canada by Roy MacGregor
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the rest of the world refers to a canoe as an Open Canadian. Delightful prose was bought at Ceder Canoe Books in Huntsville. Canadian Canoe Museum New York Times 52 Places to Visit list. The book is brimming with trail-blazing characters. Incredible to reflect on the fourteen-kilometre Grand portage from Pigeon River to Lake Superior following the fur traders’ route. The canoe and equipment could not be carried at once. It is startling, given that I have spent 40 years paddling less than 20 lb kayaks. So lucky that I have got to paddle around Georgian Bay.
Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity
Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
It’s one of the rare books I plan to read through twice. I have read many books along a similar vein, including The Future of Aging and Growing Young. He describes the four horsemen diseases: heart disease, cancer, neurogenerative disease, and type 2 diabetes. A preventative medicine 3.0 approach. A critical premise is first articulating what you want to be able to do in older age and making strategies today to ensure you have the physical capability to do so. A centenarian decathlon: a list of ten items we would wish to be able to do. Don’t be put off by his profile picture. My wife is listening to the podcast. I have also advocated the importance of calories in and calories out, as well as the importance of aerobic capacity and strength training, especially for post-menopausal women. Attia also emphasizes the importance of anaerobic / VO2 max. It debunks so much of what else is written elsewhere or those societal myths told to us by parents or grandparents. The book is written, researched and referenced in a balanced way.
Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast
Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant
It is a profound book speaking to our consciousness about climate change. Deeply alarming how the conditions create a self-propagating perfect storm. The Fort McMurray wildfire continued to burn underground beneath the permafrost for 18 months. A fact that the boreal forest that wraps around the northern hemisphere burns regularly. It always has done. It is only because it now impacts us (business interests and people) that we now recognize it as a problem. Scale is important. As I once drove to the north of Edmonton, the signpost by the side of the road said 1451 km to Yellowknife. The trees at shorter than 60 metres and less than 100 years old. This appears to be another clear sentiment of complacency that when the initial fire broke out, this could never happen.
The Salt Path
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Really able to identify with Raynor Winn in her desperation as she trudges the beauty and torment of the 630-mile South West Coast Path. Fascinating to follow her journey on a map and comprehend her situation. Delighted to see this evolve into a new movie. We are heading to do the Cotswold Way first. We have family along the north devon coastal path. We can recommend the gin from The Grampus Inn in Illfracombe Look forward to reading her next book. Delighted to see this now made released as a movie. Another book this last year was A Ride to Hell and I’d like to believe I would stop and help these people and not be judgmental based on appearances and stereotypes, but taken the time to listen and understand if there were anything we could practically do to help.
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addition
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addition by Gabor Maté
Meticulously researched and drawing on deep experience as a physician. Recommended by Derek Davies at St Lawrence College. It illustrates the social stigma, judgment, criminalization of people who use drugs. We are working on the Canadian Best Practice Recommendations in Wound Care for People Who Use Drugs – A Harm Reduction Approach. Last year, I had chosen Fighting for Space by Travis Lupick. I then read Matés book on ADHD, Scattered Minds, and also have The Myth of Normal waiting to read this year.
How to ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working With Your Brain
How to ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working With Your Brain by Jessica McCabe
Essential to have a new resource on this critical topic, especially one orientated more to struggles as an adult.
Loved the book, especially the last chapter “Wait, One More Thing,” The importance of leaning into your strengths. It is why I’m able to do twice as much in half the time it appears to take others. It took me a long time to get there and organize my whole world around it [ADHD]. Jessica McCabe is exactly where she was destined to be. What McCabe has done through her Howto ADHD YouTube Channel, TEDx, presentations and book. https://howtoadhd.com
Shuggie Bain
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Such an interesting story of destitution in inner city 80-90s Glasgow. Recommended by an Australian nurse at the WCET/ASCN UK congress in Glasgow. Winner of the Brooker Prize in 2020. Always appreciate books that take you on a generational journey. Brilliant characters with is mother Agnes, half-sister Catherine, half-brother Leek and the others who come in and out of the story. After visiting Glasgow, it was intriguing to learn more about parts of the city and its history. Like London, good to see one of the old dockside cranes preserved.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
A collection of 78 individual musings, “Areas of thought” around the theme of creativity, interspersed with prose. Took me a while to register who Rick Rubin was. I become more and more engrossed in the book. It resonated with me, given that I am now 5 years and 100 episodes into a podcast. I think I can be creative in lateral thinking and storytelling, although I don’t think of artistic creativity.
In these days of truth, facts, AI, and disinformation, it is hard to know what to believe. Again, it becomes ever more so apparent that quality and integrity matter. We can find these in books written thoughtfully and through painstaking research by those we trust. I am skeptical about what online I can trust. Knowing how meticulous publishers are in fact-checking, we should all read more books. Happy World Book Day 2025.