Q3 Lookback: Book Recs
This list covers high school - Q3 2025; I will try to share book recommendations more regularly going forward (maybe quarterly), but wanted to get this out there.
I was listening to a podcast a couple of years ago and this woman claimed that she deleted social media and within 6 months became fluent in French with the time she got back each day. I can’t remember if the claim was made in the podcast itself or in an ad, but either way it made me audit how I was spending my time and the quality of the information that I was consuming. At the time I was not ready to ween myself off the validation (“connection”?) I was getting from Instagram, but I was ready to start reading again.
Not exactly knowing where to start, but serendipitously dating a high school English teacher, I began to work my way through his syllabus- East of Eden, The Good Earth, and Love in the Time of Cholera- I was hooked. I decided 10 books would be a good goal for 2023. In 2024 the goal increased to 20 books with the added stipulation that more than half of the books needed to be authored by women, as I had learned that women are equally likely to read books written by male or female authors but men only ready books written by men. The goal for 2025 is 25 books; with > half of course, authored by women.
The goals are a little silly but they have helped drive accountability while I formed the habit of reading every day and pushed me to read things outside of my comfort zone (non-fiction math/econ esque books written by men). Sharing books with friends has brought an unexpected amount of joy and connection into my life over the last 3 years, so here are some of the books that have had a lasting impact on me over the last few years, organized into loose categories. Many thanks to Annika + Neil for some great recommendations over the years!
I have been able to find a lot of these books at my local library. If you want to own the book I have found a lot of them in thrift stores, but if you can’t wait that long, I recommend checking out the authors website, bookshop.org or Thriftbooks before ordering on Amazon (please).
Female Adventure Stories: People often recommend Barbarian Days, Kiss or Kill, Into Thin Air. While these books are entertaining, I didn’t necessarily find them to be relatable or inspiring in the way that the books below were.
Valley of Giants- collection of essays edited by Lauren Delany Miller this is an all time favorite. If you climb or want to climb, please, please, please read it. Just badass women doing badass things.
Learning to Fly - Steph Davis – I feel cliche making this rec, but I found a copy at a thrift store and could not put it down; Steph is a climber, but this one is more about base jumping
High Infatuation- Steph Davis – Just a lady being a bad ass climber- I think we need more pure female adventure stories [and climbing films!] Strong women unabashedly being strong women
Woodswoman - Anne Labastille – Kind of a niche book about a cool lady who build a cabin in the ADK. I saw this book on a friend’s coffee table in Reno, NV. My friend is from CA. Not sure how exactly she came across it but I am a sucker for anything about the ADK.
More- Majka Burhardt – This book is about “climbing and motherhood”; I am not a mother and don’t necessarily plan to be one but I recall not being able to put this book down. Majka seems like an absolute force and she discusses the difficulty of reconciling her roles as a professional climber, non-profit founder & CEO, her husband’s role as a climber and guide and internalized gender roles. I learned a lot from this book.
A Light Through the Cracks- Beth Rodden – This one was honestly super hard for me to get into. A lot of the book is written in the voice of young Beth who has an eating disorder and is admittedly toxic. As someone who worked really hard on their relationship to food, climbing, and exercise, it was a little hard for me to read and not internalize the unhealthy mindset, but it does turn around! It was worth getting through
Good for a Girl- Lauren Fleshman – Lauren talks about her journey as a professional runner and the sexism that she faced growing up in the sport; was sadly very relatable haha
Let Your Mind Run- Deena Kastor – It’s been a while, but Deena is a badass, kind of the running equivalent of high infatuation. The story of a great female runner navigating her progression through the sport
Female Thinkers:
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men- Caroline Criado-Perez – This was kinda dense and made me really angry, but I feel like it changed my life
How we Show Up - Mia Birdsong – Really uplifting book about the importance of community. Another lifechanging one
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson – Honestly this was so hard for me to get through. Its kind of repetitive and boring, I only read it because its referenced in every other environmental book. Learned a lot, happy I got through it but its not “fun”
Manifesto for a Moral Revolution - Jacqueline Novogratz – Not everyone's cup of team but she makes an interesting case for "ethical capitalism" and microfinance- I was really inspired by it but I also work in finance in America
The Blue Sweater – Jacqueline Novogratz – This is Jacqueline’s first book. Its less technical than the one above, more of a memoir but equally inspiring and hard to put down.
All Bell hooks books haha - All About Love, The Will to Change, Communion, etc; Big Bell hooks fan, but I will say these didn’t exactly help me develop empathy for me/ they weren’t very “productive”.
Easy / Easier Reads:
Tattoos on the Heart - Gregory Boyle – Initially the religious overtones really bothered me but after the first ~40 pages I got into it and it’s an all-time fav; top 3 books I’ve ever read?
Educated – Tara Westover – Eye opening but also a very engaging read
The Last Season – Eric Blehm – I read this in college, but I remember it being riveting
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath – All Jokes aside, this book spoke to me
Totally junky fiction:
Achilles and Circe both by Madeline Miller - These are very easy reads; I think Achilles is more popular but I liked Circe better
The Basics / Bread and Butter/ Novels (?) / American Literary Cannon:
East of Eden - John Steinbeck – This is a looooong book ha I was intimidated by the length, but it’s an all -time fav; if you can make it 80 pages, the rest is easy
The Good Earth - Pearl S Buck – really good, finished it on the flight from BOS -> SLC
Love in the time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Also really good; this one + The Good Earth I wish I could read again for the first time
1984 (Orwell), Brave New World (Huxley), Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) – these are all must reads in my opinion. I think most high schools make you read one of these- mine made me read 1984 and it blew my mind. I kind of thought if I read one, I didn’t need to read the rest, but they are all amazing. Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 are both really short, order doesn’t matter, they are all different flavors of fucked up.
Vonnegut – all of Vonnegut. This could just be my ego talking, and this is maybe my most subjective suggestion on this list, but I think all of his books are fantastic. Maybe start with one of these?
Slaughter House Five
Cat’s Cradle
Breakfast of Champions
I am sure I missed some classics, but that's is what I’ve got for now. When I was a little kid I had a personal ethic that I had to read every book I started, but at 29 I only have ~ 1000 books ahead of me if I am lucky, so I no longer feel (that much) shame about not finishing a book. Give em a whirl, let me know what you think! One of my favorite ways to connect with friends (and get out of my comfort zone) is to read their favorite books, so send me your favorites.
In the queue: Mountains Beyond Mountains – Tracy Kidder, Steppenwolf – Herman Hesse, What Works – Iris Bohnet
Favorite song: “Aliento De La Marea” by We’re All F*cked
Current read: Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo (too soon for this to be a rec)
Coffee Order: 16 oz light roast drip
