My Top Books for 2020

2020: This past year gave us a lot of time for personal reflection. I found I had more time than ever to make the choice of How I used my time. Spending more time at home with a mild schedule, was like peeling back the skin of a clementine only to find rotten spots inside. Bad habits sit like patches of mold in your life, becoming more extreme until you either throw in the towel completely, or realize it is time to take a deep look and clean them up. That's exactly what I attempted to do last year, and currently continuing to do each day. Turning my bad habits into newly formed positive habits. Crafting my daily routine to allow for my life to flourish at its finest. And thus, a key switch for me was having a "No-Screen" Rule at 7PM, instead unwinding each day with a paper book. We've all been there, procrastinating at picking up a book because its boring. And then once you do, you read preciously four pages before leaning into your pillow and clocking out for the night. And here is why I'm giving you some recommendations, to read just a little more. I found that when I'm in a good book, in addition to reading at night, I'll pick it up midday, early morning, or when I have down time, typically bringing the pages outside if the weather calls for it. And so, here are my favorites from this past year:

 

1.) Becoming by Michelle Obama

Michell Obama most famously recognized as the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs. Obama started her career as an attorney at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama. She later worked in the Chicago mayor’s office, at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Mrs. Obama also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organization that prepares young people for careers in public service.. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2020 • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

BECOMING

 2.) The Overstory by Richard Powers

The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of―and paean to―the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours―vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

THE OVERSTORY

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

3.) The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman (audio-recommended)

This book will likely make you pee your pants. Which is ironic given the title of Sarah's memoir. Despite being over a decade old, her comical opinions on societal problems still streams relevant to today. In fact when reading it, I assumed this was published in 2019 or 2020 but it was a in fact polished on store fronts almost ten years earlier. Many could classify this book as a memoir but it interchangeably falls within the genre of humor. By far the funniest book I read(listened to) this year.

THE BEDWETTER

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

4.) Running Home by Katie Arnold

Katie Arnold, an Outside magazine writer, a mom, and a Winner of the 2018 Leadville 100 ultramarathon tells her story of growing up with her father, relationships, grief and renewal, adventure and obsession. She details her life's journey through coping and running through all moments within her life. How running has taken her on many journeys both in the physical state and the emotional. She puts it best: "I’m running to forget, and to remember." -Katie Arnold

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE

For more than a decade, Katie Arnold chased adventure around the world, reporting on extreme athletes who performed outlandish feats—walking high lines a thousand feet off the ground without a harness, or running one hundred miles through the night. She wrote her stories by living them, until eventually life on the thin edge of risk began to seem normal. After she married, Katie and her husband vowed to raise their daughters to be adventurous, too, in the mountains and canyons of New Mexico. But when her father died of cancer, she was forced to confront her own mortality. 

Running Home is a memoir about the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our world—the stories that hold us back, and the ones that set us free. Mesmerizing, transcendent, and deeply exhilarating, it is a book for anyone who has been knocked over by life, or feels the pull of something bigger and wilder within themselves.

RUNNING HOME

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

5.) The Comeback Quotient by Matt Fitzgerald

This book came out at the tail end of 2020. A great end to a year of bumps for many individuals. Matt Fitzgerald is a likely familiar author if you are an endurance athlete who reads books about triathlon, running, and other endurance sports. His most recognized work being How Bad Do You Want It, Racing Weight, Iron War, and 80/20 running among others. In The Comeback Quotient, Fitzgerald shares the stories of top athletic comebacks from a wide array of elite running performances to the everyday cyclist. His book shows that no matter what level of endurance sports you are in, everyone has their downfalls, so everyone deserves their chances to make their comebacks. The chapters are of many tools for your own comeback in sport, or life.

THE COMEBACK QUOTIENT

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

6.) The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This instant classic explores how we can change our lives by changing our habits.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal • Financial Times

In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

THE POWER OF HABIT

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

7.) The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

This book is was written more than 18 year ago but could not be ever more relevant. For all passionate about nature, food, or healthy eating, this delves into unique perspectives. The American Food Industry is loaded with excessive sugars, fats and deficient in many required minerals and nutrients. It is well known that America's sugar phenomena is considered an "addiction" but yet, is human exploitation to blame? Or does it originate from the very roots of evolution itself? Can one point fingers at Kellogg's, General Mills, Coca-Cola and other large monstrosities? Or really should we be looking at the apple? 

THE BOTANY OF DESIRE

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

8.)The Running Dream by Matt Fitzgerald

The second by Matt Fitzgerald published in 2020. His daily narrative on the journey to his 2017 Chicago Marathon PR, spending his training season "Like a Pro" with a special invitation to train and live with the Hoka One One NAZ Elite Team coached by Ben Rosario. The book guides you through his amateur ups and downs of going "all-in" on his running dreams, nutrition tweaks, continuous strength work, grueling massages and drills, he mimicked his teammates with every self care practice  as best he could.  A few months before this book was published, and well after Matt's time with the team, NAZ Elite was fortunate enough to produce an Olympic marathoner who will represent the USA at the next upcoming Tokyo Olympics. 

RUNNING THE DREAM

Get Ebook here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the paper-edition here.

9.) How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018~ A New York Times Notable Book ~ The #1 New York Times bestseller.

When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

Books I'm Excited to Read for 2021:

1.) The Guest List by Lucy Foley

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK ~ THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ~ ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF 2020

An iconic "who dun it" modeled book that takes scene at a wedding hotspot off the coast of Ireland. As the characters gather to celebrate on the eerie island, you'll quickly learn the secrets behind each character and you'll be on your toes waiting to hear about who spilt the "tea." [Update: I already read this for 2021 and it was a suspenseful goodie. The audiobook narrates each character separate, making it easier to learn who's who and keep track of the story]

THE GUEST LIST

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

2.) Bravey by Alexi Pappas

If you follow a single elite female distance runner in the road scene, it is likely they've already advertised this book on their social media platforms. Alexi Pappas: a Greek Represented Olympian, Movie-star, Poet, and Dartmouth Track & Field Alumni. Having had a uniquely personal upbringing, with the suicidal death of her mother when she was just a young kiddo, there was nothing concrete or off limits to Pappas childhood years. She's navigating this game we call life in her own style. Although glorified as a runner, there's so much more behind Alexi Pappas, including being an exceptional writer and narrator of her audiobook!

BRAVEY

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

3.) Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers by Steve House & Scott Johnston

Dovetailing on the success of Training for the New Alpinism and Patagonia’s own emphasis on all mountain use, Training for the Uphill Athlete translates theory into methodology to allow you to write your own training plans and coach yourself to endurance goals. The book includes the same mix of theory, application, and experiential essays from experts in the field, as well as instructional illustrations as in Training for the New Alpinism. Contributions by Kilian Jornet increase the worldwide appeal of the book.

TRAINING FOR THE UPHILL ATHLETE

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

4.) Eating on The Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health by Jo Robinson

"The next stage in the food revolution: a radical way to select fruits and vegetables and reclaim the flavor and nutrients we've lost.

Ever since farmers first planted seeds 10,000 years ago, humans have been destroying the nutritional value of their fruits and vegetables. Unwittingly, we've been selecting plants that are high in starch and sugar and low in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants for more than 400 generations.

Eating on the Wild Side reveals the solution -- choosing modern varieties that approach the nutritional content of wild plants but that also please the modern palate. Jo Robinson explains that many of these newly identified varieties can be found in supermarkets and farmer's market, and introduces simple, scientifically proven methods of preparation that enhance their flavor and nutrition. Based on years of scientific research and filled with food history and practical advice, Eating on the Wild Side will forever change the way we think about food."- Little, Brown Spark Publishing Co.

EATING ON THE WILD SIDE

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

5.) My Own Words by Mary Hartnett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Wendy W. Williams

MY OWN WORDS 

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.

6.) Mental Training for Ultra-Running by Addie Bracy

MENTAL TRAINING FOR ULTRA-RUNNING

You don't have to be an ultra-runner to understand and practice their mental tactics for training and racing. In fact, I'm not an ultra-runner, but I still try to hone in on the mental skillsets these athletes have mastered in my daily life. Take for example running and hydration. Everyone knows is essential to hydrate for health and running performance. It boosts recovery and performance. But what if you don't have the option to bring your water with you on the next 1-2 hour long run? Then what? Well if an ultra runner was this scenario, they'd probably just drink a lot before, stick it out on the run, and hydrate as soon as they got home. A practical solution telling themselves during that 60 minute window, it is simply training to run to the next aid-station. I cannot wait to hear what Addie Bracy, a professional runner herself, has to share in this book! Shall be exciting!

Pre-order the book here (comes out in May 2021).  Or read the Ebook here.

7.)This Is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan

 Coming just in time for wildflower season (July 2021)!

"Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs -- opium, caffeine, and mescaline -- and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs, while consuming (or in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos with which we surround them. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and such fraught feelings?

A unique blend of history, science, memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively -- as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that's one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay written more than 25 years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world."-Penguin Press Publishing Co

THIS IS YOUR MIND ON PLANTS

Get book here. Listen to the audiobook here. Or read the Ebook here.