books i read in 2020 (part 3 of 5)

Cool Ideas

When I was a kid, I hadn’t developed a sense of taste yet, so I just read whatever I picked up from beginning to end. In 2019, I realized I’d gotten picky, and I wondered what I might have missed out on by giving up on books that didn’t immediately grab me. The answer is, cool ideas. I can’t say these are the Best Books Ever, but they got me thinking, about…

In Praise of Shadows, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: Cultural notions of cleanliness.

Bhagavad Gita, Eknath Esarwan transation: What it means to be a good person.

Excursions, Michael Jackson: What home means.

Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, Erich Schiffman: How to move.

The Self-Coached Climber, Dan Hague and Douglas Hunter: Anatomy, physiology, and goal-setting. Best quote from this book: “One young climber found inspiration in a rap lyric and said, "C'mon sucka!" to himself as he launched into difficult crux moves.”

Retirement Heist, Ellen Schultz: How rich people try to screw the rest of us over.