Howdy! I’m Nate. This is my personal blog: notes on books, public lands, the Internet, and whatever I’m thinking about.
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India: A Cultural Journey is a coffee table reference book — large-scale photography paired with written context at the opening of each chapter. It’s not a history. It’s not a travel guide. It’s more of a visual immersion into what India looks and feels like culturally.
Electra follows the family of Agamemnon after the Battle of Troy — specifically his daughter Electra, who is consumed by grief and rage over her father’s murder and her desire for justice.
I picked this one up at the library with a pretty specific checklist in mind: I wanted a long novel, a Latin American novel, and something with a thread of magical realism running through it. I already love the way magical realism shows up in Haruki Murakami, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Southern Gothic — so a book that pulls both of those threads into a sweeping multigenerational epic seemed like it would check every box.
I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. -James Baldwin
The Ministry for the Future is one of the better science fiction novels about climate change that I’ve read. It’s fast-paced, well-written, and grounded in realistic scenarios. The setting works. The characters work. The whole thing works.
The Redeemer is not Nesbø at his absolute best, but “not his best” for Nesbø still means it’s a very good book. The plot pulls Harry Hole into the world of the Salvation Army, a contract killing, and a web of secrets that gets darker the further in you go.
If you’ve read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk (also by Faber), you already know the format: real-world scenarios, illustrated examples, and a very practical, non-preachy tone. Siblings Without Rivalry follows the same approach and lands just as well.
I stumbled across Rainn Wilson’s podcast Soul Boom the way I stumble across most things I didn’t know I was interested in — serendipitously. One episode led to another, and after just a few episodes I had a decent sense of what he’s been up to since The Office wrapped. The short version: he’s been on a genuine, years-long mission to make big philosophical and spiritual questions feel normal to talk about. Soul Boom is the book version of that mission.
Back when I was a freshman in college, I picked up Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson (a pen name) while falling down a very specific rabbit hole — the world of 1980s South Florida hustle-culture business people. Mail order, media, direct response marketing. Not exactly the role models section of a business school syllabus. But it’s one that I picked up – and stuck with me.
Click by Ori and Rom Brafman is a fun, fast little pop science book about why some relationships just…click. Why do some people go from strangers to fast friends in an afternoon while others stay awkward acquaintances for years?
I pulled Notes on the Death of Culture by Mario Vargas Llosa off a library shelf somewhat serendipitously after reading…
Boiling Springs Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park is exactly what the name says. It’s absolutely fascinating to see. It’s accessed via a short hike up the Warner Valley. Also, the Pacific Crest Trail goes right by it!
I stopped by Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon on my way Crater Lake National Park. First off, they have the loveliest city park. It’s great. Second, they have a small but perfect Japanese Garden (I’m a huge fan of Japanese Gardens). But third, near the Japanese Garden, they have a full-grown Sequoia tree!
Lands of the Western National Forests by Robert Mullenbach is a directory-style reference book covering the national forests west of…
The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley is part of a trilogy — alongside How to Read Water and How to Read Nature — and the whole series is about learning to read the world around you rather than a screen in your hand.
How to Read Water by Tristan Gooley is the third book in his natural navigation trilogy, alongside The Natural Navigator…
How to Read Nature is the third book in Tristan Gooley’s nature-reading trilogy, alongside The Natural Navigator and How to…
On my visit to Redwood National Park, I learned that Redwoods generally grow in a grove around a “mother tree” – so you’ll often get this cluster of tall trees around a mega tall tree…or a giant shaded circle where the “mother” used to stand.
The premise of Wealth Ladder is deceptively simple: the rules of personal finance depend on what wealth tier you’re currently in.
I picked up The Best American Short Stories 2015 at a used bookstore sale. The price was right, the premise was appealing – a curated collection of the best short fiction published that year – and I’ve always been curious about the short story as a format.
