Boys,
I’ve never been much of a “reader.” I like to write, obviously, but I was never really patient enough to read. When I worked construction (before smartphones), we’d drive hours at a time to get to a job, and I had a few books I’d bring with me to read on the road. I read Anna Karenina and Atlas Shrugged, though it probably took me 5 years to actually finish Atlas.
I do enjoy listening to books, though. I’d rather listen to something when I drive to work rather than listen to music. Sometimes it’s podcasts, and sometimes it’s books. I kind of go in phases. When it comes to books, my tastes are a bit eclectic. I’ve listened to biographies, self-help books, and westerns. I like books on golf, Artificial Intelligence, and how the brain works.
So I wrote you about my Mt. Rushmore of shows a year or two ago, and I figured you might like to know more about my favorite books.
And before I get too deep into it, I should mention that my favorite book is Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. It’s not making this list because it’s not really what I’m going for, but it’s great and I will get it for you when you boys graduate high school just like my mom did for me.
My Definitive Mt. Rushmore of Books circa 2026
The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil (listened to)
I wanted to start with this one because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book and felt so sure about what the future was going to look like as was the case with this book. That sentence was a mouthful, but I think you get the point.
I’m so all in on AI. I think that by the time you read this, AI will be so wrapped up in our lives that we won’t even think of it as a thing anymore, but it will just be a part of our life. This book looks ahead 2 years from now, 10 years from now, and 20 years from now and lays out the author’s vision of what the future will look like.
You two are growing up in such an interesting time. There are a lot of things broken with the world that I think AI has the potential to fix. A lot of people see AI as a bad thing and I can see their point — but this book is more of an optimist’s view of how AI and the technology that comes with it can fix the things we’ve gotten wrong. I’d love to listen to this again or read Kurzweil’s updated version with how things actually played out.
This probably isn’t a book that will matter much to you by the time you’re old enough to read it, but I think it’s foundational in terms of where we are today and where I hope we’ll be soon.
Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (Actually Read)
I would have never had any interest in this book, but I really liked reading Atlas Shrugged and this is kind of the 1B to Atlas’ 1A in terms of legacy. It’s a mountain of a book about this architect named Howard Roark (would name a dog Roark, btw) who has his own belief on how buildings should be built. Throughout the book, money, fame, and notoriety tempt him to bend his morals and beliefs, but he refuses.
I finished the book right before you were born, Reagan. And before we landed on your name, I floated the names “Atlas” and “Roark” to your mom as options, but she shot those down. I also suggested Stafford (after Matt Stafford), but she didn’t want to name you after a Lions player. I know, poor judgement on her part, huh? FTR, I love your name and can’t see you as anyone other than Reagan.
Anyhoots, I think Roark might be my favorite fictional character out of any book I’ve ever read. He is uncompromising in his beliefs, and despite every attempt for others to have him bend to what they want, he relentlessly sticks to what he believes. And the best part is that it pays off for him in the end… spoiler alert.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (Listened to)
One thing I remember about my dad when I was your age was that he liked reading western books, and I never really understood it. Then I watched Tombstone and it became one of my favorite movies and one that I still quote all the time (as we speak, there is a group chat going where Troy offered to help with something by saying “I’m your huckleberry” — famous line from that movie). Anyway, I decided to scratch the itch by reading this one and I was blown away.
Movies like Tombstone, as great as they are, make being a cowboy feel cool. It’s shootouts at the saloon, riding horses next to trains and stuff like that. This book painted a more accurate picture of life back in the 1800s. It was scary and it was brutal. I really love the author’s style, too. The Road is McCarthy’s most notable book, but I think Blood Meridian is his best.
The White Album by Joan Didion (Actually Read)
I don’t know why Didion is my favorite author but she is. The White Album is a collection of her essays, and one in particular has always stood out to me. It’s called, “Holy Water.” The TL;DR is that she looks at how water moves from the Colorado River to her home in Malibu. She takes the reader on a journey with the water as it moves through natural rivers and basins, man-made aqueducts and dams, ultimately to the pipes and faucets in her home. She talks about how it gives life to the deserts and how the control of that water helped to shape this history of America. Its powerful and personal all at the same time, and it’s centered around something so “boring” as water.
The whole book is like that. Didion writes in the way that I wish I could talk. Its easy and it’s effortless and it’s impactful and poignant. She also writes about anything and everything that is interesting to her, and I think I borrow that from her writing. The White Album, to me, is Didion at her best.
Well, all for now. Just like the TV shows, maybe you’ll read some of these books and can tell me all about it when I’m old and forgetful. Your mom just thought about how I’m old and forgetful now. 100%.
Anyway, love you boys.
Dad
OK is your mom still here? Probably not. I made sure to talk a lot about things that she wouldn’t be interested in because I don’t think she reads all of these posts, especially the ones about books and shows and things that I’m into that don’t interest her in the slightest. Now we can really talk about what I wanted to talk about this whole time!
So I started listening to a book series called Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which is a fantasy series. Aside from Fountainhead, each of the three books in this series are the longest I’ve ever listened to.
So it all started when I saw some headline about Apple TV buying the rights to this Brandon Sanderson’s collection for, as Koen would say, something like a googleplex-googleplex-googleplex-googleplex-googleplex-googleplex dollars. So I look into it and see this guy created this whole world just like they’ve done for Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. There are all these different worlds and timelines and it all pieces together. I’ve never been really into fantasy books, but if Apple wants to give someone that much money to make movies and TV shows, there must be something there, right?
I start listening to the first one called The Final Empire. The story is about this girl who joins this team of thieves whose goal is to overthrow the “Lord Ruler” who has been oppressing this world for the last 1000 years. She discovers that she has these special powers, and the story kind of weaves her coming to terms with who she’s becoming vs. who she’s been.
It’s a lot like Star Wars and Harry Potter in that the main character comes from humble beginnings to do the most impossible thing. But what I liked about it was how well they build this world which is similar to earth, but with a sprinkle of magic.
One of the benefits of a 28 hour audiobook is that you can really get into the nuance of the magic. A lot of times, you just accept that magic exists and experience the movie or book without really knowing the how or the why. Sanderson has a logical system for how magic is used, and that system allows the characters to use magic in a way that feels natural and not like, “I’m going to wave a magic wand and turn you into a newt.” (Ten-thousand bonus points if you get that reference… it got better).
I think the thing that is most impressive is the scale of everything. The story takes place in this world with 1000 years worth of history that gets referenced throughout the entire series. So the author has to create the story, but also this magical world, a millennium’s worth of history, characters to populate this world… it boggles the mind!
Anyway, I’m almost done with the third book in the series and I have a real big problem. The Mistborn series is just a tiny bit of everything he’s written, and I’ve learned that if you like Mistborn, you’re REALLY GOING TO LIKE his other series. Mistborn was his first set of books, and I guess he’s gotten way better as a writer in his other series. Here is what I mean…
It’s tiny, but each box in the image above represents one 30+ hour book. The Mistborn books are just the top three boxes on the left side.
So if we zoom in, we see that there are four “eras” within just the Mistborn story. And on top of that, there are these stand alone stories that are an additive to the series.
SIDEBAR: The other day, we were all sitting at home and there wasn’t anything worth watching on TV. I put on Jeopardy, and do what every normal man would do during jeopardy, which is to yell out any answer, whether I know it or not, before any of the contestants guess. As I’m doing this, your mom makes a comment about how she told Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie that I was kind of a nerd. Thankfully, Aunt Katie had my back and told your mom that I wasn’t… well, as I’m writing this and considering how much detail I want to go into about a fantasy book series and my prospects of reading more of them, I’m afraid she might have a point. But don’t tell her I told you!
OK so anyway, I have some big decisions to make about my future book reading. I do really love the Mount Rushmore books I mentioned earlier, but I need to decide if this was a fun trip into fantasy bookland, or if this is kind of who I am now and maybe I should just accept it. I doubt your mom will ever want to kiss me again if she finds out, but that is a problem for tomorrow me and not today me. Like I said, I don’t think she made it this far, so I think our secret is safe!
So I’m 98% sure your mom isn’t reading this unless someone else tells her. As long as that isn’t the case, I’m pretty sure this will come out when they finally make the movie and TV shows on Apple TV. And I’ll be excited to watch it and hopefully you’ll be old enough to watch it with me when it comes out. And your mom won’t want to watch it but will probably do it since you boys are too. And she’ll make some comment about how stupid it is, and I’ll defend it, and she’ll ask, “why do you care so much about a stupid fantasy show” and I’ll have to tell her because I listened to 100 hours worth of the books and I’ve kept it from her because I feared her judgement…
Listen, I used to be an athlete. I sat at the cool table. This doesn’t define who I am, OK…???
Ugh, maybe your mom was right to call me a nerd…
Love,
Dad
Leave a Reply