Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Much better than I thought it would be as I had a weird anti-blogger/podcaster bias going in (for no reason whatsoever). I appreciate the chapters on emotional health as well.
There’s a lot to digest from reading this and some things I’d like to try.
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I was taking a look at my list of books that I read in 2022 on Goodreads. I think the two that I enjoyed most were Breath by James Nestor and Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin.
Do you have a fave or two from last year?
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I knew I’d like this only a few pages in due to the author’s writing style. After that I just kept my hopes up that I’d stay engaged. I didn’t know it was the 4th of a series though- it was fine as a standalone novel, but now I want to get the author’s other works.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very interesting look at how we breath and how that’s changed over time. One of the most interesting books I’ve read in a while. I even try to incorporate some of the ideas in my day-to-day life during sports and meditation.
A post about from a writer who wears a smartwatch on one wrist and a traditional watch on the other. It’s tempting me to get a smartwatch. I keep thinking about getting an Apple Watch or a Whoop device.
Kareem’s blog and newsletter– if you’re not a subscriber, you should be. His blog makes me want to work at becoming a better writer.
NYT’s Best Books of 2022 (And the Staff Picks for 2022)
Goodreads.com Best Books of 2022 (Based on User Choice)
Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked this up because I saw it on a list of the CWA Ian Fleming Award candidates (along with the Robatham author I had read recently…). I went in blind not knowing anything about the characters or even that the author’s name was a pseudonym – although I found that part out pretty quickly after adding it to Goodreads. But I was trying to avoid spoilers so I tried to avoid seeing anything about the story online.
I usually don’t start at #5 of a series of previously established characters- but that didn’t matter here. Good character depth and really well written.
I was a bit impatient in the middle – it’s a long book – but that’s because a lot of mysteries I read are pulp and I was thinking that this case would be solved quickly. I also read this as an e-book that’s why I wasn’t grasping that this would be that a long tale. But it was worth sticking out.
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Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure by Richard Evelyn Byrd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A relatively quick read and very interesting even though I was worried I wouldn’t like the book’s story (it was a gift). The afterword was a welcome addition which helps provide some historical context and insight after the tale had ended.
I think it was interesting timing that I read this given what is going on in the world right now with Covid-19. In particular, this account of the author being alone in the Antarctic had a few passages that seemed very relevant to today.
eg: being solo and trapped inside and keeping to a schedule -the author was to be taking weather readings at regular times and had to maintain his hut/base- extreme WFH? Even Scott Kelly (astronaut) wrote about this recently in the NY Times.
Another example was a passage about a previous expedition with a healthy crew in isolation, but one day they opened a crate of old clothes and all of them got sick.
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Drug of Choice by John Lange
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the 1st half and then I started to lose interest in the second half, or last third really. I still enjoyed it, but not as much as the others of late.
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The Mordida Man by Ross Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m a sucker for Ross Thomas books. I was reading this while suffering from a cold/flu and I was getting lost at the start juggling a number of characters but held on. Seemed to be more clever for the genre with the writing style and characters and a complicated plot.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very well-written and clever.
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Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this on the recommendation of a friend who dives. This is a really intense book that explains the perils of deep diving. Mostly the story about the discovery of a U Boat and the men who explored it, but a good overview of this type of diving and about the teams’ work above water too. It made me feel claustrophobic when describing the insides of wrecks.
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Sunset Swing