A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, KURT VONNEGUT
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ON THE ROAD, JACK KEROUAC
A story around friendship, vagabonding, partying, women, and music poetically strung along the roads and pubs from NYC to San Francisco and beyond. In one chapter the vagabond lifestyle inspires. In the next the real struggles about life on the road bring you back to reality. It took me a while to get into the rambling non-directional nature of Kerouac's prose but in the end it earned its classic reputation.
GRAHAM NASH BIOGRA
Not the book I'd normally pick up at book store. However, part of the perk of this trip is having time to read books I otherwise wouldn't. A great look into the 70s rock'n roll scene. And some of the hippy vibe resonated more so than normal given our current vagabond way of life. McKenzie always teases me about my lack of music knowledge - this book made me a little more versed.
BOOMERANG - MICHAEL LEWIS
I typically trade off between adventure and financial books. This one highlighted some of the sovereign debt crises post the financial meltdown - Iceland, Ireland, GREECE, and Germany. Read this one in a few afternoon sessions from Goyko in the Himalaya. Everything from Michale Lewis worth the read. He's like my Grisham of financial literacy.
WALDEN, HENERY DAVID THOROU
Chapter 1 is great. Chapter 2 on gets trivial. I don't need a chapter on how you farmed beans. If I lived during this time, I'm sure I'd hate Mr. Thourou. His elitist, holier than thou, tone makes me want to hate him. But if you factor in times and tone down his approach to life, there are some principles that I'd love to incorporate into my life regularly. Another example of a book I wouldn't have ordinary been able to wade through.
MEDITATION BOOK
This is a how to practice meditation book. Yes, it's more than finding a pillow, quite space, sporting a robe or loose clothing, and numbing the mind for extended periods of time. Tim Ferriss and his uber successfull/talented guests all talk about incorporating meditation into their lives so I figured there must be something there. I'd type more but one of the first chapters in the book talk about not broadcasting your meditation practice. I will say I enjoyed reading a chapter during random periods of down time. Not something that I'd be able to plow through in large dosages.
STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS - An scientific and philosophical take on how challenging it can be to quantify happiness. It gets into the weeds the influence of perception
THE HEART AND THE SEA - A survival tale based on the Essex shipwreck.
THE KEEPSAKE - A free book exchange novel.