June Reading List 2021
Hey friends,
I’m a bit late in sending this out, due to football and other issues cropping up in my day-to-day life. So I won’t mess around with an introduction and will get straight into this month’s reading list.
Feral - I’ve been interested in the concept of rewilding for some time. Without a book to guide me through the concept, it was hard to understand the idea completely, but after reading Feral I understand and believe in the issue a lot more. The premise is simple: to combat climate change, we need to return large parts of land to what they resembled hundreds of years ago. Rewilding simply means letting nature take its course without interference. Think of the trees and wildlife returning in Chernobyl after the town was abandoned. Rewilding is an easy and effective way to combat climate change we should be talking about more. This brilliant book by George Monbiot is a good primer to get you started.
Man Alone With Himself - Nietzsche is a philosopher I’ve read on and off and never truly understood. Sometimes his words are profound and other times they go straight over my head. Man Alone With Himself is easier to get through as it’s mostly a collection of aphorisms. There are some interesting insights in here, many of which still hold up today. It might be a good introduction to Nietzsche, or it might not. After all, it’s hard to understand a person’s philosophy from a few aphorisms. But it’s an entertaining and enlightening read nonetheless.
The Rules of Contagion - A book on contagion during a pandemic, appropriate right? The Rules of Contagion is a great read if you want to learn how viruses and ideas spread. Considering what we’ve been living through recently, it’s a useful book to read. Adam Kucharski does a fantastic job of explaining the concepts we’ve all come to recognise over the past year. He helps us to understand why viruses take off, how ideas can do the same and the measures authorities and we, can take to protect ourselves.
Putin’s People - This is a dense book to get through. I think it’s important to get that out of the way first. As fascinating as I found Putin’s People it can be a slog. But if you stick with it, you’re rewarded with an eye-opening look into the world of Putin and the cabal which rules Russia. This is arguably the best book through which to understand Putin’s Russia. It comes across more like a mafia state rather than a functioning country. Catherine Belton is a fantastic writer and her meticulousness shines through in this brutal expose of modern-day Russia.
I hope you get around to reading a few of these selections. Whether you read them in the next month or year, I’m not bothered. The idea of my reading lists is to encourage you, the reader, to read more.
If more of us read, and read books outside of our comfort zone, the world would be a better place. You don’t know what you don’t know. Reading is one of the best ways to fill in those gaps in your knowledge.
If you have any comments about the books, maybe you’ve read one before. Or if you have some recommendations for me, I’m all ears. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time,
Tom