THE 500 MARK
“Book worm” is not a mantle that I would have claimed for myself, but after reading 500 books during my four years of incarceration, I suppose that it applies. Reaching that milestone has prompted reflection on the role that books played throughout my life. Even as I have aged through the unfolding of the digital media age, books were ever-present, adding value in the way that only they can.
I was not a big reader in grade or high school, but I do remember English teachers who were passionate about books and turned me onto a range of classics like Catch 22, The Collector, and Catcher in the Rye. When I was not studying economics and political science in college, I made time for exploration of philosophy and mysticism with Plato, Carlos Castaneda, Robert Anton Wilson, and others. I loved Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, even if some of the ideas were over my head at the time.
My first boss out of school was a self-taught entrepreneur who reimbursed for business and personal development book purchases. I jumped on that opportunity, devouring Peter Drucker, Dr. Stephen Covey, Jim Collins, Seth Godin, Marcus Buckingham, Napoleon Hill, and many more. I did not go to business school, but I gave myself a business education through the insights of these brilliant people that paid dividends in my career.
When I entered recovery spirituality became the next avenue of discovery. Pema Chodron, Emmet Fox, and Wayne Dyer were among the guides who imparted wisdom as I sought to expand my consciousness and my connection to a power greater than myself.
Golf re-entered my life in my late 30s and once again, books were an integral part of enhancing the experience. I read Mark Frost, Tom Coyne, Michael Bamberger and Golden Age architects including Dr. Alister McKenzie as I gained knowledge of the game’s past and present. The learnings were put to good use while I wrote on various topics for my website, GeekedOnGolf.com.
My curiosity about how our minds work, as well as the dynamics of the world we’ve created, was fed by authors like Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dubner & Levitt. The focus was typically on non-fiction, but novelist John Irving and historical fiction writer Erik Larson were also favorites. Periodically an entertainment fiction series with a great character like Jason Bourne or Lisbeth Salander would rope me in.
With this track record, it should come as no surprise that reading books became a significant part of my daily commitment to get stronger in body, mind, spirit, and relationships in prison. I had the time and my loved ones kept a steady stream of new titles arriving. I touched all of the categorical bases from previous phases, while significantly broadening my horizons.
I’m not just reading more widely though. I am reading more deeply. As I practice the craft of writing, my reading has become increasingly intentional. I’m taking in what is written and how it is written. I appreciate great writing more now because I have a better understanding of how hard it is to produce.
Those who have succeeded in producing outstanding work follow in my Top 10 lists from the first 500 books read. I chose not to include The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People even though I read it twice during my prison stay. It has become a sacred text for me and resides in a category of its own. The Big Short serves as a placeholder for Michael Lewis, my favorite author. I could easily have substituted one of his other books as I have read several while in the camp and I love them all.
TOP 10 FICTION (in no particular order)
Beneath a Scarlet Sky / Sullivan
All the Light We Cannot See / Doerr
Where the Crawdads Sing / Owens
The Great Gatsby / Fitzgerald
The Heart’s Invisible Furies / Boyne
Shantaram / Roberts
Ordinary Grace / Krueger
A Gentleman in Moscow / Towles
Dark Matter / Crouch
The Humans / Haig
TOP 10 NONFICTION
The Big Short / Lewis
Chasing the Scream / Hari
Man’s Search for Meaning / Frankl
Pastrix / Bolz Weber
Breath / Nestor
Open / Feinstein
Peak / Ericsson
12 Rules for Life / Peterson
Caste / Wilkerson
Braiding Sweetgrass / Kimmerer
Looking back over the full list of the 500 books I’ve read, I can see and feel multiple dimensions of positive change they fostered in my life over the past four years. First and foremost I am grateful for the way the books have deepened my relationships. I feel the love and consideration my people are expressing when they send me a book. I get to know them better through exposure to their preferences for information and art. I feel known by them when they pick a title that is right up my alley.
Reading widely has allowed me to keep my mind and life expanding in this tiny, insignificant place. I have studied history, psychology, biographies, spirituality, technology, the criminal legal system, personal development, golf, climate change, ecology, race, the war on drugs, and fitness at length. I live among men who let their curiosity atrophy and their lives get small. That is the system’s goal and every book I read that adds to my knowledge, stokes my imagination, activates my emotions, or deepens my understanding of my self or the world around me is an act of joyous rebellion.
The books are helping me to process this experience as I head toward the exit door. I don’t think it’s a coincidence when I am wrestling with some aspect of my existence and an author perfectly states what has been bouncing around confusedly in my mind. My journals and notebooks are filled with insights that help me continuously evolve as a human.
I could go on, but I have a stack of books that need reading. Suffice it to say, my life has been enriched immeasurably by the experience of reading the first 500. And although my pace may slow amidst the demands of a full life at home, there will be a next 500 for this book worm.
