For me, 2023 brought a full-on return to face-to-face work, and with it, a return to commuting. This, in turn, meant a return to Audible. So in one of those “Year in Review” type articles, I thought I’d scroll back through my list and share a couple of the books that I read this year — in particular, ones that might be of New Years-ish interest. (Note that they may have been published sometime earlier, but I just discovered and/or got around to reading them in 2023). At any rate, here goes:
vision for the future
Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World, by Emily Balcetis, PhD. Balcetis, a psychology researcher at NYU, noticed something interesting when studying elite marathon runners: the most successful of them “see” the finish line differently in their minds than those who are less successful. She calls this the “perception gap,” and shows how it applies to the rest of us, and any goal that we may pursue. There are times when it’s best to narrow your focus — such as when you’re trying to exercise, save money, or maximize your productivity — and to view your goal as very close up. Other times, it’s best to zoom out to see the big picture— like when you’re trying to avoid temptation or assess whether a change in course is in order. It’s an interesting idea, this connection between vision and goal-setting, and an appropriate note to start the new year. Along with theory, Balcetis shares some actionable tips and techniques that anyone can put in to practice in their New Year’s pursuits.
berry interesting
I read two books this year by speaker and author Ken Berry, MD, whose Proper Human Diet (PHD) has become very popular in low-carb circles. (For the really hardcore, he also offers the BBB&E diet, consisting of nothing but Beef, Butter, Bacon and Eggs). His first book, Lies My Doctor Told Me, explodes many of the myths that pass as “common knowledge” in the medical community today. Along with discussions about things like diet and cholesterol, he points out, for example, that you’ll get more nitrates from vegetables and even your own saliva than you will from bacon, or that eating carrots will actually do nothing to help your night vision. His second book, Kicking Ass After 50, instructs men of a certain age how to optimize their health by cleaning up their diet and exercise routine. This one is a good overview of the low-carb diet for beginners — very practical and down-to-earth, without going deep into the science. This last point, though, is a double-edged sword for me. In Lies, Berry makes a number of unorthodox assertions, but rather than include footnotes, he encourages readers to go to Google and PubMed and do the research for themselves. I’d feel more confident in Dr. Berry’s recommendations if there were an appendix, but overall both are very approachable reading for the low-carb-curious.
getting hard
If you’re looking for some New Year’s motivation, nothing will get you more pumped up than David Goggins. A former Navy SEAL, ultra-marathon runner, smoke-jumper, pullup world record holder and all-around badass, Goggins weaves a tale that will both inspire and challenge you. Can’t Hurt Me is a memoir of his life’s journey from a difficult upbringing as the only African-American kid in a small town in Indiana; to his several failures and eventual success in BUDS, the Navy SEAL corps’s notoriously punishing selection program; to his career in footraces of 100-plus miles. Each chapter ends with an “evolution,” a challenge that readers can apply in their own lives to level up their performance. Goggins’s second book, Never Finished, picks up where the first left off, telling of his late racing career and his work as a firefighter in the wilds of Canada. There’s no doubt that David Goggins has an incredible story, and his no-holds-barred style of storytelling will either rev you up or turn you off, depending on how much profanity you can tolerate. In the audible version, each chapter is followed by a brief podcast-style conversation between Goggins and his narrator Adam Skolnik, which adds an interesting layer to the text. After reading these back-to-back, I honestly wasn’t sure whether to be inspired or exhausted.
brain energy
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I’ll mention Dr. Christopher Palmer’s Brain Energy. Why is it, Palmer asks, that there’s so much crossover between neurological conditions, like epilepsy and dementia, and mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety? And why is it that many medications used to treat the first are also effective in the second — such as Depakote, an anti-seizure drug that’s also used for bipolar disorder? Could it be that beneath the signs and symptoms of these various disorders there is one common root cause? That’s the question at the heart of Palmer’s book. In it, he posits that perhaps mitochondrial disfunction — flaws in how cells in the brain create energy — is at the heart of it all. And if this is so, then perhaps changes in diet and lifestyle can actually be used to treat both. It’s a fascinating, if sometimes dense, read, and it merits more discussion than I can squeeze in here. I learned a lot from this book, and plan to do an entire post (or several) about it in the new year. In the time since Brain Energy’s publication a year ago, Palmer’s ideas have gotten lots of attention and may just cause a revolution in the field of psychiatry. I look forward to seeing where it goes in 2024.
and so on…
There’s a lot more that I can talk about, but I’m already at 1000 words. If you want to see more of my reading list, head over to my page at Bookshop.org and see my growing list of Recommended Reads. And if you have any recommendations of your own to share, please put them in the comments. Wishing you happy reading in 2024!