RECOMMENDED READINGS
Each book listed here is one that I truly value. Some are old friends; some are new discoveries. But each author presents views and perspectives that are fresh, brilliant, and outside the norm, which of course is my favorite place to dwell. I hope you enjoy these treasures.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Davis, Wade. The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2009. Also available in audio from CBC Massey Lecture Series, the source of the book. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-2009-cbc-massey-lectures-the-wayfinders-why-ancient-wisdom-matters-in-the-modern-world-1.2946883
Hancock, Graham. Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth’s Lost Civilization. London: Coronet Books, 2015.
Stringer, Chris. Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth. New York: Times Books/Holt, 2012.
COLLAPSE
Chödrön, Pema. When Things Fall Apart. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2016.
Glubb, John. The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival. 1976. http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
Ophuls, William. Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail. CreateSpace, 2012.
———. Plato’s Revenge: Politics in the Age of Ecology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013.
Tainter, Joseph. The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Wright, Ronald. A Short History of Progress. Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2005. Also available from CBC Massey Lecture Series, the source of the book. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-2004-cbc-massey-lectures-a-short-history-of-progress-1.2946872
INTERNET
Carr, Nicholas. The Glass Cage: Automation and Us. New York: Norton, 2015.
———. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: Norton, 2011.
———. Utopia Is Creepy: And Other Provocations. New York: Norton, 2016.
Kardaras, Nicholas. Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids—and How to Break the Trance. New York: St. Martin’s, 2016.
MEDITATION
Salzberg, Sharon. Loving Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2002
———. Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28 Day Program. New York: Workman Publishing, 2011.
———. Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace. New York: Workman Publishing, 2013.
Trungpa, Chögyam, and Carolyn Rose Gimian. Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2015.
Wallace, Alan. Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
SCIENCE
Geology
Childs, Craig. Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Ever-ending Earth. New York: Pantheon, 2012.
Living Systems
Capra, Fritjof, and Pier Luigi Luisi. The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014
Capra, Fritjof, and Ugo Mattei. The Ecology of Law: Toward a Legal System in Tune with Nature and Community. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2015.
Margulis, Lynn. Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution. New York: Basic Books, 1998.
Philosophy of Science and/or Technology
Ellul, Jacques. Perspectives on Our Age: Jacques Ellul Speaks on His Life and Work. Toronto: House of Anansi, 2004.
Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
The Dalai Lama. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005.
Gribbin, John. The Quantum Mystery. A Kindle Single, 2015.
Musser, George. Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time. New York: Scientific American/ Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.
Ricard, Matthieu, and Trinh Xuan Thuan. The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.
SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Mann, Michael, and Tom Toles. The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
Gray, John. The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.
———. The Soul of the Marionette: A Short Inquiry into Human Freedom. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.
WARRIORSHIP
Frankl, Victor. Man’s Search for Meaning. New York: Beacon, 2015 (New Gift Edition of original with added material).
Funk, Mary Margaret, OSB. Humility Matters: Toward Purity of Heart. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2013.
Gimian, James, and Barry Boyce. The Rules of Victory: How to Transform Chaos and Conflict-Strategies from the Art of War. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2008.
Kahane, Adam. Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2010.
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. New York: Little, Brown, 2008.
McCarthy, Margaret Cain, and Mary Ann Zollmann, eds. Power of Sisterhood: Women Religious Tell the Story of the Apostolic Visitation. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2014.
Palmer, Parker. The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity and Caring. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.