To mark the last week of school and the start of summer break here in Colorado, I am challenging myself to see how many on my list I can finish. I know I likely won't get through them all, but that is the challenge. And in all transparency, I started The Regenerative Life back in January at the high recommendation of my friend Elicia, I just need to finish the last seven chapters, so I already have a six chapter head start.
Bowling Alone was a recommendation from my friend Cara, who I met through the IAD program. We met up at a playground with our kids one day, and after telling her I had just read several books on communities and community building*, she threw this suggestion at me and now we're reading it together.
Anti-Fragile comes recommended by another friend, Dave, who recommended it what feels like a year ago during one of our Saturday morning Regenerative Study Group calls (also where The Regenerative Life recommendation came from). I did start it at one point, but not in an earnest way. Finishing this one is important to me. I've slacked and procrastinated it for too long. Rest assured, Dave and I will be on a patio somewhere discussing this book by summers end, or more likely, in his kitchen prepping food for D&D.
100 Ways to Change Your Life was a gift from my sister Leslie a couple Christmas' ago. This one is also high on my priority list because I've put it off for so long. Eating the Cheshire Cat is also a recommendation from Leslie, back way back some years ago when I asked her what her favorite books were. I bought a few of them so I could know her better. I read Jitterbug Perfume back when I purchased the books, but this one has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster is a book one of my all time favorite creative minds to engage with, my friend Jeff, read a while back and I took note. He is always reading the most interesting books, and I am always taking notes. Also from him is the book Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, which he has offered to send me and I keep turning him down. Maybe I'll add that one to my Winter 2026 Reading List.
Rooted was acquired most recently at the Chapter Two Bookstore in the Loveland Public Library. I volunteer once a week with the Mobile Laundry truck which parks outside, and I get to pop in to peruse the selection at least once a shift; I found this one two weeks ago. It's been on my list since reading both Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, two of my favorite books on nature and our relationship to it.
Barzun, J. (1975). The Use and Abuse of Art. Princeton University Press.
Bloch, S. (2025). Shade: The promise of a forgotten natural resource. Random House.
Brown, T., & Katz, B. (2011). Change by Design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. Harper Business.
Cohen, G. L. (2022). Belonging: The science of creating connection and bridging divides. W.W. Norton & Company.
Criado Perez, C. (2019). Invisible Women: Data bias in a world designed for men. Abrams Press.
Desmond, M. (2016). Evicted. Crown Publishers.
Ellis, H. (2001). Eating the Cheshire Cat. Scribner Paperback Fiction.
Haupt, L. L., & Nicholson, H. (2023). Rooted: Life at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit. Little, Brown Spark.
Hofstadter, D. R. (1999). Gödel, Escher, Bach: An eternal golden braid. Basic Books.
Marohn, C. L. (2020). Strong towns: A bottom-up revolution to rebuild American Prosperity. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Montell, A. (2021). Cultish: The language of fanaticism. Harper Wave.
Moody, L. (2024). 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The science of levelling up health, happiness, Relationships & Success. Harper Wave.
Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things: Revised and expanded edition. Basic Books.
Putnam, R. D. (2002). Bowling alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster.
Sanford, C. (2020). The Regenerative Life: Transform any organization, our society, and your destiny. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Sterling, S. (2009). Sustainable Education: Re-visioning Learning and Change (Ser. 6). Green Books.
Taleb, N. N. (2016). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Random House.
Thomas, D. (2008). Deluxe: How luxury lost its Luster. Penguin Books.