Moral Animal by Robert Wright
I love evolutionary science, and this book deepened that love. It reinforced what I first learned in Wright’s other book Why Buddhism Is True: our genes don’t care about our happiness; they care about getting into the next generation. So many of our “choices” are driven by wiring we can’t see. It’s unsettling how unaware we are of the forces shaping us. But it’s hopeful too. Once we see our blind spots, we can question our impulses and make better choices.
C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing by Corey Latta
I loved this book. It builds on the advice collected in On Writing by C.S. Lewis but goes deeper. Latta doesn’t just share Lewis’s writing principles—he explores the conditions that made Lewis’s writing possible. What shaped him? What fueled that kind of output? How did he actually work? One of the biggest takeaways for me was how widely and deeply Lewis read. As a young boy, he devoured books in the attic of his family home, wandering through myth, history, poetry, and story. By adulthood, he was one of the most well-read writers of his generation. Like Bob Dylan, C.S. Lewis’s genius didn’t come out of nowhere. He read book after book… and then he extended the line.
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
My good friend recommended this a while ago, and I’m finally reading it. Oh man, this book is so good. I’m only halfway through, but I’ve already made changes to my diet. I even stopped eating cupcakes and ice cream on the weekends (and me and cupcakes and ice cream were like this 🤞). When a reputable physician writes his magnum opus and page after page details the dangers of poor metabolic health—how it underlies nearly every major disease of aging—you sit up and take note. And you make changes. It’s only been a few weekends since I cut out my excessive sugar intake, and I’m determined to keep it up. This quote by Henri Amiel has been helping: “Every desire abates, and every vice grows after it is satisfied.” I’ve also been thinking about what Leo Tolstoy said—that all behavior stems from thoughts. So if you want to improve your behavior, first work to improve your thoughts. Please read this book. You really have to.
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Corey Latta said this is Lewis’s best literary fiction, so of course I had to read it. It’s not my usual go-to genre, but I ended up really liking it. A favorite takeaway is the meaning behind the book’s title: we can’t expect God to meet us face to face “till we have faces.” Until we’re honest with ourselves. Until we get clear about who we are. Until we move past the tangle of thoughts and get to what’s truly in our heart. Becoming our real selves is uncomfortable, but it’s the prerequisite for transcending ourselves.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Okay. I knew C.S. Lewis was a genius, but I didn’t know he was a genius genius. This book blew my mind. (By page 68 I’d already written “Wow!” or “omg” 72 times.) I’m putting it in my top 10 favorite books of all time. I remember reading parts of this book as a teenager and loving it, but I never finished it. Thankfully, I picked it back up this month after learning, in C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing, why Lewis wrote it. The premise is brilliant: a series of letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew, advising him on how to subtly steer humans away from God/what’s best for them. The wisdom in this book surpasses almost any other book I’ve read. I’ve also ordered more of Lewis’s books, including Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, The Weight of Glory, and Surprised by Joy.