Subtitled "The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World" this book is the result of five years of writing each day by Ethan Tapper on a labor of love. That labor is tending to the 175-acre forest he owns called Bear Island. I had followed How to Love a Forest on Instagram for a year or so when this book came out in September 2024. I originally picked it up to learn about how to select trees to keep or cut, how to tackle invasive plants, and other techniques to help renew forests. Tapper touches on those subjects, but this isn't an academic book. It's more of a journal about how he learned to make tough choices and some that might be controversial in some environmentalists' eyes.  While I picked up the book in hopes of techniques, I found I couldn't put it down because of the vivid writing that transported me to Bear Island. I committed to only reading while I was actually in a forest, which helped add to the experience.

I few things to ponder from the book:

• Tapper talks about - Only people who love trees should cut trees. Where else in our lives and society could this apply?

• Trees take decades to grow and forests even longer to perhaps truly change. How do we handle delayed gratification when the results might not even be seen in our lifetimes?

• What can we learn from the cooperation and competition within a forest about life and society in general?

This short story by Capote is autobiogrpahical in nature and set in the rural Alabama in the 1930s. It is a delightful story and so well written. It has become a tradition for me to read it each Christmas season. It is heart-warming and reminds us of the Christmas Spirit. 

I few things to ponder from the story:

• What are your best memories of Christmas?

• To what degree do we see the bad, or the good, in people?

• Friendships that span generations

This was my favorite fiction of 2022. It was a recommendation from my friend Keri, a prodigious reader. While I had seen the movie, The Martian, which was based on another Andy Weir book, this was my first read from him. I loved the science, but I loved the creativity and humor even more. And it gives an indirect nod to the great city of Philadelphia. Definitely a book that was hard to put down.

I also found it thought provoking in a couple themes around:

• The greater good.

• Friendship.

• Cooperation.

• Cultural interaction.

Subtitled "Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond" this is both an autobiography and a glimpse into one of the greatest American, human even, endeavors. When I think about the context of the challenge from President Kennedy in 1961 of reaching the moon with the technology at the time, each page opened my eyes even wider to the sacrifices and accomplishments of the many men and women that got us to the moon.

Thought provoking themes:

• Dealing with tragedy.

• Ownership.

• Communication.

• Trust.

If you like dogs, or you like hiking, or you like underdog stories (pun definitely intended), then you'll love this book about a little dog and his owner that conquer the highest peaks of New Hampshire. And yes, the little dog is named after the character Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. You could read this just for the pure joy of it, but you'll also see themes such as:

• Judging a book, or a dog, by its cover.

• Setting goals.

• Friendship.

• Delayed gratification. 

Unless you're a bot, I challenge you to read this and not feel something. This book is about the life and sacrifice of Michael Monsoor, a Medal of Honor recipient. I had heard of Michael, and the book, when his father, George, was a guest on the Jocko Podcast. The book is amazingly well written. Trying to capture the life of someone, especially someone like Michael Monsoor is difficult, as you want to pay honor to his life. And it seemed that it was with that spirit of paying honor that the words written were each carefully chosen. What you have is a concise, but powerful, tribute to a life well lived. A few things that I paused to ponder in this:

• Embracing one's faith.

• Sacrifice

• The symbolism, honor, and love seen through the DDG-Zumwalt-class ship.

• Living life to the fullest because it can be short.

I mentioned this book in Episode 2 when I talked about the balance of structure & flexibility. William McRaven, a Navy SEAL, who was an admiral when he retired, did the commencement speech in 2014 for his alma mater, the University of Texas. That speech turned into this book. In it he gives 10 things you can do, that he has done, that can impact your life, and as he says, possibly change the world. 

The pages are small and just over 100 pages so it's a quick read, an encouraging read. While all of the habits or suggestions are worth pondering, I found I dwelled on the following the most:

• Starting the day on a positive step "Make Your Bed"

• Who has supported me as teammates over the years and do I share that support? "You Can't Go It Alone"

• Am I pouring into others when I can? "Give People Hope"

I mentioned this book in Episode 2 when I talked about the balance of looking backward vs. looking forward. It was given to me by my financial advisor, Kevin. A bit seredipity as I got this as I was still debating whether I start the Wander & Ponder platform. The book introduction talks about Mr. Beast, a YouTuber who now has over 100 million subscribers, and how in 11th grade he decided to look forward. Another nudge for me to start this adventure. 

The book covers a lot of the psychology of looking forward and rather than trying to explain who you are or why you do what you do based on your past, to rather start considering that every choice today takes you somewhere and that it's better if you make those choices based on the what you want your future self to be. 

The book is broken down into very logical sections and parts, and at under 200 pages is a fairly quick read. It does feel gimmicky at times, but perhaps that was just me. Some of the more salient thoughts to ponder:

• We seldom think about the impact over a long period of time (years) of positive steps forward

• We too often let failure of the past, dictate or prevent us from seeing a good future

• "Failing at your future self is better than succeeding at your current self" - the idea of fail fast to make progress which you also hear in different 'agile' approaches to engineering. And also incorporates the idea that we learn a lot from our failures.

McChrystal is retired US Army General Stanley McChrystal. I expected this to be filled with glorious war stories, but I was very plesantly surprised. It is a much more cerebral book than I had expected. McChrystal describes how the allied forces in the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq changed their operations, and why they had to change them.

The authors do a great job of describing the differences between complicated and complex. With complicated being a system with many independent parts. While complex is a system that may not have as many parts, but the parts are far more interconnected. Complex is how the warfare today has become. 

With great background stories from history and current news, not all military, they describe the need to break down silos and hierarchies and increase the trust across teams, creating a team of teams. The book describes set backs and risks that had to be taken, so it isn't just a white-washed victory story. 

As expected, there is a lot of discussion targeted at leaders and how they are crucial in changing from a efficient procedural world to an effective team of teams world. Some of the more salient thoughts to ponder:

• What silos or walls surround me or my team?

• What do I see that is complicated? complex?

• Am I will to take risk to make a change?

The "Luckiest Man in the World" is the story of a farm boy from Minnesota who lies about his age and ends up on the beaches of Normandy. Jake Larson, known as Papa Jake, will tell you he’s not a hero as he tells life stories from his boyhood to becoming a TikTok star. He’s been called a national treasure, and it’s a fitting moniker. 

The book is written in short bite-size chapters, and reads easily. Throughout it, he shares why he claims to be the luckiest man in the world. He can't explain it, but acknowledges it. Papa Jake is on TikTok and and also posts occassionally on Instagram. He has some older videos on YouTube. (Well, I believe his granddaughter McKaela handles the editing and posting). 

Just a fascinating story told in a humble manner. 

 Some things I stopped to ponder: 

• Where was I at age 15, 18, 22? Could I picture me at that age in the shoes of Jake Larson?

• Luck, fate, odds, butterfly effects.

• Gratitude. Giving and receiving. How as our WW II veterans become fewer and fewer, the magnitude of gratitude Mr. Larson recieves on behalf of those that are no longer around. The responsibility of accepting gratitude on behalf of others.

Hal Hershfield is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, & Pyscology at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. In this book he shares much of his and others research on the concept of "Future Self", that is looking to oneself as they are in the future. The basic theme is that the better 'connected' one is to their future self, but better they are at making long-term decisions. 

The book covers methods to connect to your future self after describing why it isn't as easy as we'd like to think it is. The book also covers some approaches to improve your follow-up to goals established, specifically in terms of long-term goals. fascinating story told in a humble manner. 

I picked this book up after hearing Hal on several podcasts and found it a quick and easy read.

 Some things I stopped to ponder: 

• What is "self"? How do I define myself?

• How have I changed over the decades? And how might I change in the future?

• Where will I be in 5, 10, 20 years?

I really enjoyed this ‘old’ book. While I knew parts of the George F. Johnson story, this added a ton of background. The author spent a good part of the summer of 1934 in Endicott living among the EJ workers. He had a lot of access to George F and the other leaders, but also time with the ‘common’ worker. Besides giving a ton of great insight into George F, I just found the writing to be refreshing in ways. For example, he spends a page and a half describing the physical appearance of George F. And the stories about the interactions with the workers from baseball to medical to charity to clambakes was great. It did overly repeat the square deal concept but, I think that was the point.

This book isn't in print anymore, to the best of my knowledge; but you can still find copies at used bookstores. If you're local and you'd like to borrow my copy, let me know.

 Some things I stopped to ponder: 

• How would George F and EJ have turned out if he hadn't come from humble beginnings?

• Was this a form of Socialism?

• Why did George F seem to feel it was better to be loved than feared?

• What would George F say today?

While thought provoking, I also found this book a bit quirky, but perhaps it's just my nature of looking for efficiencies and time management. 4000 Weeks, which comes from the average life span, looks at the futility of trying to conquer time. The main theme is accepting our finitude brings us freedom from being a slave to trying to control time. Lots of great stories and analysis, including the story of a professor of art, at I believe Harvard, who's lesson plan includes going to an art gallery and staring at one piece for three hours! 

 Some things I stopped to ponder: 

• How high do my expectations get when I look at time saving schemes?

• Patience, have we gotten worse at being patient?

• How does eternal life dovetail into earthly time?