The March Reading (+Movie) List

There's a crack in everything, it's how the light gets in

Last month was busy. I worked South By Southwest, watched all the Academy Best Pic Nominees, read four books, and recorded one podcast.

—Last December, I posted some of my favorites from the year¹.

People seemed to like it so I’m doing one per month this year.
(See Jan, Feb)

The March List:

• Four books

• Five movies

• One Poem

• One Quote I love

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The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

The Selfish Gene might be the most important scientific book published in the last century. To boil down the book’s complex big picture concept:

• Genes are the basic unit of evolution and a gene’s main goal is to be more numerous

  • An example. a freckled person has the gene for freckles. The freckled gene (FG) competes with other genes to ensure its own survival/reproduction by driving its host to act in certain ways. So in a vast exaggeration, the FG might compel a human to wear sunscreen or avoid the beach altogether.²

I started this book years ago and found it just as interesting then as now. Say what you will about Richard Dawkins. The man was one of the first biologists to utilize the power of Computer Science and what followed is an absolutely brilliant contribution to science. Have a favorite meme? I was shocked to learn that Dawkins actually coined the term “meme” in the book. For anyone interested in science and/or human evolution, this book is required reading.

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Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

My first exposure to Rushdie was his Masterclass. His course on storytelling is excellent and I had high expectations for what is known as the author’s Magnum Opus. His book was like—well, like what you would expect from a book that won “The Booker of Bookers.”

Extraordinary.

The story begins during the British occupation of India. On the eve of Indian independence our narrator (and 1,000 other “Midnight Children”) are born and endowed with magical powers. From there the story continues through another tumultuous thirty or so years which chronicles the Indo-Pakistani war and other crises. Rushdie doesn’t like to use the term “Magical Realism” for his books and though it was a tough first few chapters, I would call it one of the better “surrealist” books I’ve read.

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Neuro-Linguistic Programming by Tom Hoobyar & Tom Dotz

The concept of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) came recommended by a friend as way of improving my public speaking. This book was a bit off the beaten path but had some solid insights. I will admit, however, I’m not exactly the right audience for this book. It was largely tactics for managers and for people in the workplace more generally. Still, there were plenty of lessons to go around. For example, Walt Disney’s Dreamer, Realist, Critic Method for ideation. If you’re looking for a non-mainstream business read this one might be of interest.

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Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

Brene Brown is a shame and vulnerability researcher at the University of Houston. The title of this book comes from Theodore Roosevelt’s Man In The Arena Speech, and Brene’s takeaway is a good one. To paraphrase the message:

In a world where feeling “never enough” has become second nature, utting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that having the courage to be vulnerable—to dare greatly— isn’t uncomfortable, isn’t dangerous, but is a practice for letting ourselves be seen. When you dare greatly, nothing is uncomfortable, dangerous, or hurtful. You aren’t on the outside looking in. You have the courage to step into the arena.³

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book extremely relatable and not at all proselytizing. Brown has a good way of connecting with both men and women—men being the more likely to hide their vulnerability. She also has some interesting thoughts on parenting, which struck me as well grounded.⁴

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Movie time!

Here were my top 5 movies from the nominations

1. The Power of Dog - Directed by Jane Campion

This was the first of the Best Pictures I watched and maybe, pound for pound, the best. I say that with a heavy heart because it wasn’t my “favorite.” But very well done film.

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2 . Drive My Car - Directed by Rayûsuke Hamaguchi

Softspot here: The story is adapted from one of my favorite authors (Haruki Murakami), and it’s about performing Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya

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3. King Richard - Directed By Reinaldo Marcus Green

As a sports fan, I was hooked: Serena + Venus Williams as kids? An intense sport-obsessed father? The telling of one of the greatest stories in modern sports?

Hard not to enjoy it.

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4. CODA - Directed by Sian Heder

Intellectually, I understand why this won. With all the sign language, there has never been a movie quite like it. CODA was cute and the music was wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable. My gut, however, slots it into fourth place. Very much worth watching.

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5. Don’t Look Up - Directed by Adam McKay

This movie was nowhere near as “good” as Westside Story or Dune or Nightmare Alley, but dammit did I enjoy it. Premiering on the tail end of covid lockdowns, in the first years of a post-trump world, this movie was awesome. And prescient in many ways. It’s not often that I find a movie that makes me laugh like this one did.⁵

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Poem

When I was in high school I loathed poetry. I still remember sitting in Mr. Brocato’s 9th grade English class, reading Emily Dickinson and thinking it was complete garbage. Whether I actually hated it or was just saying what a ‘boy-teen’ was supposed to, who knows. ⁶

What changed my mind?

I don’t know for sure, but probably a combination of:

1. Reading Walt Whitman at college in D.C.

2. Learning that Abraham Lincoln wrote poetry

3. Seeing Margaret Atwood include poems in her novels

4. Most recently, the work of the incredible Irish poet David Whyte

Now I read poetry occasionally and (occasionally) write some.⁷

Anyway, here is the beautiful poem which struck a chord while at my childhood home:

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And finally the quote:

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—A long time ago

I came to realize that I even if I read non-stop from birth until death I would still not come close to reading all the greatest books ever written. Surprisingly, it took the pressure off trying to read only the greats. Now I read whatever interests me at a given time. And this relationship has led me to view reading as a privilege and a practice. So I’ll leave the March letter there. I hope at least one of these books has intrigued you enough to pick up a copy or have a listen on Audible. To me, it doesn’t matter if you take the physical copy or download it on audible. What matters is that you are reading!

As always, I appreciate you supporting this newsletter, and my writing at large. I’m going to keep testing different types of content here and always love to hear your feedback. You’re also encouraged to email me questions or raise issues for discussion and i’ll try to tackle them here or in another medium.

Even better, I’d love for you to pass along any books/movies/podcasts/docs you found particularly good.

As always, reach out if there is anything you need

Take care,

Jeremy

1. Books, movies, documentaries, and podcasts

2. This is such painful hyperbole I’m tempted to cut it out, but it’s the best I can do. And I think the general idea is worth spreading.

3. Paraphrased from Brene’s Website.

4. But what do I know about parenting…

5. #Bringbackcomedymovies

6. Especially not me

7. I’m still too much of a boy-teen to share the latter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯