Published on June 23, 2026 10:05 am
When I was a child, we spent part of the summer at my grandparents’ cabin in northern Saskatchewan. It was truly rustic: forget TV, it didn’t even have plumbing. My mother would pack a suitcase full of books on long-term loan from the public library for my brother and me, and we would spend hours in the hammock on the shore of Lake Emma.
My own children are just starting their two-month summer holidays, which seems like an eternity to them. There is a lot I remember about that wonderful feeling of the endless summer of childhood, but one small aspect of it that I can remember again is the determination to spend a few hours of the day – prime time – working! – Lost in a book while swinging slowly in a swing. Here are some titles I’ve enjoyed recently, if you have the same dream.
in the treesby robert moore
A decade ago, Moore wrote a fascinating and difficult to classify book on the trails It had a huge impact on me. This is their long-awaited follow-up, focusing on trees rather than trails. it About this Trees, in the sense that it’s not just a collection of fascinating facts about the evolution and natural history of trees (although you’ll learn a few along the way). Instead, it’s about Idea of trees – branching out, taking root, etc. – and what it might look like in other contexts, such as living a human life or organizing society. If you haven’t read on the trailsI suggest starting there, getting into Moore’s mind and finding out whether you like it there or not.
Norwegian method appliedby Marius Bakkan
If ever a race training book could be described as “much-anticipated” and “long-awaited,” it is this book. Everyone in the endurance world (including me) has been thinking about lactate testing and double-threshold workouts and all that for the past few years. Marius Bakken is the man who developed and formalized the training structure we now think of as the “Norwegian Method”, as implemented by track stars like Jacob Ingebrigtsen. Bakken’s goal is to explain to us the rationale and philosophy of the training approach, not just prescribe specific workouts or weekly schedules. What was surprising to me was how important he considered managing muscle tone and elasticity rather than increasing VO2 max and lactate threshold. Even for readers who are skeptical of training fads, there’s a lot to think about here.
secret of supernatural powerby Alison Bechdel
This is a graphic memoir that came out in 2021, but a friend turned me on to it this year. It recounts Bechdel’s passion for various forms of exercise (including a lot of running) against the backdrop of decades of fitness fads – and reflects her attempts to understand what she (and we) are really looking for in the pursuit of fitness, drawing on thinkers ranging from Emerson to Jack Kerouac. The memoir itself is funny and poignant and (like memoir) intensely personal—but her insights are sharp and surprisingly relevant, at least for a lifelong seeker of truth and peace through exercise.
The Running Dictionaryby Marc Remy
Randomly flipping open: “Multi-use path, n.: A wonderful place where pedestrians, runners, cyclists, and people on motorized bikes and scooters happily share the same narrow ribbon of sidewalk in harmony, respecting each other’s space, often accompanied by unicorns and leprechauns. Remy is a long-running humor writer (now a niche within a niche) who has been writing dumb runner Since 2015. Check it out if you haven’t already. His new ongoing dictionary has the same sharp but affectionate edge along with stunning illustrations New Yorker Cartoonist Joe Dator. I thought I would just flip through it over time, but as soon as I picked it up, I started reading it all the way through.
me, but betterby Olga Khazan
I became interested in the science of personality change when I was researching a recent article on the study of personality in endurance athletes. In terms of the so-called Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism), can you change the hand you’re dealt? Khazan’s book, which came out last year, has become the best and most accessible introduction to current thinking in the field, as she documents her efforts to become less neurotic and more extroverted and agreeable. Scientific Consensus: You can do Make changes, and the best way to do this is to start behaving in a way that you hope will eventually feel natural.
nature and mindBy Mark Berman
The foundational study in the nascent field of environmental neuroscience is known as the “Walk in the Park” study, which was published in 2009. People went for a 50-minute walk through city streets or in a park, and the park walk boosted their cognitive function. Berman has since been on a mission to decode the widely observed but poorly understood connection between nature exposure and how our brains work. I’ve written about his work many times (is my favorite). This one); Last year he finally published a book giving the full picture. I was a big fan of Florence Williams’ book The Nature Fix; It delves deeper into Burman’s approach to science.
ScoreBy C. Thi Nguyen
This book blew my mind. It’s about the role of scores and metrics in our lives – how scores give positive meaning and momentum to “Agile efforts”, but our obsession with metrics and rankings leads us astray in many other parts of our lives. “Value capture” is Nguyen’s term for when you internalize an external metric as the goal of an activity in place of the more complex reasons you started with: when a restaurant wants to maximize its Yelp rating rather than trying to make great food, for example. There’s a lot of complexity and ambiguity here: as a rock climber, he finds that attempting to master the climb with the highest grade leaves him screwed. Feeling He initially fell in love with climbing, but he admits he never would have found this sense of playful endeavor without the inspiration of the grading system. This is a stress that will sound familiar to many endurance athletes, and they have some valuable ideas on how to deal with it.
best laid plansBy Terry Fallis
If you’re looking for a deep glimpse and an incredible window into the behind-the-scenes world of Canadian politics, as well as a few PG Wodehouse-like laughs, this is the one for you. My brother is a connoisseur of political satire and he’s been recommending this 2008 book for years, originally self-published by a former political consultant. I finally got around to reading it a few months ago, and am kicking myself that I didn’t start sooner – but on the bright side, I now have almost two decades of Fallis’s books to read.
art of motionBy Elizabeth Svoboda
For a minute, I thought we’d be given the definitive guide to negative splits and avoiding hitting the wall. The book’s opening scene, and its central metaphor, is actually about marathon pace – but the real focus is the more general view on balancing short-term demands with long-term prosperity (as stated in the subtitle). This will naturally pair with Lindsey Crouse’s upcoming book, case of leavingWhich is going to end in September. (But seriously, I think there’s another book on momentum waiting to be written: anticipatory regulation, threat scores, teleanticipation – there’s a huge pile of fascinating but little-known research in there with both literal and metaphorical utility!)
A few quick hits to finish. I’ve already plugged David Epstein inside the box And Brad Stulberg’s art of excellence Book list of last year’s holidays in advance. They’re both out now, and worth a read. soccer dadWritten by David Murray, reflects my current reality well. Eric Zimmer’s on my bedside table how a little becomes a lotAnd from Mark Medley, one of the most interesting and thoughtful podcast hosts live to see the dayWhich motivates people to take goals that will definitely not be accomplished in their lifetime.
Have a nice summer and happy reading!
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