Hello Bar-setters!
When it comes to gifts, I’m a bit predictable. I almost always opt for books.
To me, there is no gift that can compare with sharing great ideas and access to new worldviews. Books allow you to lose consciousness of yourself and enter the mind of another person—often someone wiser or more educated on a certain topic. And, if read, they tend to bring you closer to the people you share them with.
A few quotes come to mind that capture the power of reading good books:
The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.
—Rene Descartes
Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.
—Malorie Blackman
So, today, as many of you consider last second gift ideas, or prepare to spend your Amazon gift card money, I wanted to recommend a few books. But, first, I want to shamelessly plug my own book… a delightful gift for any parent, educator, or conscientious citizen.😀
Setting the Bar: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Era of Distraction, Dependency, and Entitlement
Table of Contents
Section I: These Days
Kids These Days
A Failed Youth Development Paradigm
Antifragility
The Danger of Overprotection
Having More vs. Being More
Flying to Our Own Demise
Section II: The Cost of Utopian Delusions
The Cost of Utopian Delusions
The Beauty of the Ideal
Judge Thy Neighbor
An Aside on Parenting Mentally and Physically Healthy Kids
Enlightenment or Bust
Section III: Education and Reform
Modern Education: The Land of Smoke and Mirrors
Six Practices that are Ruining Education
Towards a Better Educational Philosophy
The Lost Tools and Other Possible Reforms
Master Thy Self
A New Vision for Schools
Is College Still Worth It?
Conclusion: The Transition to Adulthood
The paperback version is currently discounted to the furthest possible extent. For the next month, you can get Setting the Bar for what it costs to print.
Alright, to my list of great books…
The Fire Carrier Book List
The problems I focus on in this newsletter are problems of culture. The best way to combat a failing culture is through a powerful sub-culture. To create a more powerful counter-culture/sub-culture, you have to start by clarifying expectations, values, and vision, so that your sub-culture can speak from a common language.
Books are one of the most central ways that this can be accomplished. If you and others read a collection of the same powerful books, you will be able to quickly jump to another level of mutual insight and connection.
In this spirit, I’ve been compiling a list of the most essential books, articles, podcasts, etc. for the Fire Carrier vision—the foundation of what I consider a Fire Carrier Cannon. Today, I want to give an introduction to the Fire Carrier book list. This won’t be the exhaustive list, but it is more than enough to get you going.
Best Books for Understanding the World and Human Civilization
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger
Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road, by Matthew Crawford
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, by Jonathan Haidt
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, by Robert Pirsig
Antifragile: Things that Gain From Disorder, by Nassim Taleb
The Comfort Crisis: Embracing Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, by Michael Easter
The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, by Tom Holland
Straight Wisdom
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl
The Prophet, by Khalil Gibran
Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe, by Richard Rohr
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness, by Eric Jorgensen
The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis
Motivating Behavior: For Teams and Individuals
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, by Daniel Coyle
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, by Chip and Dan Heath
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. by Daniel Coyle
Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes Remarkable Results, by James Clear
Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life, by Jim Kwik
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport
Perception Changing Memoir and Biography
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, by Edmund Morris
Nomad: From Islam to America—A Personal Journey, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Losing My Cool: Love, Literature, and a Black Man’s Escape From the Crowd, by Thomas Chatterton Williams
Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and Deeper Connection to Life–in Judaism, by Sarah Hurwitz
Great Fiction
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, by Steven Pressfield
Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance, by Christopher McDougal
The Circle, by David Eggers
The Every, by David Eggers
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
For Fathers
The Intentional Father, by Jon Tyson
Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Spirituality, by Richard Rohr
Rules for a Knight, by Ethan Hawke
Thank you for reading! If you found this interesting, please share it. That’s the only way Setting the Bar spreads.
Have a wonderful Christmas week! And, as always, Carry the fire!
Shane