Online Resources
Raven’s Bread Ministries is an amazing resource for eremitic life.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ – A great word-limited summary of the news in a historical context, by a History Professor. It’s written with an emotionally and politically flat tone. Just what I needed to keep up with the chaos without it leaking in. Thank you, Heather Cox!
Books
Architecture
The Timeless Way of Building. By Christopher Alexander
Given to me by my father decades ago, it was a significant influence on the design of Mons Domus.
Nature
Mozart’s Starling. Lyanda Lynn Haupt. Her interest in the life of Mozart got a bit derailed when she encountered anecdotes of these remarkable birds. Maligned in the US, beloved and in decline in Europe, Haupt combines cultural history, personal experience, and science in this light weight page turner.
Mind of the Raven. Bernd Heinrich. Perhaps one of the most influential and best written books in the “wake up, animals have minds, too,” genre, Dr. Heinrich follows several wild ravens through years of trust building and compassionate scientific observation. I strongly recommend any of this amazing author’s works (he also writes on running and some reflective autobiographical pieces)
The Soul of an Octopus. Sy Montgomery. A great mix of anecdote and science, the author provides a gripping narrative as she comes to realize there’s a lot more to octopuses than arms.
Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind. Peter Godfrey Smith. Looking for connections with nature? This book is a speculative piece about the emergence of sentience in life on Earth. Smith is well versed in both evolution and the philosophy of these matters. It’s a nice read, informatively technical, but not overly so.
Spirituality and Religion
Why Buddhism is True. By Robert Wright
If you’re interested in what meditation does to and for the brain physiologically in the the first hand words of a bright sceptic, here you go!