Best Books — Curated from The Hiro Report

Ever since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by the paranormal and the unknown. I'd spend hours poring over pulp paperbacks about UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, secret societies, and haunted houses. I've been missing getting exposure to these little unexplained mysteries and (in some cases) completely fabricated conspiracies. So I built a tiny site that feeds out one little parcel of esoteric trivia each day. Expect details on various poltergeists and cryptids, famous UFO sightings that happened on this day in history, secrets of the Illuminati, explanations of occult symbols, and more. It's also got an RSS feed, and a Threads bot, and a couple of fun easter eggs hidden in the site.

If you like geeking out on books, you should really be checking out Pagebound. It's a woman-run, independent alternative to Goodreads that has lots of great discoverability features, plus a clever review and discussion format for chatting with other folks who are currently reading the same books as you. If you join, let's be friends.

This is one of the few books that I routinely give out as a gift because it’s so universally helpful and practical. $

A samurai sword–bearing pizza delivery guy, the mafia, ancient Sumerian mythology, and one of the best-named protagonists in modern fiction. Give the gift of some of cyberpunk’s finest. $

One of a few books that fundamentally impacted my lifestyle by making me completely rethink how I breathe. ~$17

A super inspirational prod to get out and do hard things, and why it’s not only good for our bodies but also our spirits. ~$12

This is one of the few books that I routinely give out as a gift because it's so universally helpful and practical. $

This one might be old news to some, but it’s new to me: Libro.fm is like Bookshop.org for audiobooks. A portion of every purchase supports the local bookstore of your choice. You can opt for a monthly subscription with credits or buy books à la carte. I plan to try it out… once I work through my mountain of Audible credits.

This pop-up book for grown-ups who love typography and design looks amazing. Described as an interactive museum of lettering history and typeface technology in book form, it promises to be both beautiful and fun despite its potentially dense subject matter.

Matthew Butterick’s excellent web-based book on typography principles is delightful. I’ve referred to it for years and always learn something new. If you want to understand what makes a good typeface, how to choose the right ones, or just need recommendations, this book is a gem and beautifully designed.

This brilliant browser extension lets you know if your local library carries (and has in stock) any books or ebooks you’re browsing on Amazon, Good Reads, etc. It works for thousands of libraries across the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, and also supports digital books and audiobooks for libraries that offer them.

From the site’s description: “The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture magazine and product catalog published by Stewart Brand several times a year between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998. The magazine featured essays and articles but focused primarily on product reviews. The editorial focus was on self-sufficiency, ecology, alternative education, ‘do it yourself,’ and holism, featuring the slogan ‘access to tools.’” This archive is a treasure trove—vintage tech, original R. Crumb art, hippy manifestos, and articles by Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken Kesey, and more!

Maciej Cegłowski writes a lot (his site’s tagline is “brevity is for the weak”), and he often goes DEEP on what should be very dull topics like infrastructure. Somehow, instead of being dry academic treatises, he makes the subjects fun to read about. This past month, he turned his sights on NASA’s Artemis program to return American astronauts to the Moon. While an analysis of government contracting failures and budgetary bureaucracy should be a snooze fest, I was laughing (and, at times, ruefully sobbing) through this epic ~8,000-word essay.

The folks at Humble Bundle launched an amazing “pay what you want” charity bundle this week in partnership with one of my favorite comic book authors, Mike Mignola. If you’re interested in noir detective stories, occult mysteries, folk tales, and the like, I highly recommend checking it out. You can get more than a dozen B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) volumes for $1, or for $30, you can get around 60 books, including all the Hellboy comics.

Speaking of AI, Ben Brown wrote this awesome little Sci Fi short story this week. I don't want to say too much so I don't spoil anything, but it is awesome and worth a read. I want a collection of short stories set in this universe, ASAP!

I just finished reading this book this week and am still processing all the take aways. The premise is pretty simple-- What are the no nonsense, non-gimmicky things that we can do right now to increase both our lifespan and our "health span" (the amount of time that we are healthy and capable of doing everything we want to do). Dr. Attia has a tendency to go a little deeper in to the science than I really need for him to make his point, but on the whole there were lots of eye opening lessons for me, and it's got me inspired to make some simple but impactful changes in how I workout, sleep, eat, and relate to others.

This is a Gift Link to yet another lovely NYT poem exegesis, this one dissecting the poem Having a Coke With You by Frank O'Hara. Even if you don't scroll through the whole analysis, take a moment and read the poem for a dose of love and beauty in your day.

Speaking of adventures, I recently finished this remarkable book and really enjoyed it. Michael Easter spends the book making the case for intentionally introducing more mental and physical discomfort in our lives to help us live healthier and happier. Bridging everything from Tibetan Buddhism to arctic hunting, Japanese Shinto practice to military-style rucking, the book has me all sorts of inspired to find new ways to stretch outside of my comfort zone.

Mental Floss had a great little history on the origins of the term "Cowabunga" in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this week. I won't spoil it, but there's a ridiculous video clip of its original usage. 🤯

I feel a bit like I sipped from the wrong chalice in the crypt of the Grail Knight when I read this, but it was honestly really helpful. I have heard a lot of these terms and only been able to guess at their meanings from context clues. I don't imagine I'll be slipping many of these words into conversation any time soon, but I believe there's a lot of power in language, and tremendous benefit to learning new languages, so here we are!

I’m embarrassed to say I’d never heard of Margaret Cavendish, but I found her story fascinating. I'm eager to read her book at some point. Hat tip to Kerri Ann on Mastodon for the find!

Loved this mini essay from Robb Knight about the delights of the indie web and the pleasure of owning your own little corner of the internet. He does a great job of inspiring, while also giving some practical starting points if you're interested in setting up your own little site or blog.

Former editor of TechCrunch, Matthew Panzarino, has long been one of my favorite writers to follow around the web. A true polymath, he dabbles in everything from tech to fashion, photography to cooking. He's recently launched his own blog where he can deep dive in to these various subjects, and I'm really digging it so far. Here's today's article on his perfect busy morning coffee making routine (I followed the same method back when I was drinking more than one cup per morning-- it's great!).

When George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan sat down to come up with the script for what would eventually become Raiders of the Lost Ark, they plopped a tape recorder on the table and captured the full 4 hour conversation, then had it transcribed. Indie Film Hustle has the whole thing up to read, and it's so fun to see their creative process as they crafted this amazing iconic character. (Fun fact: They initially envisioned his whip as being strapped to his back "like a samurai sword.")

Bhante Henepola's Mindfulness in Plain English is one of my favorite books on meditation, and he's now offering a 7 week online course in January.

Confession: I've never read any of Stephen King's books, but I really liked this pithy but thought provoking list on the craft of writing. My favorite? "The best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event."

Seth Godin breaks it down beautifully in less than two minutes, really thought provoking. (Via Gruber)

Simon linked to this fascinating map made by the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University that reveals the Etymological History of the names of all the countries (and capitols) in Africa and the Middle East. I wish there were hot links to sources for these, because I want to know a lot more.

The Verge had a fun piece on various apps and tools that their staff use to stay organized and on top of their complex tasks. A lot of the usual suspects (Notes Apps, To-Do Apps, etc) were mentioned, but this hack used by an audio engineer on the team had me rolling. This is literally insane and I love it!

A fascinating research paper attempts to break down all human bias in to six fundamental categories, and I've been thinking about this all week. Here are the core human biases according to the authors--

The inimitable MacSparky has just come out with a new Field Guide. Over the years, I have gotten a few of his Field Guides to really learn the advanced features of various apps that I like. He's a great teacher and brings a unique perspective as not only a Mac power user (he hosts Mac Power Users podcast after all), but also a lawyer, and serious meditation practitioner. His latest Field Guide covers Obsidian, a powerful personal knowledge management (PKM) app that I've dabbled with but have long wanted to know more about.

One of those weird internet projects that I'm just happy to know existed. From the Wikipedia page, "As Mollick explained, visitors to a foreign country have 'an irresistible urge' to say something in that language, and whatever they say (a cited example being along the lines of 'Where is the bathroom?') usually marks them as tourists immediately. Saying 'I can eat glass, it does not hurt me', however, ensures that the speaker 'will be viewed as an insane native, and treated with dignity and respect'."

Ok, hear me out on this one. This is an incredibly long and detailed search to answer what should be a simple question: Why did they build this bridge over I-494 outside of Minneapolis? It sounds like mundane research, but it’s a very funny and fascinating story written by someone willing to go to absurd lengths to figure out the rationale for what appears to be a completely pointless pedestrian foot bridge.

Merlin Mann is one of my favorite full-time internet persons, someone really smart and funny who just seems to spend all of his time writing and talking on the internet. He has started collecting some of his rules for living and aphorisms in a Git repository. Think of it as a 21st-century Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Highly recommended.

Several months back, Jill Lepore wrote about the difference between data and information for the New Yorker. She argued that our obsession with data makes it harder to glean any meaningful knowledge from the world around us. What, then, do we make of this three hour long Prezi video featuring obscure baseball stat charts ("ERA," "WAR," "OPS"??) that still makes you well up? Tracing the history of MLB’s only team to never the World Series, The History of the Seattle Mariners digs deep into percentages and totals to show that people, teams, and cities are so much more than their numbers. Looking at wins vs losses or times to reach the playoffs, the Mariners are clearly a failure. Such a cursory glance would ignore some of the unequivocally best pitching, batting, and fielding that the sport has ever seen. Such a cursory glance would ignore what it means to be a fan, a leader, and a teammate. "Dig deeper," the producers of this six part video series urge us, "and you’ll find greatness wherever you look." That... combined with arson, toilet jello, face stabbings, and the world’s best timed Nutcracker Suite makes The History of the Seattle Mariners a fascinating, hilarious, heartbreaking watch.

I stumbled across this great, short (possibly apocryphal) story by Kurt Vonnegut this week and have been thinking about it a lot. It takes less time to read than it takes you to read this little email, I suggest you check it out.

The New York Times put together a really lovely detailed analysis of poet Rita Dove’s poem, “American Smooth.” My wife and I just started taking dance classes together and so this beautiful poem really hit home, but getting to see all the hidden extra layers she built in to this poem via the analysis really took my appreciation for the poem to the next level.

Highly recommended long read for the week, Carrie over on Mastodon surfaced this riveting 2013 article about the North Pond Hermit, who haunted the woods of Central Maine for nearly 30 years, surviving solely via moonlight raids on local cabins and homes to steal junk food and books, not talking to or being seen by another human being for decades. The author tells the amazing tale and then shares his fascinating correspondence with the hermit from jail after he was caught. {There is definitely some sort of comma-related kung-fu I should be using in the preceding sentence that would make it clear that it is the hermit who wound up in jail and not the author, but instead you’re getting this extended parenthetical. Apologies, you deserve better, dear reader.}