Coach Michelle's 2024 Fall Reading List

It’s coming…Sept. 22 is just around the corner…which means that Fall has officially arrived! And after this fairly disappointing summer of heat AND smoke, in my opinion, it can’t come soon enough. So, as the temps drop, the pumpkin spice lattes emerge & the red, orange, brown & yellow colors dominate, it’s time to cozy up with a good book. To give you a few ideas, here’s my 2024 Fall Reading List!

#1 – The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, Zoe Schlanger

If you read one book this Fall, read this one. It is A-MA-ZING…it’s been blowing my mind…it’s made me feel strange as I tend to my garden…it’s made me feel exposed as I walk in the forest. In short, it has taken everything I’ve ever thought about plants & turned it upside down, inside out! Schlanger delves into the latest science surrounding the oldest living things on our planet – plants. In one fascinating chapter after another she details the discoveries botanists have made about plants’ abilities to communicate, see & hear, make decisions, build memories, coordinate the world around them & collaborate with other plant & animal species. This book will challenge you to reframe everything you think you know about plants & our place within the greater ecosystem.

#2 – The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, Timothy Egan

As this summer made us all painfully aware, “wildfire season” is getting longer. Since the 1970’s fire season in the Western U.S. has extended from 5 months to over 7 months long. So, in the midst of the smoky haze that covered our beautiful City of Trees, I picked up this book to better understand our history of wildfire management. It opens with the tragic story of Wallace, ID as it is engulfed in “The Big Burn” – the massive & deadly forest fire that ripped through 3 million acres of Montana, Idaho & Washington in just two days. Although this story is shockingly fascinating, the real power of the book is in the detailed history of Theodore Roosevelt & Gifford Pinchot’s tireless work to create the concept of “public lands” & an agency (the U.S. Forest Service) to watch over & protect them. If you love the West & our treasured “public lands”, this book is a must-read.

#3 – The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

I love me a good fiction story & this book is definitely in my Top 5 list. This book excited me so much the 1st time around that I’m actually re-reading it! It’s a biggie. But don’t be dissuaded by its tome-like size because the plot will reel you in. Wrongly thrown in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, the hero (Edmond Dantès) escapes & uses a hidden treasure to destroy the three men responsible for his incarceration. It’s 1200 pages (give or take) of intrigue, adventure & revenge. What more could you ask for?!

#4 – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari

Talk about another fascinating book! Sapiens attempts to answer the very complicated question of what it means to be “human”. Our current world is home to only one human type – homo sapiens. But, 100,000 years ago there were at least six…yes…SIX different species of humans on Earth. Through integration of history & science, Dr. Harari delves into why homo sapiens, to the detriment of the other five human groups, became so dominant. Finally, we are encouraged to examine our own future as we increasingly acquire the ability to change the world around us. Deep stuff.

#5 – Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment, James R. Gaines

And finally, a book about two historical giants & how their brief, yet crucial encounter, changed the trajectory of each. Johann Sebastian Bach – considered one of the greatest composers of all time – wrote some of the most innovative, complicated & emotional music in history. Frederick the Great, on the other hand, turned Prussia (now known as Germany) into one of the largest & militarily strongest European states. In 1747, at the transition between the ancient & the modern world, they briefly met…and both were changed. This book is about these two extraordinary men & the chaotic transition from the Reformation to the Enlightenment.