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Hey everyone,
Hello from Nairobi!
I landed here last night excited to podcast with award-winning Kenyan novelist Peter Kimani and finally see the country my mum is from. (I share more on my mum's story in my book on resilience.)
Last week I spoke to 8000 people in beautiful Bucharest and Amsterdam and got to share a stage with luminaries like former Finland PM Sanna Marin and Simon Sinek. (Also saw some new birds in an abandoned concrete lake built by the Romanian dictator before the 1989 revolution!) Big thanks to those who said hello and are joining us here for the first time.
Oh, one more thing! 17 years and more than 3000 (!) awesome things later we are once again closing in on #1. (Full list here!) I started posting one awesome thing every night at midnight when my marriage was falling apart ... and I still am! Over 100,000 people read the daily awesome thing and if you'd like it in your inbox when the clock strikes midnight sign up here.
All righty.
Few updates from the awesomeverse and now ... time for the books!
Ramit said it was a great question. I agree! Because people telling you about their trips always sounds so expensive. That's where this life-changing perspective shift from plainspoken and accessible everyman Tim Leffel comes in. Tim writes the 22-year-running (!) ‘World’s Cheapest Destinations’ blog and in this book we have his well-written travel guides to 26 countries you maybe haven’t thought about visiting. Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Laos, oh my! He shows how to avoid the cultural homogenization amidst Starbucks-overrun hotspots and how to do so safely and cheaply. Last week I was in Romania—which I absolutely loved! highly recommend!—and flipped to Page 188 where Tim wrote: “It doesn’t get written up a lot as a ‘hot new destination’ and it lacks the kind of iconic bucket list attractions you see in your weekly Instagram feed from other parts of Europe, but Romania has a lot for budget travellers to like.” I got good restaurant and sightseeing recommendations and a nice feel for culture and costs. Each 8-10 page country writeup has an overview that feels like you’re talking to a friend over a beer and then splits into sub-categories like “Transportation”, “Accommodation”, “Food&Drink”, and “What Else.” (A couple sample “What Else”s from Kyrgyzstan on Page 91 are “The sightseeing options are rather limited in Bishkek unless you love Soviet monuments that glorify dictators and the happy muscular workers toiling away at the state-run factories and mines” and “What can you get for a buck or less: a large beer in a store, four loaves of bread, two kilos of fruits or vegetables, three iced teas on the street, two ice cream cones, 200 grams of local candy, a litre of petrol, a hearty bowl of stew, a plate of dumplings, a short taxi ride, three city bus rides.”) Tim has visited all the countries and the fact that this self-published masterpiece is in its 5th edition says a lot. Of course, the underpinning of the book is “It’s Not How You Go, but Where!” and Tim explains that “A taxi ride from the airport to the center of town is around $10 in Quito or Mexico City, but can hit $120 in Milan and $180 in Tokyo” with the takeaway that the secret is to “go where your first world dollars are worth a fortune.” He addresses the common “Isn’t it really dangerous there?” question by comparing crime rates in the US and England to countries he profiles (uh, guess what's worse!) as well as offering thoughtful guidance around avoiding border towns and how it’s “better to look a bit grubby rather than filthy rich.” If you feel like life is expensive, if you feel like you can’t afford to travel, if you feel like you want to live large or get out of dodge without breaking the bank, then grab this book and watch as it pays for itself again and again.
2.The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (1896-1990). This book is a gem! Everybody knows ‘101 Dalmatians’ was a Disney movie but not many know it was originally serialized in ‘Woman’s Day’ magazine in the mid-1950s as ‘The Great Dog Robbery’ from English playwright Dodie Smith. I sure didn't! The story is fun, fast-paced, literary, and serves as a great reading intermezzo if (like me) you feel bogged down by whatever’s on your bedside table and just want something quick and snappy. Reading nitro! Good to inject a bit of that on the ol' page-flipping engine. The book is fun. And realistic! Like check out this drawing of Cruella de Vil from page 18:
Scary, right? Turns out Cruella is an old classmate of Dalmatian couple Pongo and Missis’s pets (owners) and, of course, comes for dinner where she actually says out loud “Wouldn’t they make enchanting fur coats?” before, you know it, nabbing their puppies. That kicks off an adventurous chase across the country full of twists and turns and delightful characters. The book is literary! Full of cars with “strident” motor horns and apartments “seething” with Dalmatians. And adult emotions fold into the story, too. Like on Page 62: “Missis thumped her tail with joy—and with relief. For there had been moments when she had felt—not jealous, exactly, but just a bit wistful about Pongo’s affection for Perdita.” Or from Page 66 while on their chase: “‘You are a beautiful dog, Missis,’ said Pongo. ‘I am proud of you.’ / At this, Missis looked even more beautiful and Pongo even prouder of her. After a minute or so, he said, ‘Do you think I’m looking pretty fit?’ / Missis told him he looked magnificent, and wished she had said so without being asked. He was not a vain dog, but every husband likes to know that his wife admires him.” Ha! Nailed it, Dodie. Sure, the ending goes on a bit too long—got to satisfy that ‘Women's Day’ contract!—but, doesn't matter. Absolutely wonderful 70-year-old story to read to your kids or enjoy yourself. No book guilt, no book shame, as ever!
3. Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani (b.1971). So my mum was born right here in Nairobi, Kenya in 1950 and I came to realize recently I’ve read no novels from the country. The continent, really! Now I did just finish and enjoy ‘Weep Not, Child’ by Ngũgĩ wa Thing’o (08/2025) and this month I fell into this evocative and plot-twisting 2017 award-winning historical fiction novel from Peter Kimani. The book opens in 1901 as the natives see the railroad cross the country for the first time—“a monstrous, snakelike creature whose black head, erect like a cobra’s, pulled rusty brown boxes and slithered down the savanna, coughing spasmodically as it emitted blue-black smoke.” What a visual! Peter Kimani is a professor at Aga Khan University in Nairobi and got his PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Houston after spending time at the University of Iowa. This book folds stories of three men—Reverend Richard Turnbull, Scottish engineer Ian McDonald, and Indian clerk Babu Salim—into a contemporary tale of Babu’s grandson generations later. The plot skips forwards and backwards which makes it a merry-go-roundy reading experience but sometimes it’s good to be in the company of a book that makes you dizzy. Because, regardless, you're there. And in this case you're amongst the dazzling sights and sounds of pre- and post-colonial Kenya which is just a fascinating place to be. I'm excited to sit down with Peter and our chat should drop on the Beaver Moon!
4.The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1929-1945). How do we see the human side of war? We don’t! We typically don’t. We flip past photos of buildings on fire or lineups of people pawing for aid on the streets and might feel some pain or human connection from great distance ... but we don’t get into hearts and minds. How can we? I don't know. I don't. Maybe poetry is one way? Good journalism. Dispatches! But, honestly, nothing beats a book. And especially … a diary. There is a guilty voyeuristic feeling of being inside a place—a mind—that wasn’t shared with even the others who were there at the time. Knowing I was going to be in Amsterdam last week I booked a visit to the Anne Frank House (highly recommend) and to get ready I read this fascinating time capsule of the inner life of precocious Anne as she goes into hiding and documents her life from the “Secret Annexe.” Her father was running a pectin factory in Amsterdam and behind a bookshelf in the factory was a series of rooms where Anne, her older sister, her parents, and her father’s business partner’s family hid ... for two years. The entries begin June 14, 1942 a couple days after receiving the diary for her 12th birthday (“We’re going to be great pals!”) and run till August 1, 1944 (“… if I’m quiet and serious, everyone thinks it’s a new comedy and then I have to get out of it by turning it into a joke, not to mention my own family, who are sure to think I’m ill, make me swallow pills for headaches and nerves, feel my neck and my head to see whether I’m running a temperature, ask if I’m constipated and criticize me for being in a bad mood.”) There is an invisible darkness in the pages but also lightness, triviality, natural emotional highs and lows, and it all adds up to a feeling of human connection and familiarity. Four days after the last entry the family was found and it’s said Anne died in a concentration camp in Germany in early 1945. What happens in the middle? Anne navigates a new life, misses fresh air, develops feelings for the boy she’s living with, feels like her mother doesn’t understand her, and confesses endlessly small and big thoughts through the minutiae that add up to a life. October 29, 1943: “… it is especially on Sundays that I feel rotten. The atmosphere is so oppressive, and sleepy and heavy as lead.” February 12, 1944: “The sun is shining, the sky is a deep blue, there is a lovely breeze, and I’m longing—so longing—for everything. To talk, for freedom, for friends, to be alone.” This book is a reminder to be grateful for freedoms we still have, a warning of pains and perils on the path if we lose them, and an inspiring connection to a fellow human, a beautiful human, across space and time.
5.The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (b. 1971). And now it’s time for this month’s Leslie’s Pick! (A full list of Leslie’s Picks are here.) Over to you, Les: “Gifted to me by one of my lifelong friends and, as a result, made all the more moving, this tale of lifelong friendships between two Iranian women speaks to the inevitable joys and hardships we face—both individually and as friends. Relatable in its exploration of insecurity, envy, and infatuation in friendships—I’ve never read a more intimate and accurate portrayal of what it feels like to be a young girl in love with your best friend. Devastating betrayals, acts of generosity, and deeply moving connections as these women navigate the political reality of being female in Iran over the past 40 years. Reminded me of ‘The Kite Runner’. I couldn’t put it down and have that ‘sad it’s over’ feeling now."
6. Trilogyby H.D. (1886-1961). While wandering the sandy surftown of Del Mar, California earlier this year I stumbled on the wonderful Hobbit-hole bookstore “Camino Books, For The Road Ahead” run by John and Alison (who joined us in Chapter 149 of 3 Books.)
If you’re in Del Mar do visit! They're right on the main strip at 1555 Camino Del Mar and open seven days a week. Here's their website!Here's their Instagram! Stunning place and reminded me of what James Daunt—the world’s largest bookseller with over 1000 stores!—says about great bookstore locations having odd corners, random pipes, slanted roofs, and other little uniquenesses. Anyway, back to John and Alison. We had a lovely chat and I really noticed John’s poetic turns of phrase. Alison told me he often writes poetry at night at home. Not publishing it! Just writing it. Btw he was the second indie bookseller I met who did that after Mitchell Kaplan (who runs Books&Books in Florida) told me he often bangs away at a typewriter late into the evening. I just love the image of writing poetry in longhand—or a typewriter—late into the night. I need a typewriter! (Do you feel the same way? Austin Kleon is an inspiration for us both.) Light a few candles, pour a glass of wine, get a fire going … and clack up some poetry. Can you do much better than that? Maybe there's a cat around, too. Anyway, before I left Camino, I asked John if he could recommend some poetry and he plucked this off the shelf. I’d never heard of it nor the author but quickly learned that H.D. was the nom de plume of Hilda Doolittle who was born in Pennsylvania in 1886 and became a contemporary of poets like Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and William Butler Yeats. She wrote short, simple, precise, longform poems while living in London through the early 1940s—during and after The Blitz. The writing is a very unique combination of dark, cold, crystalline, and hopeful. The opening two stanzas might give a quick feel:
And it kind of goes like that. Three lines, three lines, always three lines. Paceful, easy to read, but so much meat on the bones. This version has helpful Reader’s Notes in the back so I was often flipping to figure out what a word or phrase meant or get some context. And, like most poetry I read, I didn’t understand entire chunks! But the parts that hit ... really hit. Great poetry to read if you’re sitting in emotions of challenge, pain, feeling the intensity and weight of the world, and want to feel a connection to others feeling the same way. Hilda Doolittle, H.D., felt the same way, and here she is right now—offering you her heart. Thank you John for the recommendation.
7. Moonbound by Robin Sloan (b. 1979). OK, I know I can’t stop talking about this book but it’s such a trippy and delightful escape. Since it just came out in a glow-in-the-dark (!) paperback, and since I just dropped a full-length chat with Robin, I thought I'd briefly go on about it again. Cory Doctorow says this book is "doing fiction in hard mode"—read his incredible full review here!—and it's a kind of epic fantasy with talking beavers. Talking swords! Strange video games. And ever-expanding worlds with wizards, who maybe aren’t really wizards, and the entire book is narrated by a microscopic AI-type chronicler, who’s been in many different lives across the millenniums, but who now sits in our protagonist’s left shoulder. The book is a kind of jacked up ‘Star Wars’ meets ‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell featuring Willy Wonka and Mad Hatter types with occasional moments of poignancy and reflection that let you see, and see around, our endlessly twisting lives together. A big, loud, cymbal crash of a book. And in my mind deserving of a larger audience! If you want to disappear into a cerebral rainbow-colored fantasy check it out from the library or visit my usual link-splitter to find a retailer you like.
8. Hannelore's Story Works handmade journals. I think it was on my birthday in 2017 that Leslie and I were up at the McMichael Gallery in Kleinberg, Ontario viewing a Tom Thomson exhibit. I love museum gift shops and in that gift shop I found a journal I’d come to love for years. Thick, heavy white paper no pen or marker leaked through. Bound with tightly tied string so I could lay it flat on my legs or airplane tray tables. And so unique! The little cut-out map of a zoomed in Ontario was clearly … a real map, that someone had cut out. So for my birthday a few years later Leslie got me another from the same one-woman craft company … then another … then another. I have four now! I don’t know Hannelore Sotzek but I love her homemade journals. I just wanted to highlight them in case you’re looking for a great journal for yourself or someone you love. Btw, since they're all homemade from physical papers and book covers a lot of things are sold out in her shop but it's worth poking around to find something you love. Here's her shop—and this isn't a paid ad or anything. Just something I enjoy.
