I haven’t updated you about what I have been reading in a while, so this post is long overdue. I have a Goodreads account you can follow, but I usually keep this blog more up to date better than that website. Besides, between what’s happening in housing policy in Washington, DC and around the country (my day job), what’s going on with Bears Ears and the other National Monuments (my volunteer hours), and keeping up with Natalie and the kids (my favorite “job”), it’s a wonder that I have been reading anything. Well, I guess I cut out drawing to read, didn’t I?

This is what I have picking up from my narrow white bed stand and packing in my briefcase for my commutes during these last two or so months:

• Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Land by Lauret Savoy — Katie Ives recommended this book to several of her friends, and somehow I was fortunate enough to be included in that note. Trace is artfully written and complex, and has made me more sensitive to historical perspective. Savoy reviews how our human existence has been shaped by place and race as much as history and experience, perhaps more. As a person who grew up with some privilege, it’s been another treatment of self awareness and even a little therapeutic.
• Alpinist 58 — This issue celebrates the late Royal Robbins, but also includes a tale of a mysterious cairn and personal stories. I particularly enjoyed “Paradigm Shift” about women that climb and how they are at the upper reaches of trad climbing’s known limits.
• A Peakbagger’s Guide to the Canadian Rockies: North by Ben Nearingburg and Eric Coulthard — I like guidebooks. I just do. And this one covers ground that’s just stunning and accessible to the committed. Nearingburg and Coulthard combine easy descriptions and beautiful colored photographs to direct you where to go around the Columbia Icefield and skywards.

I am also reading Bernadette McDonald’s forthcoming book, The Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka. Rocky Mountain Books release it for purchase at the beginning of August. I’ll have my review for you to read at the end of July.

By the way, the next issue of Alpinist (59) will include a Local Hero piece, a tribute to a dear friend, by me; the subject is a secret. It will be on newsstands in September. I also hear that my friend and Alaskan pioneer, Clint Helander, will have an article about his recent first ascent of Mount Huntington’s South Ridge. Look it up!

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