Since 2001, C.J. Box has put out a thriller about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett every year. Then he started a second series with his Cassie Dewell books. With March’s Shadows Reel (which includes a subplot based on a real-life WWII German photo album found in a Wyoming library) marking the 22nd Pickett novel and a new Pickett TV adaptation coming on Spectrum, the Cowboy State native is bigger than ever.
Men’s Journal: Why so long to make a Joe Pickett series?
C.J. Box: The very first novel was optioned for a movie, so this has been going on and on for years with people who had their own ideas about how Joe Pickett should be portrayed. This is the first time I felt like they got it. They’re gonna go every novelist’s dream: book by book.
Were you happy with ABC’s Big Sky, the first TV series based on your work?
The story lines are loosely based on the Cassie Dewell books. When I watch it, I recognize certain lines of dialogue as mine. There are decisions I wish I had made, there are times I wonder what the hell they’re thinking. The best thing about it is that it’s created a lot more readers. We saw sales of the Cassie Dewell books spike by 30 times. It’s a one-hour commercial for a book each week. That’s all right!
“I love writing the first draft more than anything on earth.”Courtesy Image
Fair to say a theme of the Pickett series is “Nature is remarkable; people are a pain in the ass”?
That’s pretty fair. Nature is not benevolent. But if you’ve read the books, you know most of the trouble comes from outsiders coming in [to mountain country] with some kind of agenda.
Is it tough shifting between the two book series?
It is difficult to go back and forth. I agreed to do another Cassie Dewell book and that’s what I’m writing now. I love writing Joe Pickett books. I’d drive my wife crazy if I wasn’t working on something.
You’ve been billed as selling 6 and 7 million books. Which is it?
My agent has tried to track the sales. But what’s really difficult is foreign sales. There’s no real reporting feature. You can only guess, kind of.
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The Canterbury Tales. The Aeneid. The Sound and the Fury. Great books these are, but they aren’t exactly reads you can knock off quickly. And sometimes “quick read” is exactly what the soul craves. Ahead, 15 amazing books you can read in a day if not a sitting. Some are new, some are classics, but all will be ready for 5 o’clock cocktail chatter if you pick ‘em up in the morning.
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1. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
You didn’t think you’d make it through a list of the best books you can read in a day without this one, now did you? Good. So let’s share our position loud and clear: If you haven’t read this 1952 classic already, do it now. And if you’ve read it before, it’s high time to read it again. An inimitable novella about an older fisherman and his sojourns at sea, you can easily read this book in one sitting—and be better for it. P.S. If you can make it through these 128 pages without shedding a tear, we’re impressed.
2. Naked at the Knife-Edge: What Everest Taught Me About Leadership and the Power of Vulnerability by Vivian James Rigney
It may only be 192 pages, but you’ll be taken on quite the adventure as you follow along on Rigney’s journey to make it to the summit of Everest. Here, the leadership expert and executive coach shares unique learnings from the experience along with hard-won lessons on success and its very definition. If you liked Into Thin Air and How to Win Friends and Influence People, this March 2022 release is for you.
A newcomer for February 22nd, this short story collection clocks in at 192 pages. A moving portrayal of our lives amid the ongoing pandemic lives, it’s penned by the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. While the book centers on loss and struggle, there are plenty of laughs and inspiring moments too in tales of emotionally drained nurses, a middle-aged man unable to attend his mom’s funeral, and the unforgettable Alan, a “sixty-two-year old bachelor. With a wife,” in Newcastle, England, in the title story “Life Without Children.”
This gripping and grim 208-page memoir centers around the death of Didion’s daughter in 2005 at the age of 39. Published in 2011, it’s Didion prose at her finest, and a reminder that when life is at its darkest, there’s always a window for learning and love. Though a bit longer, at 242 pages, Didion’s 2007 The Year of Magical Thinking is also worth reading.
Originally published in 1951, this slim volume of 117 pages chronicles the author’s strolls through New York City during his childhood. Kazin grew up in a working-class Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s evocative, melodic, and a potent reminder that every generation undergoes strife.
6. Don’y Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk by Shunmyo Masuno
The title says it all. Penned by the bestselling author of The Art of Simple Living, this practical guide educates readers on basic Zen principles to help you feel more at ease and attuned to the present moment. Debuting on April 5, there’s much to learn in this compact manual. Our personal favorite lesson in this 224-page book? #24: Act instead of worrying—things will definitely work out better.
7. The Art of Whisky: The Vanishing Spirits of Single Malt Scotch by Ernie Button
Whisky aficionado? Pick up a copy of this 176-page book that takes you on a photographic journey of the beloved spirit. The origins of the work occurred when award-winning photographer Ernie Button noticed the unique patterns formed in the residue at the bottoms of (almost) empty whisky glasses and decided to chronicle them with special lighting techniques. Needless to say, palm a dram of whiskey while you make your way through this book, which will be unveiled May 2022.
In 192 pages, Alexander draws you in to the captivating world of a solitary, island-dwelling wolf in British Columbia’s Salish Sea, with incredible photography, journal entries, and interviews. You’ll never look at wild animals the same way after completing this stellar 2020 tome from Rocky Mountain Books.
9. The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprintby Paul Greenberg
Good look putting this 176-page book down. Within, an acclaimed sustainability and food writer shares advice on how to live to protect this Pale Blue Dot. Whether you incorporate one or all 50 tips from this book into your life, you’ll feel good about knowing you’re doing something to leave the world a better place. (Pro tip: This is best enjoyed in a tent by flashlight.)
10. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
We consider this 2019 #1 New York Times bestseller a companion read to The Climate Diet. In 160 pages, this page-turner introduces (or re-familiarizes) you to the 19-year-old Swedish climate activist. Along with her historic address to the United Nations in 2019, and her famous “And change is coming, whether you like it or not” line, you’ll come away from reading this with countless pieces of wisdom to ponder and carry into your daily life.
11. Steal Like an Artist 10th Anniversary Gift Edition by Austin Kleon
On sale March 2022, New York Times bestseller and Goodreads Choice award Austin Kleon will captivate you from start to finish. Within, you’ll learn how to harness your creativity in 10 straightforward principles. The book originated as a commencement speech on advice Kleon wishes he could share with his 19-year-old self for the graduating class of SUNY Broome Community College. It moved countless people who came across it, and it became an online sensation. If you like this book, check out Kleon’s “Read Like an Artist” book club on monthly subscription service for bookworms, Literati.
12. How TV Can Make You Smarter by Allison Shoemaker
This book was published in 2020, and we’re going to go ahead and guess you’ve been watching more TV than normal in these pandemic times. In a tightly written 112 pages, Shoemaker—an author and TV critic—makes the case that TV has many emotional and intellectual benefits. We knew all that Billions and The Morning Show binge-watching wasn’t in vain.
This Penguin Classics book (and recent Netflix movie) is a moving tale about racial identity. Though the novel was first published in 1929, Larsen’s words ring true to this day. Since it’s 160 pages, it’s the kind of book you can start and finish in a day, but will linger in your mind long after you finish.
14. Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
How’s a 60-page book sound? It’ll sound even better once you know what’s inside: words of lasting interest from Saunders’ graduation address at Syracuse University. Published in 2014, the book also makes for a great gift for any kind of milestone.
15. For Esmé with Love and Squalor and Other Stories by J.D. Salinger
Don’t let this slim 175-page edition fool you. It’s packed with stories that will imprint themselves into your brain for years to come. Take these lines from “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes,” one of the book’s nine short stories (FYI: This book is also known as Nine Stories): “Honest to God, I think it’s this goddamn New York. What I think maybe we’ll do, if everything goes along all right, we’ll get ourselves a little place in Connecticut maybe. Not too far out, necessarily, but far enough that we can lead a normal goddam life…I mean—except you—who do we know in New York except a bunch of neurotics. It’s bound to undermine even a normal person sooner or later.” Does Salinger get any better than that? Okay, maybe that’s what re-reading The Catcher in the Rye in tomorrow’s marathon reading session is for, too.
You knocked off 35 books every man should read in his lifetime and tore your way through the best new books of 2021. Now, direct your attention to some of the best travel tomes of today and yesteryear. We’ve put together a roundup of travel books to get that glorious globe-trotting thrill from the comfort of your home (or if you’re lucky—from the porch, dock, or sliver of beachfront nirvana outside your vacation rental). We promise you’ll finish each of these travel books feeling enlightened and appreciating the tiny blue dot we call home.
Courtesy Image
1. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
This captivating translation of Homer’s epic poem from 8th century BCE follows Odysseus on his decade-long endeavor to make it back home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, after the Trojan War. He meets many challenges along the way—a cyclops; storms at sea, invoked by Poseidon; intense fights; y’know, the usual offenders. You’ll be immersed in a world of cinematic drama and nail-biting suspense unlike—and perhaps more beautiful than—any other.
2. Mileage Maniac: My Genius, Madness And A Touch Of Evil To Amass 40 Million Frequent Flyer Miles by Steve Belkin
Published in June 2021, Steve Belkin paints an amusing (and, at times, wince-worthy) portrait of his endeavor to rack up a gluttonous amount of airline miles. You’ll be enthralled by the bizarre and dark world as Belkin chronicles how he transformed underemployed improv actors and disabled Thai masseuses into “mileage mules.” It doesn’t stop there: He manages to convert hair transplant consultations, Jaguar test drives, thousands of magazine subscriptions, and phantom trips to Cameroon into airline mileage points, too.
3. The Passenger: How a Travel Writer Learned to Love Cruises & Other Lies from a Sinking Ship by Chaney Kwak
Kwan is an emerging Korean-American writer to watch—and his journey on the ill-fated Viking Sky cruise ship in March 2019 (it was hit by a bomb cyclone off Norway’s shoreline) is a must-read. Sure, there were 60-foot swells, 87-mile-per-hour gales, and a power outage as the ship floats right toward the perilous Hustadvika coast. But the real gripping nuts and bolts here is Kwan’s evocative writing that seamlessly swings from humorous to elegiac to reflective (especially as he thinks about his own mortality). With interludes to the South China Sea, Korea in the aftermath of World War II, and San Francisco in these pandemic times, good luck putting this page-turner down. You’ll never step on a cruise ship again without recalling this action-packed tale—if you ever step on a cruise ship again…
4. Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads by Paul Theroux
As any avid reader of travel tomes knows, the next best thing to getting on the road yourself is sitting in the backseat with Theroux, perhaps the most renowned travel writer of our time. Here, you’ll venture to dusty back roads, storied local watering holes, and awe-inspiring attractions all over the South. It’s a meandering road trip that reads like an adult lullaby. Illuminating the strengths and foibles of the Bible Belt with his signature wry observations.
5. All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou
Angelou captures that innermost desire to truly know ourselves in this moving 1986 autobiography. It’s peppered with lines that halt you in your tracks (“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”) as you shadow Angelou on her move to Ghana, where she becomes part of the American ex-pat group, “Revolutionist Returnees.” While many have read Angelou’s better-known 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this book gives you new insight into the African-American experience, as well as the pan-African movement.
6. March On: A Veterans Travel Guide by Michael Embrich
Travel the world with U.S. Navy veteran, writer, and military researcher Michael Embrich in this summer 2021 debut. The book is part travel guide, part personal narrative. Along the way, you’ll visit private officers’ clubs in NYC, journey to Paris to visit veteran expats, and more. We particularly like the resources it provides to help you plan actual travel. The book spotlights veteran-owned businesses around the U.S. and Europe, and provides detailed historical anecdotes.
7. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson
This 1989 Bryson classic is the kind of travelogue you want to return to again and again. This book brings on big, hearty laughs, so proceed with caution while in public. You’ll get to know the unending beauty and tragedy of the grand ‘ole US of A, whether Bryson plops you into the Big Apple or the vastness of California. If you can’t put this one down, be sure to pick up Bryson’s memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. It tells more about his Des Moines, Iowa, upbringing and what makes this beloved travel writer tick.
8. The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World by Jayne Zanglein
Get a glimpse at the early members of the International Society of Women Geographers. The group was established in 1925 by—as PW deftly sums it up— “explorers, artists, scientists, and writers who shared a common love for travel and exploration in an era when women were told their place was in the home.” Zanglein’s recounting of their tales takes you from the mountains of Peru to flying across the Atlantic Ocean.
Preorder this hardcover beaut (out October 19, 2021) to indulge in a couch-side escape to more than 40 countries. Whether you journey to adult space camp in Huntsville, Alabama or hit the slopes in Stowe, Vermont, you’ll be sure to learn something new on these 700+ pages. You may even bookmark your next getaway and get to planning, too.
10. Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun by Faith Adiele
If the past year has made you contemplate giving up all your worldly belongings and becoming a Buddhist, A) we don’t blame you and B) you should probably read this book. Published in 2005, the memoir feels particularly relevant in these tumultuous times. You feel inspired by Adiele’s journey to shed her Harvard-bred ego and embrace life in a forest temple in Thailand. P.S. If you thought your 15-minute Simple Habit sessions were tough, try 19 hours of meditation a day.
11. The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors by James Mills
Buckle up for an adventure, but also a thought-provoking exploration about the racism inherent in America’s great outdoors. In this 2014 nonfiction book, Mills documents the first all-African American team of climbers on their attempt to summit Denali. North America’s highest peak, the mountain stands 20,310 feet above sea level. Along the way, Mills shares his critique about minority group’s exclusion from outdoor spaces. He also focuses on what we can do to forge a better path ahead for all.
12. 50 Ways to Cycle the World by Tristan Bogaard and Belén Castelló
If a coffee table book is what you crave, this superb photography book quite literally spins you around the globe. It features cycling adventures in 23 countries by 75 individuals and groups. Unveiled in June 2021, this will get you antsing to knock a few pedal dreams off your bucket list. However, preferably not on a tandem bike, on a lengthy solo ride, or with a cat, as the book depicts.
