Media Diet: Books of 2026

His books show up a few times on this list. They’re very easy, enjoyable reads that help get me on track with things.

Suzuki is the Zen master who wrote the immensely influential and popular Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Start with that, then return to this if it’s of interest. I listened to the audiobook read by actor Peter Coyote, the narrator of many Ken Burns documentaries.

A wildly creative, brilliant, and captivating story that had me turning pages faster than I expected. It’s an award-winning sci-fi book—the first in a larger series—about humanity’s journey to a world being terraformed and what happens after a mistake changes the course of human life.

I enjoyed every minute of it and appreciated the short stories at the end, which helped expand the world. It made me fall in love with science fiction all over again. I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series and finding more sci-fi books to devour.

She’s known for her translations of The Odyssey and The Iliad. This is a collection of essays about translation in general, but also specifically about the Greeks and Romans. She also writes a chapter on Stoicism and its rise in popularity over the last 15–20 years, thanks in part to one of my favourite writers, Ryan Holiday. This book leans towards the academic, which I appreciated. I reread sections to make sure I understood them and looked up references to get the full context.

Excerpt from my Goodreads review.

Football is a good, fun read from the well-versed and entertaining Chuck Klosterman. It’s a quick read covering the history of the game, the media, and some of the larger concerns surrounding the game. But it also includes fun cultural references like the Roughriders and Rough Riders, or Mitch Hedberg talking about corn and corn cobs in relation to why football is called football in the first place. Highly recommended.

Full review on Four Sides

This was a really fun science fiction book that had me looking for more afterwards. It’s about a young boy who comes across an escape pod containing a long-deceased heroine, which leads to a great adventure with some helpful companions of a surprising nature. There’s a bit of wizardry mixed in as well. A great book for teenagers and adults alike.

This book traces the history of knowledge and how it’s communicated between people. It’s rather dense, like his other books, but very informative. I made the mistake of listening to the audiobook, which prevented me from taking a lot of notes about it.

A great way to build a meditation practice

I’m guessing that the majority of people who pick up this book or are interested in it are like me: they’ve had an interest in meditation, mindfulness, or Buddhism but have failed to build a regular practice. After buying this book and sitting on it for a while, I read the first chapter and made a commitment to myself.

After more than 30 days of daily meditation for 20 minutes a day, I’m feeling much better. This book is a large part of that. It gave me permission to start with five minutes a day to build the habit, and I quickly increased that to 20 minutes as it became a regular practice.

This isn’t a book you read in one sitting. A chapter a day takes five minutes of your time. I read after I meditated, while still on my cushion, but others may want to read before.

A great resource that I’m sure I’ll be coming back to and recommending for a long time.

Should be a required read for AI

This was a very helpful book that changed my mindset around my personal writing and emails. I started implementing the ideas after the first few chapters and will continue to do so. I wish AI models could read this book to make all their writing more concise and save us time, both in their responses and in the AI-written emails we all receive.

A quick, valuable read for everyone.

I bought this long ago and revisited it when I started my meditation practice back in January. It’s a bit of an introduction to Buddhism, with workplace examples of how to let things go and focus on the work at hand. When I first read it, it led me to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who has become a favourite writer as well.

A Different Approach to Life

I’ve made more highlights and notes while reading this book than I have with other books with similar messages. The variety of writers, creators, and entrepreneurs brought together as examples of how to live has sent me down a few rabbit holes already. It’s very well written and a book I’ll definitely be returning to for years to come.

The last of his four books on Stoic virtues. My fiancée bought me a signed copy for my birthday last year. I started reading it shortly afterwards and loved it. I think it’s one of my favourites of the series, and I’ve collected a lot of quotes from it by Lincoln, Joan Didion, Montaigne, and more. He writes about reading more, how to read, and how to learn from it. He also talks about how to avoid shortcuts when learning and how to apply that knowledge properly. You don’t necessarily need to read the other books before this, but I think you’ll want to after finishing it.

John is a well-known profile writer for magazines like The New Yorker and is still writing at the age of 95. He has published over 30 books and received several awards for his writing. This book tells the stories behind many of his famous profiles and explains how he works. It’s been very insightful and has me thinking more about my own approach to writing. If you’re interested in writing, read this one. (75% finished)