Hand Drawn (and Hiked) by McCall

Happy September! Remember, summer isn’t officially over until the Autumn Equinox, so we’ve got at least two weeks left. Once the clock strikes midnight on September 23rd, I’ll be burning at least four fall-scented candles and taking photos of every single yellow and red leaf I see.

I’m switching things up today and writing about something completely different than usual, but still near and dear to my heart: books. Here’s your warning that many, many words lie ahead.

Backcountry Chronicles

One of my favorite creators, Alexandra Hayes, writes so beautifully for her advice column and recently did a rundown of her favorite books to make you a better writer. I still have a lot of learning left to do in the writing department, so I don’t feel qualified to give that sort of list — I do, however, believe that if you want to be a better writer, the first thing you need to do is read more.

Before I decided to write this, I stopped to ask myself: why do I love reading so much? Books force you to unplug, focus on something outside of yourself and your life, and remove yourself from your day.

Thankfully, I get all of my books from the Denver Public Library so my habit doesn’t have any major impact on my budget, but even if it did, it wouldn’t matter. The ROI of reading is immeasurable in my opinion; books have legitimately changed my life. The fact that you can invest ~300 pages of your time and come out the other side with a changed perspective on just about anything? Find me a better deal than that! You can’t!

Personally, I love memoirs, books about writing and making art, and travel/adventure literature (I’m not much of a fiction girly unless I’m on a beach).

Rather than books to make you a better writer, this is my list of books to make you fall back in love with reading and with life. All of these are best read with a highlighter in hand and spare finger ready to dog-ear a page at a moment’s notice.

So without further adieu, here’s some of my favorites ever and some of my favorites from the last year.

Favorite Books Ever:

Love Is A Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

Man, oh man, oh man. Where to even start with this one? I stumbled upon this book in 2017 and I’ve re-read it every single year since then. This book spans seven years where the author, Rob Sheffield, meets the girl of his dreams, falls in love, gets married, suddenly and unexpectedly holds her while she dies from a rare brain condition, and grieves her. Rob and his late wife were connected by a mutual love (or obsession) for music, so the book is aptly named after all the mixtapes they made for each other during the respective chapters of life. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and most importantly, you’ll remember how beautiful it is to be alive.

Powder Days by Heather Hansman

When I first heard about this book, it was described to me as a critical take on the ski industry and an open love letter to the dirtbags that make it. Hansman tackles one of the most difficult questions: can ski culture (a culture built off the life of lifties and ski-bums alike who are actively being priced out of the places they love) continue to exist in the face of jarring income inequality and climate change? The book takes you through the genesis of ski culture in the U.S., the history of 10th Mountain Division, and the nuances of each ski town in Mountain West as Hansman road trips from place to place. She was a liftie and ski patrol at Beaver Creek and A-Basin, so you already know she’s cool as hell.

To Shake The Sleeping Self by Jedidiah Jenkins

I recommended this book to a former-boss-turned-mentor and she sent me this photo the next week. Book recs are my love language.

Sentimentality aside, a friend gifted me this book the summer after I graduated college (when most of us are doing some serious soul-searching for the first time in our lives) and I think I’ve read it at least 4x since. The book follows the author, Jed, as he decides to bike from Oregon to Patagonia with zero cycling experience. On top of that, at the time he writes the book, Jed has been out of the closet for at least 10 years, but grew up in the church, so still gets comments from his mom about “his future wife”. Naturally, as he cycles for a year and a half, Jed grapples with his place in life, his relationship with the church (and his family), and the people and places he encounters on the way to Patagonia.

Bonus: Jed is just as beautiful at speaking as he is at writing and his episode of Armchair Expert where he talks about his latest book is one of my favorites ever.

Want Me by Tracy Clark-Flory

This one is currently out on loan to a friend so I (sadly) don’t have any highlighter photos to share, but please know that this is easily the most highlighted, written in, and dog-eared book I own. I think I’ve lent this book to at least 10 friends at this point. Want Me is all about how, in the West, our sense of femininity is intrinsically tied to our sense of desirability. Men grow up learning to desire; women grow up learning to be desired. Fair warning: there are some points that get pretty graphic — Clark-Flory started her career as a sex writer (Carrie Bradshaw IRL!) and describes some of the things she witnessed in unabashedly honest and descriptive terms.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

You might remember this title from the article that went viral in 2016. Marina Keegan was a student at Yale who passed away on the day of her graduation ceremony in a car accident, so her professors, parents, and friends came together to combine some of her favorite short stories she wrote during college and publish them. I won’t spoil any more of this one, but just tell you it’s one beautiful, beautiful, beautiful story after another.

Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given

This is a book I wish I read when I was 18. It’s best described as an introduction to feminism and I simply cannot recommend it enough. It rightly rocked my world at age 25 when it made its way into my hands. When interviewed about the book, Florence said she made it to “hopefully poke some holes in [the] facade that women need men, their validation, and the products they sell to make us feel better.”

Favorite Books of 2024:

I got a Kindle in March of this year and one of my favorite things about it is how easy it is to keep track of how many and which books I’ve read. So far, I’ve read 34 books since March (not to flex, I’ve just been lucky enough to have a lot of holy-shit-I-legitimately-can’t-put-this-down level fantastic books fall into my lap). Here’s my absolute favorites up to this point:

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Truthfully, I almost put this on the favorite books ever list. In short, it’s a neurosurgeon’s memoir reflecting on life’s meaning after he gets a terminal cancer diagnosis at age 36. Kalanithi’s writing style is so poignant and beautiful, and he uses that beautiful tone of voice talking about how life is to be lived, how death is to be welcomed, and how much integrity it takes to look them both in the eye. Kalanithi passed away while writing the book, so his wife picks up at the very end and fills in the blanks — and it’s almost guaranteed to make you cry. Another one that I’d argue serves as a reminder of how beautiful it is to be alive.

Rising: Becoming The First North American Woman on Everest by Sharon Wood

Ah, a good ‘ole adventure story. The book follows Sharon Wood as she makes an attempt to be the first North American woman to summit Everest. The story takes an unexpected turn when she shows up to base camp and finds out her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend are making a summit attempt at the exact same time as her (dirtbags, they’re just like us!). It’s a story about triumph, hardship, pushing yourself to the extremes, and of course, how the media loves to make the most interesting thing about a woman the men that she’s dated — even when she’s pushing to summit the highest mountain on earth.

Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

The year isn’t even close to over and I’m already certain this will be the best book I read all year. Seriously. Buy this book. In the simplest terms, the premise of this book is that, as Westerners, we all have our idea of what North Korea is like: the sanctioned tours of Pyongyang, people looking at computers but not typing or doing anything, and the stories about Kim Jong Un. This book makes an attempt to peel back the onion and give a real glimpse at what life in North Korea is like. It follows the story of six different defectors as they grow up in North Korea, face the extreme difficulties of life under the totalitarian regimes of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jonh-il, and ultimately, defect to South Korea.

Stash: My Life in Hiding by Laura Cathcart Robbins

Equal parts gripping and heartbreaking, Stash follows the journey of Laura Cathcart Robbins as she picks up an addiction to sleeping pills and manages to continue to exist as a high-functional Los Angeles mom (volunteering for after-school activities, showing up at every sporting event for her kids, etc. etc. etc., you know the drill). One second you think she’s about to take the first step towards the recovery, and the next you’re on the edge of your seat feeling the most secondhand anxiety you’ve felt in years. It’s an open and honest recounting of what the throes of addiction look like — something I think anyone and everyone could benefit from reading.

Red Notice by Bill Browder

Holy shit. This book. I’m not even sure how to explain it, but it is so, so insanely good. Bill Browder starts his career on Wall Street and takes his business to Russia just after the collapse of the Soviet Union where he makes his fortune. Along with that fortune, he also makes a massive enemy in the name of Vladimir Putin. It’s almost hard to believe this story is real. The book is named after a Red Notice, which is a request from Interpol to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest someone — which is what Putin put out for Bill Browder at the height of his career. Please, just read it.

Artiste Break

My Skida drawing is complete! This will be part of a larger collection I’ll shop around for galleries — it won’t be public for a while, but like I said before, newsletter subs get the BTS. This is my first big girl 18×24 and I’m so stoked about how it turned out.

I’ve spent the last ~4 years of my art career making big things small, like turning buildings into 8×10 drawings, and want to try my hand at making small things big, like turning a beanie into an 18×24. The idea for this collection is focusing on the small items that make up the big days — and in turn, the big days that make us feel small. I love that sense of awe you get every single time you’re in the backcountry, whether it be on skis or on foot. The irreverence of the mountains and nature and our place within all of it is something I think everyone can relate to thinking deeply about. Many more small things turned big to come soon!

To Go Snacks

⛷️ In one of the wildest twists I’ve read lately, a former Atomic employee was accused of trying to pull off a massive ski heist. Yes, you read that correctly.

🎸 After seeing Mt. Joy at Red Rocks last month, naturally, I’m on a Mt. Joy kick. This live album from The Salt Shed absolutely rips.

🎨 One of my favorite artists, Bella McGoldrick, just dropped a series called The Archive where she walks through and remakes all the first prints she drew in her career. It’s as inspiring as it is beautiful.

See you in two weeks!

- McCall 🌻

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