Audible rules
Whenever I work by myself in the landscape I try to listen to an audiobook so I can learn while I earn! I just can’t pull this off when I’m working with people in the field; I have to monitor, lead and train the dudes.
Now, before we get to my top five favourite titles from 2023, let’s review my listening stats. Audible sends me totals every January and it’s always fascinating to see how much I’ve listened.
In 2023 I listened for a total of 19,696 minutes; I pressed play 537 times, and my longest session was 432 minutes on July 31st.
My top 5 titles from 2023
Nature of nature (6.2 hours)
In 6.2 hours this books tells you why we need nature and it covers ecology and conservation. One huge bonus is having the late and famous scientist E. O. Wilson read the introduction! Enric Sala has written a superb book and there are many good news stories. We now know that ecosystems can recover when humans stop interfering. Sala introduces us to several marine ecosystems that have recovered when humans were eliminated from the picture.
Yes, the planet is in trouble but Sala does a great job covering everything with science. A must-read if you care about Earth.
Ghost forests (17 hours)
Greg King lives in northern California and he knows this subject well: California’s redwoods. I have yet to visit northern California and when I do, what I see will be just a fraction of what used to be there. How white European immigrants managed to steal the redwoods from Americans is a fascinating story. Think greed!
I will age myself when I tell you that the chapters on Earth First! are very familiar to me. Including the car bombing that almost killed activist Judy Bari.
This is my favourite book of 2023. By far. It’s well-researched and infuriating!
Trollope (10.5 hours)
Why would I pick a book about a Victorian novelist? Because as I found out, Anthony Trollope and his mother were the original side-hustlers. Trollope had a government day job for most of his life. But he wanted to be a novelist, so he got up early every day to write! I love that.
Trollope didn’t succeed overnight. Some of his early works didn’t get great reviews but he pressed on and eventually made it big. I love the hustle and persistence. That’s what I want.
Into the Amazon (15.5 hours)
This is a fascinating story about Candido Rondon and his Amazon explorations. Because he had indigenous blood in him, in all of his years in the Amazon, he didn’t kill a single native Amazonian! That wasn’t always the case with other explorers.
Rondonia is named after Rondon.
The dreamt land (25.5 hours)
Mark Arax is another brilliant dude like Greg King and he writes about all California resources, especially water. This is a complicated, twisted story about water rights, farming and business. Arax’s own father was a farmer and he was gunned down in front of his own house. So Arax knows this story well and writes about it well.
For example, I knew about the water heist Los Angeles pulled off in the Owen’s Valley. Agents from Los Angeles bought ranches in the Owen’s Valley under false pretenses and then built canals so they could syphon off the valley’s snowmelt for their thirsty city. I knew about this case but Arax goes deep to show you who did it and how.
Owens Valley used to be green; now it’s dry!
This is another amazing book about natural resources and people, some very greedy people.
Better life with Audible
If you haven’t tried audiobooks yet, definitely give them a try. I use Audible.com but you can pick whatever service you like.
