5 Beach Books to Stretch Your Mind

Long before I oriented my life around reading, I would get the majority of my (4-5!) books per year read during the summer. But summer reads get a bad rap for being too silly, too saucy, too simple. So this summer join me in bridging the gap to find great beachy reads. We want books that have a speedy pace *and* expand our minds! We want books that help us escape our everyday lives *and* teach us something new. A mesmerizing coming-of-age novel! A slim tear-jerky memoir! A crucial self-help book! An evocative life story from the deep south. And, of course, the Tom Wolfe novel I think everybody should start with… I made this video and podcast for you: Please enjoy my 5 summer beach books to stretch your mind like taffy while you bake in the sun… Let's find your next read now...

BIG NEWS! I just finished writing CANADA IS AWESOME: A Little Book About A Big Country. This podcast is me reading the whole book! The book is about all the weird, wonderful, beautiful things that make Canada ... Canada. Did you ever notice Canadians speak in the collective? “What do you think of the weather we’re having?” “Shall we grab a Tims before the meeting?” “Think we have a shot at the playoffs?” We, we, we. We use the word we so much. Why do we feel like such a collective? I don’t think it’s complicated. I think it’s because we are one. We all toss around half of everything we make into a big glass jar and use it to pay for everyone’s health care, education, and services. Sure, the system’s never perfect, but if you shatter your ankle in an icy Canadian Tire parking lot, need a dozen years of free school for five kids in Kamloops, or want to drive on freshly snowplowed roads from Comox to Cornwall to Cape Spear, well ... we got you. We got you. We got everyone. So today I'm releasing the audio version of my first new book in three years. For free! With no ads! It's a gift. The Canadian way. I'm sharing the audiobook for free on the 3 Books podcast feed and on YouTube and then on Canada Day (July 1st) I'll be publishing the full text and a beautifully formatted PDF for free download on my blog (www.neil.blog) and also selling paper books—both black and white paperbacks and full-color hardcovers—at cost, starting July 1st. It's a different type of book than I've done before—a 78-page, bright red, self-published love letter to my home country. And it was designed by a Canadian in Ottawa (Steve St. Pierre), audio and video edited by a Canadian in Toronto (Dave Boire), and even the t-shirt I'm wearing in the YouTube video was designed and manufactured by a Canadian in Toronto (Daniel Torjman). If you're Canadian I hope you feel pride in who we are. If you're not Canadian, I hope this helps you see Canada a little clearer. Maybe it will inspire you to visit ... or to move here! Flip this on for your long road trip and let's let ourselves get inspired by what's possible when grit, determination, and kindness come together across culture and language. Let's reflect on shared goals of spending time with loved ones, hitting best-in-world education rates, and, of course, kicking back by the lake with a Moosehead and a bowl of ketchup chips. This is a piece of writing close to my heart and something I have been working on for over a decade. It began as a 1000 word blog post on '1000 Awesome Things' (2012), turned into a 5000 word Audible Original audiobook (2017), and now, today, in 2025, has become a 10,000 word physical book and audiobook that I offer here as my gift to you—and to us. I hope you like it. Neil

It started with a modern plea for help: "Can I charge my dead phone in your bookstore?" I was in Del Mar, California, walking up the coast of the Pacific Ocean after birding all morning in ​Torrey Pines​. I was tracking my birds on ​eBird​—the ​Peregrine Falcons​, ​Anna's Hummingbirds​, and ​California Scrub-Jays​—and, of course, completely drained my phone's battery. When I get to Del Mar I spy this hobbit-hole looking bookstore called ​Camino Books: For The Road Ahead​ and when I walk in I am suddenly thrust into a gorgeous Biblio Paradise. Camino Books is one of the most spectacular bookstores I've ever seen! I fall into the handwritten Staff Picks walls, nookish children's section, incredible curation, giant hand-drawn posters from Dave Eggers, and the Wonka-like atmosphere that creates a true feast for the eyes and mind! But yeah ... my phone's dead. So I walk to the back counter and ask the gentleman unpacking boxes if I could plug it in back there. When I tell him I'm Canadian he gives me a quirky grin and says, "How many tariffs should I put on your free charge?" We laugh and start talking about the political scene. John has the aura of ​George Saunders​—a certain "warm gnarliness"—and he tells me, "We have no left wing in this country. We're like an eagle slowly swirling to the ground with just one right wing." And I could immediately tell this poetic bookselling Jedi master needed to be recorded... What emerges are the poetic distillations of 67-year-old John the Bookseller, along with his wife Alison who cameos at the end. They have been booksellers since 1981 ... a combined 88 years! No wonder the store's so great. They began in Berkeley and then opened up an independent bookstore chain called Diesel Books, up and down the California coast, and now have sold the store to open up a little new shop on the coast called Camino Books: For the Road Ahead. Don't we all need a good book for the road ahead? Let's talk about how to open a bookstore, California independence, fighting fascism, George Orwell, the 51st state, customers vs. readers, Susan Cain, the Spanish Civil War, how to 'stay awake,' and, of course, John and Alison's 3 most formative books. This is the kind of mind-opening conversation that great bookstores create. Let's head down to Del Mar, California as we flip the page to Chapter 149 now...

Loneliness rates have doubled since the 1980s and Vivek Murthy, former US Surgeon General, says loneliness will be the next major epidemic. So if loneliness is being alone and sad … then what’s being alone and happy? Solitude. A few years ago, I picked up an incredible book called '​Solitude​' by Michael Harris, bestselling author and winner of the Governor General's Award for his writing. It completely blew me away. Why? Because in our era of endless machine-gun blasts at our brains, I feel strongly that the ability to be alone, and to be alone well, is a muscle that is quickly atrophying. Michael shares why we need to develop the strength and capacity to live and be by ourselves and how exactly we go about cultivating a rich interior life. Michael has gone on to tackle our culture of consumerism in his 2021 book '​All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy​,' and I think after this conversation you’ll agree this true “strength of mind” is a crucial aspect of living an intentional life as we face the threat of social and climate collapse. For this classic chapter of 3 Books, I flew to Michael’s home in Vancouver, BC. We discuss: How do we cultivate the area between wakefulness and sleep? What does a healthy media diet look like? Why shouldn’t you talk about anything serious over texts? And how do parents and children navigate the conversation about coming out of the closet? And, of course, Michael's 3 most formative books... Let's flip the page back to Chapter 29 now...

Ginny Yurich (​@1000hoursoutside​) drove 5 hours up the road from Michigan to Toronto to hang out with Leslie and me. We went for a walk outside (of course!) and recorded this podcast—our second outdoors podcast in a row after ​Nickisha The Dog Walker​! Why outside? I'm glad you asked! Ginny Yurich is the homeschooling mother of 5 (!) who has spirited a movement called ​1000 Hours Outside​. I like 1000 as you know! ​1000 Awesome Things​ was my first blog, ​1000 formative books​ is ... this entire podcast. So when 3 Bookers globally kept telling me to interview Ginny I looked her up and saw she was a fan of 1000 and I knew ... this was going to be good. And it was even better than I thought! Grab some headphones! Put on some shoes! Let's mutually peel ourselves off screens and scrolling and let's step into the sun, into the wind, into the air and talk about parenting pressures, raising a wild child, ​old dangerous playground equipment​, the benefits of spinning, why osteoporosis is a childhood disease, raising readers, and, of course, Ginny's 3 most formative books. Ginny is the bestselling author of '​1000 Hours Outside​,' '​Until The Streetlights Come On​,' and (out next week!) her brand-new book '​Homeschooling​' which has the catchy subtitle "You're doing it right just by doing it." I found her formative books truly fascinating and her work is heavily research-based which builds upon her Master's in Education and an almost endless reservoir of knowledge about raising enduringly popular and healthy children in today's cognitively-exhausting world.... I absolutely love Ginny Yurich! Open the door, hear the birds, and let's flip the page into Chapter 148 now...

Have you heard of a book called '​The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck​'? I’m guessing you have since it’s sold, uh, 16 million copies since it came out in 2016. There hadn't been a non-fiction book that big and disruptive in a long, long time… Mark’s meteoric success is the product of a giant mind which has mastered the art of taking the biggest, densest books on the planet and then simmering them down into simple, profanity-laced models and stories that hit you like a ton of bricks. The world is so loud! So busy. So full. Everything is screaming at us to buy this, buy that, do this, do that. You know what we need in this wild world? Guides! Clear voices. People who give us simple and practical advice that we can follow and put into place… Mark Manson is one of those guides for me and millions of others. I follow his popular ​YouTube channel​ and read his ​simple and punchy tweets​. In this classic 3 Books chapter, in Mark's cramped hotel room at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, we go deep on building trust in an era of clutter, why Mark poo-poos self-help gurus, what is the root problem with the 'advertising model,' why Mark played video games for months after the success of his book, what his writing routines and principles are, and, of course, his 3 most formative books… Let's flip the page back to Chapter 28 now...

Let's go for a walk!   I've sometimes imagined 3 Books as a long walk with a friend. So today—let's take one! Nickisha moved to Toronto from Jamaica when she was 16 to reunite with her mom and after working as a travel agent she broke out on her own to run a successful business full of fresh air, exercise, community, and lots of love.   I sometimes see Nickisha with five, six, or seven dogs around her—giving them the highlight of their day! Tongues wagging. Skip in their step. Motoring around town clocking 100km on foot each week!   One of our traditions on 3 Books is doing podcasts outside from ​Chapter 27​ with Robin the Bartender on the open patio of Bar Raval in Toronto to ​Chapter 106​ with Alok Vaid-Menon in Central Park in New York City to ​Chapter 131​ with J. Drew Lanham while birdwatching in South Carolina...   Another tradition here is exploring stories from people who fill our lives but aren't often represented by our screen-based culture full of politicians and billionaires. We vote with our attention so it's fun turning off the same faces to hang with people like ​Vishwas the Uber Driver​, ​Shirley the Nurse​, and ​Soyoung the Variety Store Owner​.   So strap on your running shoes! Throw in some headphones! And let's go for a walk with Nickisha to discuss urban density, pedestrian-driver relations, safe supply, the dog walking business, immigration assimilation, Danielle Steele, and, of course, Nickisha's 3 most formative books.   Let's flip the page to Chapter 147 now...

No one does it like Angie. Racial tensions, police shootings, citizen uprisings. Does this sound like the setting of a YA novel? How about three of them? Her debut '​The Hate U Give,​' her sophomore release '​On The Come Up​,' and her third '​Concrete Rose​' were all on The New York Times bestseller list, and her fantasy middle school-level book '​Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy​' was *also* an instant New York Times bestseller! In this classic chapter of 3 Books, we sat down together at the busiest hotel in downtown Toronto on the tail end of Angie’s 15-city book tour to discuss how we find the truth for ourselves, when do we bring up harsh realities to kids, and what place media and religion have in society today. We dive deep into the heightened racial and political tensions today and we search for a way out and, as always, we get to learn Angie Thomas’s three most formative books. Let's flip the page back to Chapter 26 now...

Is porn good sex education? Why does body autonomy matter for kids? Does talking about sex kill the mood? Emily Nagoski has the answers! Emily is a sex educator and activist whose mission is to teach us how to live with confidence and joy inside our bodies. She does this as the New York Times bestselling author of 'Come As You Are,' 'Burnout,' and 'Come Together,' as well as through her 3 popular TED Talks including—with over 3 million views—"How couples can sustain a strong sexual connection for a lifetime." Emily began working as a sex educator 30 years ago at the University of Delaware. She has a Master's in Counseling Psychology and she worked at the famous Kinsey Institute. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships, communication, stress management, and sex education. She was Director of Wellness Education at Smith College for eight years before starting to write full time. In this deep-dive chapter we talk about neurodiversity versus neurodivergence, maintaining longterm sexual connection, OKCupid, ADHD and Autism, teaching kids about sex, and, of course, Emily's 3 most formative books... For those who want to strengthen and improve their sexual health with themselves and others ... Let's flip the page to Chapter 146 now...

What do you know about James Frey? Or what do you think you know about James Frey? I’m guessing it’s not nothing. Everyone has an opinion! When I first spotted '​A Million Little Pieces​' on my wife’s bookshelf when we were moving in together I was like “Oh? Really? That book? The Oprah guy?” And she was like “Have you read it?” And I was like “No, no idea what it’s even about. Just that it’s not real or whatever.” She looked at me with disappointed eyes. Understandably so! I hadn’t bothered to go below the surface. To read about it on my own. I had just soaked in some distant fumes off the story. “Read it,” she said, and pushed the book into my hands. That night I opened 'A Million Little Pieces' and was completely pulled into this pulsing, frenetic, endlessly climactic story of addiction, growth, and finding yourself. The book shook me. It was a masterpiece. I couldn’t believe it existed. I almost felt anger towards ​the Oprah saga​ because it headfaked me into thinking I knew what the book was about… when I couldn’t have been more off. I went deeper into James Frey’s catalogue and found myself similarly seduced by books like '​Bright Shiny Morning​' and '​Katerina​,' and am looking forward to Frey's new novel, '​Next To Heaven​,' which is coming out in June 2025. His stories have a pace and staccato to them that’s perfect for distracted brains like mine. He doesn’t mince words, he doesn’t shy away, and his characters always punch you in the gut. In this classic chapter of 3 Books. I sat down with James with a lot of questions and I loved our discussions around fatherhood and living an intentional life. We talk about teaching children to read, the importance of secular bibles, why (and how) we can slowly stop comparing ourselves to others, what getting drunk really means, and much, much more... Let's flip the page back to Chapter 25 now...