S12:Ep255 - Six Walks with Guest Ben Shattuck + Books Recs for Walking - 4/9/25

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You can find Ben Shattuck at his website https://www.benshattuck.com/ or on IG @Benshattuck_

 

This week we chat with Ben Shattuck, author of Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau published by Tin House Books in 2022.  Amy knew this book would appeal to Carrie because she is nothing if not a literary weirdo, and she has been since high school when she quoted from Thoreau in her senior yearbook. Despite her hopes that Ben would, like her, have a high school infatuation with Thoreau, he explains that his interest began much later. Even if you don’t know anything about Thoreau, if you're a walker or a hiker, you have experienced the unique meditative impact of this activity and can appreciate Ben’s insights on it. Ben also has a book of fiction out titled The History of Sound that is a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner prize so we are just really thrilled to have him with us today.

 And this week, for our recommendations section, we didn’t just pick a random topic like asparagus or comas to share books about—we actually continue with the theme of walking. We each share at least 3 books that feature walking, hiking, or being in nature in some meditative way. We have literary fiction, memoirs, essays, and even a romance.

 

Books mentioned--

1- Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck

 

2- The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck

 

3- Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper

 

4- A Paris Year: My Day to Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World by Janice Macleod

 

5- Dear Paris by Janice Macleod

 

6- The French Ingredient: A Memoir by Jane Bertch (La Cuisine French Cooking School)

 

7- Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard

 

8- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

 

9- The Journals of Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau 

 

10 - Matrix by Lauren Groff

 

11- Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks

 

12- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

13- Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr

 

14- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Simone Praylow @fullof_lit - Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

 

15- Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

 

16- Don't Believe It by Charlie Donlea

 

17- In My Boots: A Memoir of 5 Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail by Amanda K. Jaros

18- Going to Maine: All the Ways to Fall on the Appalachian Trail by Sally Chaffin Brooks

19- The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky’s Red River Gorge by Wendell Berry

20- Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women by Annabelle Abbs

21- Ulysses by James Joyce 

22- The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

23- The Guide to James Joyce’s Ulysses by Patrick Hastings

24- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

25- You Are Here by David Nichols

 

Media mentioned--

The Residence (Netflix, 2024)