Coffee chat and a question I've never heard

Grabbing a coffee this morning and talking about the holidays with Kristine McKenna, she asked me: what gift are you looking forward to getting the most? I stumbled to answer. "Great question Kristine....hmmm", I said. Never having been asked this before, I had to pause and think (thinking, turns out, is something seemingly very difficult to do pre-americano-first sip) Alas, I shared with her, my answer to the question, undoubtedly: a book from my Mom.

Then, she said, "...you know what would be a great gift for others is a list of what those books are". Kristine, you are brilliant. Thusly, in an effort to give and share, I hope you enjoy....

Every year, Barby Bosco gives her 3 “chickens” i.e. kids, a book. Each year, the book takes me by surprise. This year, at thanksgiving my sister, Haley Bosco, and I were sitting at the kitchen table and we told her how excited we were to get the book this year (a conversation that sadly had never been had). She proceeds to launch into a reveal about how she goes about picking those books. She does massive amounts of research and chooses wisely. I’ll have to share her exact process in another post, for now, I’d like to share my 3 favorite books from none other than Barby Bosco herself:

1)   Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. This is my favorite book of all time. Nothing has yet to top it. I could talk your ear off. Here are a few thoughts…

a.    The 'never give up' attitude is alive in this book, it is its own character

b.    Brilliant prose and voice, incredible background given about scuba diving and American WWII history

c.    I printed out a list of my favorite quotes from this book and carried them with me during my 50-miler this October and anytime I felt like I might not make it, I’d read one of their quotes and be inspired to continue onward. Here are just a few….

“Rarely does the problem itself kill the diver, rather the divers response to the problem-his panic-likely determines whether he lives or dies”

"No matter what" happened every day in commercial diving, and it was for those moments that Chatterton lived, and it occurred to him that it was for those moments that he had been living for a long time.

"When things are easy a person doesn't really learn about himself. It's what a person does at the moment of his greatest struggle that shows him who he really is. Some people never get that moment. The U-Who is my moment. What I do now is what I am"

 2)   Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. This true story breathes emotion into your veins. These 8 boys and their resiliency, willingness to give everything and focus on each other is something that will inspire me forever

a. There’s a short documentary on PBS called “The Boys of 36” where you can watch the actual footage of the Gold-Medal race from 1936, pretty rad.

b. What you don’t see in the film, is the incredible deficit of circumstance they began that race with. A life lesson those boys teach us in that race is something I can certainly do better of reminding myself of: our success is defined by how well we work as a team, regardless of any outside factors.

3)   Voices in the Ocean by Susan Casey a column journalist turned non-fiction book writer brings us around the world to the shorelines and deep oceans where Dolphins are losing battles against humans.

a.    She gives us the history of Dolphin research (not for the faint of heart)

b.    She shares with us that Dolphins have stronger sonar capabilities than the US Navy (sorry gals & guys, you know I love you)

c.    She creates a new space in your heart where you will keep the Dolphin’s story with you forever

(I’m just now realizing all 3 of these books take place in or on the water….can someone help me draw some conclusions there?)

What'd I'd like to hear in the comments......What books have you gifted the most/love the most? (a favorite question to hear Tim Ferris ask his guests)