My Top 5 Reads of 2022

December is the time to look back, reflect and recalibrate. As well as doing this in a more structured sense for my professional and personal life, I particularly like to do this for the books that I’ve read otherwise I find their impact withers away in my memory and it feels a somewhat wasted effort.

This year, I’ve read a total of 18 books which is some way off my target of 2 per month. But this has been an intense year of work and at times I’ve barely been able to concentrate on what I am making for dinner, let alone follow the thread of an intellectually-stimulating argument in a book. Still, sometimes it’s about quality over quantity and I think that’s applicable this year as I’ve indulged in some truly magnificent reads.

Without any further ado, my Top 5 Reads of 2022 are…

5) Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (Isabella Tree)

Widely considered the blueprint for successful agricultural re-wilding, Knepp Estate in West Sussex has attracted an avid following in recent years. Isabella Tree chronicles her and her husband Charlie Burrell’s journey to restore their 1,400 ha mixed farm to an ecological sanctuary still capable of producing meat and crops. They were pioneers well ahead of a time when “regenerative agriculture” was common parlance. I was shocked how they had to fight tooth and nail to secure the funding and local approval for their bold vision despite the potential environmental and social benefits being so clearly and rigorously articulated. Their approach to farming was at the time radically different to anything else seen in the UK but thankfully today we are seeing a growing number of estates being run in the spirit of Knepp as strongly diversified and resilient businesses. Tree pleasantly records the return of iconic species like Purple Emperor butterflies and Turtle Doves and romantically depicts the behaviour of their Longhorn Cattle herd. We all owe a lot to Isabella and Charlie for shining the light forward for so many to follow.

4) Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (David Epstein)

As technology spins the world into vaster webs of interconnected systems, we need more people with breadth of experience, inter-disciplinary thinking and adaptable mindsets i.e. more generalists rather than specialists. Rather than picking and sticking from a young age, Epstein makes the case that we get better at responding to lived experience, making pivots along the way, and that this is far from a competitive disadvantage. In fact, it can often be advantageous as “outside-thinking” can lead to breakthroughs and innovation - "great rewards will accrue to those who can take conceptual knowledge from one problem or domain and apply it in an entirely new one". Demonstrating studies across sport, art, military, business and technology, this is a voyage into the stories of those who’ve achieved great success having found their calling later in life through multiple test-and-learn scenarios. I’ve already recommended this to friends and colleagues who have done their fair bit of professional migration.

?3) Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet (George Monbiot)

I wrote a post about reading Regenesis shortly after its release earlier in the year and it went somewhat viral. This book really stirred up the hornet’s nest and antagonised a lot of people. Monbiot argues that agricultural land use change is the single most damaging environmental human activity thereby laying the blame for climate and biodiversity disaster firmly at the feet of the farming community. To reverse this “agricultural sprawl” we should free up as much land as possible for re-wilding, intensify production on the land that’s left and rely on microbial fermentation for our primary source of protein production. I know a handful of regenerative farmers who have met Monbiot in person and whilst he privately recognises the benefits of their more balanced "land-sharing" farming system, he deliberately takes a radical public stance in an effort to move the needle. Whether you love him or loathe him, Monbiot is a powerful writer who methodically dismantles our current farming system.

2) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking (Susan Cain)

“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas” says Cain. As an individual who’s often felt outshone by someone with the louder voice, I took comfort in these words and frankly in the entirety of this book. Susan Cain uses facts, statistics and her own case studies to show that introverts are greatly successful and powerful not in spite of their introversion but because of it. She compares different types of businesses and teams to demonstrate how introverts listen more to the ideas of others, foster collaboration and present more thoughtful analysis when given the time and space to do so. As the famous introvert Albert Einstein said “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer”. For anyone in a position of leadership, I’d highly recommend Quiet as it’s packed full of practical tips on how to get the most from your team – of whom at least one-third to one-half will be introverted.

1)???Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution (Sarah Langford)

I heard Sarah Langford speak on a podcast and immediately knew I would enjoy her writing. She writes as she speaks: profoundly, humbly, and with hope. Rooted is the tale of Sarah’s return to running her family farm in Suffolk with her husband and children in tow. It’s an account of their mission to transform the land into a regenerative system, the seasonal highs and lows they battle with and the way their family flourishes amongst their newfound rural surroundings. Langford is a trained barrister so her way of farming is one of blissful enthusiasm dampened only by their ageing farm manager who entertainingly rebukes their suggestions with sage pragmatism. Along the way, Langford meets the movers and shakers in the British regenerative farming movement, sharing their truths and the hard times that have befallen them. This book reminded me a lot of English Pastoral by James Rebanks – the novel that sparked my own regenerative farming awakening – it’s emotional, visceral but ultimately uplifting and will fill you with hope for a farming future that is well within reach.

Full reading list for 2022:

????????????SBS - Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History (Saul David)

????????????Leadership: Lessons from my Life in Rugby (Eddie Jones)

????????????This One Wild and Precious Life: A Hopeful Path Forward in a Fractured World (Sarah Wilson)

????????????The Midnight Library (Matthew Haig)

????????????Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Simon Sinek)

????????????Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before (Dr Julie Smith)

????????????Taste: My Life Through Food (Stanley Tucci)

????????????The Devil in the Kitchen (Marco Pierre White)

????????????Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet (George Monbiot)

????????????What Nature Does for Britain (Tony Jupiter)

????????????Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution (Sarah Langford)

????????????Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm (Isabella Tree)

????????????Land Healer: How Farming Can Save Britain’s Countryside (Jake Fiennes)

????????????Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)

????????????Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking (Susan Cain)

????????????Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How To Build The Future (Peter Thiel)

????????????Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach us About the Business of Life (James Kerr)

????????????Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (David Epstein)