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

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.   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)