What to Read Next: June 13, 2025
Issue #380, featuring a wild ride down a flooded river
Happy Friday readers!
This week we found a bit of breathing room with the unpacking and furniture assembling and I’m back to the usual format. On tap in this edition:
A review of a rollicking river adventure
What to read to celebrate Hamilton’s 10th Broadway anniversary
June releases I’m most excited about
5 Things: Link and Opinions
The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko
Our final book club gathering before leaving Denver was spent discussing Kevin Fedarko’s fantastic The Emerald Mile.
While seemingly about rebel boatman Kenton Grua’s famed speed ride through the Grand Canyon, the most interesting parts of the book detail the 1983 flood and the broader water management issues of the Southwest. There is a lot of engineer-speak in the narrative and Fedarko manages to make it utterly riveting — in fact, much of our book club discussion centered on that rather than Grua.
Sprinkled throughout the main story are some incredible sections of sparkling prose about the landscape. Like Edward Abbey famously did in Desert Solitaire, Fedarko lyrically captures the unique beauty and awe-inducing grandeur of the American Southwest. It’s undoubtedly one of my favorite areas to visit — which surely added to my appreciation of The Emerald Mile as well.
And just like Abbey, Fedarko has plenty to say about the commercialization of those Southwest landscapes, both in terms of tourism and in the harnessing of these resources for electricity and drinking water. Fedarko, however, is much more nuanced than Abbey ever tried to be; the former realizes the immense benefits that can come from those industries while still mourning the loss of wildness.
Amidst all that, there is also a rollicking story of a man who did something a bit crazy and ended up in the history books because of it. Last year, I read and enjoyed Fedarko’s newest book, A Walk in the Park, about the author’s hike through the Canyon. The Emerald Mile should absolutely be read in conjunction with that one; it’s a book I will recommend far and wide to anyone with an interest in the outdoors.
In the News: Hamilton’s 10th Broadway-versary
This section offers a book recommendation based on recent headlines, to help you make sense of the world with a bit more depth and context rather than just clickbait.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
This recommendation may be too obvious, but use this moment as an excuse to read the book that inspired Lin Manuel-Miranda to write one of the great Broadway shows of all-time. I read it in 2020 and still think about it regularly. The life of Alexander Hamilton in the hands of Ron Chernow — one of the great biographers of our era — is a masterpiece. It’s perhaps one of my top 10 reads ever.
June Releases I’m Excited About
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby — All of his page-turning thrillers are amazing and I can’t wait to read this one.
Never Flinch by Stephen King — A new King novel is always going to grab my attention, even though I need to catch up on the other Holly Gibney books.
When It All Burns by Jordan Thomas — I’ve read a lot of books about wildfire; this one, written by a Los Padres Hotshot, seems especially interesting and unique.
Murderland by Caroline Fraser — A Pulitzer-winning author puts out a wild theory about serial killers in the ‘70s . . . I’m in.
Spellbound by Molly Worthen — The subtitle for this one really hooked me: “How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump.”
5 Things: Links and Opinions
Arguably the most important weather map in history was the forecast for D-Day, June 6, 1945. A single meteorologist had to read the wind and waves and determine the “go” or “no go” for that day. The video above is a wildly interesting look at that particular weather map.
When a chat with AI goes off the rails. My use of AI has really plummeted and I’m mostly utilizing it for specific use cases — such as a more powerful thesaurus and a guide to the old house we’re renting.
How the “Like” button has changed the world. I’m always interested in tech history and how it has shaped our modern experience. This article is catnip if you’re in the same boat as me.
I have two recommendations to give based on our cross-country moving experience. U-Pack was fantastic for getting our things from Point A to Point B. We hired labor for packing/unpacking the truck and U-Pack did the driving. The whole thing was wayyy cheaper than if we had gone with one moving company for everything.
The other thing we immediately loved: our new Hisense CanvasTV. The picture is a huge upgrade from our 13-year-old TV (duh), but the real benefit is that it genuinely looks like art when the TV isn’t in use. And the anti-glare screen is remarkable. Definitely check it out as a cheaper alternative to the better-known Samsung Frame.
Thanks so much for reading. Be good to each other.
-Jeremy
I can also recommend Hamilton. Excellent book about a brilliant man with some flaws. Thanks for The Emerald Mile book. Water is a critical issue in the Southwest (and generally everywhere) and through a podcast I heard about Cadillac Desert. I plan on reading that as well as your recommendation.