Fogo Island Book Club
While attending ShoreTime on Fogo Island, I spent four days immersed in conversations about art, design, economy, ecology, and foodways.
In these conversations, books became shorthand—a way to connect without needing to explain everything. Each title shared wasn’t about showing off; it was about assuming a shared understanding.
Sometimes, book recommendations feel like a gift, an invitation to experience a meaningful concept together.
I’ve compiled a list of the books mentioned in presentations and conversations last week, from the artists, keynote speakers, and other more casual recommendations from new friends.
Enjoy! And if you have any other titles to add to this list, please share!
Defining Contemporary Professionalism: For Architects in Practice and Education by Alan Jones
Featuring a chapter by Indy Johar, "Architecturing our future: New capabilities, tools, processes and ethical positions.
A Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This book was a gift for me upon arrival from my dear cousin & partner for the weekend. If you are escaping city life for any length of time, I recommend bringing this book with you.
An Immanent Metaphysics by Forrest Landry
Recommended by: Indy Johar.
"This fresh view of metaphysics is presented with the ultimate intention of enabling the development and evolution of all artistic culture and life."
The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism by Adrienne Buller
Recommended by: Zita Cobb.
“The use of the mainstream economic discipline - its prestige, the ostensible objectivity of its analysis and sober authoritativeness of its prominent figures and institutions - has been among the most potent forces in the delay, dilution and overt obstruction of the political and policy programmes requires to both mitigate catastrophe in the future, and strive for justice in the present.”
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
Recommended by: L. Sasha Gora
Gora is currently in Residence on Fogo exploring the interconnectedness of food with our histories, ecologies, economies, politics, and social worlds.
Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock
Recommended by: Zita Cobb
"Novacene by James Lovelock proposes that AI and humans together create a new superorganism; the Novacene, which will drive our evolution, protect our existence and explore the universe. It offers an innovative perspective on the future of humanity."
Lunar Tides by Shannon Webb-Campbell
Shannon was one of the first people I met as I boarded the ferry for Fogo Island. She is a poet whose work is tied to Newfoundland, ecology, and belonging.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
This book is unrelated to our weekend in Fogo directly but draws timely parallels to the legacy of family physicians as a part of our communities.
The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind by Raghuram Rajan
Recommended by: Zita Cobb
Zita cited this book several times, saying that her only criticism is that "it wasn't written sooner".
“Society suffers when any of the pillars weakens or strengthens overly relative to the others. Too weak the markets and society becomes unproductive, too weak a democratic community and society tends toward crony capitalism, too weak the state and society turns fearful and apathetic. Conversely, too much market and society becomes inequitable, too much community and society becomes static, and too much state and society becomes authoritarian. A balance is essential!”
Recommended by: Zita Cobb
Elinor Ostrom is the only woman to have received the Nobel Prize in Economics. "There is no reason to believe that bureaucrats and politicians, no matter how well-meaning, are better at solving problems than the people on the spot, who have the strongest incentive to get the solution right."
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
Recommended by: Indy Johar
"Bregman's argument is simple but radical: Most people are good, and we do ourselves a disservice by thinking the worst of others. Bregman argues that believing in human kindness is a foundation for lasting social change."
