Why am I passionate about this?

From a young age, I was not only curious but obsessively driven to find some sort of purpose in life. I was also incredibly sensitive, and always felt I was put on the earth for a reason. My search took me across the world, taking many turns as I grabbed at every opportunity. Thanks to a motorbike accident in Nigeria, scattered pieces of my past suddenly began to fall into place. Finding our own purpose is exploration in its purest form, and I’ve long been fascinated by other curious minds – those that either struggle to find it, and those that find it and live it, or those that turn their back on convention. 


I wrote

The Pursuit of Purpose: Part Memoir, Part Study - A Book About Finding Your Way in the World

By Ken Banks,

Book cover of The Pursuit of Purpose: Part Memoir, Part Study - A Book About Finding Your Way in the World

What is my book about?

How far would you go to find your purpose in life? Come on the unlikeliest of journeys as we follow…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Into the Wild

Ken Banks Why did I love this book?

Most of us contemplate a deeper meaning of life at some point in our lives, particularly as we get older. I was no different, and neither was Chris McCandless, the focus of this incredible book. Leaving a comfortable, somewhat privileged life behind him, Chris abandoned his car and trekked off into the Alaskan wilderness, seeking adventure and self-discovery. Chris had the guts to do what I, and many others, wouldn’t, and as we share his new life in the wild we touch on life’s bigger questions – purpose, meaning, and philosophy among them – in ways that many other books don’t. Despite the sad ending, this is an inspiring read and one of my all-time favourites. Forget the film – read the book.

By Jon Krakauer,

Why should I read it?

19 authors picked Into the Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.

"Terrifying... Eloquent... A heart-rending drama of human yearning." —New York Times

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all…


Book cover of Across The Dark Continent Bicycle Diaries from Africa 1931-1936

Ken Banks Why did I love this book?

I’ve long been fascinated with travelers and explorers, the wonder of the unknown, and how we push ourselves to our limits, and because of my own work I have a particular interest in how some of the earliest explorers stepped into the unknown to make their way through the African continent. I thought I’d read it all, but recently came across an incredible Polish explorer by the name of Kazimierz Nowak. Poland is hardly known for its explorers, but Kazimierz has the most incredible stories to tell as he cycled and pushed his bicycle across Africa.

Wonderful stories of a time consigned to history, accompanied by some brilliant photographs of the places he and his bike ended up – not to mention plenty of punctures! - make for a lovely read. Forget Stanley and Livingstone for a while. For me, this is the most unusual and memorable example of how to live an adventurous, curious life. How had I never heard of this guy before?

Book cover of The Green Mile

Ken Banks Why did I love this book?

This might seem like a strange choice to include in my list of books, but hear me out. From a very young age I’ve been hypersensitive. A concern for others, and suffering in the world, led me to a career in international development. I wanted to learn more about the world, why it was so unequal, and why – so much of the time – it seemed so cruel. John Coffey, the central character in the book, suffered from a high degree of hypersensitivity, and he tried putting an unusual natural gift for helping others to work in a powerful yet unusual way. We might prefer to use the word ‘empathy’ these days to describe how he felt, something many caring people have in spades.

This is the only fiction book on my list, but its message is, to me, as powerful as any true story, perhaps even more. What do we do when we see so much wrong in the world? Do we take it head-on, or give up on it? How do we cope when the suffering of others becomes simply too intolerable to us?

By Stephen King,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Green Mile as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stephen King's iconic horror masterpiece. An international bestselling and highly acclaimed novel, a must-read for any horror fan, also a hugely successful film starring Tom Hanks.

The Green Mile: those who walk it do not return, because at the end of that walk is the room in which sits Cold Mountain penitentiary's electric chair. In 1932 the newest resident on death row is John Coffey, a giant black man convicted of the brutal murder of two little girls. But nothing is as it seems with John Coffey, and around him unfolds a bizarre and horrifying story.

Evil murderer or holy…


Book cover of The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

Ken Banks Why did I love this book?

The very idea that someone could abandon modern life and live for so long in the middle of a wood in Maine, in the USA, for close to 30 years, without being found, I find incredible. What Christopher Knight decided to do here isn’t a million miles from Chris McCandless in my earlier book recommendation, but he lasted a lot longer and was undoubtedly more successful. It takes a very special kind of person to become a true hermit, but at some time in our lives, almost all of us will wonder what it’s like to disappear, just to leave everything behind and live the most simplest and natural of lives. Christopher may well not be the last hermit – we’ll never know how many are out there, if we’re honest – but what he achieved makes for fascinating reading, a chance to taste what this sort of mystical life might be like without having to leave the comfort of our own armchairs. 

By Michael Finkel,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Stranger in the Woods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

Could you leave behind all that you know and live in solitude for three decades? This is the extraordinary story of the last true hermit - Christopher Knight.

'This was a breath-taking book to read and many weeks later I am still thinking about the implications for our society and - by extension - for my own life' Sebastian Junger, bestselling author of The Perfect Storm

'A wry meditation on one man's attempt to escape life's distractions and look inwards, to find meaning not by doing, but by being'
Martin Sixsmith, bestselling author of Philomena…


Book cover of The Fatal Shore

Ken Banks Why did I love this book?

I thought I’d finish my list with something a little different. Everyone else in the books I’ve chosen made some kind of personal decision to take their life in a different direction, but the people in this last book didn’t. The Fatal Shore is about the earliest convicts, banished to Australia to start new lives in unfamiliar, hostile territory. The first chapter alone is fascinating, documenting peoples from a ‘civilised’ part of the world struggling for survival while aboriginal ‘savages’ thrived. It’s more than just a story of survival in a new world, but also a fantastic example of where we went wrong, turning our backs and our noses up to indigenous knowledge in the assumption that we know best. This book is a brilliant example of where Western civilisation went wrong, and how dangerous assumptions can be. 

By Robert Hughes,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Fatal Shore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An award-winning epic on the birth of Australia

In 1787, the twenty-eighth year of the reign of King George III, the British Government sent a fleet to colonise Australia.

Documenting the brutal transportation of men, women and children out of Georgian Britain into a horrific penal system which was to be the precursor to the Gulag and was the origin of Australia, The Fatal Shore is the definitive, masterfully written narrative that has given its true history to Australia.

'A unique phantasmagoria of crime and punishment, which combines the shadowy terrors of Goya with the tumescent life of Dickens' Times


Explore my book 😀

The Pursuit of Purpose: Part Memoir, Part Study - A Book About Finding Your Way in the World

By Ken Banks,

Book cover of The Pursuit of Purpose: Part Memoir, Part Study - A Book About Finding Your Way in the World

What is my book about?

How far would you go to find your purpose in life? Come on the unlikeliest of journeys as we follow one man's relentless search for purpose. Join him as he seeks answers in the African bush, the forests of Finland, and everywhere in between, surviving pirate attacks, near-drownings, and close encounters with lions along the way. Discover how a late-night motorcycle accident in Nigeria led to the creation of a text messaging system that would go on to benefit tens of millions of people around the world, and how a global pandemic helped uncover an incredible family history, and with it the answers to a life purpose that had laid hidden in plain sight all along.

Book cover of Into the Wild
Book cover of Across The Dark Continent Bicycle Diaries from Africa 1931-1936
Book cover of The Green Mile

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An Heir of Realms

By Heather Ashle,

Book cover of An Heir of Realms

Heather Ashle Author Of An Heir of Realms

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite fantasy novels tend to be rather complex. Winding plotlines, mysteriously interconnected characters, whimsical settings, and intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding combine to create immersive stories that stick in the mind like overworn folklore. Time travel or interworld travel lend additional layers of intrigue and mystery, forcing the inescapable contemplation of a more thrilling, alternate reality. And if it’s all packaged in artful, breathtaking prose that breeds full-color images, audible noises, indelible flavors, nose-crumpling odors, and tangible textures, I will happily lose myself in the pages, truly forgetting about the strictures of everyday life… at least until I get hungry and remember I need to consume more than books to survive.

Heather's book list on adult fantasy that won’t make you grow up too much

What is my book about?

An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction. 

Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to Ride, but her destiny will pit her against her uncle and king, who have scorned her since before her birth. 

In the Exchange, the waystation between realms, Emmelyn fights the G’Ambit, a gambling ring with members more intent on lining their pockets than protecting the realms—or their own lives.

Both…

An Heir of Realms

By Heather Ashle,

What is this book about?

Realm-devouring parasites threaten all existence. The Exchange is desperate to destroy them. But could their radical plans endanger the realms, too?

Soul-sucking parasites are overwhelming the realms.

Rhoswen of Stanburh is of age to train as a Realm Rider—a defender of the realms. Riders and their dragons work together to burn away infiltrating Narxon as they swarm in through tears in a realm’s fabric. But it’s not an easy battle: the mere touch of the smoky, dragon-like adversaries can reduce the lively winged beasts—and their Riders—to ash.

Becoming a Realm Rider is Rhoswen’s dream, but she carries far more responsibility…


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