Fed up with teenage life in the suburbs, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard. His journey is a coming-of-age saga that takes him from communes to monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York shore. Equal parts spiritual memoir and surfer's tale, this is a chronicle of finding meditative focus in the barrel of a wave and eternal truth in the great salty blue.

Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer's Quest to Find Zen on the Sea, Jaimal Yogis, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 256 pages, $16.95

Jaimal Yogis is an award-winning author, journalist, and self-described surfing enthusiast. His work often blends themes of spirituality, personal growth, and adventure, and explores his own experiences with surfing. Yogis is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and his writing has been featured in The Washington Post, ESPN Magazine, and The Atlantic.