A beautiful book with stories from different cultures. A stellar gift for the myths, monsters, and folktales fan.
Stacey
A tour-de-force tour of the human body - organs, systems, glands, everything you could imagine. Written for the layperson but chock-full of amazing anatomy explanations as well as factoids that you will want to remember for future conversation but of course will never be able to keep track of (the liver is part of 500 different metabolic processes and contains a quarter of all your blood). Fascinating digressions about particular diseases, scientists, discoveries and yet more facts. (And if you're an audio-book lover, Bryson's own reading of the book on Libro.fm is fabulous.)
David
With regards to the coming catastrophic effects of climate change the first sentence of this powerful polemic says it all: “It is worse, much worse, than you think.”
Dale
This left me both frightened of all the problems to come, but at the same time optimistic of all the problems that'll finally be be solved.
John
Before reading this book, I thought I had a decent idea of how the world works. Shortly into the first chapter, I realized how little I understood. From networks to blockchains, Greenfield masterfully critiques nine foundational technologies that often invisibly shape our lives. An important book for anyone wanting a thoughtful relationship with the world around them.
Matthew
Nobel Prize winning researcher and teacher Eric R. Kandel, with profound empathy, essentially delivers a survey of current knowledge of the workings of the brain using the frame of brain disorders. Our understanding of the biology of the mind is changing rapidly and Kandel charts these advances in clear and very comprehensible language explaining how they are leading to new insights about human nature and consciousness itself.
Dale
Introduces you to all the people who watched the moon landing and said "That’s what I want to do with my life," with or without NASA.
John
This is a fantastic nonfiction picture book about one of the champions of coral reef restoration. Beautiful illustrations and an inspiring true-life story.
Rebecca
In July of 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft completed the first ever flyby of Pluto. For me and many others, this was the first I'd heard of New Horizons, but Alan Stern and the Pluto Underground had been working towards this since 1989, and the process was far from easy. Follow the epic journey from idea to proposal to actual mission to the furthest and final unexplored planet in our solar system. You'll learn about planetary science, space exploration, and Pluto itself.
Shana
Never mind what you’ve heard about the coming effects of climate change. As Elizabeth Rush disturbingly documents, we are already seeing widespread effects of sea level rise. With great empathy and a lyrical voice she closely examines the response of various American coastal communities to the dramatic changes they struggle to face.
Dale
