Questioning. Exploring. Explaining. These authors take it upon themselves to probe the world's mysteries, to merge science and history, to seek to understand who we are, where we are, and why we are. These authors write books for anyone with an inquisitive mind. Of course, they also tell a hell of a story along the way.
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Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders
By Joshua Foer, Ella Morton, Dylan Thuras
Dreaming of escaping New York? This book will fill you with plenty of ideas and severe wanderlust. This travel guide provides offbeat trail recommendations for just about everywhere. Filled with fun graphics, such as a map of sea monsters in the United States, there is something for everyone in this book. Give this to the dreamer in your life and they will be on a plane the next day!
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The Body: A Guide for Occupants
By Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is one of America’s most beloved writers, and though his works range in subject matter, he always writes with the same warmth and humor. The Body, his newest, is no exception. Here, he writes about…well, us, or rather, the containers we walk around in: our bodies. What makes them work? What are we supposed to do with them exactly? There’s science, there’s mystery—there’s Bryson, with that smart, funny voice that’ll charm even the fussiest readers.
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How To
By Randall Munroe
Randall Munroe, NASA robot scientist turned cartoonist, offers his hilarious new take on science, How To. Curious how to change a lightbulb? power your house? predict the weather? Munroe has an answer for you—an absurdly complicated answer. These days, why do anything the easy way? This is the best kind of joke book, where the humor is rooted in truths both scientific and human.
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The Nature of Life and Death
By Patricia Wiltshire
What the heck is a forensic ecologist? It’s a field of science where crime and nature meet, and Patricia Wiltshire is an engaging guide. It’s her profession to analyze the natural world for clues, and in The Nature of Life and Death, she blends true crime and nature writing into something truly original, a compelling glimpse at a way of viewing the world not often seen, perfect for fans of quirky true crime and nature writing.
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Talking to Strangers
By Malcolm Gladwell
Following the level of intellectual and cultural curiosity that has fueled his career, Malcolm Gladwell’s new book investigates the ways in which communication fails. The essays in this book range from Castro’s interactions with the CIA, to Sandra Bland, to the suicide of Sylvia Plath. This book is an adventure into the psychological and historical aspects of how we as people communicate with each other.
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Underland: A Deep Time Journey
By Robert Macfarlane
Macfarlane is a naturalist with a penchant for poetry. He explores buried cities, the communication networks of trees, permafrost melt, etc.! A fascinating, immanent vision of the world. This compendium of ecological insight—conveyed through McFarlane’s unabetted wonder and lyricism—is an inspiring and even soothing read, even as it calls our attention to the perils of climate change. Pairs well with Richard Powers’ The Overstory and John Ashberry’s poem “Some Trees.” Protip: follow Macfarlane on twitter.
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Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?
By Caitlin Doughty
A mortician answers children’s questions about death. This is the hook for this fantastic, funny book, but Doughty is so smart, tactful in all the right ways, and hilariously untactful in others. The funniest science book of the year. Or maybe the happiest book about death? Hard to say; read it for yourself, then buy it for anyone obsessed with the delightfully morbid.
