Finished reading “The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon” by Todd Zwillich, first published July 4th 2019.
Goodreads The story of John C. Houbolt, an unsung hero of Apollo 11 and the man who showed NASA how to put America on the moon. Without John C. Houbolt, a junior engineer at NASA, Apollo 11 would never have made it to the moon. Top NASA engineers on the project, including Werner Von Braun, strongly advocated for a single, huge spacecraft to travel to the moon, land, and return to Earth.
Finished reading “Elizabeth II: Life of a Monarch” by Ruth Cowen, first published October 25th 2017.
Goodreads Veteran royal broadcaster Jennie Bond explores the life of Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Wife, mother and head of state, who is the real Elizabeth? What do the headlines hide? How close to reality are the television interpretations? Once a minor royal, she is now one of the most recognisable women in the world.
Finished reading “Origin Story: A Big History of Everything” by David Christian, first published in 2018.
Goodreads How did we get from the Big Bang to today’s staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction? Big History creator David Christian gives the answers in a mind-expanding cosmological detective story told on the grandest possible scale.
Finished reading “Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens” by Nick Offerman, first published in 2018.
Goodreads Mark Twain, beloved American writer, performer, and humorist, was a self-proclaimed glutton. With the help of a chef and some friends, Nick Offerman presents the story of Twain’s life through the lens of eight of Mark Twain’s favorite foods. As we explore these foods’ role in Samuel Clemens’ life, we also discover a surprising culinary and ecological history of America.
Finished reading “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari, first published August 30th 2018.
Goodreads From the author of the multimillion copy best seller Sapiens. Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus looked to the future. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century explores the present. How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism?
Finished reading “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing, first published January 1st 1959.
Goodreads This is a new reading of the thrilling account of one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded. In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice.
Finished reading “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari, first published September 8th 2016.
Goodreads Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods. Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war.
Finished reading “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari, first published January 1st 2011.
Goodreads How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?
Finished reading “The Autobiography of Black Hawk” by Black Hawk, first published in 1833.
Goodreads This story is told in the words of a tragic figure in American history: a hook-nosed, hollow-cheeked old Sauk warrior who lived under four flags while the Mississippi Valley was being wrested from his people. The author is Black Hawk himself - once pursued by an army whose members included Captain Abraham Lincoln and Lieutenant Jefferson Davis.