Non-fiction

Beaverland by Leila Philip

A fascinating read about an underappreciated species. Well worth it and might just turn you into a “Beaver Believer”.

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop

Highly recommended - both practical and interesting, giving loads of insight into Chinese cuisine, which is richly varied. (Lumping it all together is somewhat like saying “European Food”!)

Training for the Uphill Athlete by Kílian Jornet Burgada, Scott Johnston, and Steve House

See On enjoying running for more.

How Life Works by Philip Ball

Our understanding of how biological systems work is constantly evolving, (rimshot!) and I found this to be an in depth but still accessible overview.

Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar

You will not look at parking lots the same way after reading this. (And that’s a good thing!)

24 Hours in Ancient Rome by Philip Matyszak

This was recommended on a podcast with Nat Friedman about the Vesuvius Challenge and gives a good flavor of what life in Rome might have been like.

The Wrong Stuff by John Strausbaugh

However shoddy and dangerous you might think the Soviet space program was, it was even worse than that.

The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

This is the somewhat cheesy novelized DevOps Manifesto that I didn’t know I needed. I found it quite inspiring.

Fiction

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Amusing and touching.

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This was a compelling read by a personal favorite author. Provides a lot of food for thought as LLMs grow rapidly more capable.

Delta-v by Daniel Saurez

A great read, and provides what feels like a semi-realistic (even if probably still understated) understanding of the many dangers of deep space travel.