Books About Things You Never Knew You Cared About and A Review for The Plant Messiah
Review of The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species
More Books About Things You Never Knew You Cared About
The Hidden Life of Trees: A Visual Celebration of a Magnificent World
Peter Wohlleben
This is in my non-imaginary book stack from the library right now, so I haven’t read it yet, but I was fascinated by a podcast about how trees COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER (!) and this nerd is ready to know more.
West with the Night
Beryl Markham
Beryl Markham was the first person to fly a solo, non-stop trip over the Atlantic. She also led a pretty darn crazy life in Africa during the 1920s and 1930s. I am not into planes nor horses, but this book made me not at all mind reading about both.
Soul of a Chef
Michael Ruhlman
I like food, but I’d never ever want to be in the world of chefs. Well, I’d never want to actually be in it, but I do like vicariously experiencing it through Ruhlman.
In Other Words
Jhumpa Lahiri
I heard about this one recently on Anne Bogel’s What Should I Read Next podcast and became very excited about the idea of exploring more about translations.
The Gallery
Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Art history intertwined into a middle grade mystery set in the 1920s in New York. It’s like the interesting art stuff in the first part of The Goldfinch minus that later Las Vegas nonsense.
The Left-Handed Fate
Kate Milford
Kate Milford is the author of the better known Greenglass House series. In this book I loved learning about the War of 1812 and, surprisingly, a lot about pirates.
The Martian
Andy Weir
Anyone else get really into the science of this one?
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Erik Larson
Haven’t read it, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about Erik Larson’s writing and this one sounds fascinating.
Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science
Jeannine Atkins
I had never heard of any of these three girls who helped changed science and came away feeling so empowered.
I’d love to know: what books are some you geeked out over or made you interested in something you never thought you cared about?
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Erin,
I loved this post!! What fascinating books! Other than The Martian, which I really enjoyed, I haven’t read any of these books. I will be adding them to my list. A book I read a couple years ago that I just loved was Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox, where I learned all about long distance swimming. It’s a memoir and you follow along with the author’s journey where she eventually starts traveling to swim in the coldest waters in the world. Fascinating!
Hi Stacy, Thank you so much! That makes me happy to hear. I am adding Swimming to Antarctica to my list right now. That sounds absolutely amazing and I’m so glad you let me know about it.
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart definitely made me geek out about botany and poison. Listening to parts of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer was both riveting and horrifying. It also confirmed my desire never to summit a mountain…
Adding many of these to my TBR!
Ooo definitely checking that one out. Sounds fascinating- thank you! I read Into Thin Air in seventh grade and recently found my journal entries about it. Basically, I kept saying: why do people do this?? I love hiking mountains, but not climbing and would definitely never risk my life!
What a great idea for a book list! I also love books that make me excited about a new topic and I find that well written nonfiction can make me interested in pretty much any topic 🙂
Thank you, Katie! I do find it hard to discover well written nonfiction, unfortunately, but, you’re right, when you do it’s so darn interesting. Any favorites?