Neanderthal Books Nonfiction
Siri
The above quote describes this excellent book well. It is fun and entertaining to think about how humans and neanderthals must have interacted. The book is full of facts but is also completely hilarious. If you enjoyed the first book, you will certainly enjoy this one too.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading and rereading this terrific book about Neanderthals and the Ice Age. The author, Jeffrey Brown, draws hilarious drawings that describe that characters personalities. This is a very good book that can be read and reread over and over again. I would recommend it to any and all bunnies who like books and want to laugh out loud while reading.
Whatever happened to the neanderthals? How did they vanish? That would be an interesting question to answer. Scientists now believe that about 2% of Neanderthal DNA has survived in modern humans, notably expressed in the skin, hair and diseases of modern people. -scientist.com/features/neanderthal-dna-in-modern-human-genomes-is-not-silent-66299
An important book that looks at the ties between the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry in Canada. Probably too specific for a broader audience outside of Canada, but some important background if you are interested in this stuff. I actually ended up having the honour of recording a podcast with Joel after reading his book.
A science fiction/fantasy trilogy that combines teleportation, multiple dimensions, time travel, and magic. My first thought was that they were a little juvenile (but I think they might have been written as teen fiction). I decided to read books 2 and 3 only to see if they were as predictable as I thought (which they were), but I found myself enjoying the story along the way.
The third in a series of books following a bumpkin school teacher as he gets completely lost in the Tower of Babel. I enjoyed the first 2 a lot. This one took my a while to get in to, and then I was a little disappointed, because for some reason I thought this was a trilogy and was looking for closure which never came. I will probably still read book 4, but I am less excited about it.
I really appreciate the effort that goes into realistic scifi. These authors actually spent months running simulations of orbital mechanics to make sure the precise details and dates they describe in the book were true. Overall, I felt the plot was missing something, but the book was definitely worth reading.
A good book about what makes great groups function. A lot of the points made seem like common sense. A few were counter intuitive. I will probably have to reread it if I want to practically apply the lessons in my life.
Back to some mindless, fun science fiction. You have to remain a little mindless in order to ignore the holes in the science side of this science fiction, but I like the concept, and the story was very well executed.
I have mixed feelings about this one. It looks at a world in which, because of a electrical organ, women are suddenly more physically powerful than men. It scratches the surface of some very important political and social issues, especially around male-female power dynamics, and follows a number of potentially interesting storylines, but I never really found myself engaged by the characters. This was one of those books that should have left me outraged at the unfairness in the world, but it never quite got there.
An interesting reinterpretation of the history and aim of philosophy as salvation. I think the argument falls apart in places, but it was well written and serves as a nice refresher course in some philosophical writing.
This was a fun historical fiction following the life of a neanderthal woman as she first contacts humans, and her way of life dies out around her. I enjoyed the story, and it did an excellent job of making me consider a part of history I rarely consider.
I will admit, I originally grabbed this book because I was told I was quoted in the last chapter. I am fascinated by cognition in medicine, and I think this textbook serves as an excellent overview, while also addressing the many shortcomings of attempting to use the classic dual process theory framework to improve patient outcomes.
This is the sequel to Holes. I have a weird thing where I often feel compelled to read a whole series once I have started. The story is fine, but I would probably only recommend reading it if you are 14.
I really liked this book. I am a little surprised I read a second book by Liane Moriarty after Nine Perfect Strangers, but I am glad I did. For a story that just follows the parents of a kindergarten class from the Sydney suburbs, it was surprisingly intriguing, and hit some important topics. All round enjoyable read.
Some of the concepts in this book were very simple. Some very complex. My best summary is that it is somewhat like a mathematics textbook transformed into something fun to read and made applicable to everyday life. There are important concepts in here that everyone should understand.
A bunch of inane, but rather funny short stories based on bizarre premises. I occasionally laughed out loud, and generally enjoyed the book, but it felt a little too much like I was back in highschool having pointless conversations with my friends.
A nonfiction with a good goal: trying to make people embrace our errors, as they are completely unavoidable. There are a number of very important topics in here. Many in medicine will already be intimately familiar with the many shortcomings of human perception and cognition, but even knowing those concepts this is probably still a worthwhile read. We all need the occasional reminder that the sensation of being wrong is exactly the same as the sensation of being right.
This is a really nice, common sense approach to using basic mathematical logic concepts in the real world. A lot of the content is pretty basic, but there are definitely some techniques in here that are worthwhile to be reminded of. I liked her summary in the final chapter that tries to move beyond just using logic or emotion, into good judgement, which involves using both with purpose.
You could see this book as a lot of words without really saying anything (or maybe just saying the obvious), and to some extent that is true, but it would be missing the point. This is a collection of truths that although obvious are also very easy to forget. They are truths we all need to hear over and over to make them stick. They are truths so simple that they are actually occasionally profound. There is also a lot of stuff that is either way too simplified, or just wrong, but the chapters are nice starting points for deeper thought.
A fun quick book that covers tidbits of information from various subjects that you probably forgot from elementary school. In the days of wikipedia, none of this really needs to be memorized, but this was a nice reminder of just how much I have forgotten in my life.
These are three books in a comedy / fantasy series that follows characters through the multiverse that became available after the CERN collider exploded (and the only way to get out is to look through a doughnut, or some other circular food.)
I really enjoyed this book, but I have to admit, I was confused for most of it. (I thought it was fiction when I got it, and remained confused about that fact for a good chunk of the novel.) For a historical non-fiction examining a library fire, it was actually a pretty gripping read.
If you have never heard of the world memory championships, you might find this book fascinating. Otherwise, it is an average nonfiction exploring memory and deliberate practice from a first person perspective.
Christopher Moore books are generally over the top, but will definitely make you laugh. This satire of film noir set in post world war 2 San Francisco was exactly what you might expect from him, while still being unexpected.
This book also includes answers to your burning questions, like Why was the Ice Age so cold? How do you defrost a Woolly Mammoth? Who were the Neanderthals? and What are the La Brea Tar Pits? Inquiring minds want to know!
Kids will keep coming back to this book for the fascinating facts, the quirky illustrations, and the tongue-in-cheek humor about some of the strange and wonderful creatures who inhabited the Ice Age (several appear to be gigantic versions of ones we share planet Earth with today). Kudos to Thames and Hudson for publishing this gem!
It is! One of the reasons I love reading picture books is how much I learn in such a small space. I believe that one of the most famous Jeopardy champions read nonfiction PBs to prep for the game show.
So MANY great books this month. I was all over the place with genres. These are the best ones:
Memoir: Hollywood Park by Michael Jollett.
Historical fiction: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue;
The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai;
The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau.
Thrillers: A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight and
Fair Warning by Michael Connelly.
Literary Fiction: The Second Home by Christina Clancy;
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner;
Deacon King Kong by James McBride;
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby and Sea Wife by Amity Gaige.
My reading always slows down in the summer, but I did manage what I know will be one of my best books of 2020: a lesser known Daphne Du Maurier novel, The Parasites. Highly recommended for Du Maurier fans!
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I previewed Homeless Bird by Gloria Whalen before giving it to my 12 year old niece for her birthday. Captivating story of a 13-year-old Indian girl in an arranged marriage that goes bad. Appropriate for all ages. I read it in an afternoon and loved it.
I also got sucked into Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter when I was researching Project Gutenberg for my top picks. Even though the ending of Pollyanna is a little trite, I still enjoyed her sunny personality and the similarities to Anne of Green Gables.
My reading life has suffered a bit because we just moved, and any time not spent wrangling my three kids is spent unpacking. But I *did* manage to get a library card at our new place, so hopefully things will pick up again in September!
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