Genres & Moods
Non-Fiction
True stories, essays and investigations that try to explain how the world works, from personal memoirs to big picture ideas.
27 covered books
Non Fiction · Popular Science21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Essays on Technology, Politics, and Meaning
Harari’s essay collection takes on AI, politics, work, fake news, and meaning for citizens trying to think clearly in a very noisy century.
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Philosophy · Non FictionAnger, Mercy, Revenge
On Anger, On Clemency, and The Pumpkinification of Claudius
By Seneca
Three sharply different works examine anger as a chosen moral failure, clemency as a ruler's disciplined power, and the dead emperor Claudius through an irreverent political satire.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceBillions and Billions
Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
By Carl Sagan
Sagan's final essay collection connects large numbers, environmental risk, nuclear danger, public ethics, love, illness, and mortality, followed by an epilogue from Ann Druyan.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceBroca's Brain
Reflections on the Romance of Science
By Carl Sagan
A wide-ranging essay collection in which Sagan moves from Paul Broca's preserved brain to planetary exploration, pseudoscience, extraterrestrial life, scientific responsibility, and the public use of evidence.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceCosmos
A Personal Voyage
By Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan connects astronomy, scientific history, and human curiosity in an accessible account of how people investigate the universe.
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Non FictionElectronic Life
How to Think About Computers
Written for home-computer newcomers, Crichton's practical guide explains what computers are, how to choose and use one, and how families might live with machines that were only beginning to enter everyday life.
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Non FictionFive Patients
The Hospital Explained
Five patient stories become an inside examination of Massachusetts General Hospital, showing how technology, specialization, staffing, economics, and institutional history shape modern medical care.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceGuns, Germs, and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
Jared Diamond argues that geography, agriculture, and disease shaped which societies acquired guns, ships, and political power.
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Philosophy · Non FictionHardship and Happiness
Nine Essays on Consolation and the Good Life
By Seneca
Nine essays move from consolation after bereavement and exile to arguments about time, tranquility, leisure, happiness, providence, and the steadiness Stoic practice demands.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceHomo Deus
A Brief History of Tomorrow Review
Homo Deus surveys humanity’s potential futures, from algorithmic governance to bioengineered elites, with accessible big picture analysis.
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Non FictionJasper Johns
A Study of His Work
Crichton's illustrated study examines Jasper Johns's paintings, prints, sculpture, recurring symbols, working methods, and resistance to simple interpretation through sustained attention to the art and artist.
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Philosophy · Non FictionLetters on Ethics
To Lucilius
By Seneca
Seneca addresses 124 surviving letters to Lucilius, using friendship, illness, travel, wealth, grief, time, and death to test how Stoic ethics might be practiced in ordinary life.
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Philosophy · Non FictionNatural Questions
Translated by Harry M. Hine
By Seneca
Seneca investigates rivers, weather, earthquakes, comets, lightning, and other natural phenomena while arguing that the study of nature should enlarge moral perspective rather than merely satisfy curiosity.
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Philosophy · Non FictionOn Benefits
Translated by Miriam Griffin and Brad Inwood
By Seneca
Across seven books, Seneca asks how favors should be given and received, when gratitude becomes obligation, and whether intention matters more than the material value exchanged.
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Non Fiction · Popular SciencePale Blue Dot
A Vision of the Human Future in Space Review
By Carl Sagan
A reflection on the Solar System, cosmic perspective, and the future of human exploration inspired by the Voyager image of Earth.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceReplaceable You
Adventures in Human Anatomy
By Mary Roach
Mary Roach follows surgeons, engineers, and patients trying to repair or replace damaged body parts without losing sight of the people involved.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceSapiens
A Brief History of Humankind Review
Sapiens races through human history from early hunters to hyper connected modern societies with bold, debate ready ideas.
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Non Fiction · HistorySPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
A History of Ancient Rome
By Mary Beard
Mary Beard presents roughly a thousand years of Roman history through citizenship, power, evidence, and everyday life rather than a simple list of rulers.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceThe Anxious Generation
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Jonathan Haidt links the shift from play-based childhoods to phone-based childhoods with rising teen anxiety and depression, then proposes practical norms for parents and schools.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceThe Demon-Haunted World
Science as a Candle in the Dark Review
By Carl Sagan
A guide to separating science from superstition while keeping curiosity alive in a media saturated world.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceThe Dragons of Eden
Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
By Carl Sagan
Sagan ranges across brain evolution, dreams, language, animal intelligence, myth, and computing in a speculative 1977 account of how human minds may have developed.
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Self Help · Non FictionThe Let Them Theory
A Life-Changing Tool For Letting Go Of Control
By Mel Robbins
Mel Robbins turns "let them" and "let me" into a practical approach to boundaries, with clear uses as well as important limits.
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Classic Literature · Non FictionThe Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Revised and Expanded Edition
Tolkien's correspondence discusses Middle-earth, language, faith, family, war, publishing, teaching, and the practical decisions behind his mythology and fiction.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceThe Selfish Gene
A Classic on Genes and Evolution
Dawkins's gene-centered account of evolution explains how apparently selfish replicators can produce cooperation and altruism, and why the argument still matters.
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Non Fiction · Popular ScienceThe Varieties of Scientific Experience
A Personal View of the Search for God Review
By Carl Sagan
Lectures exploring science, religion, and awe with a skeptical yet respectful tone toward big questions.
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Fantasy · Non FictionThe World of Ice & Fire
The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones
By George R. R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr., and Linda Antonsson
The World of Ice & Fire compiles an illustrated, maester-authored history of Westeros that guides readers from mythic dawns to Aegon’s conquest without spoiling the core saga.
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Non FictionTravels
A Memoir
Crichton recounts medical training, filmmaking, global journeys, wildlife encounters, and increasingly personal spiritual exploration in a memoir about external travel and changes in perception.
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