I love great storytelling, whether it’s in the form of a great mystery, romance, science fiction/fantasy, or non-fiction. I even love a story well told through the medium of television (I see you, The Good Place!). The books on this list are books I’ve read and loved and/or used as research to write my own series of dog-based cozy mysteries.
The spine on my copy of A Short History of Nearly Everything is well-worn from all of the times it’s been opened. Bill Bryson strikes a conversational tone with the reader about the history of the earth, taking them on an entertaining tour through scientific discovery, adding a big helping of humor and human-interest stories along the way. This is my go-to for a relaxing read that teaches me something too!
The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, A Short History of Nearly Everything is the biggest-selling popular science book of the 21st century and has sold over 2 million copies.
'Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.' Economist 'Truly impressive...It's hard to imagine a better rough guide to science.' Guardian 'A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide' The Times
Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to…
I picked up this book when I was hoping to learn more about the life of Navy SEALs while I was writing a character with this background. In addition to gaining this knowledge, I also found an incredibly interesting narrative mixed in with solid business and life advice. I have lost track of how many times I’ve recommended this read for people hoping to improve their management skills or people who are interested in learning more about this difficult job.
Highly decorated Navy SEALs, now successful businessmen, show readers how to lead and win in business and in life with principles learned on the battlefield. In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin share hard-hitting, Navy SEAL combat stories that translate into lessons for business and life. With riveting first-hand accounts of making high-pressure decisions as Navy SEAL battlefield leaders, this book is equally gripping for leaders who seek to dominate other arenas. Jocko and Leif served together in SEAL Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated Special Operations unit from the war in Iraq. Their efforts contributed to the…
The second in the new series featuring amateur sleuth Imogene Durant, a retired professor of Comparative Literature. This time she’s in Ireland, and in the right place to help out when her friend’s daughter is implicated for murder.
A book about dogs who help protect soldiers had my attention before I even cracked it open. Soldier Dogs is exactly as advertised—Goodavage details how dogs are trained, the bonds that handlers form with their canine partners, and some of the challenges associated with the difficult job these dogs do. This book was an interesting and informative read for anyone curious about the lives of working K-9s and their handlers.
A leading reporter offers a tour of military working dogs' extraordinary training, heroic accomplishments, and the lasting impacts they have on those who work with them.
People all over the world have been riveted by the story of Cairo, the Belgian Malinois who was a part of the Navy SEAL team that led the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. A dog's natural intelligence, physical abilities, and pure loyalty contribute more to our military efforts than ever before. You don't have to be a dog lover to be fascinated by the idea that a dog-the cousin of that furry guy…
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if the sun went out or if you could create a jetpack by firing machine guns into the ground, this is the book for you. And if you haven’t ever wondered these things before, but are wondering now, this book may also be for you.
I do not think I am spoiling this hilariously educational book by letting you know that the answers to the absurd hypothetical questions in this book range from the mundane to the catastrophic. You may find yourself enjoying the journey so much that you don’t notice that Munroe’s quick-witted stick figures are also teaching you some pretty advanced scientific concepts!
From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.
Millions visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Fans ask him a lot of strange questions: How fast can you hit a speed bump, driving, and live? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British Empire? When will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than living? How many humans would a T Rex rampaging through New York need to eat a day?
This is not an insect book--it is a history book, but one that tells the history you didn't learn in school, or it tells the history in a way you never imagined. Five insects had a significant impact on human history. Silkworm moth, Oriental rat flea, human body louse, yellow…
Mary Roach has a sharp wit and the talent to make non-fiction read like fiction and Fuzzwas no exception. Roach takes the reader on a journey to better understand human/wildlife conflict by travelling around the world, introducing the reader to specialists managing bears digging in garbage and elephants eating crops. Most importantly, Roach explains what steps can be taken to help humans live more amicably alongside our animal neighbors.
What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets…
When materials engineer Zoey Butler lands her dream job at Future State Energy, she believes her research will contribute to the next big headline in renewable energy. Unfortunately for her, she’s right. While Zoey is working, FBI Special Agent Alexis Thompson and her K-9 partner, Waffle, lead a raid at Future State and arrest the head of the development for fraud. Zoey works with the FBI to find answers, but she soon finds herself jobless and unemployable. Desperate and out of options, she reaches out to Alexis, the one person who knows that Zoey was duped.
Zoey offers to go back to Future State to help the FBI to end things once and for all. However, the problems at Future State are more explosive than any of them suspect.
The plan was insane. The trap seemed to snap shut on Bruce and Maggie Tate, an isolation forced on them by the pandemic and America's growing political factionalism. Something had to change.
Maggie's surprising answer: buy a boat, learn to pilot it, and embark on the Great Loop. With no…
World-renowned geologist, Dorrik Stow, tells the story of a long-lost ocean, named Tethys Ocean after the Greek goddess of the sea. Tethys lasted for 250 million years of Earth's history, straddling the equatorial world and playing host to the changing life and events that have shaped the planet we inhabit…
