Books like Punk Ikebana

I love this book because it gives me a plant version of human cultures.

The important point is that each species develops its own special capacities to survive in its own environment. Call it intelligence, culture, or something else; this “shared wisdom” gets passed down from one generation to the next and changes mainly when a new feature becomes more adaptive. I admire the fairness with which the author describes scientific debates such as those over whether concepts like human intelligence can be correctly applied to plants.

If there is agreement at all, it is that evolutionary differences in “intelligence” adapt to the contexts in which different species must survive. No single continuum suffices for all species. Nor is there any single way to compare them along the way.

As a world traveler, I feel that it's important to understand to language to "grok" the culture one is exploring. Although I personally am not very good with spoken language sounds, I find the underlying linguistic structure always fascinating. For example, Japanese grammar explains many things about Japanese culture.

In that light, Petersen's "The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Worlds Behind World-Building" is fascinating. As the subtitle indicates, Petersen was called on to invent plausible languages for the Riders of Rohan, the Dothraki, and more. Petersen explains what goes into plausible language creation, and how the creation of the language mirrors the underlying culture in this fascinating and detailed book.