CRITICAL THINKING
“Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense by Saul Perlmutter (a Nobel-prize winning astrophysicist), Robert MacCoun, (a social psychologist) and John Campbell (a philosopher) is a notable new addition to our list of books on critical thinking. According to Nigel Warburton, it’s ‘a clear, accessible and enlightening guide to the tools of thinking that make science work. It’s a really enjoyable read and a great book for anyone who wants to think more clearly about evidence, argument, reason and the need for a degree of intellectual humility.'” Read more...
Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in Early 2024
Sophie Roell ,
Journalist
BEST MYSTERY BOOKS OF 2024
☆ Shortlisted for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger is a rather beautiful and somewhat sad book set in 1958, in a fictional town (Jewel) in a fictional county (Black Earth) in Minnesota. The story opens on Memorial Day with one of the town's leading men found in the Alabaster River, half-eaten by catfish after being killed by a shotgun. The investigation is led by the local sheriff, Brody Dern, but this is about the dynamics in a small town, so a variety of other characters feature as the plot unfolds.
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THE BEST SCI-FI OF 2024
“It’s got octopus, so what more does anyone need to know? There’s a hint of the film Arrival in the depiction of the attempts to make first contact with a very alien species – octopus anatomy and psychology is so alien to ours and there’s been some speculation that they come from a very different origin to us. They are incredibly talented at escaping from captivity and seeking revenge on their human keepers. The book encourages us to see humanity through their eyes and this isn’t always pretty. Meanwhile, we’ve got side-plots with robotic monks and assassination attempts, and it all comes together in a satisfying way.” Read more...
The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist
Andrew M. Butler ,
Film Critics & Scholar
NONFICTION BOOKS
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“This book is a scenario for what would happen if North Korea were to launch a missile at the United States…it is a scenario that is entirely based on documents, many of which have very recently been declassified, and on 10 years of interviews with people who were deeply engaged in the whole question of deterrence and of thinking about nuclear war and trying to prevent it…It’s a completely gripping but utterly terrifying scenario…You may wish you’d never read it, but you can’t put it down while you are reading it.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist
Isabel Hilton ,
Journalist
“One unmissable book is Patriot by Alexei Navalny (1976-2024), the memoir of the Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner who was poisoned while campaigning in Siberia, made it to Germany for medical treatment and recovered, returned to Russia, was arrested, and was likely killed in a prison in the Arctic Circle. Navalny was a brave man, and despite the tragic end of his challenge to Putin, the memoir is very funny—in a dark, Russian humour kind of way. The tone is colloquial, as if he’s talking and joking with you. He makes fun of everything, including himself.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction Books of Fall 2024
Sophie Roell ,
Journalist
"I started work on The World Atlas of Wine almost 50 years ago, in 1970. After four editions, at six-year intervals, I canvassed the help of my friend Jancis Robinson...This eighth edition is in my view the best yet; a true tour de force, redesigned and rewritten for a very different world from the first – or even the seventh. Total worldwide sales of the Atlas are approaching five million copies in 14 languages. I’m afraid your previous editions just don’t quite cut it any more." —Hugh Johnson on his website, Trad's Diary .
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