Category: Non-travel books

By far the most compelling post-apocalypse I’ve encountered in literature, mainly because of the inevitability that humanity will blow itself up whenever it manages to rebuild.

This is an unusual book (from my perspective, I imagine from most perspectives) but it does what it’s trying to do well (if it is actually trying to do what I think it is).

Historic non-fiction can easily be dry and tedious, especially when it’s a recommendation rather than about a topic you’re already interested in. This book, though. Damn.

The second best part of this book is Obama’s contemporary reflection on a statement he gave about the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

A raw glimpse into the life of a man serving in a war he increasingly views as futile and wrong.

As the transcript of a 10 hour filibuster, is the book a good read? Not particularly. Is it a good rallying cry? You bet your ass yes.

This book defines the chasm between what politics can be, and what it shouldn’t be.

Here, in truest form, Bryson tells us how our “warm wobble of flesh” guides us through “the rare and supremely agreeable condition known as life”.

That this story relies on the reader to prescribe their own meaning is often cited as a weakness; that it can function convincingly on so many levels is proof of its strength.