This page contains a semi-sorted list of books that I have read over the years that I found interesting. Each book will have a short synopsis of what I took away from the book. These are not meant to comprehensive summaries or necessarily what other people may learn from the book. The summaries are kept brief enough not to spoil the content for people who may want to read the books themselves.

Non-fiction

Nature - Birds

What It’s Like To Be A Bird - David Allen Sibley. This book explores many aspects of bird’s adaptations that allow them to be successful and thrive on all Seven Continents. Many people will be familiar with some of these, but very few people will know all of them. A great read to become amazed about birds.

What The Robin Knows - Jon Young. A book about the details of how birds communicate and use vocalizations (their own as well as that of other species) to help keep themselves alive in the forest.

Feathers - Thor Hanson. Hanson starts the book by exploring current theories for how feathers evolved. The theory that is most highly regarded is that feathers started as a single bristle that had some function (perhaps insulation) that helped dinosaurs evolve. This theory is developed in detail with supporting fossil evidence where available. The book then explores the various uses for feathers both by birds and men - fascinating to see what an engineering marvel feathers are.

Nature - Bird Reference

Bird Feathers - S David Scott and Casey McFarland. A reference book to help identify feather shapes and types and which species they are from.

Sibley Birds West - David Allen Sibley. An identification guide to birds (over 700 species) found west of the Mississippi River.

Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Western North America - Nathan Pieplow. An introduction to categorizing and determining bird sounds of the Western United States.

National Geographic Complete Birds of North America - Johnathan Alderfer. I have the 2006 edition so it is quite dated but still a very good reference book when one needs more information than is found in a field guide.

Nature - Geology

Geology Underfoot Along Colorado’s Front Range - Lon Abbott and Terri Cook. An excellent dive into the geology of Colorado’s front range extending from Wyoming at the North to New Mexico at the South. The geology of this stretch of rocks is amazingly complex but worth the time to explore if one lives in Colorado and enjoys geology.

Roadside Geology of Colorado - Halka Chronic and Felicie Williams. This book explores the geology of all of Colorado, not just the Front Range. A good complement to Abbott and Cook.

Nature - Other

The Joy of Science - Jim Al-Khalili. A book that introduces the concept of the scientific method and why it is so important. Targeted at non-scientists.

An Immense World - Ed Yong. A book that examines the world as other members of the Animal Kingdom sense it. Very interesting and stimulating if one can let go of the visual-centric perspective that humans have.

Every Living Thing - Jason Roberts. This book details the thoughts and approaches to categorization of the animal kingdom by two 18th century scientists - Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon. Linnaeus became more well known, but de Buffon’s ideas are more closely aligned with current thinking. Interesting to read how people went about the initial categorization of living forms and the trials and tribulations given the slowness of communication and travel when these two scientists were alive.

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid - Thor Hanson. We are all well aware of the extinction of many species during our lifetimes. Untold books have been written detailing the plight of diminishing animal diversity. Hanson takes a different approach and instead of lamenting loss of species discusses what some species are doing to adapt and survive to the environmental challenges they face. An interesting perspective that shows how Nature does not give up when faced with daunting challenges.

Chasing Plants - Chris Thorogood. This book details Thorogood’s travels and challenges as he travels the world in search of some of the rarest plants known to man.

Health

Outlive - The Science and Art of Longevity - Dr Peter Attia. Dr Attia introduces the concept of “Medicine 3.0” - what one should do to maintain one’s fitness for as long as possible. A good guidebook for people who want to remain active into their 90s and even later.

Codebreaker - Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race - Walter Isaacson. This book examines the history and progress that has been made in gene editing. A fascinating book as gene editing becomes more commonplace to improve human response to a variety of diseases and genetic defects that affect humanity.

Being Mortal - Atul Gawande. A good book about ways to handle one’s older years. Hopefully we are all going to live long lives and having some guidance about how to live the last few years gracefully and purposefully is welcome.

The Body - A Guide For Occupants - Bill Bryson. A book that has lots of information about how the body works. Most chapters give a history of how people learned about a particular part of the body, some key people involved in our understanding and some interesting facts. Worth reading, but probably will not give an in-depth understanding about any particular body function.

Other non-fiction

Factfulness - Hans Rosling. The summary of this book is “Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think”. The book discusses a variety of reasons for human-based bias and why they cause us to analyze the world around us incorrectly. A good book to review in this age of misinformation.

Progress - Johann Norberg. Similar to Factfulness this book discusses ten reasons why conditions in the world are improving even though people may believe otherwise.

Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer. This book describes Pat Tillman’s journey from NFL star to serving in Afganhistan where he was killed by friendly fire. Fascinating to get insight into Pat’s courage and sense of duty to his country. The part of the book that details the Army cover-up of his death is sad and, most likely, all too common. Unfortunately friendly fire incidents are all too frequent during combat and getting some insight into that is interesting.

The Meaning of Human Existence - Edward O Wilson. Unfortunately this book was a bit too philosophical for me and I cannot remember much of it. E O Wilson is a purposeful writer and this book may provide benefit to someone who is more philosophy oriented.

A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purnell. Tells the story of Virginia Hall who became a valuable spy for the Allies during World War II. Virginia persevered against great odds to serve as a spy since only men were considered as capable agents during WWII. Virginia proved her supervisors wrong time and time again as she became one of the highest Allied operatives during the war.

Fiction

A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles. A novel about a gentleman in Moscow who observes changes in Russia from before the First World War until after World War II. An excellent place to learn about Russian history in that time period for the beginner.

The Last Days of Night - Graham Moore. This is a historical fiction account of the battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to electrify and illuminate the United States in the early 1900s. Although the book is fiction many of the details are based on fact and can be verified. Very interesting to learn how the battle between these two industrial giants unfolded.

When We Were Birds - Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

The Armor of Light - Ken Follet.