Astronauts, octopuses, intrigue: A grab bag reading list
The flood of "Best Books of the Year" lists is about to begin, but before you stock up on new, new, new, this list of literary gems from years past will delight, terrify and teach you more than you ever dreamed about octopuses.
Fiction
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"Rose Gold" by Walter Mosley
Walter Mosley takes the story you know — the kidnapping of Patty Hearst — and transforms it in into a hard-boiled mystery that conjures up a raw Raymond Chandler. "Rose Gold" is Rosemary Goldsmith, the heiress to a weapons manufacturing fortune kidnapped for ransom. On the case is Easy Rawlins, a World War II vet and unlicensed private detective. Mosley not only crafts a mystery, but crashes straight through issues of race and class in 1960s Los Angeles.
"Midnight Riot" by Ben Aaronovitch
"Midnight Riot" has been described as "Harry Potter" meets "CSI." Ben Aaronovitch, who has written for the beloved BBC show "Doctor Who," introduces readers to Peter Grant, who dreams of nothing but being a London detective. Grant's big break comes when he gets some inside intel on a murder — but his source just happens to be a ghost. He lands in a special unit that investigates crimes of magic around the city, just as a wave of murders hints at something darker threatening to overtake London.
"In the Woods" by Tana French
Tana French is a big name in the world of twisty-turny-thrillers now, but in 2007, she was just a debut author with a creepy little book about a 12-year-old girl gone missing in the woods. The plot twists in on itself when it turns out the detective assigned to investigate had his own run-in with the very same stretch of forest when he was a child: He went in with his two best friends, but only he came home again. "In the Woods" kicks off French's Dublin Murder Squad series, so whether you're looking to get lost in one book or six, start here.
"The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss
In "The History of Love," Nicole Krauss ties two storylines together across history to achingly beautiful effect. This is one of those novels you'll make your friends read just so you can talk about it. The book follows Leo, an aging Holocaust survivor in New York City who is worried no one will notice when he dies, and Alma, a 12-year-old girl wading through grief after the death of her father. The chapters jump through time, moving between New York and Poland as lost connections are slowly revealed.
"Dot in the Universe" by Lucy Ellmann
Lucy Ellmann is a riotous writer, so buckle up: This is the story of Dot — pretty Dot, perfect Dot, Dot who lives in England and decides to end it all. But the end isn't the end for Dot: She comes back first as a opossum, and then as a young girl in Ohio. This is a bizarre little book about the mysteries of the universe and our tiny little place in it.
"Sea of Poppies" by Amitav Ghosh
This book is a time commitment at nearly 600 pages, but it will take you out on the high seas of the Indian Ocean trade routes, just before the Opium Wars cut loose in China. It's a historical adventure novel that mixes life and death with colonialism, religion and class. Amitav Ghosh tells the story of the ragtag group aboard the Ibis, a ship caught up in the high stakes international trade of the 19th century.
"The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" By Jonas Jonasson
Meet the Swedish incarnation of Forrest Gump. Allan Karlson has led a good long life, but now the boredom of the nursing home is sinking in. One day away from his 100th birthday, he makes a break for it and quickly finds himself mixed up in a plot involving drug money, a hot dog stand, an elephant and other crimes to be determined. But this isn't even his biggest adventure. The novel reveals that Allan has always been uncomfortably close to big moments in history through twists of fate — bumping into and sharing meals with everyone from Winston Churchill to Chairman Mao. Let the Swedish charm win you over.
Nonfiction
"An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Chris Hadfield
Need some perspective? How about the view from 250 miles up? Chris Hadfield has spent more than 4,000 hours in space, and he shares his wisdom from life without gravity in this book. Hadfield walks readers through what it takes to be an astronaut, and what he learned about life on Earth after leaving it behind.
"Stiff" by Mary Roach
This book isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're curious about what happens to your body when you're done using it, Mary Roach will guide you deep down that dark rabbit hole. There aren't many funny books about dead bodies, but this one fits that description. Roach highlights all the strange ways cadavers have helped advance science, including by acting as real-life (real dead?) crash-test dummies for the FAA and car companies.
"Just Kids" by Patti Smith
You can no longer trade your artwork for rent at the Chelsea Hotel, but Patti Smith's memoir brings to life the wild days of 1960s New York City that shaped her as an artist. She writes about her lifelong, life-changing, life-rearranging relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and how she found her voice amidst the chaos. The book is so beautiful it's almost not fair.
"The Soul of an Octopus" by Sy Montgomery
What do you know about the octopus besides that it has eight legs? If you're me, and I think most of the world, very little. But Sy Montgomery unleashes her wild knowledge of life under the water in this scientific look at our tentacled friends. (Can an octopus be your friend? That's a topic covered in the book.) Octopuses are potentially more intelligent than scientists had ever considered; Montgomery documents their playful, clever and curious behavior.
"The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman
If humans were gone, what would happen to the earth? It's a fantastical image that has been played out in movies, but Weisman takes a scientific approach to the doomsday scenario. If all humans suddenly disappeared — poof — what would happen to the wildlife and the landscapes? What would happen to all the buildings and infrastructure we've put on the land? Weisman explores how long humans' mark would remain, and how nature would reclaim what we've built.