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Book Club 2024 > April 2024 Nominations

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message 1: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Please post a comment below to nominate a book for the group to read for April 2024.

Please use the "add book/author" link just above the comment box to insert a link to the ŷ book page for the book you are nominating, so other members can more easily assess it. Apparently this only works on the desktop version of the site; if you use the app, the link is not available yet, so just be sure to put the full title and author.

To check whether a book has been previously read or already selected to be read, check the following list: /group/books...

You may nominate a book which has been suggested previously and did not win. You may nominate more than one book, but we might not include all of your nominations in the voting.

Authors and publishers may not nominate their own books.

Please do not nominate a book which is unlikely to be available to most members, such as one which was just published within the last three months or which is only available on Kindle in the U.S.

Nominations will close on February 22 or when we have about 10 good nominations, whichever occurs first.


message 2: by Herman (new)

Herman Diaz | 117 comments I nominate “Dinosaurs: How they lived and evolved�. It's the best natural history of dinos for adults. I reviewed the 1st edition ( /review/show... ). Also, this group needs more dino love ;) Seriously, the last time a dino book won was March 2019 ( /topic/show/... ).


message 4: by Christopher (new)

Christopher Westland (westlandgithubio) | 3 comments I nominate "Eve" by Cat Bohannon; subtitled "How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution." I have not seen another book that covers the biological anthropology of our unique human innovations in reproduction, anatomy and culture. Cat Bohannon is a deft, clever and engaging writer. I learned an enormous amount from this book and indeed almost completed it in one reading. Eve's URL is: /book/show/7...


message 5: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Susanne wrote: "/book/show/1..."

That sounds interesting, but it was first published in January 2024, so it's too new. Please wait several months and nominate it again.


message 6: by Betsy, co-mod (last edited Feb 17, 2024 07:18PM) (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
I have deleted a couple of comments in this thread about whether to restrict nominations. It's a worthwhile discussion, but I don't want it to highjack this nominations thread from actual nominations, so I moved those comments to a new thread. /topic/show/...


message 7: by Shrike58 (new)

Shrike58 | 42 comments My suggestion is "The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past" by Walter Scheidel, if only because I basically have it programmed for April anyway!


message 8: by J. (last edited Feb 17, 2024 07:43PM) (new)

J. Joseph | 23 comments I'll toss in Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World, published May 2023. April is just in time for the Northern Hemisphere to start feeling the itch of pollen!


message 10: by Michael (new)

Michael  | 116 comments Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life /book/show/2...

I'm, currently, about half way through this book. The author born in 1929 is a native of Alabama and he had an early interest in nature and the outdoors. He was a long-time Harvard University entomology professor and died in Massachusetts during 2021.

Wilson is best known, not without controversy, for his Theory of Island Biogeography, Ant behaviors, and his argument that all animal behavior, including people, is the product of heredity, environmental stimuli, past experiences, and that free will is an illusion (i.e., Sociobiology).

His 2016 book, Half-Earth, proposes that half of the Earth's surface should be designated a human-free nature reserve to preserve biodiversity. Its evidence rich antidote to our efficiency driven behavioral character is written for a general audience.


message 12: by Monty (new)

Monty | 1 comments "The Rise and Reign of the Mammals" by Steve Brusa


message 13: by Víctor M. (new)

Víctor M. Peñaranda-Vélez (vmpenarandav) | 2 comments I nominate the book: "The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything" by Michio Kaku. /book/show/5...


message 14: by Víctor M. (new)

Víctor M. Peñaranda-Vélez (vmpenarandav) | 2 comments I also nominate the book: "The Philosophy Behind Physics" by Thomas A. Brody, Peter E. Hodgson, and Luis de la Peña. /book/show/4...


message 15: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Monty wrote: ""The Rise and Reign of the Mammals" by Steve Brusa"

We read this book already, in November 2022. Here is the discussion thread: /topic/show/...


message 16: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Víctor M. wrote: "I also nominate the book: "The Philosophy Behind Physics" by Thomas A. Brody, Peter E. Hodgson, and Luis de la Peña. /book/show/4..."

This book does not seem to be widely available. Amazon does have some copies, mostly from third party sellers, but at very high prices. Barnes & Noble doesn't have it at all. And, on ŷ, it's only been read by 5 people and reviewed by only 2.


message 17: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Shrike58 wrote: "My suggestion is "The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past" by Walter Scheidel, if only because I basically have it programmed for April anyway!"

I'm going to disallow this book due to questionable availability. Although both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have copies, they're rather pricey (almost $40 for a paperback), and my library doesn't have it. Also on ŷ, only 27 people have read it, with only 6 reviews, and those are mixed.


message 19: by Dana (new)

Dana (oddodddodo) | 42 comments I nominate "The Siege" by Clara Claiborne Park. The Siege: A Family's Journey Into the World of an Autistic Child. Written in 1967 when practically no one knew the word "autistic" (the term then was "childhood schizophrenia"). Even when I read it around 1980, I had never heard of autism. It stunned me, and even now I would count it as one of my favorite books ever (not just science books). (But I haven't looked at it for 44 years, so my impression could be outdated.)


message 20: by Steve (new)


message 21: by Christopher (new)

Christopher Westland (westlandgithubio) | 3 comments Betsy wrote: "Susanne wrote: "/book/show/1..."

That sounds interesting, but it was first published in January 2024, so it's too new. Please wait several months and nominate it again."


Sure ... I'll suggest it next time.


message 22: by moomie 💕 (new)

moomie 💕 | 1 comments I nominate “Relativity: The Special and the General Theory.� Simple, classic, short, yet so deeply profound that it is still used as most of the foundation of modern astrophysics. /book/show/1...


message 23: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Nominations are now closed. I will post a poll shortly.


message 24: by Betsy, co-mod (new)

Betsy | 2124 comments Mod
Please vote for your choice, at the following poll:

/poll/show/2...

which will be open through February 27.


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