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A popular science book might seem like the obvious choice for this week, but if you're not a fan of nonfiction then there are plenty of other options for this prompt, maybe a novel with a scientist as the main character, a science fiction book, or a mystery or thriller where technology is used to solve the mystery.

Suggestions:
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Best science books - nonfiction only
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Best books about mathematics
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Most engaging scientific nonfiction

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Medicine and literature (fiction and nonfiction)


Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Popular books about technology
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Popular books about engineering

Optional questions:
- What are you reading this week?
- Is the book nonfiction or fiction?
- How is it related to STEM?

Here are some more lists of books that probably would work for the STEM prompt:

(1)
Lab Lit (2)

I found this kink while doing a search:

I plan on using a book from my 40 Before 40 Nonfiction list for this prompt!

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal by Alice Domurat Dreger
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe

(Sidenote: I hate that GR includes the subtitles... it makes these links soooo long!)

I’ll go the nonfiction route for this. Possibilities: Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech and Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy.

I read several great science nonfiction books this year, if anyone is looking for a rec. Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst was my favorite.

I think I'm going to read The Last Days of Night for this one. I got it for Christmas last year and haven't read it yet.

I'm reading Lab Girl for this. It was an obvious category to boost category to boost my non-fiction quota.

I will probably read The Mathematician's Shiva.

The Overstory - Richard Powers
How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals - Sy Montgomery
Lab Girl - Hope Jahren

I love reading about science, so I have way too many choices!

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
The Periodic Table
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe
The Edge of the Sea
The Tide: The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love
The Selfish Gene
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime
The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew
The World Without Us

And there are so many more!!! I have no idea which I will read first.

I forgot that I really want to read I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life.

My current options include:

Jurassic Park
The Martian
The Right Stuff

I'm also intrigued by Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything. It apparently has graphic novel sections in-between the various explanations.

Finally going to read Lab Girl

Here are some great science books I read this year.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures
Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century
How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story
Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal about Our World--And Ourselves

Emily wrote: "I plan on using a book from my 40 Before 40 Nonfiction list for this prompt!

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks are great, I can recommend both.

Thanks! There are so many good recommendations here!

I wasn’t originally sure how I felt about this topic, but I had a couple fitting books on my TBR and found a couple others I would be interested in reading. My current options are
- The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
- The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
- The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
- Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Would A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie work for this ?

Emily wrote: "I plan on using a book from my 40 Before 40 Nonfiction list for this prompt!

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
[book:The Immortal ..."

To be honest, I didn't enjoy Thing Explainer. It's a clever concept, but sometimes he had to dance around a technical term so much I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. I felt so dumb when I couldn't understand he was talking about keys and locks.

Brittany wrote: "I wasn’t originally sure how I felt about this topic, but I had a couple fitting books on my TBR and found a couple others I would be interested in reading. My current options are
- The Drunken Botanist..."

I thought The Drunken Botanist was so fascinating!! If you like trivia, especially trivia about plants and the history of how plants were cultivated and used, you will love this.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman": Adventures of a Curious Character, by Richard Feynman

The Green Glass Sea is a fiction book about two girls living in Los Alamos when they are creating the atomic bomb.

I also found this Good reads list /list/show/9...

Nadine wrote: "Brittany wrote: "I wasn’t originally sure how I felt about this topic, but I had a couple fitting books on my TBR and found a couple others I would be interested in reading. My current options are ..."

I moved recently and found that I had bought myself a copy of it at some point and never got around to reading it (I tend to that a lot) so I'm glad to hear it's enjoyable!!

I just read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green and it definitely fits in with this prompt!

I have way too many options on my tbr for this:

Out of the Shadow of a Giant: Hooke, Halley, and the Birth of ScienceReading the Rocks: How Victorian Geologists Discovered the Secret of Life
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(this might be a good option for anybody trying to check off classics)
The Worst Journey in the WorldEndurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
Jurassic Park
Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
The Search for the Giant Squid: The Biology and Mythology of the World's Most Elusive Sea Creature
Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the WorldConquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels
The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
The Invention of Everything Else
Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients.
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (historical fiction graphic novel)
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate � Discoveries from a Secret World
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories
Audubon, On The Wings Of The World (graphic novel)
The Genius of Birds
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe
The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World
Artemis
To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration
Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World
Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake

Phew. That's just from my tbr, and I'm pretty sure I missed some.

Ok, books I've read and would recommend:

The Lost City of the Monkey God
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon both of these books are good but Lost City of Z is better, imo

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: the science of yesteryear and not even 100% accurate back then, but not much of a stretch either; I recommend skimming over the paragraphs in which Verne lists fish species but otherwise a really good book.

Rocket Boys: aka October Sky
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions: hilarious and requires no background knowledge
The Martian
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: awesome memoir
Alif the Unseen: fantasy starring a hacker
The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures: it's about an expedition in search of a rare animal in Thailand
Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything: fun, approachable, exactly what the title says
The Alienist: there's enough in here about early forensic science you could totally count this
Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing: statistics applied to classics
Thunderstruck: not as good as Devil in the White City, but still an enjoyable read; get ready to read a lot about squabbling scientists
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
Great Exploration Hoaxes: this might be a bit of a stretch, but it's stories of people who made claims to have been the first to climb/reach/travel to a thing, but who were probably lying

Hope that helps some of you find something that interests you!

Jackie wrote: "I have way too many options on my tbr for this:

Out of the Shadow of a Giant: Hooke, Halley, and the Birth of Science

Oh wow, Edmond Halley is my ancestor so how have I not heard of this book?! Adding to my TBR -- thanks so much for mentioning it here, I'm excited to read it.

I think I'm going to read a Flavia de Luce book for this.

Shasta wrote: "Oh wow, Edmond Halley is my ancestor"

That's so cool!

The goodreads blog posted The 20 Highest Rated Science Books on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

I'm fairly sure I'll choose from this list when I get to this prompt, probably Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman since my dad has a copy I can borrow.

I'll be reading:

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

Thanks for that list, Ana!

I'd definitely recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking for people who like nonfiction and who are introverts or love introverts. Our faculty at school read it as a summer reading and it inspired such great discussions!

Emily wrote: "Thanks for that list, Ana!

I'd definitely recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking for people who like nonfiction and who are introverts ..."

This has been collecting dust over here for so long I really need to read it.

Emily wrote: "Thanks for that list, Ana!

I'd definitely recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking for people who like nonfiction and who are introverts or love i..."

Yes! I highly recommend this book too. Your school faculty sounds amazing. This is a book I personally think everyone should read, but especially teachers (and overbearing parents).

Ana A wrote: "Emily wrote: "Thanks for that list, Ana!

I'd definitely recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking for people who like nonfiction and who are introv..."

Agreed! And also extroverts who love introverts... my husband got so tired of me reading passages out loud to him that he ended up reading it himself!

Hi Bryony,

The top link leads back to this page.

I'm jealous of y'all who get to read Lab Girl for the first time! It's so great. I also recommend The Joy of Pi. Math has never been so fun.

I'm thinking about A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons or The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World.

Seluxes wrote: "I am going to be re-reading Give Me Your Hand because it just *so* good. I was so excited to find a prompt that fits it so well."

This was on my "maybe" list. I might just use it for this prompt based on your enthusiasm for it!

Thank you Seluxes for the Give Me Your Hand suggestion! I am going to slot in for the psychological thriller prompt, which is the hardest one for me.

I was unsure of what to read for this but this morning in my favorite book podcast I heard about Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World. Sold!

This could finally be the year I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This is so much fun and I have read several that was recommended, and others are on my TBR!

I highly recommend these that I have read:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Gene: An Intimate History
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Steve Jobs
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
The Martian
Physics of the Impossible

Clare wrote: "This could finally be the year I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

It is SO good!! I recommend it :-)

Tracy wrote: "Clare wrote: "This could finally be the year I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

It is SO good!! I recommend it :-)"
Second the recommendation! Not just science, but much about people, too.

I think it's between Give Me Your Hand, Frankenstein and When Breath Becomes Air for me.

any YA suggestions (besides An absolutely remarkable thing : )) ?

Azrah wrote: "any YA suggestions (besides An absolutely remarkable thing : )) ?"

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Also, The Martian is appropriate for YA and an easy (and funny) read.

For YA, I just read These Broken Stars, which is set in space and includes a lot of tech and biology. Definitely recommend it!

I just recently hauled this book for more books on memory loss.

Coma

Finishing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot! (Sorry. No link since I’m using the app on my phone!) An excellently written book! I have literally inhaled it! (Also works for STEM-related book.)

Oops! Also works for book with a person’s name in the title!