A Brown Man in Russia describes the fantastical travels of a young, colored American traveler as he backpacks across Russia in the middle of winter via the Trans-Siberian. The book is a hybrid between the curmudgeonly travelogues of Paul Theroux and the philosophical works of Robert Pirsig. Styled in the vein of Hofstadter, the author lays out a series of absurd, but true stories followed by a deeper rumination on what they mean and why they matter. Each chapter presents a vivid anecdote from...

GOOD SENSE will help us through most of the day, but there are moments when we need to purge our soul with bona fide idiocy. In such emergencies we turn to nonsense literature. This book is a celebration of nonsense from all over the world, written both for children and adults. It is a reader’s guide with a simple premise: if you like the works of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, you may also like these hundred or so other books. This guide may read like a parody of a literary textbook, but o...

'Just read it.' Elon Musk

The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX—and Elon Musk—from a shaky startup into the world's leading edge rocket company.

SpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. Half a cen...

A new approach to the challenges surrounding artificial intelligence that argues for assessing AI actions as if they came from a human being

A detailed and fascinating journey to the roots of The Lord of the Rings, by award-winning Tolkien expert Professor Tom Shippey. The Road to Middle-Earth is a fascinating and accessible exploration of J.R.R.Tolkien’s creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Tom Shippey shows in detail how Tolkien’s professional background led him to write The Hobbit and how he created a work of timeless charm for millions of readers.

He discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and Unfinished T...