Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. or Join now .

Introducing the Nautilus Summer Reading List

Ten books we loved this year.

Article Lead Image
Explore

There’s no better vacation for the mind than a great book. At Nautilus, we’re lucky to come across multitudes each year—whether it’s a meditation on noise, a dive into new theories of life, or a fresh look at our familiar moon. Many of these we feature in our pages, as conversations with the authors, musings on their “3 Greatest Revelations” in writing their book, or a short selection from the book itself.

We assembled some of our favorites from the past year—a curated, expansive, and sometimes-quirky reading list for your summer. Enjoy!

Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

1. How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology by Philip Ball

In Body Image
The University of Chicago Press
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

You can read more from Philip Ball about the nature of life here.

2. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

In Body Image
Alfred A. Knopf

Read an interview with Eve author Cat Bohannon by fellow author Lucy Cooke.

Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

3. Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are by Rebecca Boyle

In Body Image
Random House

Read an excerpt from Our Moon and check out author Rebecca Boyle’s “3 Greatest Revelations” while writing.

4. Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb

In Body Image
W. W. Norton & Company
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

Read the “3 Greatest Revelations” author Ben Goldfarb experienced while writing it.

5. Book of Noises: Notes on the Auraculous by Caspar Henderson

In Body Image
The University of Chicago Press

Read an excerpt from Book of Noises about onomatopoeia and the origin of language.

Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

6. Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure by Maggie Jackson

In Body Image
Prometheus Books

Read the “3 Greatest Revelations” author Maggie Jackson experienced while writing it.

7. We Loved It All: A Memory of Life by Lydia Millet

In Body Image
W. W. Norton & Company
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

Read an excerpt from We Loved it All.

8. Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters by Charan Ranganath

In Body Image
Doubleday

Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

9. Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life by Jason Roberts

In Body Image
Random House

Read an excerpt from Every Living Thing.

10. Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky

In Body Image
Penguin Press
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .

Read more about the thorny issue of free will here.

Lead image: KindheartedStock / Shutterstock

close-icon Enjoy unlimited Nautilus articles, ad-free, for less than $5/month. Join now

! There is not an active subscription associated with that email address.

Join to continue reading.

You’ve read your 2 free articles this month. Access unlimited ad-free stories, including this one, by becoming a Nautilus member.

! There is not an active subscription associated with that email address.

This is your last free article.

Don’t limit your curiosity. Access unlimited ad-free stories like this one, and support independent journalism, by becoming a Nautilus member.