must-read books
updated november 2020
non-fiction
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses by Peter Brannen
The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
fiction
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki