Book recommendations

Hi!!
So this post is going to be about some of the books I have read over the past few months.
I’ve had major reading goals for this year in which I am clearly slacking off. Regardless, I have been able to read some good books this year.
A word of warning though – some of the books can be really scientific (as I tend to be a nerd :D) and I think it can be hard to understand for readers who do not have a good understanding of biological terms and functions or just people who hate biology in general!
Also, if you are looking for recommendations for fiction, this post might not be for you. Over the past 2 years, I focus a lot more on non-fictional books. I’m in no way against fiction. I do enjoy them once in a while. =)
1. THE GENE by SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

– The author, Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, stem cell biologist and a cancer geneticist. He is an assistant professor at the University of Columbia. ‘The Gene’ starts from the dawn of genetics era and ends describing the future prospects of genetic engineering. The book takes the reader through the years of study done in the field of genetics and gives an idea of current researches done in the area. It is really an eye-opening book. It describes how genes influence everything from diseases to sexual tendencies to our temperaments and behavior. Siddhartha Mukherjee describes the influence of genes by giving the example of his family’s history of mental illness. As the title says, the book is really an intimate history of human lives. The author has done an excellent job in writing the book- dissecting every aspect of genetic research without bias and raising a question of ethics and normalcy.
I highly recommend ‘The Gene’ to anyone who wants to understand why we are the way we are and what makes us unique at the molecular level.
2. ORIGINALS: HOW NON-CONFORMISTS MOVE THE WORLD by ADAM GRANT

– In my opinion, this book is gold. ‘Originals’ give the readers insight into what it means to be ORIGINAL in our ideas and thinking. Adam Grant gives examples of real-life scenarios to prove his point. Through the book, he teaches us on how to breed creativity and the significance of creative thinking in every aspect of life. He highlights the importance of having critics and how this can prevent an idea from going terribly wrong. He asks the reader not to limit their mind with only one view of the world- but to learn to critique your own ideas. Furthermore, Grant asks his readers to not be afraid to change deep-seated beliefs and behaviors. ‘Originals’ is for a person who wants to challenge the status quo but is too afraid to do so. As a rebel myself, I found this book extremely comforting 😀
3. THE VITAL QUESTION by NICK LANE

– This book tells the story of energy, evolution and the origins of complex life. How did life as we know such come into being? How did the complexity arise from the simple, single-celled bacteria? ‘The Vital Question’ answers the question in a purely scientific way. The answer to the origin of life, according to Nick Lane, lies in energy. Crossing the energy barriers was what led to the emergence of complex life- multicellular organisms. The author gives strong points with strong examples on how this is possible explaining in details built on evolutionary theory. After all, the absence of life or death is just the depletion of energy (I do not want to go into the physics of that- I’ll leave the explanation of law of conservation of energy to people who are experienced in the subject :D). Reading this book requires some knowledge in concepts of biochemistry. I am not a complete believer of evolution as science puts it although there are some aspects of it which might hold some relevance.
4. SAPIENS – A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND by YUVAL NOAH HARARI

– Oh! This book is what I call something that will satiate your mind. ‘Sapiens’ will leave you thinking – and I mean it. It will open your eyes and gives you a clear picture of human origins. It tells you the story of how we- Homo Sapiens- became the dominant species on Earth. How did we transform from our hunter-gatherer past into the settled life we have now? What skills did we acquire along the way of our transformation? Where and why did the origins of beliefs and culture come into being? ‘Sapiens’ is just the book you need to read to get the answers!
So yeah, there’s it. I still have a lot more books that I can talk about but I don’t intend to make this post too long. That will be something for another time.
Hope you enjoyed reading! If you happen to pick up any of the books mentioned or have read it before, do let me know what you think about it. Perhaps we could have a discussion

Najath AbdulKareem