Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Must-Read Books for Scientists

((and everyone else!))
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

It's back!

Top Ten Tuesday is back! It's a weekly meme that has been on summer break but now, just like back-to-school events and fall themed lattes, it's reappearing in our lives.

This week's prompt was ten five book recommendations for any specific group of people-- so I choose scientists, though of course, I believe that everyone would enjoy this books!

What makes them for 'scientists'? I picked out books that were really inventive-- mostly sci-fic, where the technology is unique, with inventions that just blew my mind and sparked my imagination.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

"Tribal: that’s what they called humans from ethnic groups too remote and “uncivilized” to regularly send students to attend Oomza Uni."

Why: This is a beautiful, fascinating story which feels, at the same time, both wildly inventive and universal. It's a coming-of-age novella which casually throws in interesting ideas of technology and space travel.





Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee


“There are too many shapes of love to be counted. One of them is forgiveness.” 

Why: Conservation of shadows is a collection of short-stories that never failed to blow my mind. Yoon weaves in mesmerizing mix of magic and technology with grace, crafting stories that are a delight to read.




The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

 “That’s such an incredibly organic bias, the idea that your squishy physical existence is some sort of pinnacle that all programs aspire to.”

Why: I mean, just check out my review to hear more fan-girling but in short, I loved this sci-fi novel. I loved the way that the author complexly imaged other species, the attention to detail she paid to the clashing of alien cultures.


Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh

"I keep expecting this to get easier, that it will start to feel as if I'm going to sleep. But it doesn't. Maybe it's not possible to get used to dying."
Rob reached out to comfort her, then remembered it was forbidden and drew back. If not for the surveillance, Rob would have reached under the silver cover and taken her hand, cold and stiff as it would have been.”

Why: I read this book years ago, but I remember really enjoying it. It has such an interesting, novel premise. When a young woman is killed in a car accident, she wakes up not in a hospital, but in a cryogenic dating center.

The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Clark

“Finn stood, his narrow body unhinging at the waist. He handed the jar to Cat and smiled, but Cat grabbed the jar and pushed through the door, out into the cool, dampening night. The fireflies glowed again. She could hear them knocking against the glass. 
"How lovely," said Cat's father.
"Lovely," repeated Finn, as though the meaning of the word alluded him.” 

Why: I adored this book. It's a really intriguing mixture of literary fiction and sci-fic, very reminiscent of Never Let Me Go. There are many things going on in the periphery of this novel, self-away AI, drastic and deadly climate change-- but none of those issues are the main point of the novel.