In 2018 I was once again tied up with a lot of reading for research, so I had less time for reading on other topics, especially for non-fiction. On the plus side, lots of time spent on trains and airplanes allowed for enjoying a fair amount of novels. As with previous posts, this list reflects books I read in the past year, not necessarily books released in that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tangled Tree<\/a><\/em>, David Quammen \u2014 David Quammen is one of a handful of authors whose books I\u2019ll\u00a0pre-order as soon as I hear they\u2019re coming out. He\u2019s one of the best science and nature writers and constantly finds new ways to illuminate evolutionary biology. His latest, on horizontal gene transfer, is no exception. Hands down the best non-fiction I read this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I Contain Multitudes<\/em><\/a>, Ed Yong \u2014 This was on my to-read list for a while and after reading The Tangled Tree<\/em> it seemed like an apt thematic follow-up. It touches on some similar themes, but takes a broader look at the microbiotic life all around and inside us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Night of the Animals<\/a><\/em>, Bill Broun \u2014 I loved this novel and its memorable, unlikely protagonist, an elderly drug-addled man who speaks to animals and plots to free them from the London Zoo. It\u2019s suffused with a re-enchantment of nature in the midst of a bizarre, apocalyptic near future, and I\u2019ve never read anything else quite like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Savage Detectives<\/a><\/em>, Roberto Bola\u00f1o \u2014 I visited Mexico City for the first time this year and consulted\u00a0Tyler Cowen\u2019s travel tips<\/a>, where he recommended this as the classic Mexican novel. (Whenever I visit somewhere new, I try to read a novel set there.) A great accompaniment for wandering around the city, and while I\u2019ll probably tackle more Bolano in the future, I\u2019ll likely wait a bit before digging into\u00a02666<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Umami<\/a><\/em>, Laia Jufresa \u2014 My other Mexico City pick, an immersive, funny, and delightful story of neighboring families\u00a0whose lives intersect in shared mews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Changeling<\/a><\/em>, Victor Lavalle \u2014 Technically I read this in 2017, beginning it on one of the last days of the year and\u00a0finding myself\u00a0completely unable to put it down. Genre-bending, compelling, and probably gut-wrenching to read in parts for parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enlightenment Now<\/a><\/em>, Steven Pinker \u2014 This is definitely lesser Pinker and it comes across as glib and overly simplified in parts. Yet Pinker\u2019s still worth reading, and in a year that was awfully rough on liberalism it\u2019s a useful reminder that many things truly getting better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cigarette Wars<\/a><\/em>, Cassandra Tate \u2014 The progressive temperance crusade against cigarettes is far less remembered than the fight for alcohol Prohibition, but from 1890 to 1930 fifteen states in the US had enacted some kind of ban on cigarettes. This is a thorough, balanced look at that forgotten movement and why it eventually failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n