What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

Book #23 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This was interesting and humorous. I listened to the audiobook which is read by Wil Wheaton. The author answers odd questions as truthfully as possible using scientific data. Tackled are the what ifs like how fast you can go over a speed bump and not die and what would happen if all of the lightning strikes for one day happened at the same time in the same place.

This book reminded me a bit of Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty, who answers questions people have about death.

A lot of the questions weren’t things that I would have thought of, but the answers to the questions were interesting. There’s a second book that I’d like to read or listen to at some point.

An Immense World by Ed Yong

Book #22 in 2025
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I loved this book. I think you have to be somewhat of an animal lover to enjoy it or at least be interested in how they use their senses to move about their environment. I’ve longed thought that we can learn a lot from animals. They have instincts and heightened senses we can’t comprehend or consider inferior because their brains are not as developed as ours.

While there is a good deal of science in this book, you don’t have to be a scientist to learn from it. Things are explained and for me made me more curious.

It also made me sad that more thinking doesn’t go into how humans don’t respect animals, their habitats, and how we live disrupts their ecosystem.

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

Book #21 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This was an interesting book for me. I liked how the author provides insight into the life of a sociopath. Although at times I felt like things were repetitive and everything in her life lead back to being a sociopath as I continued on.

While similar in some instances, a sociopath is not the same as a psychopath even though the two are used interchangeably. This book led me to read more about the difference between the two.

I had similar thoughts listening to this audiobook as I did listening to Orange is the New Black. Both authors come from a place where their life and financial means helped their situation. I wonder how a sociopath who doesn’t have a support system and the ability to recognize being a sociopath would fare. Those people aren’t writing memoirs because they generally don’t have the means.

I do like that the author was of the mindset to seek help and understand her diagnosis (even before when she wondered why she was different but didn’t have a why). I also like that she wrote the book as a means to help others understand because there isn’t much out there. I can relate to this from my single sided deafness in that there’s not a lot of information about it.

This is definitely worth the read if you’re interested in learning what it’s like to be a sociopath and try to fit into the world around you.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Book #20 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This book is set in the future, but a specific date has not been revealed. Franny sets out to follow terns on what is said to be their last migration. In order to do this she convinces a ship captain to take her aboard.

Once out on the water the crew wonders why Franny is on this mission of hers and what baggage she brings with her. Franny has skeletons in her past she is trying to deal with while trying to fulfil a personal mission of finding and following these birds that mean so much to her.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

Book #19 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I found this book to be compelling. I had to keep in mind the period of time in which this took place, although cannibalizing black men first and killing whales and other sea animals for “fun” isn’t necessarily cool regardless of when in history it happened. It was interesting how different members of the crew reacted at various stages.

Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!

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Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman

Book #18 in 2025
2.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I wanted to like this book. The author is likely a nice person who wanted to write about her life. But I was hoping that more of the book would be about her time on Everest. I found that I didn’t care much about her life and how she got to being on Everest. Or maybe I would have cared if it didn’t take up as many pages.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

Book #17 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I kind of wish that this story had become the rage instead of Titanic! I felt like the story of the Endurance and crew was more engaging. It’s hard to imagine what the crew went through. And even though the book was written in 1959 it didn’t feel “old fashioned”.

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

Book #16 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is the first true crime type of book I’ve read (well listened to). The authors tell the story of 10 people who are wrongly accused and convicted. I can’t imagine going through what they had to endure and the sloppy investigative work makes me wonder if this is the norm or not and whether it’s worse in bigger cities.

While sad and sometimes disturbing, the stories drew me in and felt like they were well researched.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

Book #15 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I didn’t know that a rowing team won gold in Germany and I don’t know anything about rowing. But this was still an interesting book about how the team got to win gold. Even though the title gives away the ending it’s more about reading about the journey.

A Night to Remember: The Classic Account of the Final Hours of the Titanic by Walter Lord

Book #14 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

My listening to books about boats sinking continues! This was similar to the others I’ve read. Educational and researched but not “exciting” in the sense of a psychological thriller.

I liked this a bit more than the others I’ve listened to. Perhaps it was because I’m more familiar with the story of the Titanic.