Book Report

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

  

Sapiens: A Graphic History VOLUME 1 AND 2 by Yuval Noah Harari –  Sometimes when I love a book so much, I don’t write the review myself. Instead I google. I don’t do it often, but I am pulling the lever now. Here is why I loved this book:

 

Sapiens: A Graphic History is a vibrant and visually captivating adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. It distills the sweeping story of human evolution into an engaging, illustrated format that’s both accessible and thought-provoking.

🧠 Cognitive Revolution The book begins with how Homo sapiens rose from being just another animal to the dominant species on Earth. Around 70,000 years ago, we developed the unique ability to imagine, cooperate in large groups, and share myths—like religion, money, and nations—which allowed us to build complex societies.

🌾 Agricultural Revolution It then explores how farming transformed human life. While agriculture allowed for population growth and permanent settlements, it also introduced new challenges like social hierarchies, hard labor, and disease. Harari cleverly calls it a “luxury trap”—great for the species, but not always for the individual.

🌍 Shared Myths & Social Order The book emphasizes how imagined realities—like corporations, laws, and ideologies—shape our world. These shared beliefs are what enable millions of strangers to cooperate and build civilizations.

🎨 Visual Storytelling What makes the graphic version shine is its humor, creativity, and cast of quirky characters who guide readers through complex ideas with wit and clarity. It’s not just informative—it’s fun.

(Back to me now. I have to add in another shoutout for this. During the section on shared myths, the author points out that they – and thus our cultures – can be changed without bloody revolutions. He uses the example of feminism and the fact that it fought no wars, created to guillotines or gulags and yet still made major changes. Feminists been saying this for years; so I was glad to see it here too).

Grade: 9

 

Infectious Generosity by Chris Anderson – Is it weird to read a book like this, in this day and age? Where our government is horrible, yet this book is full of making a positive change and leveraging human ingenuity to save the world. You know what? We need inspiring books like this more than ever. Also, it was an easy read, it made me feel good and yet it was realistic too with lots of examples of how individuals and groups have improved things. Grade: 8

 

The Lie by Helen Dunmore -  I finally read some fiction again, and it was good. Right up my ally, this is a piece of historical fiction about a man named Daniel who has returned home to England after fighting in World War I. He is destitute and mourning the loss of his best friend (whom it is implied would’ve or could’ve been his lover). It was a ‘simple’ story and beautifully told. Extra cool: I got it from a Little Free Library. Grade: 6

 

Wild by Nature by Sarah Marquis – Oh this is a total Marianne book! The author has trekked solo, over 10,000 miles – through Siberia, Thailand, and Australia. She loves and respects nature. Her writing is crisp and fascinating. I wish I’d saved this one for a plane ride! My only complaint is that it’s 250 pages, and honestly I think it could’ve been 500 and I wouldn’t have been bored. Maybe the publisher wouldn’t allow something longer. There are some jaw-dropping pics included too. I can’t get over the fact that for most of her supplies (which she needed as she often went days or weeks through deserts and forests without being able to resupply), she pushed on a cart. Grade: 8

 

Let The Whole Thundering World Come Home by Natalie Goldberg – Memoir by the famous “writer’s writer” Natalie Goldberg. (She published “Writing Down the Bones” 40 years ago and it has been a classic since. I bought my copy in college, from Anderson’s Bookstore). Goldberg has written several memoirs, and this one focuses on her health issues. She undergoes cancer treatments at the same time as her girlfriend. She is open and raw about how agonizing this is, and at the same time, she’s experiencing the world – she’s paining, traveling, teaching writing classes, visiting the graves of poets and Buddhist teachers. Although cancer and mortality are not easy topics, somehow this book is also a joy to read. For real. Grade: 8

Comments

[nytshd3]

Sapiens sounds so cool!

Infectious Generosity definitely sounds like something we all need right about now. For sure.

I can't imagine going solo over 10,000 miles! Wow! Does she maybe have a blog or somewhere else where you can read her stuff? Also, how do you push a cart through a desert??

Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home sounds really cool too. I've read some really beautiful memoirs by people dealing with death and mortality, sometimes it's so beautiful.

Thanks for sharing as always!

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

Thanks for reading!

I can't recommend Sapiens highly enough. I wish it was available electronically or in a more portable format, as I'd love to re-read it on a plane someday. (The books are biiiig and heavy - not anything I'd carry on a plane, bummer).

I honestly don't know how Marquis pushed a cart through desert, forest, hills...it was pretty insane.