Nonfiction Advisory
Energy and Civilization
Vaclav Smil surveys how energy flows have shaped food, work, technology, economies, and the environmental pressures of civilization.
Worth Reading
Worth Reading
Independent reading selections for creativity, craft, curiosity, and meaning.
Worth Reading is AuthZ’s shelf of independent reading selections, not a collection of literary essays. We choose books that help people create, develop their craft, follow their curiosity, or find language for questions that matter to them. Each note explains what a book might make possible in a reader’s life.
All recommendations and reflections represent our own opinions. AuthZ accepts no payment, review copies, affiliate commissions, or other consideration for these selections. Entries do not link to retailers, publishers, libraries, or other acquisition services.
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31 selectionsNonfiction Advisory
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
David Graeber uses anthropology and history to challenge the story that money and markets naturally emerged from barter.
Nonfiction Advisory
Collapse
Jared Diamond compares historical and contemporary cases to ask how environmental limits, institutions, trade, and values shape collective survival.