Very short, very sharp

Pertinent… Evans is an attractive and persuasive writer … his book will strike many chords’

An important book about the need to bring inspiring narratives back to the heart of progressive politics ... This has traction because it has truth, literally as well as metaphorically.

A really fascinating contribution to answering the question: how do we find new myths to live by.

Everyone should read this.

The Myth Gap is a beautiful synthesis of wisdom for the times we're in. Alex Evans melds deep insights from both scholarship and the front lines of social change to provide a perspective that may be essential to human survival. It's a must read for anyone considering how to save the world.

Alex Evans gives us a glimpse of what campaigning could deliver if we focussed on binding people together based on shared ideas. It couldn't be a more urgent task and we couldn't have a clearer or more necessary handbook.

This world has the potential to be a paradise for humanity but only if we change our world view. Alex Evans proposes another way of seeing and working.

The Myth Gap takes on the most important and also most difficult problem of our day with rigor and creativity. Evans is not afraid to ask the big questions and he provides answers where other observers have stopped short. For anyone trying to contribute to a solution to global issues like climate change, this book is well worth your time.

Our model of progress is broken. If we’re going to find ways of enabling all people to live sustainably on Planet Earth, we need an new story about what progress really means – and Alex Evans’s ‘The Myth Gap’ opens up some storylines that are both inspiring and provocative.

The use of everyday topics to explain complex physics in an easily understandable way is only helped by the brilliant narrative style, which is a pleasure to read. You'll be fascinating your friends with everyday science facts for weeks afterwards! *****

There is real science in Czerski’s stories, and it’s described in a serious manner. But what I love about the book is that it is always clear that science is a human-centered activity performed by people.

Storm in a Teacup will entertain and educate any person with a healthy curiosity about the natural world... Encourage her to write more; buy this book.

A funny, readable book that makes you view your surroundings quite differently.

May genuinely alter how you see the world

If your desire to be awestruck by the universe we inhabit needs refreshing, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli is up to the task

Crammed full of compelling characters and dramatic scenes, this book gets to the heart of a fascinating matter and demonstrates why it matters so much.

A provocative and revealing account of how scientists like herself are uncovering deep connections between human existence and the wider universe. A terrific read.

A cracking read, combining storytelling of the highest order with a trove of information on subjects as diverse as astrophysics, evolutionary biology, geology and particle physics. What’s remarkable is that is all fit’s together.

This is the grown-up version of science we need to see.

Extremely engaging… the chapters on dark matter go far beyond most other popular books on the subject. Randall paints a truly fascinating picture of the possibility that dark matter is as rich and varied as normal matter… This book is not about the destination, but the journey. And that is often delightful.

A compelling writer who presents a broad range of up-to-date science…in a lively and accessible way… Engagingly written.

A fascinating, and surprisingly simple, theory…and a tantalising premise.

Engaging summary of cosmology and quantum physics.

A whistle-stop tour of modern physics… A fascinating read.

A wildly exciting idea… Randall’s style is plain, clear to understand and engaging… A great read.

[Randall] is a lucid explainer, street-wise and informal. Without jargon or mathematics, she steers us through centuries of…astronomical history and is particularly illuminating when briefing us on the cosmic objects that sometimes land on planet Earth with unpleasant consequences.

Fascinating… [Randall] is a lucid explainer. Without jargon or mathematics, she steers us through astronomical history and is particularly illuminating when briefing us on the cosmic objects that sometimes land on planet Earth with unpleasant consequences.

Here’s the recipe for an intriguing popular science book: take two parts cosmological mystery, two parts death of the dinosaurs and one part origin of mankind. Add a dash of personal flavour and mix thoroughly. Serve with imagination and enthusiasm. If theoretical physicist Lisa Randall is your chef, you’re in for a wonderful treat.

Very enjoyable… a compelling and fascinating portrait of a compelling and fascinating place: the universe.

Engaging.

Randall tells it with great verve.

Wrenching memoir…Moving, humble and impossible to ignore.

An unforgettable reflection on the practice of medicine and the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

An honest and eye-opening memoir.

Deeply moving memoir… Lessons on life and how to cherish it.

Immensely powerful and poignant.

The best book I’ve read this year.

Heart-breaking memoir.

The effect of reading such clear-sighted and intelligent commentary on life and death is exhilarating… Astonishing and invigorating book... Rarely have words on both life and death made such an impact.

A brilliant memoir.

A sad but beautiful story… A remarkable book… A moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature.

Profoundly moving book… A life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

[Kalanithi] wrote about practising medicine, about mortality, about finite time, with unfathomable tranquility and humour.

He writes with clarity, elegance, and honesty… When Breath Becomes Air is a deeply personal and moving book… Kalanithi died leaving the book unfinished. He left, though, his voice, speaking through this book about death and implicitly about life.

Writing isn't brain surgery, but it's rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former... A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.

An extraordinary voice… His account is matter-of-fact, never self-pitying and often funny.

Wrenching memoir… Moving, humble, and impossible to ignore.

A sparely lyrical account of excruciated ambition… Fairly dotted with insights.

In this slim but extraordinarily powerful memoir, Kalanithi grapples with the hardest questions with grace and courage... Lucid, humbling and heartbreaking.

Heart-wrenching memoir

When Breath Becomes Air is an eloquent evocation of a life defined by success and tragedy… Paul’s unravelling of unimaginable circumstances is terrifyingly real and heartbreakingly honest.

The line between life and death has never been explored quite so personally as in Paul Kalanithi’s wrenching memoir… The Final pages, from Paul and then Lucy, are moving, humble, and impossible to ignore’

It’s elegantly constructed, as befits a man who had a lifelong passion for reading and writing, and heartbreakingly honest too, with unflinching reflections on all the beloved people he must leave behind, and all the things left undone’

Absolutely compelling… This is not a depressing book, but it will stay with you for a long time.

A true and heart-breaking tale.

This dying doctor’s gripping memoir is a natural, honest, and unflinching account of his journey. Paul’s willingness to reflect and share and not avert his eyes from death, will undoubtedly inspire and comfort others who are ill or who experience loss. The final paragraph is directed towards his infant daughter and it is breathtakingly beautiful… one to recommend to anyone and everyone.

Beautifully written… Healthcare professionals and civilians alike should find much that resonates here.

His book is suitable for, and deserves, a wide audience… Whilst this book is emotional and moving to read, it is beautifully written and many readers will find Paul's way of dealing with terminal illness inspirational. It is a book that I will go back to again and again for emotional support.

This is a tearjerker… Kalanithi was as skilled with words as he was with the knife.

Kalanithi is warm and full of wit... His writing is seamless, poetic, beautiful and transfixing. His bravery is rather astonishing at times… He is a wonderful storyteller and dizzily sweeps you along.

You’ll read this in one unforgettable afternoon.

A gripping and emotionally charged account.

Poignant, honest, brave and yes, at times, incredibly raw… A beautiful and unforgettable book.

[A] beautiful memoir… Kalanithi’s eloquent and elegant writing is deeply affecting.

[An] inspiring book.

A thoughtful, deep and learned meditation on the meaning of life… The best book of the year

An emotional ride.

A book that leaves its reader full-hearted… moved and enriched by its humanity and accomplishment.

A fast read that won’t fail to move you.

John Updike said that every writer is simply unpacking their own bag, describing writing as a way to come to terms with one’s current and historical life experience. If that is the case Paul Kalanithi, in When Breath Becomes Air, is unpacking a very large bag indeed, and not just his own.

When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

Far more than a beautifully written account of a life cut cruelly short: it is a meditation on living well.

[H]e writes with an eloquence that befits his love of the literary.

An eloquent meditation on our mortality, the brain, the meaning of life, fatherhood and the doctor-patient relationship, this powerful, inspirational book should appeal to readers who are enjoying watching BBC2’s current Hospital series. I couldn’t put this profoundly moving memoir down – but it is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, and may scare hypochondriacs.

It’s not just that Kalanathi has a remarkable story to tell. The way he tells it is phenomenal… This is a superbly written and must-read autobiography – beautiful, poignant and thought-provoking.

He writes movingly about how to make sense of a life so suddenly interrupted and what makes life worth living even as it fades away. A beautiful book about the resilience of the human spirit.

Kalanithi’s candid yet artistic prose, peppered with medical terminology, conveys his life beautifully. We are taken on a journey from the nostalgic memories of his childhood in Arizona to his final days in the hospital bed… he raw and emotional portrayal of his pain and their family’s grief is not an easy read, but a compelling one.

A thoroughly enjoyable, epic read, When Breath Becomes Air should be at the top of everyone’s ‘to read’ list. Paul Kalanithi beautifully bridges the gaps between philosophy, science and literature in his memoir which depicts the reality of life lived in the face of death… Kalanithi writes sublimely, elegantly and honestly. His words are spun together as though with a golden thread, and all that he writes is from the heart. His admiration for the written word shines through and the mammoth task of composing his memoir, after receiving his diagnosis, is executed exquisitely… It is a novel filled with tenderness, heartbreak and bittersweet nostalgia. It is a novel containing power, strength and beauty. And it is a novel that will stay with you long after its cover has been closed.

Informative, emotive, honest and a stark look at the path one takes when life pulls the rug out from under you.

This book has stayed with me ever since I put it down. Absolutely extraordinary. This book is an example of how fragile and unfair life can be.

It was a really incredible read and I couldn’t recommend it more.

As a book detailing the insight into our own mortality, and the dedication of medical professionals who place their lives on hold to learn their craft, it’s fascinating. His accounts of coming face to face with cadavers – "donors" – and performing autopsies, his experiences with patients as he gave good and bad news, his mistakes as a surgeon which caused irreparable damage coupled with his success as a physician are an incredible insight into his life’s work… A melancholic read that I’d recommend to all student nurses, and anyone interested in reading the final thoughts of a doomed surgeon.

Poignant and life-affirming, it's a devastating must-read

Beautifully written... utterly heartbreaking and yet somehow life-affirming

The writing is beautiful and the whole book feels like a wondrous gift

At a time when the NHS and key workers are doing their utmost to make sure people are safe, this medical memoir is one that will make you realise how courageous and hard-working our medical staff really are... The moving and intimidate book brings readers on a valuable and gut-wrenching journey through the meaning of life, exposes universal truths surrounding terminal illnesses and highlights the fragile relationship between doctor and patient