The Nautilus Summer Reading List

An extraordinary vacation is one that opens the mind. When turning the corner in a new place brings a shift in perspective that sparks surprise and delight—and, if you’re lucky, even wonder. At Nautilus, we find that great books can do the same thing. In recent months, we’ve read dozens, and it’s our pleasure to bring some of our favorites to you. 

In their pages, we’ve journeyed to the poles of the planet with renowned evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin, sat alongside monks with author Pico Iyer, and taken flight with starlings across history. Novelist Nnedi Okorafor has transplanted us into the mind of an author who tries to write a new kind of story—one which causes the lines between fiction and reality to blur; and we unearthed a 1970 book by a curious physician who fleshes out the strange land of our own anatomy.

Happily, it’s easier to pack more books into a season than vacations—and they make some of the best traveling companions. We hope you enjoy the new perspectives as you turn the many corners of these pages. 

1.  Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard

Read an interview with Open Socrates author Agnes Callard.

2. Food Planet Future: The Art of Turning Food and Climate Perils Into Possibilities by Robert Dash

Read an interview with Food Planet Future author Robert Dash, and see some of the intriguing images from the book.

3. The Body Has a Head by Gustav Eckstein

Read a review of The Body Has a Head—“the most absolutely wild book I have ever read about the human body and mind,” according to editor at large Kevin Berger.

4. No Less Strange or Wonderful: Essays in Curosity by Kendra Greene

Read an excerpt from No Less Strange or Wonderful about an unexpected encounter with a theme park character and the meaning of truth.

5. Aflame: Learning from Silence by Pico Iyer

Read an interview with Aflame author Pico Iyer.

6. How That Robot Made Me Feel by Ericka Johnson

Read an excerpt from How That Robot Made Me Feel, about when the author got a robot cat for her rabbit. 

7. So Very Small: How Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs and May Still Lose the War Against Infectious Disease by Thomas Levenson

Read the “3 Greatest Revelations” author Thomas Levenson experienced while writing So Very Small.

8. Death of the Author: A Novel by Nnedi Okorafor

A story within a story that will have you questioning the nature of storytelling itself—and will leave you thinking about what it truly means to be human.

9. Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Future by Neil Shubin

Read an essay by evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin about why the budget cuts for Antarctic research spell disaster.

10. Starlings: The Curious Odyssey of a Most Hated Bird by Mike Stark

Read an excerpt from Starlings, about one of the United States’ most despised birds.

Lead image: Solarisys / Shutterstock

• Nautilus Editors

  Posted on July 3, 2025