Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a writer, lecturer, biologist, ecologist, and two-time Fulbright Scholar (to India and Malaysia). I'm now a fiction writer, but basically I’ve always been a storyteller who writes in a historical framework. While I feel an almost compulsive obligation to keep faith with the facts, my main objective is to tell a story—as dramatically and suspensefully and entertainingly as I can. My first non-fiction book, Papyrus: the Plant that Changed the World, tells the story of a plant that still evokes the mysteries of the ancient world while holding the key to the world’s wetlands and atmospheric stability. It changed the world as did all five of the plants on my list below. 


I wrote

Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

By John Gaudet,

Book cover of Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

What is my book about?

From ancient Pharaohs to 21st Cent. water wars, papyrus is a unique plant that is among the fastest-growing plant…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Potato: A Global History

John Gaudet Why did I love this book?

Potatoes began as a main food staple in the Andes then spread to the rest of the world and especially Ireland where the dependence of the people on it created havoc that lasted generations, and served humanity as an example never to be forgotten. 

This book explains how the potato brought about changes good and bad until today it is difficult to imagine life without it. A Big Mac with no fries is like a latte with no milk. It was introduced into China in the 1600s and by 2006 China’s potato production at 74 million tons is the largest in the world. The Chinese now consume 88 lb (40 kg) per person annually. 

As to its eatability, what more proof do we need than the movie, Martian in which Matt Damon shows us how he happily survived months on it in space. And he did all that without leaving Hollywood.

By Andrew F. Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Potato as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From its obscure Pre-Columbian beginnings in South America to its global popularity today, the story of the potato is one of rags to riches. In Potato, esteemed culinary historian Andrew F. Smith reveals the captivating story of a once lowly vegetable that has changed - and continues to change - the world. First domesticated by prehistoric people in the Andes, the potato has since been adopted by cultures all over the globe. After its discovery by Europeans, goverments and monarchs encouraged the people to farm it because it was so nutritious and easy to grow, but its new position as…


Book cover of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

John Gaudet Why did I love this book?

Without this book who would know that this popular fruit is in danger of disappearing because of a disease? 

Koeppel does a great job presenting the overlooked history of a fruit common to our grocery stores and corner markets. Most of the book focuses on the single variety of banana available everywhere and provides a good overview of different banana varieties used in Africa and Asia as local food staples.

The book also delves into how these varieties are threatened by plant diseases and provides a historical perspective of “Banana Republics,” controlled and manipulated by the powerful banana corporations in the early-mid 20th and 21st Cent. 

The book also illustrates the value of narrative non-fiction in presenting history and science at street level. As one reader remarked, “I learned more geography and science from this book than I did from any of my high school classes.”  

By Dan Koeppel,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Banana as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the vein of Mark Kurlansky's bestselling Salt and Cod, a gripping chronicle of the myth, mystery, and uncertain fate of the world's most popular fruit

In this fascinating and surprising exploration of the banana's history, cultural significance, and endangered future, award-winning journalist Dan Koeppel gives readers plenty of food for thought. Fast-paced and highly entertaining, Banana takes us from jungle to supermarket, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables around the world. We begin in the Garden of Eden-examining scholars' belief that Eve's "apple" was actually a banana- and travel to early-twentieth-century Central America, where aptly named "banana republics" rose…


Book cover of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

John Gaudet Why did I love this book?

The coffee industry dominated and molded the economy, politics, and social structure of entire countries. 

Beginning as an Arab medicinal drink for the elite, coffee became the favored modern global stimulant of the blue-collar worker. On the dark side, its monocultural avatar has led to the oppression and land dispossession of indigenous peoples. 

In Latin America it created vast wealth next to dire poverty, leading to repressive military dictatorships, revolts, and bloodbaths. And it continues to transform the world today. Welcomed news by the burgeoning world’s drinkers is the finding that coffee consumption can be good for you, reducing the incidence of liver cancer, as well as lowering suicide attempts.

What’s not to like about it?

By Mark Pendergrast,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Uncommon Grounds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

First published in 1999, Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks and the coffee crisis of the 21st century. Mark Pendergrast uses coffee production, trade, and consumption as a window through which to view broad historical themes: the clash and blending of cultures, slavery, the rise of brand marketing, global inequities, fair trade, revolutions, health scares, environmental issues, and the rediscovery of quality.

As the scope of coffee culture continues to expand,Uncommon Grounds remains more than ever a brilliantly entertaining guide to one of the world's…


Book cover of A World History of Rubber: Empire, Industry, and the Everyday

John Gaudet Why did I love this book?

As Harp says, “…confronting the realities of the past will make us wiser, better-informed global citizens in the future.”

He tells us about rubber tree seeds stolen from trees in Brazil that allowed British rubber plantations to thrive in the Far East where they provided a British monopoly of rubber during WWI when rubber made its mark as a ‘must have’ for the war machine.

Rubber collected in the wild in Brazil and the Congo set the stage for the early development of this miracle substance that would eventually waterproof the world. Then in 1904 an international campaign exposed the brutal abuses in rubber collection in the Congo Free State, a colony solely owned by Belgian King Leopold II. 

A slump in production after WWI hit the United States, which by then consumed 70-80 percent of the world’s supply, most of it going to a gigantic automobile industry. This encouraged Henry Ford to make an unsuccessful effort to start a rubber empire in Brazil, which became a parable of the use and misuse of nature in the quest for power.    

By Stephen L. Harp,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A World History of Rubber as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A World History of Rubber helps readers understand and gain new insights into the social and cultural contexts of global production and consumption, from the nineteenth century to today, through the fascinating story of one commodity.

Divides the coverage into themes of race, migration, and labor; gender on plantations and in factories; demand and everyday consumption; World Wars and nationalism; and resistance and independence Highlights the interrelatedness of our world long before the age of globalization and the global social inequalities that persist today Discusses key concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including imperialism, industrialization, racism, and inequality, through…


Book cover of Quinine: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World

John Gaudet Why did I love this book?

Rocco is the great-granddaughter of Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, a soldier, engineer, and former Panamanian ambassador to the United States.

A genius in the art of lobbyist statecraft, he has been referred to as the “Inventor of Panama.” He, like Rocco, survived malaria, so she knows about malaria and quinine from street level. From its discovery in the 17th Cent. by Jesuit missionaries in Peru to its use by expanding European colonial powers and its role in the development of modern anti-malaria pills, quinine proves to be a real factor in the history of the modern world.

The Jesuits learned of the bark of the cinchona tree, which was used by Andean natives to cure shivering, at a time when malaria, then known as Roman ague or marsh fever, was devastating southern Europe. They eagerly began the distribution of the curative bark, which also helped European explorers and missionaries survive the disease as they entered new territories. The rest is history.

By Fiammetta Rocco,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Quinine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

The fascinating story of the intensive search to discover and possess quininethe only known cure for malaria Malaria kills someone every 12 minutes in Africa. Now known mostly as a disease of the tropics, malaria led to the demise of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago and ravaged Europe for years afterwards. At the start of the 17th century, Jesuit priests developed quinine, an alkaloid made out of the bitter red bark of the cinchona tree from the Andes. When quinine arrived in Europe, the Protestant powers resisted the medicine fearing that it was a Popish poison. Quinines reputation improved,…


Explore my book 😀

Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

By John Gaudet,

Book cover of Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

What is my book about?

From ancient Pharaohs to 21st Cent. water wars, papyrus is a unique plant that is among the fastest-growing plant species on earth. It inspired the fluted columns of ancient Egypt and those of the Greeks. The papyrus bounty from the Nile Delta provided a monopoly of paper supply for the world for 4,000 years. It also provided food, fuel, houses, rope, and boats and was thus instrumental in the development of civilization in the Nile Basin. Today, it's not just a curious relic of our ancient past, but a rescuing force for modern ecological and societal blight. In an ironic twist, it was eradicated in Egypt which today is faced with enormous pollution loads, yet papyrus is one of the most effective and efficient natural pollution filters.

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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Mimi Zieman Author Of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an OB/GYN, passionate about adventuring beyond what’s expected. This has led me to pivot multiple times in my career, now focusing on writing. I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives. 

Mimi's book list on women exploring the world and self

What is my book about?

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.


By Mimi Zieman,

Why should I read it?

22 authors picked Tap Dancing on Everest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in potatoes, malaria, and coffee?

Potatoes 20 books
Malaria 15 books
Coffee 69 books