Fans pick 83 books like The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe

By Tim Peake,

Here are 83 books that The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe fans have personally recommended if you like The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The War of the Worlds

Thomas P. Hopp Author Of Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall

From my list on sci-fi about dinosaurs and monstrous creatures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a fan of dinosaurs and other mega-monsters ever since I watched the original Godzilla movie as a kid. It scared me half out of my wits! There’s something about big, scaly, dangerous beasts that makes for a great adventure story. Add fascinating human characters and you’ve got my full attention. I started writing my Dinosaur Wars books precisely to fill the void where there are far too few stories of this type in current literature. Challenges between human heroes and giant beasts have been part of literature from the start, featuring dragons, titans, and ocean leviathans. I see my writings as efforts to continue that tradition.

Thomas' book list on sci-fi about dinosaurs and monstrous creatures

Thomas P. Hopp Why did Thomas love this book?

H.G. Wells delivers an astonishing tale of space invaders from Mars, with breathtaking scenes of monstrously huge three-legged walking machines terrorizing the populace of London and its surrounds. For sheer imagery, few science fiction stories before or since have come close to its gripping, real-world feel.

The story is told by an unnamed protagonist who goes on an odyssey in ravaged London as towering alien war machines chase, kill, or capture fleeing citizens in chaotic scenes of panic and fear. That fear sent chills along my spine on rereading this classic recently.

Notable were touching humanistic scenes with Dr. Ogilvy, an astronomer who leads an ill-fated attempt at truce-making, and a defeated soldier whose counterattack with artillery failed horribly.

By H.G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked The War of the Worlds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

But planet Earth was not only being watched - soon it would be invaded by monstrous creatures from Mars who strode about the land in great mechanical tripods, bringing death and destruction with them. What can possibly stop an invading army equipped with heat-rays and poisonous black gas, intent on wiping out the human race? This is one man's story of that incredible invasion, from the time the first Martians land near his home town, to the destruction of London. Is this the end of human life on Earth?


Book cover of The Darkest Dark

Timothy Knapman Author Of The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

From my list on making space exploration a blast for kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I loved space, and devoured science fiction (Doctor Who was my favorite). Now I’m a grown-up, I write books for kids - 70 so far and counting. (My latest picture book is called Sometimes I Am Furious, illustrated by Joe Berger.) The Book of Blast Off! is my second book about space (the first one was just called Space – not the most imaginative title, it’s true). I love writing non-fiction for kids because, unlike grown-ups, you can’t blind them with science. You have to know what you’re talking about so you can explain things clearly. They’re the best audience and you want to be worthy of them.

Timothy's book list on making space exploration a blast for kids

Timothy Knapman Why did Timothy love this book?

Chris is another astronaut – and another great communicator.

In this book, he connects with younger readers by going back to his own childhood, in which he loved pretending to be a space hero fighting aliens (trust me, I can relate). But he was also afraid of the dark… until he watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV.

I’m a bit younger than him, but I also remember seeing that swooshy black and white footage being beamed back from the moon. Beyond the astronauts and the dusty moon surface was the darkest dark – the dark of space – and that’s when Chris learned that it can be fascinating: a place of mystery that is an amazing adventure to explore.

By Chris Hadfield, The Fan Brothers (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Darkest Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

This updated picture book of The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris Hadfield, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.

"While I was growing up, the Moon helped light the path to my dreams. But it was on a hot July night that my dreamy thoughts became real. The brave astronauts of Apollo 11 travelled to that distant place and stepped out onto its surface, their boots blazing a new trail in the ancient grey dust. Those footprints showed me that impossible things can happen." Chris Hadfield.

Young Chris is a very important astronaut. When Dad says it's time…


Book cover of The Adventures of Tintin: Destination Moon

Timothy Knapman Author Of The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

From my list on making space exploration a blast for kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I loved space, and devoured science fiction (Doctor Who was my favorite). Now I’m a grown-up, I write books for kids - 70 so far and counting. (My latest picture book is called Sometimes I Am Furious, illustrated by Joe Berger.) The Book of Blast Off! is my second book about space (the first one was just called Space – not the most imaginative title, it’s true). I love writing non-fiction for kids because, unlike grown-ups, you can’t blind them with science. You have to know what you’re talking about so you can explain things clearly. They’re the best audience and you want to be worthy of them.

Timothy's book list on making space exploration a blast for kids

Timothy Knapman Why did Timothy love this book?

This is a bit of a cheat, I’m afraid, as it’s the first book in a two-book story (which concludes in Explorers on the Moon) but once you’ve read this one you’ll be dying to find out what happens next.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a Tintin nut. I love all Hergé’s comic books about the intrepid boy reporter and have read them countless times. They’re pacy – certainly as zippy and exciting as any modern action movie – and the choice of angles and framing is worthy of a master of cinema.

In this one, Tintin and his friends are reunited with the eccentric Professor Calculus, who is working on a mission to the moon. But there are spies, saboteurs, and stowaways around, so there’s plenty of mystery and peril – as well as humor – when Tintin and the gang embark on an adventure…

By Herge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Adventures of Tintin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The classic graphic novel. Professor Calculus is building a rocket, but Tintin quickly realizes that there are spies around every corner trying to steal the professor's design! When Professor Calculus' rocket finally takes off for the moon, Tintin and his dog Snowy are on board.


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Book cover of From Cells to Ourselves: The Story of Evolution

From Cells to Ourselves by Gill Arbuthnott, Chris Nielsen (illustrator),

4.5 billion years ago, Earth was forming - but nothing could have survived there…

From Cells to Ourselves is the incredible story of how life on earth started and how it gradually evolved from the first simple cells to the abundance of life around us today. Walk with dinosaurs, analyse…

Book cover of Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Timothy Knapman Author Of The Book of Blast Off!: 15 Real-Life Space Missions

From my list on making space exploration a blast for kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I loved space, and devoured science fiction (Doctor Who was my favorite). Now I’m a grown-up, I write books for kids - 70 so far and counting. (My latest picture book is called Sometimes I Am Furious, illustrated by Joe Berger.) The Book of Blast Off! is my second book about space (the first one was just called Space – not the most imaginative title, it’s true). I love writing non-fiction for kids because, unlike grown-ups, you can’t blind them with science. You have to know what you’re talking about so you can explain things clearly. They’re the best audience and you want to be worthy of them.

Timothy's book list on making space exploration a blast for kids

Timothy Knapman Why did Timothy love this book?

This is a children’s version of the book that inspired the movie.

Like everyone else who saw that movie, I was blown away by the story – I was also thoroughly ashamed that I hadn’t heard about these amazing women before.

I’m no math whizz, so making all those impossibly complicated calculations – on which people’s lives would depend – is already completely beyond me. But doing so with such dignity and determination in the face of the daily grind of petty prejudice and poisonous ignorance puts them in the superhero category.

I was in tears in the movie, and once again when reading the book.

By Margot Lee Shetterly, Laura Freeman (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hidden Figures as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award-nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and illustrator Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men into space to picture book readers!

Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...really good.

They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they…


Book cover of Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Eric M. Schlegel Author Of The Restless Universe: Understanding X-Ray Astronomy in the Age of Chandra and Newton

From my list on humbly learning our place in the universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been increasingly interested in astrophysics since I was six years old. My mother hooked me on reading at five by stopping novels at critical points and urging me to continue. I’ve ever since read a broad range of books. I stumbled upon Dr. Loren Eiseley in the early 1970s and enjoyed his books immensely. As soon as a book by Dr. Carl Sagan was published, I wanted to read it. As I’ve grown older, I try not to think that ‘peak humanity’ is behind us–and books such as Sagan, Eiseley, and Rovelli offset that potentially depressing thought and provide solid encouragement.

Eric's book list on humbly learning our place in the universe

Eric M. Schlegel Why did Eric love this book?

For me, this book melded many ideas I had as I grew up on humanity’s place in the Universe. Dr. Sagan’s writing just pulled many of my ideas and understanding into one strong framework.

As with many of the books I recommend, Sagan's writing showed me that I can do science and still remain grounded without my ego expanding faster than the universe!

By Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“Fascinating . . . memorable . . . revealing . . . perhaps the best of Carl Sagan’s books.”—The Washington Post Book World (front page review)

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history…


Book cover of The Stars Are Ours!

Russ Colson Author Of The Arasmith Certainty Principle

From my list on sci-fi with adventure, proper romance, or friendship.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a planetary scientist and college professor, I love the adventure of finding something new, the wonder of strange worlds, and the magic of mysterious discoveries that behave logically in a way that I can figure out. Unsurprisingly, that is what I like in my fiction too. I also love a story that explores the nature of the interaction between people, particularly in friendship or romance (all proper of course—I’m an old-fashioned guy). The books on this list are all touchstones in my own journey into science and life, and I hope that you can find in them the delight, wonder, insight, and motivation that I have found.

Russ' book list on sci-fi with adventure, proper romance, or friendship

Russ Colson Why did Russ love this book?

I’ve picked this story from the 1950s because, as a teenager, it stirred my sense of wonder at time and space.

Dard Nordis must get safely to the ship that will carry him, his family, and his friends from the tyranny that has overtaken Earth to freedom among the stars. Halfway into the book, hundreds of years pass with the turn of a page, the tyranny of old Earth is just a distant memory, and Dard is in a new world far from the troubled world that he knew.

The story opened up for me the potential for a profoundly new life.  It stirred my desire to discover the universe through scientific exploration. There is no romance here, but there is family, friends, and an adventure like no other!

By Andre Norton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Stars Are Ours! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Stars Are Ours [Nov 01, 1983] Norton, Andre


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Book cover of Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade

Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade by Kimberly Behre Kenna,

Artemis Sparke has had it with humans. She heads to the nearby salt marsh to hang out with the birds, plants, and mollusks who don't make a big deal of her stutter. The shoreline sanctuary is predictable, unlike her family and friends, and the data in her science journal proves…

Book cover of Sailing Bright Eternity

Rich Larson Author Of Ymir

From my list on sci-fi to bend your brain and crush your soul.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing professionally for an entire decade now, and for most of that time sci-fi has been my bread and butter. I love the genre’s varied aesthetics, and its tightrope of creativity and believability. The sci-fi books I love most of all are, for whatever reason, the ones that make me think deep, none-too-happy thoughts. Best is subjective, but these are five of my very favorites.

Rich's book list on sci-fi to bend your brain and crush your soul

Rich Larson Why did Rich love this book?

The first sci-fi I ever read, plucked from a dusty shelf on a mission compound in Niger. The physics explanations were beyond me, and honestly still are, but the astronomical imagery rewired my nine-year-old brain. This is a book (and series) that melds the rigor of hard SF with the scope and imagination of the best space opera, following the remnants of humanity as they flee inscrutable, implacable AI monstrosities. It makes the universe feel visceral and terrifyingly beautiful, and makes the reader feel like an ant.

By Gregory Benford,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This new, special edition of the classic concluding volume of this defining series by the eminent physicist and Nebula Award-winning author contains a teaser chapter from Benford's, The Sunborn.
The final chapter of humanity's future has begun, and three men hold the key to survival. As the fierce, artificially intelligent mechs pursue their savage and unstoppable destruction of the human race, it soon becomes apparent that three men-three generations in a family of voyagers-are their targets. Toby Bishop, his father Kileen, and his longdead grandfather each carry a piece of the lethal secret that can destroy their relentless pursuers. There…


Book cover of It Started with a Big Bang: The Origin of Earth, You and Everything Else

Marion Dane Bauer Author Of The Stuff of Stars

From my list on the origins of our universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

My expertise on the origins of our universe comes out of fascination, nothing more. I am a long-time children’s writer who began my approach to this topic with awe. Just awe. In order to write The Stuff of Stars I read widely to expand my own understanding. A single line in this text can come out of hours of reading. The books I’m suggesting here, though, are not the scientific ones that informed my telling. Rather, I have searched out books that are exceptionally creative, accessible, interesting. Some are for the very young and some for those who share their learning with the very young.  

Marion's book list on the origins of our universe

Marion Dane Bauer Why did Marion love this book?

It Started with a Big Bang: The Origin of Earth, You and Everything Else is another picture book that covers the same territory for the very young as The Stuff of Stars. The writing is conversational and accessible. The illustrations are compelling. The two books read side by side would support and inform one another.  

By Floor Bal, Sebastiaan Van Doninck (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It Started with a Big Bang as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

In this accessible informational picture book, young readers can follow the fascinating story of how we got from the very beginning of the universe to life today on the “bright blue ball floating in space” called Earth. They'll learn about the big bang theory, how our solar system was formed, how life on Earth began in the oceans and moved to land, what happened to the dinosaurs and how humans evolved from apes to explore and build communities all over the planet ... and even travel to space. It's an out-of-this-world look at the beginning of everything!

Science journalist Floor…


Book cover of Marianne Dreams

Olivia Levez Author Of The Island

From my list on to survive desert islands, life, and everything.

Why am I passionate about this?

Both my books have a survival theme. Whether it’s foraging for mushrooms, wild camping, or trying to survive lockdown, I’ve always been interested in the relationship between endurance and creativity; what happens when humans are pushed to their limits. After teaching English in a secondary school for 25 years, I decided that I wanted to write a book of my own. I hid away in my caravan in West Wales, living off tomato soup and marshmallows, to write The IslandThe books on this list represent the full gamut of survival: stripping yourself raw, learning nature’s lore, healing, falling, getting back up again. Ultimately, to read is to escape into story. To read is to survive.

Olivia's book list on to survive desert islands, life, and everything

Olivia Levez Why did Olivia love this book?

A survival book list should definitely contain at least one treasure from your childhood. This one never left me and it’s a book I return to for its haunting, beautiful, disturbing depiction of Marianne, the little girl who dreams what she draws. Battling against a mysterious, unnamed illness, she escapes from the daily monotony by drawing a house, and a boy, and some sentinel stones. Slowly, this dreamworld becomes her reality. As the children struggle to break out of their house, surrounded by them, the stony watchers, the reader is dimly aware that it mirrors their fight to recover from their sickness. Lyrical, very scary, and a cliffhanger ending like no other, it is deservedly a classic.

I first read it when I was 10, the exact same age as Marianne (the story begins on her birthday), and I have reread it for the umpteenth time forty years later.…

By Catherine Storr,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'I could get in,' Marianne thought, 'if there was a person inside the house. There has got to be a person. I can't get in unless there is somebody there. 'Why isn't there someone in the house?' she cried to the empty world around her. Marianne is no child prodigy at drawing. Confined to her bed with an illness she finds a pencil in her great-grandmother's workbox, but the house she draws is as unsatisfying as always - like a shaky doll's house with grass as unlike anything growing as ever. But that night she dreams and rediscovers her drawing…


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Book cover of The Thing to Remember about Stargazing

The Thing to Remember about Stargazing by Matt Forrest Esenwine, Sonia Maria Luce Possentini (illustrator),

What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many suggestions for enjoying stargazing – but there’s really only ONE thing you need to remember,…

Book cover of Universe

Ian Ridpath Author Of Star Tales

From my list on that have inspired my writings on astronomy and space.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author, editor, lecturer, and sometime broadcaster on astronomy and space. My early interest in the possibilities of extraterrestrial life and interstellar communication led me to write my first books, Worlds Beyond (1975) and Messages from the Stars (1978). This interest also led me to investigate UFO sightings, but I soon realized that their explanation lies in human misperception and not ETs. My investigation and explanation of the famous Rendlesham Forest UFO case of December 1980, widely regarded as one of the top-ten cases worldwide and sometimes known as Britain's Roswell, can be found hereIn conjunction with the outstanding Dutch celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, I have produced two standard observing guides for amateur astronomers. 

Ian's book list on that have inspired my writings on astronomy and space

Ian Ridpath Why did Ian love this book?

I love books full of facts and figures, and for astronomers, this is one of the best. Now in its fourth edition (the first appeared in 2005), Universe (subtitled The Definitive Visual Guide) harnesses a team of expert writers with Dorling Kindersley’s designers, editors, and researchers to produce a sumptuously illustrated review of the Universe from the Earth to the Big Bang, including extensive sections on the night sky and how to view it. Dorling Kindersley’s books are natural successors to the great Reader’s Digest reference books of my childhood. If you want an encyclopedia of the Universe, this is the one to have.

By Dorling Kindersley,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Marvel at the wonders of the Universe, from stars and planets to black holes and nebulae, in this exploration of our Solar System and beyond.

Universe opens with a look at astronomy and the history of the Universe, using 3D artworks to provide a comprehensive grounding in the fundamental concepts of astronomy, including the basic techniques of practical astronomy.

The core of the book is a tour of the cosmos covering the Solar System, the Milky Way, and galaxies beyond our own. Explanatory pages introduce different celestial phenomena, such as galaxies, and are followed by catalogues that profile the most…


Book cover of The War of the Worlds
Book cover of The Darkest Dark
Book cover of The Adventures of Tintin: Destination Moon

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Interested in the Universe, outer space, and presidential biography?

The Universe 71 books
Outer Space 76 books