Fans pick 63 books like The Smallest Lights in the Universe

OK, maybe it’s funny to recommend a book that sold in the millions. But this, and the TV series that went along with it, remains the best explanation of the evolution of astronomy and, especially, the social context for that evolution. Carl Sagan is by far the best science popularizer of the past century.

The subtitle of this book says it all. As a planetary scientist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Yeomans’ job was to plot the courses of known and newly-discovered NEOs – that is, asteroids and comets that in space terms come close to Earth’s orbit – and determine if and when they might be on a collision course with our planet. With more than 25,000 known NEOs orbiting around up there, it’s not an easy task. But Yeomans makes the crucial point: it’s not the space rocks we know about that pose the biggest threat, but rather the thousands and thousands of large near-Earth asteroids we don’t know about that are the greatest danger. It’s not like the movie Armageddon; it would take years to develop a space mission to deflect or destroy an incoming asteroid, so it’s crucial that we find and track them – as Yeomans says, before… show more.

The search for life outside the Earth is NASA’s greatest quest, and this book will bring you up to speed on it. Just a few decades ago, scientists thought life arose on the Earth in shallow seas, warmed by the early sun and zapped by energy-producing lightning. The best place to look for alien life was on Mars, where bacterial life may have formed in the shallow pools that covered the young Mars, and then hunkered down in subsurface spots of Martian water and ice as these pools evaporated. Scientists now suspect life arose in warm vents deep in the Earth’s ocean. Subsurface oceans in the moons of the outer Solar System may contain similar vents that serve as breeding grounds for primitive life. Kevin Hand describes NASA’s current missions and instruments to find this life in alien oceans.

Imagine for a moment that we found life on Mars.

That discovery would shake our world, change our outlook on the universe, and answer the question of whether we’re alone.

Sarah Stewart Johnson, a planetary scientist, has spent her life thinking about this possibility and delves into both her and our obsession with the Red Planet in this beautifully written book. Part memoir, part historical account, and part scientific exploration, this book made me want to ditch a career in journalism and take up astrobiology. You’ll never look at Mars the same way again. 

Now you know about the history and the politics, how about a post-colonial romance that turns out to be a solvent of East-West dichotomy? Aboulela’s re-writing of Jane Eyre as a love match between Scottish academic Rae and his Sudanese translator Sammar carries the reader away from orientalism to a happy union catalyzed by the westerner male’s translation into a Muslim.  

I loved the portrait of late 14th-century feudal England in this story of a master illuminator and his forbidden English translation of the Bible.

There are not many books set in this period, and it really immersed me in the time. Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor is a character that is both strong and vulnerable, and I was really rooting for her and for her relationship with Finn, the craftsman, to work out. The monastic life is excellently described, as is the craft of illumination.

This is a book that stayed with me for a long time with its rich portrayal of the past.

The popular Netflix film The Dig was based on this book, one of the few works of historical fiction that deal with ancient mounds. It tells the story of the 1930-era excavation of a Celtic Burial Mound. Not all mounds were burials, however. Some were ceremonial and their purpose remains largely unknown. The book gives a good sense of what archaeology was like a hundred years ago, both the practice and the politics behind what yielded the largest buried treasure in Britain's history.

This book is an amalgam of different experiences. DuBoi Blanch, from an elite upbringing, comes to stay with his sister Stella, who criticizes him as “sub-human” and “coarse.” The book exposes distinct cultures, attitudes, and conflicts, displaying aristocratic and ordinary lifestyles. 

I love the book because it delves deeply into emotional conspiracies, introducing desire, which is the most conspicuous and established component of emotion and has been presented both physically and mentally. Suspense is hanging in the air as we see the initial sexual assault being perpetrated by Blanche’s brother-in-law. 

The story's conclusion serves to underscore the theme that unchecked desire can lead to downfall or suffering, highlighting the inherent risks and moral dilemmas associated with pursuing one's ambitions without considering the broader implications. It provides a moral lesson or insight into the human condition, showing how the choices driven by desire can shape the course of our lives and… show more.

I give Dee Henderson credit for starting me on the path to writing inspirational military romance.

Her crisp, professional voice carries throughout the story and reflects the professionalism of the warriors she describes, especially US Navy SEALs. Readers can’t help but be filled with respect for these professionals. 

The first chapter of this book acquaints the reader with a Navy SEAL widow trying to save the life of the surfer and hoping she will survive the ordeal, in order to deepen her relationship with another Navy SEAL. I adore the “second chance romance” theme.

I also appreciate Dee Henderson’s light yet profound touch when it comes to spirituality and how faith influences the actions of her characters. If not for his book, I don’t know if I would have ever turned my pen toward writing military Christian romance. Thank you, Dee!

After a lifetime of dutiful marriage, the newly widowed Lady Slane shocks her family by striking out on her own, moving from London to a suburban cottage where she will live alone and please herself (for once!). Her decision rumbles through her grown children’s lives and inspires one of her great-granddaughters to pursue an independent life herself.

I love that this book focuses on an older woman (Lady Slane is 88 years old), proving that it’s never too late to live life on your own terms. And in Deborah, her great-granddaughter, we get a glimpse of the new sort of woman who was really making her presence felt in this period: young women exploring their independence and living very different lives from their parents and grandparents.