100 books like Vast Expanses

It would have been impossible to write my book without Jeff Boslter’s The Mortal Sea.

With evocative prose and argumentative verve, Bolster’s book relates the deep, centuries-long history of overfishing while probing the depths of the interdependent relationship between humanity and the ocean. The Mortal Sea is one of the finest exemplars of environmental history by bringing together the narrative skill and argumentation of the historian with the insights of the ecologist and marine biologist.

Bolster reminds us that some of the most important connections existed not just across the sea, but with it.  

Why do we overfish? A question simply stated but complex to answer is the central focus of much of Carmel Finley’s writing.

Finley, a journalist turned historian, points to the geopolitical imperatives of the Cold War to understand why, during the middle decades of the twentieth century, fishing emerged as a global industry with technologically sophisticated fishing vessels ranging across the world’s oceans.

While they ostensibly sought fish, these vessels expanded state power. They were built and operated by lavish subsidies from governments seeking to exert greater and greater control over the seas.

From the United States, to Japan, Iceland, the Soviet Union, and Samoa, Finley’s work spans the globe to explain the industrialization and modernization of fishing.

Overfishing may seem like a modern problem. The imperiled oceanic ecosystem inhabited by populations of marine species teetering on the edge of extinction may sound like a relic of recent industrialization, but Callum Roberts shows the story is much older.

According to Roberts the overfishing crisis of today has its origins nearly a millennia ago. Roberts, a marine ecologist by training, takes readers through what historically has been a repeated cycle of discovery, intensive exploitation, declining catches, and ultimately stock collapse that has devastated fisheries around the globe.

But Roberts does not merely give voice to a story of gloom and doom; instead he appeals to readers that more careful stewardship and the ocean’s own regenerative ability may turn the tide back. 

I was particularly attracted to this book because it was one of the first works to provide a timely reminder of the fragility and centrality of the ocean and the life that abounds within it.

This enduring work, published over six decades ago, makes an important case for the primacy of the ocean. I was first exposed to this book at a relatively young age, and its profound influence shaped my future endeavors in ocean science.

This book is another classic of marine biology. It focuses on the shore as a place of wonder, excitement, and beauty.

It describes the behaviors and habitats of the animals in the rocky shores and tide pools of the Pacific Coast of the US. The animals are discussed in relation to their habitat, be it rocky shore, sandy beach, wharf piling, or mud flat.

The detailed and fascinating lives of these creatures are described in relation to their physiology, life history, interrelationships in their community, and the influences of waves and shifting tides.

We’ve always had a soft spot for a broken bad boy and this book creates an amazing example of that in Dean. A former marine who grew up in a foster home, he’s completely unaware of the secret crush his best friend’s younger sister, Holly has harbored on him for years. When circumstances allow them to explore that crush, things go from secret to oh-so hot and we were so on board for it. We loved watching Dean finally start to feel like someone saw and understood him and even when tragedy strikes, Holly never gives up on him. The final scenes were freaking adorable…there’s nothing better than a bad boy who is all in with his girl!

This book has all the ingredients for an engaging story. I loved the way Mannersly sets the stage, with Dylan, the slightly older supervisor, who’s obviously smitten with the lovely Kyra and the boss’s spoiled son, Max, who seems to have caught her eye as well. 

Using the marine science center in Australia as the setting works perfectly. Identifying and stopping poachers from stealing turtle eggs from their nests puts a nice twist on the usual crime-related stories. Mannersly does a wonderful job of creating realistic and believable characters. Great dialogue and descriptive passages tie this story together.

“Her Deepness” Sylvia Earle is an authority on ocean explorations, so this is another must-read for all ocean lovers. Sea Change recounts Earle’s decades dedicated to the discovery of the sea. With contagious enthusiasm and vivid prose, this internationally renowned author and scientist narrates her many underwater adventures while urging readers to respect the oceans and their creatures.

Once again, there's a poetic quality in this discussion of the shore and the life within it.

The author talks about the lives of the creatures that live in the empty shells we find and the kinds of creatures found on rocky shores, sandy beaches, and coral reefs. Along the Maine coast are the surf zone and tide pools, where barnacles, limpets, and periwinkles live along rocky shores. On sandy beaches, we explore the holes and tracks of crabs and the burrows of clams and whelks that come out at low tide.

She discusses geologic history in the reefs off the Carolina coast and the sponges, starfish, barnacles, and shipworm tunnels in driftwood. In the Keys is the coral coast—with a vast variety of life. In this area are also mangrove swamps, making "the edge of the sea" a fascinating place. 

Dr. Callum Roberts is a British marine biologist who has worked primarily in marine conservation. Like many British coral reef scientists, he got his start in the Red Sea rather than the Caribbean or the Pacific. The cultures of the middle east can make reef research there just a little bit different than elsewhere. This book is his memoir of a wonderful life exploring coral reefs that began, surprisingly, in the wilds of Scotland and took shape once he began his undergraduate studies in 1980. By then our impacts on coral reefs were becoming quite stark and this book does not shrink from the bad news. But it also captures his sheer joy in exploring coral reefs, his good humor and creativity as he grows from young student to research leader, and his concern to do what he can to keep coral reefs with us.