Sapiens takes the "far view" of analyzing the human species as if it where any other species. How did humans come to dominate? What about the other similar species (like Neanderthals) that previously existed. While it was politically correct to say that humans all came from the same genetic stock, it also appears that there was mixing with "related species" in different regions, giving some ethnicities small amounts of unique genes. However, modern humans managed to wipe these groups out as well as pretty much any new megafauna they encountered. The few that did survive were most often domesticated.
Humans were built to be hunter gatherers. However, they stumbled upon agriculture. At first cultivation seemed to help make lives easier. However, it soon led to all sorts of problems. New ailments appeared. Greater surpluses led to larger populations, which required greater cultivation. More people were living together, thus requiring people to get along. Religion and other common beliefs were a tool to help groups live together. (though it appears that some religious practices may have started before agricultural.)
Religion is typically a common set of beliefs that helps tie a society together. Many institutions that we don't consider religions (such as Soviet communism) also server this purpose. People need a shared underlying belief set in order to regulate their society. Today "western liberalism" and "money" are two overriding principals that help tie the world together. (As much as many anti-western groups would hate to admit it, they are framing their "rebellion" in the western beliefs.) Most people in history have lived in large Empires. These often tolerate local customs, yet have some sort of overarching common belief.
The actual context of the common belief is not nearly as important as the simple fact that it is shared. Some societies held that people were born different and different groups had different rights. Today, we tend to believe that all are equal. Both are just "beliefs". Neither is biologically right or wrong, they are just beliefs. It is also impossible to "regulate" things as "unnatural". Things can "happen" or they can't. People can't run at the speed of light. It is just not biologically possible. Something such as homosexual behavior can be done. Societies may condone it or support it based on their common belief set.
The rise of society is a great advantage for the human society, but not necessarily for individual humans. Similarly, the domestication of animals has allowed animals such as cows to spread their genetic material, yet individual cows live a fairly miserable existing. Wheat was able to have its genetic material spread across the world through agriculture. Even things such as "arms races" have an ability to propagate themselves without benefitting the individual countries.
The book moved on to discuss economy. The idea of "credit" is predicated on the expectation that life will be better in the future. Economy helps for "advancement" of society. However, happiness has remained relatively constant. Even with many material innovations, the only real way we have improved happiness is through drugs like prozac. The idea that we cannot alter our happiness by material things is present in buddhism teach about the futility of seeking happiness. However, this has been twisted to be a quest for "inner happiness" in today's world. The state and the economy have taken over the family as a source for support for society. While family members would previously care for their aged, now the government provides pensions. We also have various identity groups (such as country, language, sexual orientation, fans of a music group) We feel a bond to those in "our group", even if we have never met them.
Today humans have moved beyond "evolution" to "intelligent design". Plant and animal breeders have helped nudge species to more quickly evolve to have more desired traits. Now scientists have even greater abilities to genetically engineer living beings to have certain characteristics that they may have never had naturally.
This may be one of the greatest dangers. We may talk about fears of resource depletion. However, mankind has had the ability to adapt to use different resources. It is the unknown that may be more of a challenge. Science fiction predicted vast space travel networks, but missed the internet. The future where scientists can manipulate people could pose some of the biggest challenges. What if our ability to manipulate humans exceeds our ability to control what we have done? Will mankind cause irreparable damage or even wipe man off the face of the earth?
A boy is the illegitimate son of roaylty. He has a close bond with animals (this is some magical talent, but it is bad.) He also likes to hang out with the street urchins. This got him in trouble. Then he goes to some sort of training thing and the book goes on for a long while before it ends. There is a special skill that he is not supposed to learn, but he is learning. The story is set in some kingdom that is a unification of other lands. They have politics and different mechinations. Did I mention the book was long?
Sorcery of Thorns is a fantasy novel that deals primarily with libraries. These libraries, hwoever, are connected to a magical world. Other people in the world have their own personal other-worldly servants. However, they may need to give a portion of their lives to gain their services. The protaganist is a youn girl that grew up from her infancy among the books. This would turn out to give her special abilities. She would gradually find these as she is framed for a crime that ends up being the first step of an attempted bit of world dominion. She meets up with a boy, they fall in love and save the world. It follows the pretty basic teen fantasy novel structure. However, the role of books in the magic makes it a little different.
In the third Renegades book, everything goes crazy. Nightmare's secret identity is found out. Then through subterfuge it is not. Then it is found out again. Allies keep shifting. The consequences keep getting bigger. Characters that seemed fairly balanced suddenly get really bad - and then they are killed. At all reaches a grand climax where all superpower disappear only to reappear dispersed through society. We also find out about a number of different relationships. People are their own worst enemies. People that were thought dead are actually not and are living right under each other's eyes. There is a tight interrelated connection between various characters.
The second book in the Renegades series sees the main characters get closer together while their alter-egos get further apart. When they are on "official" superhero control, they have a budding romance that ramps up. However, they also both have "secret identities" that are intent on revenge. The romance dials up in the second book as does the conflict. There are new superpowers that show up, including one that lets people "see the good" in things. It seems a little far fetched that nobody would get a clue. (But, hey, what do you expect from a superhero book?) The end of this books dials up the drama and makes the third book a necessity.
Renegades is set in a post-apocalyptic world where many "prodigies" have super powers. Some are born with the powers, while others get them later. The world had previously fallen apart during the time of anarchy. The "renegades" used their super powers to bring order to society. Now they are the celebrated law enforces. Anarchists are the "bad guys" in society. There are regular "renegade" tries for new people to join the ranks of the renegades.
The second Infinity Blade book continues where the first one left off. The hero is trying to find the easy life. However, he discovers that like the bad guy, he is constantly resurrected. How do they defeat each other? Well, there is a way. This book also drifts into the modern day. They invent some sort of teleportation capability. However, they realize that there are severe capabilities for badness with this. In the end it ends up being part of the solution to the big battle. The blade gives power, but also takes it from the holder and others. Peace can only be found by relinquishing it.
Infinity Blade: Awakening was based on a video game and it shows. Bad guys can resurrect to fight again. The hero can defeat the seemingly undefeatable bad guys. The back stories make for interesting fluf to keep the battles interesting.
Wayfinders started out as a series of lectures in Canada. The book explores bits of "wisdom" of ancient cultures. Polynesians could navigate across vast oceans long before the Europeans could. They used many different pieces of information to piece together the complete mental "map" of where they had been in order to find where they are going. There are other cultures that treat the land as an integral part of life. Other cultures had various rituals and customs that helped unite them as people as well as sustain the life in the world. Our view of many of these ancient cultures is often quite incomplete. We see the society after they have spent time in contact with western culture. This has caused them to adapt their ways. 
Despite the title, the Math Myth is actually pro math. However, it enunciates many concerns with the way that math is taught and used as a "weed out". Most students are required to take standard math classes. These classes are often taught by adjunct professors, because the full professor do not want to teach them. This leaves most students exposed to mediocre math instruction and has also led to a decline in those studying math. The courses have also "weeded out" many students who would otherwise be able to complete degrees.
Heart of Darkness is a short novel about the ivory trade. It reflects many of the sensibilities of the the past days, with natives seen by the whites as "cannibals" and other racial terms that would not be acceptable today. It can, however, be read in various ways, including a condemning of the view of European superiority. It is a tough, dark novella to get through.
Precision engineering is critically important for our modern world, yet usually taken for granted. However, it has become an integral part of our society. In this book, Simon Winchester traces how things have become more and more precise. Then he takes a step back and looks at the benefits of the non-precise. (Japan provides a good case of a culture that celebrates both the ultra-precise and the non-precise.) When there is a big disaster, such as a tsunami, the "precisely engineered" often fail, while the giant trees and other things that have redundancy survive.
More is not necesarily better. Julian Comstock was an expansion of a previously written short story. It seems to blather on a lot, with perhaps too much early 21st century moved directly extrapolated to the 22nd century. The world ran into difficulties with climate change and oil. The United States has merged with some of Canada and is now in a battle with the "Dutch" over some of remaining parts. People have retreated to a more fundamentalist lifestyle, with a "dominion" forcing a religious orthodoxy. The heroes bump against the grain. They experience some of the forbidden arts and literature. They even produce a musical about Charles Darwin. One of them, Julian Comstock even managed to become leader. However, his leadership is short live as he dies of the "pox". There are are also forced enlistments in the military as well as "beauty" vaccinations. (Vaccines are trendy, and people get them without a strong medical need or even safety.) In the end, the characters escape to France where they no longer have to live in controlling American state. The internal "author" has a degree of naivety about him. He is from a small town and is shocked to see a typewriter. He chases after a singer, and eventually hooks of with her - after helping to battle her brothers. There are some interesting bits, but just not enough to make it a compelling book.
Humankind presents the "optimistic" view of humanity. We are not all greedy cutthroats out to get personal gain at everybody else's expense. Instead, we tend to work together to benefit mankind. The author appeared to initially side with the "greedy" hypothesis until he dug deeper into some of the big cases.
The Cult of Smart was written by an avowed Marxist, yet espouses many views that would be more commonly found in Libertarian circles. The author identifies the "blank slate" philosophy as one of the core problems with education. We assume that all students have the same ability and that a good education system can enable anyone to learn. Our fear of segregation and racism has caused us to disregard individual variation. This would be similar to saying that a good basketball coach could turn anyone into an NBA star. There may be cases where pure determination causes somebody to succeed. However, this determination is likely to also be a genetically-connected trait. People differ in their genetic abilities. Some can easily succeed at school. Some cannot. 
Henry Every was a British pirate who inadvertently helped the British empire come to be. Enemy of all Mankind attempts to document his life and history and the unsuccessful worldwide manhunt for him. The actual facts are rather sparse (and wound up with a lot of fiction.) The book at times seems to try to spin elaborate detail over minute facts. However, it does provide an interesting narrative of the pirate.
Sometimes the simplest way to get a bad behavior to stop is to simply ignore it. Children will often seek the "reward" of attention by misbehaving. They also realize that the behavior can help them gain other rewards in the process (such as a toy a sweet or some other desired object or activity.) Ignore it advocates a simple strategy: Ignore, Listen, Re-engage, Repair. 
Wendell Berry provides insight into issues facing America from the perspective of an intellectual that is deeply connected to the land. The land is not something that is to be left in a "pristine" state to be admired. It is part of a larger ecosystem in which we live. Man must work with the land to provide sustenance. Sustainability is important on a global scale. 
The Color of Law argues that racism was entrenched in US law, not just the result of natural separation of people. The argument starts out very strongly, but fades to less-supported arguments. It also does little to account for what role personal decisions did play. There seems to be an underlying assumption that black people would prefer to live in an integrated neighborhood if given a chance. However, how much is that true? There does seem to be a desire for homogeneity that needs to be accounted for also.
The strongest argument relates to the government backed mortgages. The government would only guarantee mortgages if the home was in an all white neighborhood. These restrictions ended up locking Blacks out of housing opportunities. When they could find housing, the rates were often more expensive. This became even worse with the post-war housing boom. The government would allow builders to take the backing for a the entire development if they would meet the criteria. The only way the home builder could build up the subdivision was if it prohibited blacks. The rationale for prohibiting non-whites was circular. If non-whites were allowed, the property values would go down. However, these would go down because they could not get cheaper mortgages. (In reality they would often go up because there was now more competition.) 
Riches of This Land purports to tell the "true story" of the fall of the middle class. When the book debunks commonly held notion, it does a great job. However, when it is somewhat lacking when it purports to propose the "true explanations". The book observes that opportunities for non-college educated white men has fallen. They have taken to Trump's attacks on "others" - women, minorities, foreigners, etc. However, the author argues that the growth in job opportunities for women and minorities has helped lead to some of the greatest job booms and increase in pay for White Men. For this, he primarily relies on a single study. The explanation is that many people were not utilizing their skills to the greatest means possible. They were "held back" by their race or gender. When these barriers were removed, they were able to move into positions that they were better able to perform, and everyone did better. Alas, could it also be that there was such a demand for jobs that employers were forced to add more employees? And could be be ending up in sub-optimal positions due to pay. Plenty of people are working high paying jobs because they are high paying, even though their passion and skill may lie in other areas. Does this help society? Also, could gains due to new labor force participation be sustained? When women enter the labor force, some of their previous "homemaking" responsibilities move into the "economy", opening up new jobs. Once there is a general saturation that growth will no longer be there. 
The "three minute" elavator speech is a key to getting your foot in the door. It is meant to pique interest, not close the deal. For it to work, it most be authentic without being an information dump. It also must have an appropriate call to action. It should be ready for expected occassions (like networking events) as well as for spontaneous encounters. While it is obviously valuable for salesmen, everybody else can benefit from "selling themselves." Even introverted engineers need to do so.
The humans go out on a train ride to "civilization". Alas, they are really just going to be food for the vampire leader. Only a few survive. However, a few of these humans are the "origin" that have the cure for vampirism in their blood. They are extracted by the leader's advisor who is a human in disquise. He wants them to be a source of weapons to fight vampires. They are don't want to. However, the leader changes all that. He wants them to kill a vampire who knows about the human colony. This girl just happens to be "Ashley June" - the girl he knew that had recently turned into a vampire.
They go through a bunch of adventures, have some narrow escapes, and turn help cause a large amount of human and vampire death. He solves his "love triangle". They then find out the truth about "duskers" and "heapers" and go to start their own new world. The end is an interesting twist. They also feel "morally obligated" to go through extensive effort to save many people. However, this all backfires, with everyone they try to save dying. However, the experiences do become useful as they create a world of their own.
Prey is the second book int he Hunt trilogy. Vampires dominate the world. A few humans escape the vampire world, and set sail to freedom. They eventually find some instructions and find other humans. (It turns out they are part of a "plan" with multiple redundancies.) The humans have their own little society. They say they are guarding the frontier. However, it seems they are operating their own little sex cult. It turns out there is no "outer world", but they are just breading humans for the vampires to eat. Alas, vampires catch on and chase them down. We also get a little love traingle between a human that has turned into a vampire and a couple humans. The humans also just happen to be part of the "cure" for vampirism. However, they don't find out how until the very end. The book is an interesting twist on the vampire storyline. However, the narration on the audiobook doesn't quite seem to do the story justice.
Geek Sublime starts with great potential. The author details his experience at the intersection of the literary and computer world. Writing computer code can be similar to writing literary works. There are good writers and bad writers. Early on, coding was a "female" profession. It was considered to be similar to typing up a memo that was dictated by the male boss. The algorithm created by the "guy" was important. Coding it into the computer was simple. However, it soon became clear that coding computers is a skill and an art form of its own write. There is also a great thrill in getting a computer to do things. 
If you look hard enough you can find anything you want. In food of the gods, the author finds hallucinogenic mushrooms are the key point to the evolution of men. Hallucinogens are also a key component of a female-based partnership society. (Thus they are condemned by domineering, male-based society.) He sees the drugs as an important step that helped humans to progress from being "mere apes" to the higher intelligence they have today. Some cultures in the Amazon are able to hold on this "shaman" culture. He is enamored with the drug induced states and would love for society to have a greater respect for plants and psychoactive states they can provide.