最近我读了几本很棒的书。我在这个书单里推荐五本给你在这个夏天阅读。当我完成这个书单后，我意识到我选择的几本书都在努力回答很大的问题：天才的内在动力是什么？为什么在好人身上会发生糟糕的事？人类从哪里来，以及要到哪里去？
尽管主题有些沉重，所有这些书读起来还是很有意思的，而且其中大部分的篇幅都不长。即便是最长的一本（《莱奥纳多·达·芬奇》）也能很快读完。如果你正在为接下来几个月找书读的话，选下面这些不会有错：
《莱奥纳多·达·芬奇》（Leonardo
da Vinci，中文名暂译）
作者：沃尔特·艾萨克森（Walter
Isaacson）
我想达·芬奇应该是史上最令人着迷的人物之一。虽然他是以画家的身份被现在大多数人所熟知，然而从人体解剖学再到戏剧，达·芬奇的兴趣广泛得令人发指。艾萨克森用我所见过最高超的方式，描绘了达芬奇生活的不同侧面，并且解释了是什么使他如此与众不同。艾萨克森另外两本关于爱因斯坦和乔布斯的伟大传记作品同样值得一读。
《“事出皆有因”及其他一些我喜爱过的谎言》（Everything
Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved，中文名暂译）
作者：凯特·鲍勒（Kate Bowler）
当杜克神学院教授鲍勒被诊断出四期结肠癌时，她开始试图理解这为什么会发生。是对她品格的考验吗？结果是诞生了这本令人悲伤却又出奇有趣的关于信仰的回忆录，它也会使你开始认真对待自己的生死问题。
《林肯在中阴界》（Lincoln in the Bardo，中文名暂译）
作者：乔治·桑德斯（George Saunders）
我以为我知道关于亚伯拉罕·林肯的所有我应该知道的信息，但这本小说让我重新思考他生命中的一些篇章。这本书混合了美国内战的历史事实和想象元素，基本上是166个鬼魂之间的一段漫长对话，其中包括林肯已故儿子的鬼魂。对于林肯必须经受痛苦和责任双重力量碾压这一点，我有了新的认识。有些书内容迷人、意义模糊，使你在读完后很想与朋友讨论讨论，这本书就属于其中之一。
《起源故事：关于大历史的一切》（Origin Story: A Big History of Everything，中文名暂译）
作者：大卫·克里斯蒂安（David Christian）
大卫开创了史上我最喜欢的课程：大历史。它讲述了宇宙的故事，从起初的大爆炸到今天复杂的社会，将多种学科中的观点和证据编织在一个单独的叙事框架下。如果你还没上过大历史这门课，《起源故事》是一个很好的入门。如果你已经上过，这是个很好的复习。不论你属于哪一类，这本书都将带给你关于人类在宇宙中位置的更深刻的认识。
《真相》（Factfulness，中文名暂译）
作者：汉斯·罗斯林，奥拉·罗斯林及安娜·罗斯林·于伦（Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and
Anna Rosling Ronnlund）
从这本书第一天问世开始我就在推荐它了。汉斯去年离开了我们，他生前是一位才华出众的全球健康讲师，教给你通过一种突破性的方式来理解关于世界的基本真相：人们的生活在如何变好，以及世界在哪些方面仍旧需要改进。他还在书中穿插了生活中难忘的趣闻轶事。这是一位聪明人恰如其分的最后留言，也是我迄今读过的最好的书之一。
5
books worth reading this summer
I’ve read some terrific books lately. When I pulled together this
list of five that you might enjoy this summer, I realized that several of my
choices wrestle with big questions. What makes a genius tick? Why do bad things
happen to good people? Where does humanity come from, and where are we
headed?
Despite the heavy subject matter, all these books were fun to
read, and most of them are pretty short. Even the longest (Leonardo)
goes quickly. If you’re looking for something to read over the next few months,
you can’t go wrong with:
Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter
Isaacson. I think Leonardo was one of the most fascinating people ever.
Although today he’s best known as a painter, Leonardo had an absurdly wide
range of interests, from human anatomy to the theater. Isaacson does the best
job I’ve seen of pulling together the different strands of Leonardo’s life and
explaining what made him so exceptional. A worthy follow-up to Isaacson’s great
biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.
Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved,
by Kate Bowler. When Bowler, a professor at the Duke Divinity School, is
diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, she sets out to understand why it
happened. Is it a test of her character? The result is a heartbreaking,
surprisingly funny memoir about faith and coming to grips with your own
mortality.
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George
Saunders. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Abraham Lincoln,
but this novel made me rethink parts of his life. It blends historical facts
from the Civil War with fantastical elements—it’s basically a long conversation
among 166 ghosts, including Lincoln’s deceased son. I got new insight into the
way Lincoln must have been crushed by the weight of both grief and
responsibility. This is one of those fascinating, ambiguous books you’ll want
to discuss with a friend when you’re done.
Origin Story: A Big History of Everything,
by David Christian. David created my favorite course of all time, Big History.
It tells the story of the universe from the big bang to today’s complex
societies, weaving together insights and evidence from various disciplines into
a single narrative. If you haven’t taken Big History yet, Origin Story is a
great introduction. If you have, it’s a great refresher. Either way, the book
will leave you with a greater appreciation of humanity’s place in the universe.
Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, with Ola
Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund. I’ve been recommending this book since the
day it came out. Hans, the brilliant global-health lecturer who died last year,
gives you a breakthrough way of understanding basic truths about the world—how
life is getting better, and where the world still needs to improve. And he
weaves in unforgettable anecdotes from his life. It’s a fitting final word from
a brilliant man, and one of the best books I’ve ever read.
