"After the Storm" by National Geographic

"After the Storm" by National Geographic is a 1991 edition that features Iraq-Kuwait war and the explosion of many gas wells and the environmental harm that it did. It was an extremely emotional read where many people as well as animals perished. 

This edition also had an article about nuclear reactors and nuclear waste which was amazing and informative read and I also loved the article about the communist Cuba. Reading a 1991 magazine was an amazing and nostalgic experience.

"Against Empathy" by Paul Bloom

"Against Empathy" by Paul Bloom is a book on empathy. The author is not really against empathy but he's trying to understand (or explain to us) what does the definition of empathy mean and look at the advantages and disadvantages of empathy (giving to someone equals not giving to someone else, fighting someone means empathizing with someone else). 

The author is encouraging us to critically look at the empathy. He nudges us to discover our own biases and view critically ourselves when we try to empathize. 

The book is written in a style of a classic psychological-sociological work (similar to the ones you get to read in college). It is lengthy and philosophical. What did I learn from this book? 

I learned that psychologists can literally take one emotion, name it and write the whole book on it and I admire them for that. Did I "agree" with everything written? No. There were some things said that I didn't agree with (not at all related to empathy by the way), but it was an interesting experience.

"The Martian" by Andy Weir

"The Martian" by Andy Weir is a sci-fi novel that's about how one of the six astronauts were left on Mars. Watney is a mechanical engineer and a botanist and he has to find a way to survive on Mars alone. So the whole book is about how things go wrong and how he fixes them. 

The novel is written in an easy to read way and it's full of humor and action. I loved reading it because I've never read any sci-fi before. Some scientific and technical procedures and terms were unfamiliar to me, however I think I definitely learned something new.

I did love this book also because it had a very well developed story line with clear beginning and ending and it gave me a sense of satisfaction. The only negatives were the fact that the book was quite predictable in a way that all the problems got solved and I knew that everything will end just fine.