I’m drawn to science fiction that forces characters to confront the limits of their own understanding, especially when faced with someone labeled as an enemy. These are the stories that taught me how fragile judgment can be, and how costly it is to mistake difference for threat.

I return again and again to books where communication across cultures, species, or systems is difficult, incomplete, and often arrives too late. What fascinates me most is not conflict itself, but the moral effort required to truly see the other. These novels shaped how I think about empathy, memory, and responsibility, and they continue to influence the kinds of stories I write.

I've found the creep of authoritarianism to be very disquieting. One would have to be willfully blind not see its manifestations both here and abroad. I wanted to better understand how this phenomenon cast its shadow over the world, and I found the '33 Chicago World's Fair an ideal lens through which to view it.

I've been fascinated by world's fairs since I was a child, and the '33 Fair was the first to consciously feature the future. I'm also strangely drawn to this period – if I believed in reincarnation, it might provide answers, but I don't. The Zeitgeist just before the full, brutal ugliness of fascism broke over the world fascinates me.

As a mystery writer and reader, I try to understand why some books feel bland or dull even when the characters are investigating a murder with high stakes. Writing style is a part of that and encompasses techniques such as good pacing. Yet I think it really comes down to the characters.

In all these series, I enjoy spending time with the characters in their worlds. They are people I would like to know in real life, so they have become book friends. That makes it possible to enjoy the mysteries on a reread, even if I know what’s going to happen.

I am captivated and never cease to be astonished by the seemingly endless variety of ways in which coevolution shapes the millions of species on earth into intricate and ever-changing webs of life.

The reasons for my fascination are simple. Most species require other species to survive or reproduce, which means that the evolution of biodiversity is as much about evolution of the links among species as it is about evolution of the species themselves. I find immense joy in following the connections among species within the web of life, trying to understand how coevolution has shaped, and relentlessly reshapes, each link. There are always surprises along the way.

I lived vicariously through Nancy Drew when I was young. I was naturally observant and curious, and my mom was known to tail a car through our neighborhood if she thought the driver looked suspicious. So, it’s not surprising that I developed a love for all things thrilling.

While working in the oil and gas industry for 15 years, I spent some time on a foreign deal that inspired my first novel. I worked with people seeking power; negotiations bordered on nefarious; the workplace became toxic. If you ever ponder the moral implications behind the pursuit of power, you’ll enjoy the books on this list!

I’ve studied space for 60+ years, including spotting Sputnik from atop 30 Rock for Operation Moonwatch; monitoring an exploding star for a PhD at University of Michigan, leading the Remotely Controlled Telescope project at Kitt Peak National Observatory, hunting pulsars from Arizona and Chile, and helping develop scientific instruments for the Hubble Space Telescope. I worked for 5 years at Kitt Peak and 35 years for NASA. 

As Press Officer (now retired) of the American Astronomical Society, I organized press conferences on many notable cosmic discoveries. Minor Planet 9768 was named Stephenmaran for me, but I haven’t seen it yet. What I have spotted are five exceptional books on space.  Enjoy!

I grew up in a family that avoided expressing any emotion. A happy house was one where anger and frustration were unheard of. Even laughter was suspect. Books allowed me to experience joy and sorrow. Books allowed me to express my feelings, even though it was behind my closed bedroom door, clutching a handful of sodden tissues, exhausted from the novelty of letting my emotions out.

These books are not the books of my childhood. Instead, they are the books of the grown-up me who no longer has to hide behind her bedroom door. I think you will love them just as much as I do.

I fell in love with Greece 50 years ago, when I had the good fortune of spending a summer on my father’s native island of Ikaria. I bagged my first writing job four years later when I wrote a guide to all the Greek islands. As a travel writer I tend to fall in love with all the places I write about! But Greece is where I feel most at home, and it has inspired some truly memorable travel books. I hope you like some of my all-time favorites.

I have spent over a decade studying and teaching digital media, communication, and technology policy, while also working in journalism and media production. My passion for this topic comes from watching how technology quietly reshapes everyday life, from how people form relationships to how societies govern themselves. I am fascinated by the space where media, culture, and human behavior intersect, especially when change feels invisible but profound.

Writing and reading about AI helps me make sense of these transformations, and I care deeply about helping people remain thoughtful, ethical, and human in an increasingly algorithmic world.

When I’m writing, my brain’s ability to jump instantly to the worst-case scenario is a huge plus. But in life, that’s just called “anxiety,” something I’ve always struggled with. Works of fiction that do what my brain does naturally — assume the worst — and still find some hope, humor, or redemption there have always been weirdly reassuring to me. And what’s more “worst-case scenario” than post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction?

Here are five books where, in the wake of disaster or the grip of tyranny, people still manage to have dreams, dignity, or even just a laugh.