Gut - Giulia Enders

The key to living a happier, healthier life is inside us. Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain or our heart, yet we know very little about how it works. In Gut, Giulia Enders shows that rather than the utilitarian and let s be honest somewhat embarrassing body part we imagine it to be, it is one of the most complex, important, and even miraculous parts of our anatomy. And scientists are only just discovering quite how much it has to offer; new research shows that gut bacteria can play a role in everything from obesity and allergies to Alzheimer s. Beginning with the personal experience of illness that inspired her research, and going on to explain everything from the basics of nutrient absorption to the latest science linking bowel bacteria with depression, Enders has written an entertaining, informative health handbook. Gut definitely shows that we can all benefit from getting to know the wondrous world of our inner workings. In this charming book, young scientist Giulia Enders takes us on a fascinating tour of our insides. Her message is simple if we treat our gut well, it will treat us well in return. But how do we do that? And why do we need to? Find out in this surprising, and surprisingly funny, exploration of the least understood of our organs.

Divergent - Veronica Roth

In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity and Erudite. Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself.

During the initiation that follows, Tris and her fellow initiates undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them, Tris must determine who her friends really are – and whether she can trust the man who both threatens and protects her.

The Martian - Andy Weir

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. 
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. 
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. 
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. 
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

ZeroZeroZero - Roberto Saviano

In many countries, 000 flour is the finest on the market. It is hard to find, but it is soft, light, almost impalpable like the purest, highest qualitygrade of cocaine. ZeroZeroZero is also the title of RobertoSaviano s unforgettable, internationally bestsellingexploration of the inner workings of the globalcocaine trade its rules and armies, and the truedepth of its reach into the world economy and, byextension, its grasp on us all. 
Gomorrah, Saviano s explosive account of theNeapolitan mob, the Camorra, was a worldwidepublishing sensation. It struck such a nerve withthe Camorra that Saviano has had to live undertwenty-four-hour police protection for morethan eight years. During this time he has cometo know law enforcement agencies and officialsaround the world. With their cooperation, Savianohas broadened his perspective to take in the entireglobal corporate entity that is the drug trade andthe complex money-laundering operations thatallow it to function, often with the complicity ofthe world s biggest banks. 
The result is a truly harrowing andgroundbreaking synthesis of intimate literarynarrative and geopolitical analysis of one of themost powerful dark forces in our economy.Saviano tracks the shift in the cocaine trade s axis ofpower, from Colombia to Mexico, and relates howthe Latin American cartels and gangs have forgedalliances, first with the Italian crime syndicates, then with the Russians, Africans, and others. Onthe one hand, he charts a remarkable increase insophistication as these criminal entities diversifyinto many other products and markets. On theother, he reveals the astonishing increase in theseverity of violence as they have fought to protectand extend their power.

Saviano is a writer and journalist of rarecourage and a thinker of impressive intellectualdepth, able to see the connections between farflungphenomena and bind them into a singleepic story. Most drug-war narratives feel safelyremoved from our own lives; Saviano's offersno such comfort. As heart racing as it is heady, ZeroZeroZero is a fusion of disparate genres intoa brilliant new form that can rightly be calledSavianoesque.

13 things that don't make sense - Michael Brooks

Science starts to get interesting when things don't make sense.

Even today there are experimental results that the most brilliant scientists can neither explain nor dismiss. In the past, similar anomalies have revolutionised our world: in the sixteenth century, a set of celestial irregularities led Copernicus to realise that the Earth goes around the sun and not the reverse. In 13 Things That Don't Make Sense Michael Brooks meets thirteen modern-day anomalies that may become tomorrow's breakthroughs.

Is ninety six percent of the universe missing? If no study has ever been able to definitively show that the placebo effect works, why has it become a pillar of medical science? Was the 1977 signal from outer space a transmission from an alien civilization? Spanning fields from chemistry to cosmology, psychology to physics, Michael Brooks thrillingly captures the excitement and controversy of the scientific unknown.

The Good Thief's guide to Berlin - Chris Ewan

You can't keep a good thief down. Charlie Howard - mystery writer and professional burglar-for-hire - is back in the saddle, robbing the people of Berlin blind. But his larcenous binge is about to be interrupted by a call to duty - on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.

A sensitive item has been stolen from inside the British embassy in Berlin. Four employees are suspected of the theft and Charlie is hired to discreetly break into each of their homes, identify the guilty culprit and steal the item back.

There's just one problem: the item is so sensitive that Charlie can't be told what it is. But how do you find something when you don't know what you're searching for? And what do you do if you witness a murder during your first break-in?

Neuromancer - William Gibson

The Matrix: a world within a world, a graphic representation of the databanks of every computer in the human system; a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate users in the Sprawl alone. And by Case, computer cowboy, until his nervous system is grievously maimed by a client he double crossed. Japanese experts in nerve splicing and micro bionics have left him broken and close to death. But at last, Case has found a cure. He's going back into the system. Not for the bliss of cyberspace, but to steal again, this time from the big boys, the almighty mega corps. In return, should he survive, he will stay cured.