Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

In "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" Harari tells the story of how modern day homo sapiens came to be, with just about everything from the evolution of homo erectus, to how religion allowed our communities to grow, to how we started using currency, to how we are pushing evolution past ourselves (which is the subject of another one of his books, "Homo Deus" which I have also read and loved). I know, my summary is making it sound pretty dense, but I didn't want to misrepresent it. It is dense. But you learn a lot along the way.

Yuval Noah Harari's writing is what you wish all of your textbooks had been when you were in high school and college. The book builds on itself and pulls you along with the story of how we became what we are today. Harari's knowledge of history is expansive but, unlike many experts, he does a great job of teaching his audience without making us feel belittled in the process.

I love books about history, but too many are written for other experts rather than people who want to learn. But reading this book felt like having a teacher take a particular interest in making sure you understood the material, which is such a lovely feeling in a book. I would absolutely recommend this book. It may take some time, but it's worth every second.

I hope you are all staying safe and know how much I appreciate you <3

XO, Ellen

P.S. Taking pictures of white books without natural light is hard, but that's what I get for not writing my post until 10:30 at night *shrug*