Here are 5 books that really stood out to me.

以下 5 本書讓我印象深刻。

"These Truths" by Jill Lepore.

Jill Lepore 的 《These Truths》。

A lot of people, once you leave school, you really never go through the broad scope of American history again.

許多人一旦畢業之後，就不太會再深入了解美國歷史了。

She brings this lens of looking backwards.

她以回顧過去的觀點闡述歷史。

How do we compare to other countries?

我們跟其他國家比起來是怎麼樣的？

What was controversial?

有什麼爭議？

What hung in the balance?

有什麼懸而未決的事情？

Particularly slavery, and gender, and the immigrants.

尤其是奴隸制度、性別議題和移民問題。

I think the book is very worth reading.

我認為這本書很值得一讀。

"Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker.

Matthew Walker 的《Why We Sleep》。

I'm a night person, but I've been paying more attention to sleep.

我是個夜貓族，不過我最近更加注重睡眠了。

This guy is super persuasive about: if you want to lose weight, get good sleep.

這個作者極具說服力，他會告訴你，如果想減重，就要睡得好。

If you want to really learn things, get good sleep.

如果想真正學到東西，就要睡得好。

He literally tells you, if you're reading this when you should be sleeping, please close the book.

他會直接跟你說，如果你是在該睡覺的時間讀這本書，那請把書闔上。

"An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones.

Tayari Jones 的 《An American Marriage》。

This is about a black couple in the south and an injustice that totally reshapes the lives of the husband and the wife and eventually dooms their marriage.

這本書描述住在南方的黑人夫婦，因為一件判決不公的案子改變了兩人的命運，導致婚姻最終失敗。

The husband and wife are put into a difficult position.

這對夫妻陷入了一個困境。

You wouldn't call it a happy ending because they've been through so much.

你不會說故事結局是圓滿的，因為他們經歷了太多事情。

"Prepared" by Diane Tavenner.

Diane Tavenner 的《Prepared》。

She asked the right questions about middle school and high school systems.

她對初中和高中的教育系統提出了很多一針見血的問題。

What she's done is really amazing.

她所做的事情讓人驚嘆不已。

Not many people are brave enough to create a new school system.

沒有多少人勇敢到可以創建一個全新學制。

You have self-confidence, the ability to learn, the ability to manage your time, a sense of what you want to go and do.

你要有自信、學習和管理時間的能力，並清楚自己日後想要做什麼。

Sometimes, kids will get discouraged.

小孩有時會感到挫折。

You just hope your kid gets curious about something.

你單純希望孩子能夠對某些事物感到好奇。

"Growth" by Vaclav Smil.

Vaclav Smil 的《Growth》。

Modern civilization has performed all these miracles, and yet, you do hit limits.

現代文明創造了各種奇蹟，不過終究還是有極限。

We've been on various plateaus.

我們各方面都處於停滯期。

When did we figure out how to build big buildings?

我們什麼時候發現如何建造大型建築物？

What was holding us back in terms of doing that?

在達成的過程中，是什麼讓我們停滯不前？

Why don't we build them to the sky now?

我們為何不把大樓蓋入雲霄？

If you said to me, "Oh, when you're young, you can travel over the speed of sound, but then when you get older, you won't be able to travel over the speed of sound,"

如果你對我說：「噢，你年輕的時候，可以超越音速，不過老了以後，就沒有辨法了。」

I would have been like, "That's crazy!"

我的反應可能會是：「那真荒唐！」

I found these books to be really clever and engaging.

我覺得這幾本書充滿智慧且引人入勝。

I hope you find them as intriguing as I did.

希望你們也會覺得有趣。