Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

* Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential

* Bessel van der Kolk - The Body Keeps the Score

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

by Carl Sagan

Starts in somewhat current time and follows humanity’s trajectory for the next 30-ish years.

I found it especially interesting because it does expose and address the socioeconomic issues preventing us from taking action on climate.

"A Brief History of Time" was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen beginning to wonder how the world works.

On the fiction side I've heard good things about Cory Doctorow's works -- I purchased a copy of "Little Brother" a while back and enjoyed it. Maybe not as high literature as 1984 or Catch 22 but it was engaging and if I had kids I'd gift it to them when they were the right age.