Raise your hand if you’ve gone a little eclipse-crazy. (Everyone in this bookstore just raised both hands.) Things have been especially exciting around Nashville lately, as hotels are filling up with visitors wanting to view the sky along the “path of totality.” As usual, we’re processing this moment by gathering books about it.
Andy, our store manager, called a meeting to brainstorm a list of titles related to the big event. He started us off by recommending:
- American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World by David Baron
American Eclipse tells the story of pioneering scientists — planet hunter James Craig Watson, astronomer Maria Mitchell, and inventor Thomas Edison — who gathered in the West (with an extraordinary cast of supporting characters) on a day when the sun went into hiding while far more was revealed. - Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon by FE Close
Why do eclipses happen? What role have they played in history, literature and myth? And what do “eclipse chasers” do? Find out with this book. - Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024 by Mark Littmann
This reference book about solar eclipses includes observations from eclipse viewers and information on observing and photographing solar eclipses. Plus: History and mythology about solar eclipses as well as maps, diagrams, and statistics. - Total Solar Eclipses and How to Observe Them by Martin Mobberley
Author of several astronomy books, Mobberley lays out the basics and offers an explanation of the equipment needed to view and photograph eclipses. - Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets by Tyler Nordgren
Signed copies, eclipse glasses included — while supplies last!
Then Andy looked at the rest of us and asked, “Well, what else?” We sat quietly, thinking.
“All the Light We Cannot See?” said Keltie. Much giggling ensued.
“Heart of Darkness?” said Cat.
Then we couldn’t stop. Everyone started shouting out titles:
The Sun Also Rises
It’s Not Yet Dark
The Sun Is Also a Star
I’ll Give You the Sun
Twilight Saga #3: Eclipse
Blindness
A Gathering of Shadows
We All Looked Up
Behind the Moon
Andy told us to get our act together and be serious. So we tried again and did a little better:
Age of Miracles (It’s about what happens when the earth’s rotation starts slowing down, so . . . kind of relevant in a space/planetary way.)
The Stranger (The glare of the sun plays a big role in this graphic novel edition of the Camus classic.)
Galileo’s Daughter (A biography full of scientific adventure.)
Sissy pointed out the back of He Said / She Said by Erin Kelly:
Then there was a pause. Someone whispered, “Fifty Shades Darker.” Everyone applauded.
As Andy shooed us out of the office, Stephanie called out one more: “GOODNIGHT MOON!”
MORE LIKE GOODNIGHT SUN, ARE WE RIGHT??
(Sorry. It’s just that this is a big deal and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.)
Musing 