🔭 Just Visiting This Planet · 💯 100 Rules for Living to 100 · ✡️ Crash of the Heavens

To view these books on Amazon, click the book titles.” Are you new here? Here’s the explainer. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.Just Visiting This PlanetNeil deGrasse TysonNEW RELEASEAstrophysics & Space ScienceTyson resurrects Merlin, the omniscient alien from his earlier Merlin’s Tour of the Universe, to field another round of cosmic questions from curious Earthlings. The format—Q&A with a visitor from Planet Omniscia—lets Tyson’s wit and clarity shine while covering everything from lunar explosions to black hole mysteries. 🚀Sample questions: If aliens blew up Earth’s moon, what would happen to us? Are black holes stockpiling matter for another Big Bang? Why does the Moon look so much bigger on the horizon? Merlin’s answers are scientifically rigorous but delivered with the playful tone that’s made Tyson one of science’s most effective communicators. ✨Stephen J. Tyson’s illustrations add charm throughout, and the Q&A format makes this ideal for browsing—you can dip in anywhere and come away with something fascinating. 🌌Here’s what you’re getting: accessible, entertaining science writing that’s surprisingly deep when it wants to be. A companion to Merlin’s Tour for longtime fans, and a perfect entry point for readers new to Tyson’s particular brand of cosmic wonder.100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy LifeDick Van DykeNEW RELEASEActor & Entertainer BiographiesDick Van Dyke is turning 100, and he’s still dancing. This book distills a century of living into stories, reflections, and advice from a man who has somehow maintained his joy and curiosity through fame, addiction, loss, and reinvention. 🎭Van Dyke shares memories from his pivotal childhood, his years on film sets (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Dick Van Dyke Show), his expansive family, and finding love again late in life. But this isn’t a conventional memoir—it’s organized around the principles that have kept him engaged with life when so many people his age have retreated from it. 📖His secret isn’t complicated: stay curious, keep moving, maintain close relationships, and approach each day with genuine enthusiasm rather than obligation. What makes it compelling is watching these principles play out across the specific moments of his extraordinary life. 💫What drew me in: this isn’t generic advice from someone who got lucky—it’s hard-won wisdom from a man who’s faced real darkness and chosen joy anyway. Warm, funny, and genuinely inspiring without being saccharine.Crash of the Heavens: The Remarkable Story of Hannah Senesh and the Only Military Mission to Rescue Europe’s Jews During World War IIDouglas CenturyNEW RELEASEWomen in HistoryIn 1944, Hannah Senesh parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe as part of a desperate mission: Jewish volunteers from Palestine working with British Intelligence to rescue downed Allied pilots and help Jewish civilians escape deportation to the death camps. She was 23 years old. 🕊️Century reconstructs the full arc of Senesh’s life—her comfortable Budapest childhood, her emigration to Palestine at 18, her dreams of becoming a poet and teacher, and her transformation into a paratrooper with the most critical role on her team: wireless operator carrying top-secret British radio codes. ✡️Captured almost immediately after crossing into Hungary, Senesh endured months of torture but never revealed her codes or betrayed her mission. Her final choice—facing a firing squad rather than begging for clemency—cemented her status as the “Jewish Joan of Arc.” 💔But this isn’t just biography. Century places Senesh’s story within the larger context of the only Allied military mission specifically aimed at rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. The volunteers knew the odds were terrible. They went anyway. 📖What makes this essential: a story of extraordinary courage that deserves to be far better known, finally given the comprehensive treatment it warrants. History that reads like a thriller—because it was. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit essentialbookdrop.substack.com