Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

How it reads

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation is narrative nonfiction (innovation studies, specifically), and its dominant mood is hopeful. Whatever it puts its people through, it believes things can get better. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in several locations, in the present day, told through letters, documents or mixed forms. Its central concerns are family. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 326 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.