"Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet" by Will Hunt

I began the month of May with a non-fiction read. Will Hunt is originally from Providence, RI, and his fascination with the underground began with a childhood discovery of an abandoned railroad tunnel near his parents' house. In this book, we follow him through the walks in the subway system of Manhattan, catacombs of Paris and Cappadocia, and explore mines and caves of Australia, Europe and Central America. Throughout the book, Will Hunt not only relates amazing facts about underground places, but also recounts stories about humanity's age-old fascination with caves and darkness.

Personally, my favorite parts of the book were about religious beliefs associated with caves and the underground. I loved the chapters on worshiping cave spirits in Australia and Mesoamerica. Because this book is fairly short (under 300 pages), you only get bite-size portions of information in each chapter and just a glimpse into the rich mythology and history surrounding subterranean places. I do hope this book is successful enough for him to write another one, perhaps a bit more in-depth and focused on just a couple of topics covered in this overview. Overall, a very interesting book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars simply because it did not go into enough detail for my taste.