During the past two weeks I've read a number of books, but few of them have been as enjoyable as those written by Martin Rudwick (The Meaning of Fossils) and David Quammen (The Boilerplate Rhino). Serendipitously, there are new articles out about both authors; the History of Science Society has a biographical sketch of Rudwick honoring his reception of the Sarton Medal, and on the Montana State University website you can find an interview with Quammen.
The works of both authors have been highly inspirational and enlightening to me in my own quest to become a more professional writer, and if you haven't read anything by Rudwick or Quammen yet I certainly encourage you to do so.
[Hat-tip to Michael]
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Also, there is an article in the April Harper's by Quammen, Contagious Cancer.
I had lunch with David Quammen once, when he came to my college to talk about The Reluctant Mr. Darwin. He spent most of the time talking about the plight of the African megafauna, which was kind of depressing.
You want to read a depressing book, read Quammen's book "The Song of the Dodo". It's a great book that I highly recommend but not the most uplifting tome.