My non-fiction of 2006(some borrowed, not LT-listed)

John Osborne:A Biography: by John Heilpern***
1599:A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: by James Shapiro****
Persian Fire: by Tom Holland ***
Kitchen Diaries: by Nigel Slater****
Untold Stories: by Alan Bennett****
The Commonwealth of Thieves: by Thomas Keneally**
Adventures at the End of the World: **
The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece & Rome****

I don't read as much NF as I should.

True and False by Mamet****
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Ellis****
Death at the Priory by Ruddick****
And that's it! As far as what I enjoyed, I had better luck with the NF than F. (Are we using a 5-star rating system?)

Don't have to, bookishbunny, just me in that mood. I, too, have had better luck with NF than F. Forgot to 'touchstone', shucks.

I'm looking for my copy of Under the Black Flag, but it's MIA. It was to be my next NF. In it's stead, I'll be starting Reading Lolita in Tehran, which is borrowed and should be digested soon, anyway.

I liked Reading Lolita in Tehran far better than I had expected to, given the hype surrounding it. A word to the wise, though -- I almost gave it up after the first ten pages or so, but soldiered through and was only then pleasantly surprised. The book begins poorly, imo, but it's worth sticking with it.

These are the non-fiction books I have read since I started my reading jag in the spring of 2005. I didn't start keeping track of completion dates until this spring.

Sorry this is so long. The ones marked borrowed are not LT listed.

Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington by Richard Brookhiser (borrowed)
Alexander Hamilton: American by Richard Brookhiser (92/Hamilton)
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes The Underclass by Theodore Dalrymple (borrowed)
What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response by Bernard Lewis (borrowed)
The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon (borrowed)
The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell (borrowed)
Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One by Thomas Sowell (borrowed)
Ethnic America: A history by Thomas Sowell (borrowed)
The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties Legacy to the Underclass by Myron Magnet (borrowed)
Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots, and Revolutionaries, 1776-1871 by Adam Zamoyski (borrowed)
The Fatal Shore: the epic of Australia's founding by Robert Hughs (own)
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Ledgand by Steve Turner (borrowed)
Nothing Venture, Nothing Win: His Autobiography by Sir Edmund Hillary (own)
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir (own)
Grant by Jean Edward Smith (own)
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley (borrowed)
Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother by James A Connor (own)
Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh (borrowed)
Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell (borrowed)
The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys who flew the B-24's over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose (borrowed)
Undaunted Courage: Meriweather Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose (own)
An Army at Dawn: The war in North Africa 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson (own)
Yeager: An Autobiography by Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos (own)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (borrowed)
The Road to Serfdom by F. A. von Hayek (borrowed)
Nelson: A Biography by David Walder (own, but not cataloged)
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (own)
Moon Shoot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton (own)
Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose (own)
Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffery Kluger (own)
The Long Gray Line by Rick Atkinson (own)
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A memoir in books by Azar Nafisi (borrowed)
1776 by David G. McCullough (own)
American Soldier by Tommy Franks (borrowed)
Two Years Before the Mast: And Twenty-Four Years After by R. H. Dana, Jr (own)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (own)
Witness by Whittaker Chambers (own)
Failure is not an Option by Gene Kranz (own)
Whittaker Chambers by Sam Tanenhaus (own)
D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen E. Ambrose (own)
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918 - 1956, Volume 1; An Experiment in Literary Investigation by Alexsander Isaevich Solzhenietisyn (own)
The Middle Ages: A Popular History by Joseph Henery Dahmus (borrowed)

As you can see, I read a lot of non-fiction. My other great interest are the "classics".

Currently reading, and borrowed from the library;

A History of Europe by J. M. Roberts

Some of my nonfiction reading for 2006:

The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America, John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge ****
A Beautiful Mind : A Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., Sylvia Nasar ****
The Illustrated History of Magic, Milbourne Christopher, et al. ****
Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street, William Poundstone ****
Abracadabra: Secret Methods Magicians and Others Use to Deceive their Audience, Nathaniel Schiffman ****
Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell *** Funny. Any obsessive hobbiest can relate to her slightly ghoulish and geekily exhaustive quest to learn about assassinated American presidents.
The Machinery of Freedom: A Guide to Radical Capitalism, David D. Friedman *** Is this really the best anarcho-capitalists have to offer? Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia presents a more sophisticated case for libertarianism, though it too suffers under scrutiny.
The Search for the Perfect Language (The Making of Europe), Umberto Eco, et al. *** A dry, scholarly, yet intriguing, look to the religious/philosophical quest to create (or recapture) an angelic language.
The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, Scott Plous **** Great introduction to the multifarious ways we err in decision-making.
Out of the Noosphere: Adventure, Sports, Travel, and the Environment: The Best of Outside Magazine, Editors Outside magazine ****
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer ****
Food, Inc.: Mendel to Monsanto--The Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest, Peter Pringle ***
The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What to Make of It, Charles E. Lindblom ****
Boundaries and Barriers: On the Limits to Scientific Knowledge, ed. John L. Casti, Anders Karlqvist ***
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, A. J. Jacobs ****
Charles Babbage: And the Engines of Perfection (Oxford Portraits in Science), Bruce Collier and James MacLachlan ***
Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age, Steven Levy ***
The Art of Fiction: Illustrated from Classic and Modern Texts, David Lodge ****
The New Financial Order : Risk in the 21st Century, Robert J. Shiller ****
Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form, Scott McCloud ***
Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor, Janet Lowe ***
Modern Mind : An Intellectual History of the 20th Century, Peter Watson ***
Beijing Doll, Chun Sue ***
Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, Francis Fukuyama **
Expert Political Judgment: How Good is It? How Can We Know?, Philip E. Tetlock ****
In the Wake of Chaos : Unpredictable Order in Dynamical Systems, Stephen H. Kellert ****
The Control of Nature, John McPhee ****
The Trouble with Testosterone, Robert Sapolsky ****
How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine Hayles ***
Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology Lawrence Weschler, ****
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Michael Shermer **
Science in Public: Communication, Culture, and Credibility, Jane Gregory, Steve Miller ****
Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse: The Quest for the Quantum Computer, Julian Brown ****
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach ****
Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government, P.J. O'Rourke ***
American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center, William Langewiesche ****
Reason :Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America, Robert B. Reich ****
50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know, Volume 2, Russ Kick ***
Arabian Sands, Wilfrid Thesiger **** This remarkable account of Thesiger's travels in and around the Arabian Peninsula after WWII contains near equal parts perceptive description, romanticism and Anglo pluck. Despite its age, Arabian Sands contains insights into Bedu culture that still illuminates events in the region.
Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos, Seth Lloyd *** Strangely lacking in argument, PtU contains a remedial-level overview of classical information theory, theory of computation and their quantum counterparts. It reads like an updated Pythagorean mysticism, or, less sympathetically, an orgy of computational fetishism. Lloyd is undeniably clever and convivial, but he has yet to make his case for universal computationalism.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Michael Lewis **** The story of the Oakland Athletics (circa 2002) and their salvation through sabermetics. I have never been a baseball fan, but Moneyball inspired me to look deeper into the conjunction of America's favorite passtime and statistics.
Topology, John G. Hocking & Gail S. Young **** Delightful text emphasizing point-set and the significance of limit sets. Much more readable than the elegant, yet rarified Kolmolgorov.
Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture, Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter **** A sometimes sloppy but often embarrassingly on-the-nose critique of the countercultural left by leftists aiming at self-reform.
The Republican War on Science, Chris Mooney ***** Essential reading for scientists and progressives. See his weblog, The Intersection, for updates on the ongoing battle.
Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear, Jim Steinmeyer **** Lively history of the golden age of magic, recounting the evolution of techniques of trickery.
The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings, Jan Harold Brunvand **** Fascinating exploration of urban legends by the coiner of the term. Suffers from too many Freudian flailings.
Men of Mathematics, E.T. Bell **** Thoroughly opinionated, historically inaccurate romp through mathematical genius.
Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem, Amir D. Aczel *** Too much a rehash of E. T. Bell, though it contains interesting, if under-explained, steps to Andrew Wiles' (eventual) proof.

*****: Run, don't walk, to get this book!
****: Worth reading, but walk, don't run.
***: This is an OK read. Take or leave it.
**: Better than a stick in the eye. Barely.
*: Gack, Bleck, Phttt. Stick in the eye.

Whew!

Attention All Shipping, Charlie Connelly.
A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down, Nicey and wifey.
Taking Chances, John Haigh.
Out of It, Simon Hattenstone.
The Ode Less Travelled, Stephen Fry.
The Learning Game, Jonathan Smith.
Freakonomics, Stephen D Levitt.
The Pythons by The Pythons.
Moon Dust by Andrew Smith.
Round Mr Horne, Barry Johnston.
Dr Johnson's Dictionary, Henry Hitchings.
Collapse, Jared Diamond.
French Women Don't Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano
The Story of Childhood, Libby Brooks
Chew on This, Eric Schlosser
Teacher on the Run, Francis Gilbert
The Lore of Averages, Karen Farrington
The Unfolding of Language, Guy Deutscher
A Young Man's Passage, Julian Clary
Bears Can't Run Downhill, Robert Anwood
Stand and Deliver, Adam Ant
Diaries 1969-1979, Michael Palin
Days from a Different World, John Simpson
And It's Goodnight from Him, Ronnie Corbett & David Nobbs
Nul Points, Tim Moore
Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?
It's My Party and I'll Knit if I Want to, Sharon Aris
Bad Food Britain, Joanna Blythman
Further Under The Duvet, Marian Keyes
A Plum In Your Mouth, Andrew Taylor

Plus some knitting and crochet titles, and a couple of 'collections of whimsy or trivia'-type volumes.

My non-fiction reads for 2006. I own all these books, but many are not on LT. I have only been adding my new purchases and those I am reading since I joined
(7/06). Some day I may add all my books but am not in any hurry to tag around 5,000 books.


The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson ****
Excellent

Madame Sadayakko by Lesley Downer ***
Interesting but dragged a bit

The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code by Sharan Newman **
Light and Fluffy and more interested in reassurance than in History

The Great Influenza by John M. Barry ***1/2
The Great Mortality by John Kelly ***1/2
Very well done look at epidemic disease and its impact on society

The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey ****
Note the rating is for the book, and should not be considered as approval for the idiot who wrote it and her actions in the book. Wonderful writing skill, great depictions of the natural world, completely selfish and self-absorbed woman who almost destroyed a research program, destroyed the careers of several scientists, and lost a large boat (which sailed untended all over the world for a couple of years - who knows if it killed anybody).

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang***
Good story of a forgotten and overlooked war crime, gets in the details but doesn't wallow in it

The Tender Bar, A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer **1/2
Totally pointless story of the life of the author. Some of the writing is good.

Faithfull by Marianne Faithfull **
Again a totally pointless story of the author whose only claim to fame is as a hanger-on. She keeps kiss and tell to a minimum.

Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones by Robert Greenfield *
Badly written, poorly edited, factually incorrect, and almost nothing about the recording of the album.

Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything, by Charles P. Pierce ***1/2
Good look at the Patriots (NFL) wonder boy QB. Not a lot of details about his personal life now, or about his interaction with the team

Alexander the Great: The Death of a God by Paul Doherty * Hatchet Job
Imported from the UK, not published in the US and the touchstone can't seem to find it.

The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam **1/2 very light weight and fluffy, not a lot of current detail.

Both this book and the one on Tom Brady are constrained by the fact that both are still active in the game and with their current team, so nothing that might cause them problems would be included in either book. The true details won't come out until each one retires.

The Mystery of the Tunguska Fireball by Surendra Verma ***
Interesting recap of the various theories of what caused the big bang.

hmm.. I love non-fiction, but I haven't been reading it as much lately. I wonder if I have much a 2006 list... Ok, here is something.

Journalist-style stuff
tulia by Nate Blakeslee ****
I'm reading The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright

Memoir/thoughts
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt ***
Year of magical thinking by Joan Didion ****
Deer Pasture by Rick Bass *****
Hard Scrabble by John Graves ***

Sports
Last Dance by John Feinstein **
This ain't Brain Surgery by Larry Deirker ***
Moneyball by Michael Lewis ****

Serious history
Kosovo : A short history ****

Parenting
playful parenting by Lawrence Cohen *****
raising your spirited child by Mary Kurcinka ****

With scattershot comments and some ratings:

Letters to a Diminished Church, Dorothy Sayers ****** Bracing and wonderful.

Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton Get past the too-paradoxical beginnings, which strike slightly false, and there's great value, wisdom, and sheer delight here. Still a *****.

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis Very good and comprehensible, but for all his clarity of thought, Lewis lacks personality beside Chesterton and Sayers. ****

London Perceived, V.S. Pritchett (and photographer Evelyn Hofer) *****
Lovely, though meandering. The prose and photos are simply gorgeous.

Madness: A Brief History, Roy Porter Clear, concise, very good.

The Plague and the Fire, James Leasor From the '60s. Nice in combining the events of 1665-1666, but too novelistic, overwrought, and biased. Definitely 'popular' history.

The Great Mortality, John Kelly ***1/2

The Great Fire of London, in that apocalyptic year, 1666, Neil Hanson Excellent.

On a Grander Scale: the outstanding life of Sir Christopher Wren, by Lisa Jardine A trifle boring. In the end, this feels more like an apology for Robert Hooke than a book about Wren. I grant he may be elusive, but only rarely does the personality of Christopher Wren even seem to interest her. There's a nice original discovery she made, but I feel it's overplayed. Nonetheless, might be praised for dispassion and accuracy.

I gave up on Antonia Fraser's Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration (no doubt my loss)

The Stuarts: A Study in English Kingship, J.P. Kenyon

1700: Scenes from London Life, Maureen Waller **** Loved it.

The Thieves' Opera, Lucy Moore **** Even better. It's a bit choppy, but this is acknowledged, and all the content is fascinating.

Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld, ed. Lucy Moore A collection of contemporary accounts of 18th century crime/criminals. ***1/2

Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, James Boswell Fun, but I enjoy Samuel Johnson more.

A Pound of Paper, John Baxter Odd, mis-marketed, arrogant - and yet engrossing.

The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life , Steve Leveen Horrible smarmy title on a somewhat interesting book.

The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman ***** if only for style and structure

Among the Bohemians, Virginia Nicholson Fascinating portrait of Bohemia by Virginia Woolf's niece/Vanessa Bell's daughter.

Virginia Woolf, Hermione Lee ***** Sanity, clarity, and detail with crystal-clear prose.

A Marriage of True Minds (most of it), George Spater on Virginia Woolf and Leonard Woolf's marriage

Who's Afraid of Classical Music?, Michael Walsh **** Opinionated and fun.

The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Classical Music, Tim Smith

Twice Upon a Time: Women Writers and the history of the Fairy Tale, Elizabeth Wanning Harries

I fear I've left out a few. I'm currently reading The Fifties, by David Halberstam, and trying to finish upDava Sobel's The Planets, Geoffrey O'Brien's Hardboiled America, and Tender Geographies, by Joan DeJean from earlier in the year. (Hardboiled America is excellent, BTW.)

These are in the order in which I read them.

True Bear Stories by Joaquin Miller ****I thought this would be sappy, it wasn't. To my delight it gave insight into my ancestry as it took place in the area my family lived, near Mt. Shasta in Oregon and California in the 1800's.

Crazy for Chipotle by Lynn Nusom ****A lovely and mouth-watering cookbook.

Housekeeping in Old Virginia ***Historically interesting cookbook, but I'm not going to go out and wring the chicken's neck! Recipes from Robert E. Lee's wife and other prominent Southern ladies.

James Herriot's Yorkshire *****Sigh, probably as close as I will ever get to being there.

Leonardo, the Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd ****I had the good fortune to meet the author of this wonderful children's book.

What if You Met a Pirate? by Jan Adkins *****Well, I love the myth of pirates and I hope I never meet one in person. I also met this author, one of my childhood heros, a contributor/editor of Cricket magazine in the beginning. I cut my reading teeth on Cricket.

Indians of the Feather River by Donald P. Jewell ***An oral history of the Concow Maidu Indians of the Feather River Area. Very interesting.

Diary from Dixie by Mary B. Chestnut *****Forget Gone With the Wind, this is fantastic reading. I wish I could write a journal like this.

Bridges, From My Side to Yours by Jan Adkins ****Who would have thunk it. I thought I would have to plod through this book on bridges, even if it was written for children, but no, I couldn't put it down. Of course, it was pretty short, though I love being the authority when we go on road trips now:)

Honorable Cat** O.K. I only looked at the pictures, which were fine. The writing was too cloying.

A History of English Speaking Peoples Vol. II by Winston S.Churchill**** Great for a history read, though I enjoyed the first volume better with the Druids, Romans, Vikings and all. The Parliamentary decrees and moody monarchs bogged me down in this one.

The Fabulous Showman by Irving Wallace** How anyone could take the life of P.T. Barnum and make it almost unbearably boring to read is beyond me. I slogged through it because wanted to know.

The Prudhomme Family Cookbook**** I loved reading this because of all the family anecdotes at the beginning of the recipes. Most of the recipes call for ingredients too hard to find here, but the cooking techniques are valuable.

The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook ****Hmmm, fiction or non-fiction…the recipes are real, so.

Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis** Informative, not my favorite war narrative.

Gesundheit! by Patch Adams***** Loved this, very inspiring.

The Edwardian Lady by Ina Taylor** The diary was better. This did have some lovely drawings in it though.

From the Known to the Unknown, memoirs of Baroness de La Grange**** Witty, entertaining and enlightening about the role some women played in western settlements. This woman ran the show.

The Man Who Created Narnia by Michael Coren*** Written for teens, this was a fine overview of Lewis’ life, though I’m not sure I agree with all the author’s conclusions.

And I am trying to finish:

Robert Graves the Assault Heroic 1895-1926 by Richard Perceval Graves So far interesting, though I’m not sure I would have liked being around the man. The feeling would probably have been mutual. :)

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
A Woman in Berlin by Anonymous
Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim
Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Here’s my 2006 non-fiction list, with brief description/comments.

Aithie, Patricia: The Burning Ashes of Time
Explores historic connection between Cardiff and Yemen - Good
Alterman, Eric: The Book on Bush
Refutation of Bush policies up to 2004 elections - Good
Barich, Bill: Traveling Light
Series of brief essays on nature and travel - Good
Bennett, Joe: A Land of Two Halves
Longtime British expat’s travel through New Zealand – Fair/Good
Bird, Isabella: The Yangtze Valley and Beyond
Victorian lady’s solo trip through the region – Good, but “dated”
Booth, Alan: The Roads to Sata
British expat’s walk from North to South in Japan – good, but occasionally bitter.
Brown, Rachel Manija: All The Fishes Come Home To Roost
American girl raised in a South Indian ashram – Very Good
Clarke, Richard: Against All Enemies
Memoir of terrorist policy 9/11 and after - Good
DeWoskin, Rachel: Foreign Babes in Beijing
American actress’ experience in a Chinese TV soap opera - Good
Ehrman, Bart: Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code
I never read TDC itself, but Ehrman’s book raised interesting points nonetheless.
Ferguson, Niall: Empire
Premise of U.S. becoming an “empire” after Britain’s disbanded - Fair
Fogle, Jared: Jared, The Subway Guy
I wasn’t familiar with his Subway ads, but the story was inspiring
Frank, Justin: Bush On The Couch
Secondhand psychological analysis - Fair
Garr, Teri: Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood
Actress’ memoir – dealing with MS comes late in the book though - Fair
Griffin, David Ray: The New Pearl Harbor
Raises very interesting questions as to what’s never been answered about 9/11 - Good
Halliday, Ayun: A Sarong in My Backpack
Well written travel memoirs - Good
Halliday, Ayun: Job Hopper
History of author’s various jobs since high school - Good
Hibbert, Christopher: Gilbert & Sullivan and Their Victorian World
I got it for the audio narrator, but unless G&S of serious interest, not exciting
Hutchinson, Robert: The Last Days of Henry VIII
Self-explanatory, but well-presented - Good
Javins, Marie: Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik
African journey memoir – Very well written
Kendall, Gillian: Mr. Ding's Chicken Feet
ESL teacher to a Chinese freighter crew – highly recommended
Kropf, John: Unknown Sands
American expat in Turkumenistan – good insight and well written
Kuo, David: Tempting Faith
Great background on how politicians use evangelicals for votes – Very Good
Laube, Lydia: Temples & Tuk-Tuks
Australian nurse travels through Cambodia – not her best, but okay
Lefens, Tim: Flying Colors
Success story re: art therapy program for the disabled – Very Good
Lerner, Betsy: Food and Loathing
Overcoming overeating after a crisis - good
McDonald, Brian: Safe Harbor
Background on a brutal murder on Nantucket - good
Meredith, Martin: The Fate of Africa
Very thorough analysis – Very Good, but only if you have interest in region
Milton, Giles: The Riddle and the Knight
Footsteps journey of an apocryphal Middle Ages knight - interesting
Moore, Judith: Fat Girl
Memoir of a fat girl’s life - Good
Morris, Jan: Fifty Years of Europe
Essays of hers covering 50 years after WW II – very good
Morris, Jan: Journeys
Travel essays - good
Morris, Jan: O Canada
Series of essays on Candian cities/regions - Fair
Osborne, Lawrence: The Naked Tourist
Described as an “Anti-Tourist” book. Made so little impression I can’t comment.
Paine, Sheila: The Afghan Amulet
Search through Near East for source of specific cloth pattern - Good
Pelikan, Jaroslav: Whose Bible Is It?
Good, but specialized, look at erroneous Bible changes from original sources.
Perella, Marco: Adventures of a No Name Actor
Not very interesting stories of Texas actor – uses Molly Ivins’ foreward as a hook to get folks to buy it.
Raban, Jonathan: Coasting
Travel narrative of North American water journeys - Good
Raban, Jonathan: My Holy War
Author’s assessment of post 9/11 USA -- Good
Raban, Jonathan: Old Glory
Travel narrative of Mississippi River journey – Fair/Good (dated?)
Rich, Frank: Greatest Story Ever Sold
Very interesting analysis of Administration deceptions and bungling
Rochester, A J: Confessions of a Reformed Dieter
Inspiring story of commitment to weight loss - Good
Seger, Linda: Jesus Rode a Donkey
A “religious” Democrat confronts the Evangelical Right and G.O.P. policy
Slavitt, David: Blue State Blues
Well written account of author’s run for local office in MA asa Republican
Spero, Wendy: Microthrills
Funny, though sometimes over-the-top, memoir
Stark, Freya: Letters From Syria
Stark, Freya: The Southern Gates of Arabia
Stark, Freya: The Zodiac Arch
These three are of a piece: memoir of pre WW II middle east - Good
Stone, Nathaniel: On The Water
Two solo journeys by rowboat – very good
Sullivan, Robert: Cross Country
Cross country journey mixed in with historical narrative – Fair/Good
Sullivan, Robert: The Meadowlands
Great exploration of the N.J. Meadowlands region
Suskind, Ron: The One Percent Doctrine
Suskind, Ron: The Price of Loyalty
Two books on Administration shortcomings - Fair
Twain, Mark: A Tramp Abroad
Twain in Europe - Fair
Twain, Mark: The Innocents Abroad
Twain’s trip to the Holy Land - Good
Unger, Craig: House of Bush, House of Saud
Explores link between them – well-written, but depressing

oh dear - a few added to my wishlist from there!

I found myself reading a lot of books involving the Religious Right, mostly as research for my English composition class.

The Middle Church
Thy Kingdom Come
One Nation Under God: A History of Prayer in America
Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism
People's History of the Supreme Court (own)
The End of Faith, Sam Harris
Faith of the Founding Fathers, Tim LaHaye
Mind Siege, Tim LaHaye
Porn Generation
Godless: The Church of Liberalism, Ann Coulter
What if America Were a Christian Nation Again?, D. James Kennedy

The list with short comments -
(in three parts, trying to get the touchstones to work)

Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville
Less interesting than I had hoped. More political philosophy than political observation. Skewed by his unwarranted faith that democracy equals equality.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Excellent brief on the evils of slavery. Hits all the beats in a very short space.

The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm
More historical memoir than history, still an excellent synthesis of recent developments.

The age of empire, 1875-1914 by Eric Hobsbawm
Excellent synthesis of the expansion of European power.

Black skin, white masks by Frantz Fanon
Mixed. Too Freudian for my taste. "The Fact of Blackness" is an extraordinary monologue no the confrontation of a black man with a white world defined by race.

Literary theory : a very short introduction by Jonathan D. Culler
Decent overview.

The first days of school : how to be an effective teacher by Harry K. Wong
A presentation of the practicalities and benefits of consistent classroom procedures. A little preachy but useful.

A consumers' republic by Lizabeth Cohen
Excellent discussion of the rise of consumerism and its relationship to politics.

Cataclysm : the First World War as political tragedy by David Stevenson
Competent synthesis of WWI.

Labor and monopoly capital by Harry Braverman
Classic study of the evolution of work from the turn of the century to the 1970s.

Buddhism : a very short introduction by Damien Keown
Entertaining and informative introduction.

Judaism : a very short introduction by Norman Solomon
Entertaining and informative introduction.

History of the Persian Empire by A.T. Olmstead
Posthumously assembled and it shows. Full of interesting information but lacking in overarching organization. Dated.

Liberty's daughters by Mary Beth Norton
Important study of the evolution of women's roles in the age of the American revolution.

Theology : a very short introduction by David F. Ford
Engaging, but aimed too much at the undergrad set. See my review.

Classics : a very short introduction by Mary Beard
Entertaining and informative introduction.

The grounding of modern feminism by Nancy F. Cott
Important study of the transformation of the women's movement in the wake of the 19th amendment.

Part II
(Still can't get all of the touchstones to work, arrrg!)

Music : a very short introduction by Nicholas Cook
Should be called Classical Music, but not uninteresting.

Politics : a very short introduction by Kenneth R. Minogue
Disappointing. See my review.

With God on their side by Esther Kaplan
Frightening journalistic look at the influence of the religious right on government. See my review.

Hinduism : a very short introduction by Kim Knott
Entertaining and informative introduction.

The middle ground by Richard White
Seminal study of French-Indian relations in the Great Lakes region.

The shoemaker and the tea party by Alfred Fabian Young
A look at the making of a national myth through the history of a largely forgotten participant.

Local People by John Dittmer
The best history of the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Moving.

In the presence of mine enemies : war in the heart of America, 1859-1863 by Edward L. Ayers
First part of a localist history of the civil war. See my review.

Archaeology : a very short introduction by Paul G. Bahn
What a VSI should be.

We make the road by walking : conversations on education and social change by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire
Engaging conversation between two important educational thinkers and activists.

The Romantics: England in a Revolutionary Age by E. P. Thompson
Posthumous compilation of the last works of E.P. Thompson. Mixed.

The Oxford history of ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw
Comprehensive overview of ancient Egypt for a scholarly audience.

Mythologies of the ancient world by Samuel Noah Kramer
Collection of essays by leaders in the field, at least at that time. Mixed. Dated.

Psychology: a very short introduction by Gillian Butler
Disappointing. See my review.

Behind the mask of chivalry : the making of the second Ku Klux Klan by Nancy MacLean
One of the best studies of the second wave of the KKK.

The other founders by Saul Cornell
Important history of the anti-federalists and the conflict over the nature of government power in the wake of the revolution.

The Modern Temper by Lynn Dumenil
Good synthesis of 1920s history.

Part III
(more touchstone problems, but I'm tired of futzing with them)

The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Origins of Empire by Nicholas Canny
An excellent series of articles on the early development of the British Empire. Important for American as well as English history.

Home and work : housework, wages, and the ideology of labor in the early republic by Jeanne Boydston
Important study of the relationship of women and work in the 19th century. Challenge to tradition notions of separate spheres.

Mexican lives by Judith Adler Hellman
An exceptional set of mini-biographies of Mexicans from a variety of walks of life. A bit dated, but still a useful antidote to stereotypes so flagrantly thrown about in the immigration debate.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; The journal of John Woolman; Fruits of solitude
First volume of the Harvard Classics series. Franklin and Woolman provide an interesting juxtaposition.

Ancient Mexico & Central America : archaeology and culture history by Susan Toby Evans
Excellent and lavishly illustrated synthesis of the archaeology and anthropology of Mesoamerica. Academic audience.

Target Iran: The Truth About the White House's Plans for Regime Change by Scott Ritter
Review of recent developments in US-Iranian relations. See my review.

Atlantic Virginia : intercolonial relations in the seventeenth century by April Lee Hatfield
Published thesis, and it shows. Several interesting contributions to recent fad of Atlantic History.

Modern Iran since 1921 by Ali M. Ansari
Overview of Iranian political history in the 20th century.

Between authority & liberty : state constitution making in revolutionary America by Marc W. Kruman
Study of the place of state constitutions in the making of US legal framework.

Private property and the limits of American constitutionalism : the Madisonian framework and its legacy by Jennifer Nedelsky
Meditation on the tension between property rights and democracy in Madisonian political theory.

Streets, railroads, and the Great Strike of 1877 by David O. Stowell
The relationship of other community objections to railroads in the Great Strike.

The Great Depression : an inquiry into the causes, course, and consequences of the worldwide depression by John Arthur Garraty
Excellent synthesis of global depression history.

Gandhi : prisoner of hope by Judith M. Brown
Excellent full scholarly biography of Gandhi. Can’t believe only one other LT member has it.

Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis by Walter Burkert
Interesting thesis but a bit scattered. Perhaps some of his earlier works are more focused.

Blueprint for modern America by Leonard P. Curry
Non-war legacy of the civil war congresses. See my review.

How societies are born : governance in West Central Africa before 1600 by Jan Vansina
Interesting case study on the uses of non-traditional sources in history. Not entirely convincing.

Colonial subjects : Puerto Ricans in a global perspective by Ramón Grosfoguel
Radical look at modern Puerto-Rican history. Interesting.

The human tradition in Mexico by Jeffrey M. Pilcher
Mixed set of mini-biographies as introduction to Mexican history. See my review.

I'd be interested in hearing more about the following books if any of the readers are feeling voluble:
Persian fire : the first world empire and the battle for the West, The great mortality, The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America, Teacher man : a memoir, Kingdom coming : the rise of Christian nationalism, The great influenza : the epic story of the deadliest plague in history, Republican War on Science, Kosovo : a short history

I could expand on my selections as well, if anyone is interested. I keeping meaning to write reviews but rarely get around to it.

eromsted: Wow, a request for reviews. That is pretty exciting... alas, I'm sure I'm doomed to disappoint.

Teacher Man is McCourt's third memoir, it's an account of his rather screwy and entertaining path to becoming an innovative, untraditional and very creative high school writing instructor. I haven't read his other books. This reads very fast, there are lots of great stories. You find yourself reading beyond when you’re supposed to be doing something else... and much of it leaves very fast too; but not all of it. I would recommend reading his other books first unless you are a teacher (I’m not)

Kosovo : A Short History was a very thorough history. It naturally brings in the whole Balkans, and therefore the Ottoman Empire too; these are brief, accessible, and a very nice introduction for the clueless like me. The Kosovo part is quite interesting, it's also dense, and there is an agenda (albeit, probably a justified one). The author firmly believes Kosovo should be independent and Albanian, and rejects the mythical Serbian links to the region as, well myth. I don't know what else is out there on the subject, but I found this quite readable and enjoyable in the way disturbing histories are enjoyable.

#eromsted: I enjoyed Persian Fire because (a)I'd never read anything about this particular empire or, I should say, only when it impinged on the history of classical Greece. (2) it was well written, not stodgy.
I suppose, too, that what with the Iraq and Iran situation these days, I was more motivated to read about an ancient empire from the Middle East.

Tom Holland is a very readable historian.

> #21 - eromsted: I just read The Devil in the White City for my book group, but we haven't met to discuss it yet. It is about the planning and building of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, with a parallel storyline of a serial killer during the same period.

I found the parts about the planning, engineering, and construction of the fair fascinating. The author does a great job describing the various personalities involved plus putting it in context with popular culture and what was happening in the world at that time.

I wasn't as taken with the serial killer storyline and felt that it was kind of "tacked on" to make the story more exciting. But maybe that's just me.

Reading this motivated me to take The Great Bridge and The Path Between the Seas (both by David McCullough) off my "to be read" shelf and finally read them. The Great Bridge was excellent and, so far, so is The Path Between the Seas.

Impressive list, congratulations