28 December 2007

The 2007 books we liked best: nonfiction

Christian Science Monitor - the December 04, 2007 edition

 

Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Random House, 289 pp., $29.95)

A Stanford Business School professor and his brother examine the basics of the effective – and memorable – presentation of ideas. (1/23/07)

 

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 229 pp., $22)

This haunting memoir tells of the author's experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone's civil war. (2/13/07)

 

The Kings of New York, by Michael Weinreb (Gotham Books, 288 pp., $26)

Sportswriter Michael Weinreb looks at the unlikely rise of America's best high school chess team at a public high school in Brooklyn. (3/6/07)

 

The Fathers of All Things, by Tom Bissell (Pantheon Books, 407 pp., $25)

In a book that combines memoir, travelogue, and history, Tom Bissell tells of the 2005 trip to Vietnam he took with his father, a former Marine and Vietnam vet. (3/13/07)

 

American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of A Religion, by Paul M. Barrett (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 304 pp., $25)

Paul Barrett offers complex, stereotype-defying portraits of seven different Muslims living in the US. (3/20/07)

 

The Atomic Bazaar,by William Langewiesche (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 179 pp., $22)

It may not be possible to write an enjoyable book about nuclear proliferation. But journalist William Langewiesche has at least written an intelligent and very readable work on the topic. (5/15/07)

 

Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring,by Richard Preston (Random House, 294 pp., $25.95)

Mystery writer Richard Preston explores the world of the tallest trees and the scientists who spend their lives studying them. (4/24/07)

 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver (HarperCollins, 370 pp., $26.95)

Novelist Barbara Kingsolver and her family spend a year eating only what was grown or produced within 10 miles of their home. (5/8/07)

 

Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA,by Tim Weiner (Doubleday, 702 pp., $27.95)

A 2007 National Book Award winner, this history of the US intelligence by journalist Tim Weiner is compelling, if uncomfortable, reading. (8/14/07)

 

Indian Summer,by Alex von Tunzelmann (Henry Holt and Co., 416 pp., $30)

History reads like a novel in this exploration of the key figures involved in the creation of the modern states of India and Pakistan. (8/14/07)

 

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century,by Alex Ross (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 624 pp., $30)

The "chaotic beauty" of 20th-century music is lost on many. New Yorker writer Alex Ross hopes to change that with this insightful piece of analysis. (10/23/07)

 

God's Harvard,by Hanna Rosin (Harcourt, 296 pp., $25)

Washington Post reporter Hanna Rosin profiles Patrick Henry College, the school that aims to be the Harvard of the evangelical world. (9/11/07)

 

Gomorrah,by Robert Saviano (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 320 pp., $25)

Italian journalist Robert Saviano takes readers on an eye-popping tour of La Camorra, the ruthless crime network headquartered in Naples. (11/6/07)

No comments: