Non Fiction
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
, by John Berendt
Savannah, Georgia is the site of this true story. The victim is Danny Hansford, a small-time hustler who, early on a Saturday morning in May 1981, was shot dead by his sometime employer Jim Williams in the latter's exquisitely restored house. Was it murder or self-defense? - The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
, by Timothy Egan
A heartbreaking account of the dust storms or "black blizzards" and droughts that plagued much of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas for eight years during the Great Depression years. - Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
,
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Gilbert leaves behind an excruciating divorce, tumultuous affair, and debilitating depression as she sets off on a yearlong quest to bridge the gulf between body, mind, and spirit. A popular read for book groups this year! - Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
, by John Grogan
This is John and Jenny's story of their life’s obstacles with a neurotic dog, Marley, who taught them the importance in life. Marley landed a role in a feature-length movie while sharing John and Jenny’s joys and heartbreaks in life. - Seabiscuit: An American Legend
, by Laura Hillenbrand
This inspiring story tells of an unlikely hero, Seabiscuit, who was an undersized horse with a suppressed racing talent until discovered by three unlikely men, Pollard, Smith, and Howard. These men transformed Seabiscuit into an "American cultural icon" and conquered the odds in the Great Depression. - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
, by Jon Krakauer
Examining the extremes of religious belief within our own borders, Krakauer tells us of isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. - Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
, by Robert Kurson
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America,
by Erik Larson
Larson intertwines the true story of the brilliant architect behind the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Daniel Burnham, and the psychopathic killer, Henry H. Holmes, who used the Fair to lure his victims to their death. - Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
, by Julie Powell
Using Julia Child's 1961 classic, Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Fortieth - 40th - Anniversary Edition), Julie Powell breaks the monotony of her life and vows to concoct every recipe in Child’s classic all within a years time while recording her progress on her Internet blog. Plans are for a movie in 2009 starring Meryl Streep playing Julia Child.
- Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
, by Cokie Roberts
Drawing upon personal correspondence and private journals, Roberts tells the stories of
Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Reed Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Martha Washington, and other patriotic and passionate women, each of whom played a role in raising our nation.
This is the true adventure of two Americans who risked everything to solve one of the last great mysteries of World War II- identifying the wreckage of a World War II German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey.
