Suggestions from our listeners, via email and phone.

["Best Books" - BL Show - 12/12/05]

A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz. Translated from Hebrew by Nicholas de Lange
Oz writes a powerful personal memoir of a writer growing up in the war-torn city of Jerusalem, with politics and humor around a clash of cultures.

A Great improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America by Stacy Schiff.
An engaging history of Benjamin Franklin’s time as a statesman in France, A great Improvisation is replete with colorful characters and mysterious intrigues.

The End of the Line by Barry Lynn
The End of the Line takes a deep and in-depth look at the Anatomy of globalization, and the systems of dependence it has created.

Lessons in Taxidermy by Bee Lavender
In a memoir of her body’s failures, Lavender writes about sickness, survival, and the disassociation that comes with living daily with ones own mortality.

Garbage land: the secret trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte
Where does our Garbage go after we set it on the curb? Garbage Land is a brilliant exploration into the soiled heart of the American trashcan.

One Woman’s Army by Janice Karpinski
A first person account of what went on in the now infamous Abu grab prison, Karpinski also talks about the experience of being a woman in the role as military commander.

The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto
A history of the Island of Manhattan, Shorto examines the beginnings of the city and the initial influences of Dutch settlers to its eventual formation.

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
A coming of age story about a boy without a father who turns to his relationships with his mother and with the family found in his uncles bar to see him through.

The pope’s Daughter by Carolyn Murphy
The story of Felice della Rovere, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II, and her role in the renaissance.

The bomb in my Garden by Dr. Mahdi Obeidi
Dr. Obeidi, the chief weapon’s scientist for Saddam Hussain’s Iraq, tells his own story about WMD’s and Invasion.

The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs
Sachs examines Economic solutions to the world’s poverty problems.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Mountains Beyond Mountains is the story of a Doctor who finds his calling in providing modern medicine to those who have the least access to it. It follows Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder of Partners in Health.

The top five according to the NY times editors and contributors, straight from the mouth of Sam Tanenhaus
Assassins Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer
This groundbreaking book recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and how it became ensnared in a guerilla war in Iraq.

de Kooning: An American Master by Mark Stevens
This exhaustively researched biography is a portrait of the abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, who arrived in New York as a stowaway from Rotterdam in 1926 and underwent a long struggle to become a painter.

Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr
A biography of the Italian artist Caravaggio leads the author Harr on a complex journey to rediscover one of the artist’s long lost paintings.

Post war: a History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt
This book is a mammoth history of the trends and changes of a continent after having been ravaged by two wars.

Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Didion writes an intensely personal memoir of sickness and health, marriage, and other details family life.

Posted by leboheme at 03:41 PM