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Notable Books — Non-Fiction
2011
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness by Oren Harman
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson
The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
2010
Columbine Dave Cullen
Zeitoun Dave Eggers
The Good Soldiers David Zinkel
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon David Grann
The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders Emmanuel Guibert
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science Richard Holmes
Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld & the American Dream Patrick Radden Keefe
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Christopher McDougall Christopher.
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath Michael and Elizabeth Norman
Provenance: How a Con Man & a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art Lainey Salisbury and Aly Sujo
Stitches: A Memoir David Small
The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War Nicholas Thompson
2009
The Bin-Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century- Steve Coll
- This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
- Drew Gilpin Faust
- The Forever War
- Dexter Filkins
- Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950
- Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
- The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
- Annette Gordon-Reed
- Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- Mark Harris
- A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
- Tony Horwitz
- The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
- Jane Mayer
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto- Michael Pollan
- American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work
- Nick Taylor
- Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us)
- Tom Vanderbilt
- The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order
- Joan Wickersham
2008
- The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
- Diane Ackerman
- The Canon
- Natalie Angier
- Super Crunchers
- Ian Ayres
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun- Peter Godwin
- How Doctors Think
- Jerome Groopman
- Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
- Georgina Howell
- Einstein: His Life and Universe
- Walter Isaacson
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
- Barbara Kingsolver
- Oil on the Brain
- Lisa Margonelli
- The World Without Us
- Alan Weisman
2007
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
- Alison Bechdel
- The Worst Hard Time: The Untold of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
- Timothy Egan
- The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
- Tim Flannery
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey To Rescue Africa's Children- Melissa Fay Greene
- Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present
- Peter Hessler
- Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City
- Jed Horne
- The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World of Impressionism
- Ross King
- Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
- Elizabeth Kohlberg
- Mayflower: A Story of Courage Community, and War
- Nathaniel Philbrick
- The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
- Julie Phillips and James Tiptree, Jr.
- The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire
- Tom Zoellner
2006
- Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
- Svetlana Alexievich, translator: Keith Gessen
- A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City
- Anonymous, translator: Philip Boehm
- Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America
- Fergus Bordewich
The Fly in the Cathedral- Brian Cathcart
- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
- Jared Diamond
- Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story
- Kurt Eichenwald
- New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan
- Jill Lepore
- Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees
- Caroline Moorehead
- The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
- George Packer
- The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life
- Tom Reiss
- John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights
- David S. Reynolds
Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima- Steven Walker
- The Glass Castle
- Jeannette Walls
2005
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow
- One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future Paul R. and Anne E. Ehrlich
- Washington's Crossing David Hackett Fischer
- Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution Robin Marantz Henig,
- Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib Seymour M. Hersh
- 1968: The Year That Rocked the World Mark Kurlansky
- Outwitting History: How One Man Rescued a Million Books and Saved a Civilization Aaron Lansky
- Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage David Moats
- The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorists Attacks upon the United States National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States
- Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 Nathaniel Philbrick
- The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw Michael Sokolove
- One Man's Castle: Clarence Darrow in Defense of the American Dream Phyllis Vine
2004
- Wrapped in rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston Valerie Boyd
- Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir Lillian Faderman
- Beyond the River: The Untold stroy of the heroes of the Underground Railroad Ann Hagedorn
- Flat Broke with children: Women in the age of welfare reform Sharon Hays
- Mountains beyond mountains: The Quest of Dr Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world Tracy Kidder
- Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling Ross King
- Under the banner of heaven: A Story of violent faith Jon Krakauer
- Random family: Love, drugs and coming of age in the Bronx Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
- Food Inc: Mendel to Monsanto - The Promises and perils of the biotech harvest Peter Pringle
- Monster of God: The Man-eating predator in the jungles of history and the mind David Quammen
- Krushshev: The Man and his era William Taubman
- Triangle: The Fire that changed America David Von Drehle
2003
- The Complete Works of Isaac Babel Isaac Babel
- Selected essays John Berger
- Blood Diamonds: tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones Greg Campbell
- Master of the Senate: The years of Lyndon Johnson vol. 3 Robert Caro
- Complications: A Surgeon's notes on an imperfect science Atul Gawande
- Can't be satisfied: the life and times of Muddy Waters Robert Gordon
- Theodore Rex Edmund Morris
- Wilful murder: the sinking of the Lusitania Diana Preston
- Jesse James: Last rebel of the Civil War T. J. Stiles
- The Future of the past Alexander Stille
- The Future of life Edward O. Wilson
2002
- American Chica: Two worlds, one childhood Marie Arana
- Aztec treasure house: New and selected essays Evan Connell
- An Unexpected light: Travels in Afghanistan Jason Elliot
- War in a time of peace: Bush, Clinton and the generals David Halberstam
- Going up the river: Travels in a prison nation Joseph T. Hallinan
- River Town: Two years on the Yangtze Peter Hessler
- Seabiscuit: an American legend Laura Hillenbrand
- The Breast cancer wars: Hope, fear & the pursuit of a cure in twentieth-century America Barron H Lerner
- Crossing over: A Mexican family on the migrant trail Ruben Martinez
- John Adams David McCullough
- Fast food nation: The Dark side of the All-American meal Eric Schlosser
- Grant Jean Edward Smith
- The Noonday demon: An Atlas of depression Andrew Solomon
2001
- From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present Jacques Barzun
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers
- Barrow's Boys Fergus Fleming
- Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach Alice Yaeger Kaplan
- Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Matt Ridley
- Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran Elaine Sciolino
- Bruce Chatwin Nicholas Shakespeare
- In Siberia Colin Thubron
2000
- Show me a hero: A Tale of murder, suicide, race and redemption Lisa Belkin
- Black Hawk Down: A Story of modern war Mark Bowden
- Embracing defeat: Japan in the wake of World War II John Dower
- The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the Ultimate Theory Brian Greene
- How to read a poem and fall in love with poetry Edward Hirsch
- I Will bear witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933–1941 Victor Klemperer
- Journey beyond Selene: Remarkable expeditions past our moon and to the ends of the solar system Jeffrey Kluger
- The Orchid Thief: A True story of beauty and obsession Susan Orlean
- Passage to Juneau: A Sea and its meanings Jonathan Raban
- King of the world: Muhammad Ali and the rise of an American hero David Remnick
- A Clearing in the distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the nineteenth century Witold Rybczynski
- Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) Stacy Schiff
1999
- The Life of Thomas More Peter Ackroyd
- Lindbergh A. Scott Berg
- Pillar of fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65 Taylor Branch
- Titan: The Life of John D. Rockfeller Ron Chernow
- The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the sands Nicholas Clapp
- Articles of faith: A Frontline history of the Abortion Wars Cynthia Gorney
- King Leopold's ghost: A Story of greed, terror, and heroism in colonial Africa Adam Hochschild
- Ship of gold in the deep blue sea Gary Kinder
- A Beautiful mind Sylvia Nasar
- A Hope in the unseen: An American odyssey from the inner city to the Ivy League Ron Suskind
1998
- T. Rex and the crater of doom Walter Alvarez
- All over but the shoutin' Rick Bragg
- Blood Rites: Origins & history of the passions of war Barbara Ehrenreich
- A People's tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution Orlando Figes
- Next of kin: What chimpanzees have taught me about who we are Roger Fouts with Stephen Tukel Mills
- Ornament and silence: Essays on women's lives Kennedy Fraser
- The Perfect storm: A True story of men against the sea Sebastian Junger
- Into Thin air: A Personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster Jon Krakauer
- American scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence Pauline Maier
- Bad Land: An American romance Jonathan Raban
- Utopia parkway: The Life and work of Joseph Cornell Deborah Solomon
- The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time Simon Winchester
