nonfiction - Macmillan Library

The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2011

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Ali Fisher

We've already seen The New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2011 and now they've posted their top 10! We're proud to see two of our enlightening nonfiction tites on the list:

THE BOY IN THE MOON
A Father’s Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son.
Ian Brown

"Brown combines a reporter’s curiosity with a novelist’s instinctive feel for the unknowable in this exquisite book"

Read an excerpt here.

THINKING, FAST AND SLOW
Daniel Kahneman

"In this comprehensive presentation of a life’s work, the world’s most influential psychologist demonstrates that irrationality is in our bones, and we are not necessarily the worse for it."

Read an excerpt here.

Also, did you see this absurdly awesome suit jacket that they made out of the top ten book jackets? Seems like it might wrinkle easily, though.

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The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2011:

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ali Fisher

The New York Times has weighed in with their list of 100 Notable Books of 2011 and there are quite a few excellent Macmillan reads in both the fiction and nonfiction sections:

Fiction & Poetry:

THE BARBARIAN NURSERIES by Héctor Tobar
BIG QUESTIONS by Anders Brekhus Nilsen
CANTI by Giacomo Leopardi
THE FREE WORLD by David Bezmozgis
THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
LIFE ON MARS by Tracy K. Smith
THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
PARALLEL STORIES by Peter Nadas
THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman
TALLER WHEN PRONE: Poems by Les Murray
TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson

Nonfiction:

AND SO IT GOES by Charles J. Shields
THE BOY IN THE MOON by Ian Brown
EXAMINED LIVES by James Miller
IS THAT A FISH IN YOUR EAR? by David Bellos
MIDNIGHT RISING by Tony Horwitz
ONE DAY I WILL WRITE ABOUT THIS PLACE by Binyavanga Wainaina
THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER by Francis Fukuyama
PULPHEAD by John Jeremiah Sullivan
RIGHTS GONE WRONG by Richard Thompson Ford
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW by Daniel Kahneman
WHY THE WEST RULES—FOR NOW by Ian Morris

See The New York Times' full list of notable books here.

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Word of the Day: Economics Cont’d

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Two weeks ago, we offered you a few nonfiction suggestions to cultivate a more nuanced understanding of the Occupy Wall Street discussion.

Today, we have another excellent reading recommendation for patrons interested in learning more about America's economic condition, in this case, as it relates to law.

WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR SOME
How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful
by Glenn Greenwald

Over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered system of justice ensures that the country's political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the world.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profoundly un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else.

"Greenwald lets no one off the hook in demonstrating the vast differences in legal recourse between rich and poor, powerful and weak." -Kirkus Reviews

"Greenwald, called one of the '25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media' by Forbes and a 'blogosphere superstar' by Mother Jones, is just the guy to write this book. Not for legalists only." -Library Journal

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Word of the Day: Economics

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Ali Fisher

That's right! We're still on our Word of the Day kick and today we're talking economics.

With the Occupy Wall Street discussion on everyone's minds, your patrons might be coming to you for some nonfiction reading guidance. We have a few suggestions for you.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Barbara Ehrenreich

In this Alex Award winning book, Ehrenreich, a sharp and original social critic, goes "undercover" as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity.

How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities
John Cassidy

In this Pulitzer Prize finalist, Cassidy describes the rising influence of "utopian economies"—the thinking that is blind to how real people act and that denies the many ways an unregulated free market can bring on disaster.

The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World
Michael Spence

Spence, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, explains what happened to cause a dramatic shift after World War II between massive growth in the industrialized West to explosive growth in the developing world.

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Nonfiction Naked with Rob Kirkpatrick #4

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Nonfiction Naked is a column brought to you by Rob Kirkpatrick, a senior editor with Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin's Press!

Read all of Rob Kirkpatrick's Nonfiction Naked articles here on the Macmillan Library blog.

AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTHINESS
The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert
Lisa Rogak

AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTHINESS (Thomas Dunne Books, October) delivers a funny and personal portrait of the ground-breaking star.

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American Dogs as War Heroes

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Ali Fisher

We're closing out National Dog Week with a look at Lisa Rogak's THE DOGS OF WAR.

Few civilians realize we have dogs serving in combat, let alone that they can parachute from up to 30,000 feet.

In this book, Lisa Rogak shows the amazing range of jobs that military working dogs perform, such as explosives detection, patrol, and hunt for enemy combatants. Dogs have had a place in the military for decades, but their importance and our treatment of them has evolved over time. Rogak examines the training, equipment, and what it’s like to serve with them on the front lines.

THE DOGS OF WAR also tells heart-warming stories of the deep connections that grow between dogs and their handlers. Rogak recounts adventures both heroic and tragic of the courage and devotion that both human and canine soldiers have shown together on the battlefield.

Publishers Weekly recently featured a few books about heroic war dogs including THE DOGS OF WAR. They say,

"Tales of dogs participating in war are some of the few uplifting stories to come out of Iraq and Afghanistan. St. Martin's editor Peter Joseph says such titles 'are positive reminders that there are things more important than politics.' Lisa Rogak's THE DOGS OF WAR: The Courage, Love, and Loyalty of Military Working Dogs (Oct.) covers the range of jobs performed by military dogs, some of whom can parachute from as high as 30,000 feet."

This is an excellent read for dog-lovers and military aficionados, alike.

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Spiders and Pigs: The Life of E.B. White

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Ali Fisher

In THE STORY OF CHARLOTTE'S WEB, Michael Sims tells the charming story of E.B. White, the man who created Wilbur, Charlotte, Fern, and, of course, everyone's favorite self-proclaimed glutton Templeton.

Library Journal says, "Sims successfully argues that CHARLOTTE'S WEB unintentionally became a 'summary of what it felt like to be E.B. White.' [...] Scholars of children’s literature as well as fans—child and grown-up alike—of either White generally or Charlotte’s Web in particular will enjoy this biblio-biography."

And Kirkus Reviews says it's, "Packed with the same kind of sensory detail its subject reveled in, this account is an honorable addition to the literature of letters."

This is the type of biography that is so rich with detail and driven with purpose it reads like a novel.*

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The Boy in the Moon: Learning from Disabilities

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Ali Fisher

THE BOY IN THE MOON is an extraordinary true story that we felt we needed to bring to your attention.

Author Ian Brown’s son Walker is one of only about 300 people worldwide diagnosed with cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome—an extremely rare genetic mutation that results in unusual facial appearance, the inability to speak, and a compulsion to hit himself constantly. At age thirteen, he is mentally and developmentally between one and three years old and will need constant care for the rest of his life.

Brown travels the globe, meeting with genetic scientists and neurologists as well as parents, to solve the questions Walker’s doctors can’t answer. In his journey, he offers an insightful critique of society’s assumptions about the disabled, and he discovers a connected community of families living with this illness. As Brown gradually lets go of his self-blame and hope for a cure, he learns to accept the Walker he loves, just as he is.

Kirkus Reviews calls it, "A father’s candid, heart-wrenching account of raising, loving and trying to connect with and gain insight into his severely disabled son. [...] Much more than a moving journal of life with a disabled child; it is about Brown’s quest to understand his son and his son’s condition."

The New York Times Book Review did a wonderful piece about Brown, Walker, and their book; we recommend you take a look at it. Read "What Disabled Children Teach Us" here.

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Library Journal’s List: 9/11 Ten Years Later

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Earlier this month Library Journal printed a list of notable books on the topic of September 11th. In their article, Changed Forever—9/11 Ten Years Later, Library Journal highlighted a few of our books that we think are worth repeating.

102 MINUTES: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FLIGHT TO SURVIVE INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS
Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn
marked as a "core title"

At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers. Over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews with rescuers and survivors, thousands of pages of oral histories, and countless phone, e-mail, and emergency radio transcripts, New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn tell the story of September 11 from the inside looking out.

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD SINCE 9/11: DISASTER, DECEPTION, AND DESTRUCTION IN THE WAR ON TERROR
Dominic Streatfeild

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Nonfiction Naked with Rob Kirkpatrick #3

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Ali Fisher

Nonfiction Naked is brought to you by Rob Kirkpatrick, a senior editor with Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin's Press!

See all of Rob's Nonfiction Naked articles here.

Hi everyone, I’m back to tell you about two great titles for 2011…

Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Greg Lawrence

In case you missed it earlier this year, you should check out JACKIE AS EDITOR: THE LITERARY LIFE OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS by Greg Lawrence. History remembers Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as the consummate first lady, the quintessential embodiment of elegance. But many people forget that after JFK and after Aristotle, Jackie enjoyed a long career as a book editor for almost two decades and worked on more than 100 books at Viking and Doubleday during the industry’s Golden Age. Lawrence, one of the authors whom Jackie edited, draws from interviews with more than 125 of her former collaborators and acquaintances in the publishing world.

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