Fractals of Change

Jeffrey Toobin: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
Toobin says the court is (and should be) political. At its best about Sandra Day O'Conner; at its worst about hanging chad and the supremes.

Iain Pears: The Immaculate Deception
Another light (but actually pretty dark and cynical) tale of Flavia di Stefano's search for stolen art. Murder happens.

Vito Dumas: Alone through the Roaring Forties (The Sailor's Classics #5) (Sailor's Classics Series)
Quirky self-told tail of a solo sail the "wrong way" arund the world in the roaring forties of southern latitude. Fun for sailors.

Joseph J. Ellis: American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic
A damned good attempt at an answer to the question of "why do we have to choose between Bush and Gore when, 200 years ago, people chose between Adams and Jefferson"

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A great book full of contradictions. Stories warn us against the danger of telling ourselves stories; successful trader Taleb warns us against assuming successful traders are wise; arrogance is punctured arrogantly. Read it!

Howard Frank Mosher: On Kingdom Mountain
The quirkiness of the Kingdom County people sometimes becomes cuteness in what's not Mosher's best book. But still a fun read.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
If you always suspected that those richer than you are just lucky, Taleb will show you that you're probably right. But don't get comfortable; this great book'll show you why you are wrong about much else.

Dava Sobel: Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time
The story of the clockmaker who beat the astronomers to a practical solution for finding longitude at sea.

C. J. Sansom: Winter in Madrid
Sansom shifts his historical fiction from the reformation to Spain under Franco in the miserable winter of 1940. At least as good - maybe better - than his Shardlake series.

Eric Burns: Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism
Turns out the Founding Fathers were as rowdy as bunch of bloggers - and used sock puppets - when they wrote for the first American newspapers. Lots of fun here... and good and bad writing.

Peter L. Bernstein: Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation
Well told story. Excellent economic analysis plus understanding of the network effect in transportation.

Jared Diamond: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Jared lays out the reasons why some past societies succeeded in dealing with their problems while other didn't. He wants us to learn how to deal with ours before they deal with us.

John Lukacs: The Duel: The Eighty-Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler
Very timely reading now when much of Europe and even some in the US seem once more bent on appeasing fascists.

Chris Anderson: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More
Wired editor Chris Anderson describes how the endless shelf of the Internet makes niche products possible and profitable. The book itself, however, is a hit,

Pip Coburn: The Change Function : Why Some Technologies Take Off and Others Crash and Burn
Investors' guide to picking technology winners and avoiding the losers. Also lots of good advice for business types making product decisions.

Dan Gillmor: We the Media : Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People
Blogging is a big part of citizen journalism and vice versa. This is THE book on Citizen Journalism. Will it save us (will we save us?) when traditional journalism has failed?

Pam Lewis: Speak Softly, She Can Hear : A Novel
An excellent thriller set in NYC and Vermont. Protagonist's character strengthens under pressure - but the pressure grows as well. What'll break first? Read the book.

Elizabeth George: A Suitable Vengeance
An excellent prequel to many of George's other books - and a very good love story as well.

Julie Powell: Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Overall winner of the 2006 Lulul Blooker Award (prize for blooks).

Cherie Priest: Four and Twenty Blackbirds
Winner of the 2006 Lulu Blooker Award (prize for blooks) in the fiction category.