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TitleAuthorTopic/Genre Category (Fiction/NF, Novel/etc.)Paper back?LinkSuggested ByCommentsDate added to list

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 MarchBrooks, GeraldineCivil WarNovelYhttp://www.amazon.com/March-Geraldine-Brooks/dp/0143036661/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1Kate Cohen2006 Pulitzer Prize

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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham LincolnGoodwin, Doris KearnsHistory PoliticsNFYhttp://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780743270755-4Nancy Spaeth

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West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American StoryAnsary, TamimMiddle EastNovelYhttp://www.powells.com/review/2002_04_17.htmlKate Cohen

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Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew AmericaFriedman, Thomas L.Environmental, PoliticsNFSept 2009http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374166854/bookstorenow99-20Juliet Christian-SmithOne Berkeley tech writer's review: http://xrmcontent.blogspot.com/2009/01/hot-flat-crowded.html. This is Juliet here - this book is essentially about "greening" America's economy. How is this tied to our energy sources, foreign debt, and national image? All these relevant issues are discussed. Friedman also has a very clear bias that I am sure will inspire lots of opinions and a great discussion.

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The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives RuleFrank, ThomasPoliticsNFYhttp://www.amazon.com/Wrecking-Crew-How-Conservatives-Rule/dp/0805090908/ref=ed_oe_pNancy S

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Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill)Johnston, David CayEconomicsNFYhttp://www.amazon.com/Free-Lunch-Wealthiest-Themselves-Government/dp/1591842484/ref=sr_1_1Monica R

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The Second Shift Hochschild, ArlieEconomics, women's issuesNFYhttp://www.powells.com/biblio/17-0142002925-0Jennie A

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Confessions of an Economic Hit ManPerkins, JohnNFYhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2159.Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_ManJennie A/Katherine DKatherine says: It is a great book. On the con side, it is one person's story, his biography of sorts. On the pro side, it touches on huge issues related to America and the world today, so there's certainly plenty to discuss besides his life. It was an engaging read, to say the least. I think it would make a good book-club read, esp if you're trying to find engaging economics books.1/29/2009

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One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic DemocracyFrank, ThomasEconomicsNF 2001Yhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/189114.One_Market_Under_God_Extreme_Capitalism_Market_Populism_and_the_End_of_Economic_Democracy
Jennie AHave not read, but sounds interesting1/29/2009

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The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip ConsumerismFrank, Thomassocio-business-economicsNF 1998Yhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174711.The_Conquest_of_Cool_Business_Culture_Counterculture_and_the_Rise_of_Hip_ConsumerismJennie AHave not read, but sounds interesting

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The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding GlobalizationFriedman, Thomas L.globalizationNF 2000Yhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/750761.The_Lexus_and_the_Olive_Tree_Understanding_GlobalizationJennie AMONCIA SAYS THIS BOOK IS OUT OF DATE Have not read, but sounds interesting

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In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in AmericaKatz, Michael Bsocio-economicsNF 1996Yhttp://www.powells.com/biblio/65-9780465032105-2Jennie AHave not read, but sounds interesting

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FreakonomicsSteven Levitt and Stephen Dubner economicsNF 2005Yhttp://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780061245138-0GinnyAgain, actually recommended by a friend of Ginny's2/9/2009

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Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the WestBhutto, Benazir Politics, religionNFYhttp://www.amazon.com/Reconciliation-Islam-Democracy-Benazir-Bhutto/dp/0061567590/ref=ed_oe_pMary S

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The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It Robert J ShillereconomicsNF 2008Nhttp://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780691139296-0GinnyNot yet in paperback. Actually recommended by a friend of Ginny's. She (the friend) said:
This is a very good book by Robert Shiller of Yale -- he was one of the few to have been warning about the potential for this for years.		2/9/2009

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A Lesson Before DyingGaines, Ernest J. justice, facing deathnovelYeshttp://www.neabigread.org/events.php?mode=detailEvent&EventID=18422JennieThis book is for the NEA's Big Read effort (see link for details). There are related events going on around the Oakland area right now, see http://www.neabigread.org/events.php?mode=communityCalendar&communityID=2761&cid=bigread

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The Sushi Economy
Sasha Issenbergeconomics, global economyNF 2008Yhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/B001IDZJZE/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=booksMonicaIn the same vein as "The Omnivore’s Dilemma” it traces a serious subject, in this case the global economy, through the making and consumption of sushi. It’s by Sasha Issenberg, in paperback, and eminently readable.
2/14/2009

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Havah: The Story of EveLee, Tosca '92biblical fiction2008Yhttp://www.amazon.com/Havah-Story-Eve-Tosca-Lee/dp/1600061249Jennie AMy first year at Smith, in Park House, Tosca was a senior. I am curious to read her latest book, though have not read any to date (just heard about her as an author recently).

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Mania, Panic , CrashesCharles KindlebergereconomicsNF 2008Nohttp:/www.amazon.comJane RobinsonRecommended at the economic lecture series Nancy & I have been attending by UC Professor

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The return of Depresssion economics and the Crisis of 2008Krugman, PauleconomicsNF 2008Nohttp://www.amazonJaneRecommended at the economic lecture series Nancy & I have been attending by UC Professor

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Panic! The story of modern financial InsanityLewis, Michael economicsNF 2008Nohttp://www.amazonJaneRecommended at the economic lecture series Nancy & I have been attending by UC Professor

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MolokaiBrennert, Alanhistorical fictionFictionYhttp://www.alanbrennert.com/Pg_Molokai.htmlJennie A[Historical fiction, opposite of immigrant experience (exile). Poignant, a good read, and I learned a lot/got a different perspective on events I knew about. Not controversial, but I think it would be a good bookclub book.]

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place - and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off
lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning. With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death.		9/26/2009

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The GroupMcCarthy, Marywomen's college graduates, lifeFictionYJennie A(1991) McCarthy's most celebrated novel portrays the experiences of eight young women from Vassar College, Class of '33. As the story opens, they meet in New York City for the wedding of Kay, one of the group. The author then describes the lives, loves, and aspirations of these women until they reconvene seven years later in the same city for Kay's funeral. Juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant.10/14/2009

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Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard RodriguezRodriguez, RichardEducation/Language/EthnicityNFYJennie ANon-fiction bridging the gap from language (Pinker) to other aspects of culture

Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum.

Here is the poignant journey of a "minority student" who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation
- from his past, his parents, his culture - and so describes the high price of "making it" in middle-class America.

Provocative in its positions on affirmative action and bilingual education, Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a profound study of the importance of language ... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become a man.		10/14/2009

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The Whole World OverGlass, JuliaLifeFictionYhttp://www.amazon.com/Whole-World-Over-Novel/dp/0375422749Jennie AGreenie Duquette loves her cozy life in the West Village, her work as a pastry chef, and her precocious young son. But she is fed up with her husband, Alan, an underemployed psychotherapist whose once passionate beliefs are ossifying into reflexive bitterness. When, in early 2000, the brash Republican governor of New Mexico offers her a lucrative job, she jumps at it; Alan is free to follow her if he chooses. In Glass's sprawling follow-up to her award-winning novel "Three Junes," a dozen or so characters are plunged into the tumultuous dissatisfactions and challenges of middle age, their paths crossing and recrossing with a pleasing mixture of chance and inevitability. Glass is fascinated by the ways people gamble both with and for their happiness, but her characters are a little too decent, generous, and forgiving. Even as we watch their dramas unfold in the shadow of 9/11, the potential horror of irrevocable choices eludes us. Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker - click here to subscribe. 11/10/2009

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This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human ObsessionLevitin, DanielMusic, brainNFYhttp://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525/ref=tmm_pap_title_0MaryBetter read and more relevant/interesting to us about our own brains and our neurological responses to music.Fall 2009