On The Brink; Inside The Race To Stop The Collapse Of The Global Financial System

By Henry Paulson
"From the man who was in the very middle of this perfect economic storm, ON THE BRINK is Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed. Paulson puts the reader in the room for all the intense moments as he addressed urgent market conditions, weighed critical decisions, and debated policy and economic considerations with of all the notable players-including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and then-President George W. Bush."  (Publisher Content)

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Willful Neglect; The Dangerous Illusion of Homeland Security

By Charles Faddis
"..., the author...was trained through his years in the field with the CIA to know what it is like to stand in the shoes of a terrorist and appraise targets. In Willful Neglect, he applies this expert knowledge to scrutinizing the preparedness of the nation’s critical infrastructure—military installations, passenger and freight rail systems, chemical plants, liquefied natural gas facilities, water treatment plants, dams, and nuclear power plants. America is still a land of opportunity, he finds—for its enemies."  (Publisher Content)
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No Apology; A Case For American Greatness

By Mitt Romney
"In No Apology, Mitt Romney asserts that American strength is essential—not just for our own well-being, but for the world’s.  Governments such as China and a newly-robust Russia threaten to overtake us on many fronts, and Islam continues its dangerous rise.  Drawing on history for lessons on how great powers collapse, Romney shows how and why our national advantages have eroded.  From the long-term decline of our manufacturing base, our laggard educational system that has left us without enough engineers, scientists, and other skilled professionals, our corrupted financial practices that led to the current crisis, and the crushing impact of entitlements on our future obligations, America is in debt, overtaxed, and unprepared for the challenges it must face.
We need renewal: fresh ideas to cut through complicated problems and restore our strength."  (Publisher Description)
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A World Without Bees

By Alison Benjamin
"The authors of this data-rich study about the mystery of the disappearing honeybee, dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) since first noted in 2006, consider an array of contributory causes, from invasive mites and the advent of monoculture to pesticide ingestion and urban sprawl. But the collapse, they suggest, likely has no single culprit and can be rolled into an overarching reality, stressed honeybees, now trucked in dwindling numbers across the continent, have been pushed to the point of collapse "so that the global agricultural system can keep producing cheap food." The numbers are daunting: one-third of everything Americans eat, from nuts and onions to berries and broccoli, depends on nature's master pollinator; 800,000 colonies representing billions of bees died mysteriously in 2007, and one million vanished in 2008. Continuing CCD could cost the American economy $75 billion, and if CCD continues unchecked, there could be a world without bees by 2035. Benjamin and McCallum, beekeepers both, cover much the same ground as previous books (A Spring Without Bees; Fruitless Fall), but bring the added emotion and urgency of passionate apiarists. (Oct.)" (PW Reviews)
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A Wall In Palestine

By Rene Backmann
"French journalist Backmann takes on the Orwellian semantic debate played out daily in the lives of Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank: is the massive construction project snaking through more than 400 miles of the West Bank a "security barrier," as Israel calls it, or an "apartheid wall," as many Palestinians describe it? Is it being built in order to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian terrorism, as Israel insists, or was it conceived "to protect the [Israeli] settlements, to give them room to grow"? Are Palestinians' humanitarian needs being met, as project supporters say—or in the words of an Israeli human rights lawyer, does the wall's construction "inevitably bring about human rights violations"? With extensive boots-on-the-ground journalism and close examination of the historical record, Backmann demonstrates that while Israeli security concerns are real, the wall is undeniably also a political tool with life-shattering implications for the Palestinians whose lives it surrounds and constricts. " (PW Reviews)
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The Next Hundred Million; America In 2050

By Joel Kotkin
"Kotkin (The City) offers a well-researched—and very sunny—forecast for the American economy, arguing that despite its daunting current difficulties, the U.S. will "emerge by midcentury as the most affluent, culturally rich, and successful nation in human history." Nourished by mass immigration and American society's "proven adaptability," the country will reign supreme over an "industrialized world beset by old age, bitter ethnic conflicts, and erratically functioning economic institutions." Although decreasing social mobility will present a challenge, demographic resources will give the U.S. an edge over its European rivals, which will be constrained by shrinking work forces and rapidly proliferating social welfare commitments. Largely concerned with migration patterns within the U.S., the book also offers a nonpartisan view of America's strengths, identifying both pro-immigration and strongly capitalist policies as sources of its continued prosperity. However, Kotkin tends to gloss over the looming and incontrovertible challenges facing the country and devotes limited space to the long-term consequences posed by the current recession, the rise of India and China, and the resulting competition over diminishing energy resources. Nevertheless, his confidence is well-supported and is a reassuring balm amid the political and economic turmoil of the moment." (PW Reviews)
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I.O.U.; Why Everyone Owes Everyone And No One Can Pay

By John Lanchester
"Award-winning novelist Lancaster's father was a banker, hence his interest in finance-which has a distinctive culture he's here to explain. He's no cheerleader, declaring that banks foolishly challenged "capital-reserve rules which would have stopped them going broke in the current crisis." Way to go." (LJ Reviews)
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