No Impact Man; The Adventures Of A Guilty Liberal Who Attempts To Save The Planet and The Discoveries He Makes About Himself And Our Way Of Life ...

By Colin Beavan
"Beavan... chronicles his yearlong effort to leave as little impact on the environment as possible. Realizing that he had erred in "thinking that condemning other people's misdeeds somehow made [him] virtuous," he makes a stab at genuine (and radical) virtue: forgoing toilet paper and electricity, relinquishing motorized transportation, becoming a locavore and volunteering with environmental organizations. Beavan captures his own shortcomings with candor and wit and offers surprising revelations:..."
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Unfriendly Fire: How The Gay Ban Undermines The Military And Weakens America

By Nathanial Frank
"Wide-ranging critique of the U.S. military's controversial policy. Frank....quickly and effectively sketches the long history of gays in the military, including many interesting details. Most readers will be unaware, for example, that the first homosexual American soldier was expelled during the Revolutionary War. The bulk of the book, however, is taken up with the debate over the current "don't ask, don't tell" guidelines, enacted into federal law in the early days of President Clinton's administration. The law bars gay service members from disclosing their sexual orientations or speaking about their relationships on penalty of expulsion."
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Israel Is Real; An Obsessive Quest To Understand The Jewish Nation And Its History

By Rich Cohen
"An accessible primer on a complex nation and its faith.Many of the facts about Israel are well-known. It's a Jewish state in the middle of an Islamic region of the world; its enemies question its right to exist; many European Jews have emigrated there in the decades following World War II; and its status in relation to Palestine and the rest of the region is complicated, controversial and often violent. Rolling Stone contributing editor Cohen ... takes a long, idiosyncratic view, explaining the history of a people and its religion from the time Zealots revolted against their Roman occupiers to the rise of the Zionists, who helped build the current republic. "
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Colossal Failure Of Common Sense; The Inside Story Of The Collapse Of Lehman Brothers

By Lawrence G. McDonald

"A former vice president of Lehman Brothers explains the financial collapse of the securities giant in 2008, what led to the financial crisis, and who had been responsible for its downfall."
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The Future Of America 2008; The Story Of An Extraordinary Election

By Dan Balz & Haynes Johnson
"A superior piece of political reportage and interpretation....By this account, the 2008 presidential campaign began in 2005....Although we all know how things turned out, the authors know how to work a cliffhanger, and, as they effectively demonstrate, things could have turned out differently at any number of turns."
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Inside Jihadism: Understanding Jihadi Movements Worldwide

By Farhad Khosrokhavar
"...as this thought-provoking book demonstrates, jihadism is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon that is much broader than al Qaeda. Khosrokhavar, a first-rate academic expert on Islamic radicalism, distinguishes two types of jihadi movements: one rooted primarily in the Sunni Islamic countries and the other based in the West. He explains the differences between these two movements and analyzes their major motivations for resorting to extreme acts of violence. In addition, he traces the origin and development of fundamentalism in Islam, distinguishes religious fundamentalism from jihadism, reviews the jihadi critique of conservative Islam, and identifies principal theological and political causes of jihadi violence in today's world. "
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Gangs In Garden City; How Immigration, Segregation and Youth Violence Are Changing America's Suburbs

By Sarah Garland
"In this engrossing case study of suburban gangs in Long Island's Nassau County, investigative journalist Garland demystifies the sensationalist rhetoric and simplistic media coverage stemming from the economic and demographic transformation of suburbia. Garland humanizes her subject through long-term, in-depth interviews with current and former gang members; extensive footwork across the U.S. and Central America; and a formidable command of relevant foreign and public policy decisions. While offering a detailed look inside such notorious gangs as Mara Salvatrucha and its self-styled affiliates, Garland makes a persuasive case that her subjects' attraction to gang life had less to do with what gangs offered than with "what America did not." "
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