The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

February 7, 2012

Summary (from the publisher): The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Timothy Egan’s critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. Following a dozen families and [...]

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One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com by Richard L. Brandt

January 7, 2012

Summary (from the publisher): Amazon’s business model is deceptively simple: Make online shopping so easy and convenient that customers won’t think twice. It can almost be summed up by the button on every page: “Buy now with one click.” Why has Amazon been so successful? Much of it has to do with Jeff Bezos, the [...]

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Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

December 22, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political [...]

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I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson

December 8, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens–as he later put it, “it was clear my people needed me”). They [...]

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Demonic by Ann Coulter

November 13, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): The demon is a mob, and the mob is demonic. The Democratic Party activates mobs, depends on mobs, coddles mobs, publicizes and celebrates mobs—it is the mob. Sweeping in its scope and relentless in its argument, Demonic explains the peculiarities of liberals as standard groupthink behavior. To understand mobs is to [...]

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Stupid American History by Leland Gregory

July 16, 2011

Synopsis (from the publisher): America is the home of the brave and, apparently, the stupid and gullible. Satirist Leland Gregory teaches us a lesson in historical hilarity with Stupid American History. From Columbus to George W. Bush (that’s a lot of material, people), Leland leads us through American history’s mythconceptions, exposing idiocy and inanity along [...]

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Pinheads and Patriots by Bill O’Reilly

June 10, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): When Bill O’Reilly interviewed then-Senator Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential elections, the two had a lively debate about the nation’s future. Since that time, America has changed rapidly some would even say seismically. And many believe these shifts are doing more than just rocking the political and social climate; they’re [...]

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Stupid History by Leland Gregory

June 2, 2011

Description (from the publisher): Why exactly is Paul Revere revered? Was the lightbulb really Thomas Edison’s bright idea? * Best-selling author Leland Gregory employs his masterful wit to expose historical myths, faux “facts,” strange events, and tales of human stupidity throughout history. If it would shock you to learn that Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity, [...]

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The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

May 30, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): Best friends Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg had spent many lonely nights looking for a way to stand out among Harvard University’s elite, competitive, and accomplished student body. Then, in 2003, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard’s computers, crashed the campus network, almost got himself expelled, and was inspired to create Facebook, the [...]

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

May 6, 2011

Summary (from the publisher): Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are [...]

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