Obama’s story of self-discovery, written before his election to public office, reveals how he came to be the man who inspired change in so many – he is the embodiment of the American melting pot. Insightful.

Recommended by Sarah S.

Experience all France has to offer through the eyes of the six-foot-plus friendly giant as she falls in love with food, culture and the lifestyle of the tres-chic France.

Recommended by Karineh

Boylan's earlier memoir, She's Not There, focused on her sex reassignment. This book takes us back to her childhood, when she was still James and her family had just moved into a house that may be haunted. Boylan explores the ghosts that haunted her as both a child and as an adult, including the boy she once was who no longer exists. Exquisitely written, moving and funny, this is the best nonfiction book I read in 2008.

Recommended by Anne

Steve martin shares a theory that sums up his approach to comedy:   “Make the audience laugh, but leave them unable to describe what it was that made them laugh” (113).  His autobiography as a work entire couldn’t encapsulate this ideology better.  Born Standing Up is a self-conscious and endearing journey into the past.  Martin charts his career as a performer from adolescence through early adulthood and he enriches his narrative with humorous reflections on himself, others, and life’s caprices.  Martin confides in the reader, spewing philosophical insights about the purpose of comedy in one paragraph then speaking openly about his love life and insecurities in the next.  He exposes embarrassing, memorable, and touching experiences that shape the reality of a comic’s life. Defying conventional narrative forms, Martin drops random jokes and colorful conversations with popular figures in the entertainment industry (they were all, back then, a bunch of fun-loving creative kids).  What impresses me most about Martin’s work is his ability to come across as a consistently honest, good-natured artist who is passionate and serious about comedy.  We not only learn that he is an admirer of fine art, poetry, and the (il)logic of C.S. Lewis, but that Martin also has anxiety attacks and family issues that complicate his dreams.  The reader will come away with an understanding of Martin’s anti-comedic style and appreciate the rich historical context he provides.  Martin show how the free spirit of the sixties and seventies extended to the entertainment circles of the time and informed his own thinking.  A book that becomes more poignant when each chapter, Born Standing Up is filled with the same playfulness that characterizes Marin himself.  Your spirits will lift without exactly knowing why; that’s just how Steve Martin’s theory plays out. 

Recommended by Joanne

American Bloomsbury is a highly readable exploration of Concord, Massachusetts during the time Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and others called it home. A great look into one of the most important writers communities.
Recommended by Sherri

Dean Martin is best remembered as a member of the Rat Pack and Jerry Lewis is known for his annual telethon, but before these well known gigs Dean & Jerry made up one of the most widely acclaimed comedy teams. Throughout the decade they worked together they made 16 feature films and were booked at clubs nationwide. Behind all the laughs was a wonderful friendship. Even when life carried them in different directions the love they had for each other lasted a life time. A great book to share with your best friend!
Recommended by Jackie

After completing a physics doctoral thesis, Sandeep Jauhar makes a career change.  Answering to the call of medicine and completing this training, Jauhar writes about his first year of residency (the notorious internship).  Sleepless nights, overwhelming responsibilities, and high family expectations are all part of one physician’s internal struggle with uncertainty and lost purpose.  Jauhar’s goal is to dispel the myth that all doctors are unwaveringly certain about their profession from the day they make a commitment to do no harm.  Jauhar’s book stands out from other medical internship narratives in that he speaks directly to those who are on the fence about pursuing medicine as a career.  In a candid voice, Jauhar tells the story of how he realized (in small, painful increments) the merits of being a physician.  This book is [a] sobering eye-opener into the world of a medical intern.  Today, Jauhar is a leading cardiologist in Ney York and a regular contributor to the New York Science Times.

Recommended by Joanne

This was one of the best books I've read since The Bell Jar. Koren's story of drinking is moving. She is a wonderful writer and I can't wait for another book. Smashed is wonderfully dark and in your face. A great read!
Recommended by Nikki

Recommended by Sherri

I had no idea that the beautiful Akita was such an old breed. I did know it came from Japan but it’s thanks to an unusual man that the breed even exists at all. During WWII Morie Sawataishi took in and raised an Akita puppy when most people in Japan were killing them for their pelt and their meat. By the end of the war there were perhaps no more than sixteen left in the country. Morie takes his dogs and his city-born young wife into the snow country of Japan and over the years his passion creates an enduring breed that people all over the world can be proud to own. He rarely shows for money because the dog is more important. He often gives away puppies that someone else would sell for a lot of money because the person he gives it to helped him at some time or has the same passion he has. He is a man of old Japan and is rarely demonstrative with his wife and children but always greets his dogs with shows of affection. He is at his liveliest when drinking sake and talking to others about dogs. Eventually most people realize he’s a good man who has led an extraordinary life because it was the right thing to do. This is a piece of canine history that might have been left in obscurity if not for Martha Sherrill’s wonderful ability to bring Japan, Morie and his dogs to life.

Recommended by Lee Kelley

I’m not quite sure if the title’s a misnomer or not (I expected more about Margaret More Roper than I got, but considering the gist of the book I don’t know what else would be more indicative of its content), so be advised.  The book concerns Thomas More – his life, his writings & his eventual martyrdom – and how his daughter Margaret kept his good name alive after his death.  If you’re unfamiliar with the life of Thomas More this is a good overview (& unlike the excellent film of his life, A Man for all Seasons, this bio includes some of the more unsavory – given modern morals – aspects of his life – thinking burning of heretics, for example). 
The writing is clear and there are illustrations & family trees to help keep all the various Thomases, Johns, Alices & Margarets in their proper alignment.  It is a moving account of two truly Renaissance figures.

Recommended by Jan

Following the July 26, 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks, Cuban guerrilla leader Fidel Castro was captured and imprisoned on the Isla de Pinos. During his incarceration he never gave up his ideology and made it a point to generate a detailed correspondence about liberating and revitalizing Cuba.

This book contains the first English language translation of the letters he wrote to comrades and family members while he festered in his cell.

This correspondence reveals a very charismatic man eager to change the lives of Cuban people by empowering the poor and working classes and ending capitalist exploitation. Ironically, we also see a man who has contradicted many of these same ideas over the 50+ years since their composition. Inspiring, revealing and, at times, jarring. An important part of history and a clue to understanding one of the most enigmatic characters in world politics.
Recommended by Nick

What do you get when you cross OCD with extreme religious fervor?  Scrupulosity.  This startling and very funny memoir recounts Jennifer Traig's experiences as a mentally ill -- yet surprisingly happy and well-adjusted -- child and teenager.  For fans of Running with Scissors.

Recommended by Anne