Notable Books – Non-fiction

Christchurch City Libraries lists literary prize winners and links to catalogue searches, but we may not hold copies of all titles mentioned.

The Notable Books Council of the Reference and User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association) selects Notable Books each year.

See other Notable Books category winners.

See more literary prize winners.

2024

• A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
• Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation by Camonghne Felix 
• How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclar 
• King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
• Master, Slave, Husband, Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
• Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming by Ava Chin 
• Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of ‘Latino’ by Héctor Tobar 
• Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
• The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike
• The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle 
• The Talk by Darrin Bell
• The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann

2023

• Also A Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, And Me Ada Calhoun 
• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us Ed Yong 
• Bitch: On The Female Of The Species Lucy Cooke 
• Easy Beauty Chloe Cooper Jones 
• The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out Of Auschwitz To Warn The World Jonathan Freedland 
• His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life And The Struggle For Racial Justice Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa 
• The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Siddhartha Mukherjee 
• This Body I Wore: A Memoir Diana Goetsch 
• Under The Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and the Health of Our Nation Linda Villarosa 
• The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, An Unspeakable War and Liberation Scott Carney and Jason Miklian 
• We Are The Middle Of Forever: Indigenous Voices From Turtle Island on the Changing Earth Edited by Dahr Jamail and Stan Rushworth  

2022

• A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance Hanif Abdurraqib  
• The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town Brian Alexander
• Poet Warrior Joy Harjo 
• People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present Dara Horn
• Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey James Rebanks 
• How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America Clint Smith  
• Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 Edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty Patrick Radden Keefe  
• Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South Winfred Rembert as told to Erin I. Kelly  
• Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space  Stephen Walker 
• A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds Scott Weidensaul 

2021

• A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett 
• Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma and the Fight for Justice by Pam Fessler
• Children of the Land: A Memoir by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo 
• Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
• Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine
• Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West by Lauren Redniss
• Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace by Carl Safinas
• We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter
• Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino

2020

• Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life Louise Aronson
• Yellow House Sarah M. Broom
• Thick: And Other Essays Tressie McMillan Cottom
• A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration in the 21st Century Jason DeParle
• Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves Frans De Waal
• Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster Adam Higginbotham
• Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland Patrick Radden Keefe
• Underland: A Deep Time Journey Robert Macfarlane
• Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss Margaret Renkl
• The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming David Wallace-Wells
• The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation Brenda Wineapple

2019

• High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing Ben Austen
• American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment Shane Bauer
• Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom David W. Blight
• Rush: Revolution, Madness, and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father Stephen Fried
• Call Me American: A Memoir Abdi Nor Iftin
• The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century Kirk Wallace Johnson
• Beneath a Ruthless Sun: A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found Gilbert King
• Heavy: An American Memoir Kiese Laymon
• Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America Beth Macy.
• The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life David Quammen
• Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore Elizabeth Rush
• Educated: A Memoir Tara Westover

2018

• You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir Sherman Alexie
• Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam Mark Bowden
• The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir Thi Bui
• Grant Ron Chernow
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies Jason Fagone
• The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine Lindsey Fitzharris
• Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Roxane Gay
• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI David Grann
• Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character Kay Redfield Jamison
• Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women Kate Moore
• Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America’s Most Storied Hospital David Oshinsky
• The Blood of Emmett Till Timothy Tyson

2017

• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Frans de Waal
• At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails Sarah Bakewell
• Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America Patrick Phillips
• The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland Dan Barry
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond
• Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice Patricia Bell-Scott
• The Gene: An Intimate History Siddhartha Mukherjee 
• Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly
• In the Darkroom Susan Faludi
• Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams Louisa Thomas
• Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life Ruth Franklin 
• Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution Nathaniel Philbrick 

2016

• The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission Jim Bell
• Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America Ali Berman
• The End of Plenty: The Race to Feed a Crowded World Joel K. Bourne Jr.
• Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle Lillian Faderman
• Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter, Mary Shelley Charlotte Gordon
• Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Erik Larson
• The Wright Brothers David McCullough
• The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Sy Montgomery
• M Train Patti Smith
• Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War Susan Southard
• Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva Rosemary Sullivan

2015

• The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution Jonathan Eig
• Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris Eric Jager
• Dark Invasion: 1915 Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America Howard Blum
• Factory Many Beth Macy
• In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeanette Hampton Sides
• Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story Rick Bragg
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Bryan Stevenson
• The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce’s Ulysses Kevin Birmingham
• No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State Glenn Greenwald
• Pandora’s DNA: Tracing the Breast Cancer Genes Through History, Science, and One Family Tree Lizzie Stark
• The Secret History of Wonder Woman Jill Lepore
• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Elizabeth Kolbert

2014

• Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East Scott Anderson
• Year Zero: A History of 1945 Ian Baruma
• On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand Year History Nicholas Basbanes
• To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care Cris Beam
• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics Daniel James Brown
• Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital Sheri Fink
• The Riddle of the Labyrinth: the Quest to Crack an Ancient Code Margalit Fox
• On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks Simon Garfield
• Johnny Cash: The Life Robert Hilburn
• The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking Brendan I. Koerner
• Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of our Fellow Creatures Virginia Morell
• Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Eric Schlosser
• Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit

2013

• Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Katherine Boo
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Susan Cain
• Some of My Best Friends are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America Tanner Colby
• Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe George Dyson
• Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis Timothy Egan
• Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt
• Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars Paul Ingrassia
• Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats Kristen Iverson
• Leonardo and the Last Supper Ross King
• Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy Paul Thomas Murphy
• The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea Callum Roberts
• Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal? Jeanette Winterson

2012

• Right Turn at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time Mark Adams
• The Memory Palace Mira Bartók
• The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood James Gleick
• The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Stephen Greenblatt
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand
• Arguably: Essays Christopher Hitchens
• Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet Jennifer Homans
• Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman
• Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Manning Marable
• Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President Candace Millard
• Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee
• Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion Janet Reitman

2011

• Washington: A Life Ron Chernow
• The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss Edmund de Waal
• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick
• Travels in Siberia Ian Frazier
• The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness Oren Harman
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition Daniel Okrent
• Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour Lynne Olson
• The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
• Just Kids Patti Smith
• The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival John Vaillant
• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson

2010

• Columbine Dave Cullen
• Zeitoun Dave Eggers
• The Good Soldiers David Zinkel
• The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon David Grann
• The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders Emmanuel Guibert
• The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science Richard Holmes
• Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld & the American Dream Patrick Radden Keefe
• Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Christopher McDougall Christopher
• Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath Michael and Elizabeth Norman
• Provenance: How a Con Man & a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art Lainey Salisbury and Aly Sujo
• Stitches: A Memoir David Small
• The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War Nicholas Thompson

2009

• The Bin-Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Steve Coll
• This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Drew Gilpin Faust
• The Forever War Dexter Filkins
• Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
• The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family Annette Gordon-Reed
• Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood Mark Harris
• A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World Tony Horwitz
• The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Jane Mayer
• In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto Michael Pollan
• American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work Nick Taylor
• Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) Tom Vanderbilt
• The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order Joan Wickersham

2008

• The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story Diane Ackerman
• The Canon Natalie Angier
• Super Crunchers Ian Ayres
• When a Crocodile Eats the Sun Peter Godwin
• How Doctors Think Jerome Groopman
• Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations Georgina Howell
• Einstein: His Life and Universe Walter Isaacson
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life Barbara Kingsolver
• Oil on the Brain Lisa Margonelli
• The World Without Us Alan Weisman

2007

• Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel
• The Worst Hard Time: The Untold of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl Timothy Egan
• The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth Tim Flannery
• There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey To Rescue Africa's Children Melissa Fay Greene
• Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present Peter Hessler
• Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City Jed Horne
• The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World of Impressionism Ross King
• Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change Elizabeth Kohlberg
• Mayflower: A Story of Courage Community, and War Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon Julie Phillips and James Tiptree, Jr.
• The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire Tom Zoellner

2006

• Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster Svetlana Alexievich, translator: Keith Gessen
• A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City Anonymous, translator: Philip Boehm
• Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America Fergus Bordewich
• The Fly in the Cathedral Brian Cathcart
• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Jared Diamond
• Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story Kurt Eichenwald
• New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan Jill Lepore
• Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees Caroline Moorehead
• The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq George Packer
• The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life Tom Reiss
• John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights David S. Reynolds
• Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima Steven Walker
• The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls

2005

• Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow
• One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future Paul R. and Anne E. Ehrlich
• Washington's Crossing David Hackett Fischer
• Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution Robin Marantz Henig
• Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib Seymour M. Hersh
• 1968: The Year That Rocked the World Mark Kurlansky
• Outwitting History: How One Man Rescued a Million Books and Saved a Civilization Aaron Lansky
• Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage David Moats
• The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorists Attacks upon the United States National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States
• Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw Michael Sokolove
• One Man's Castle: Clarence Darrow in Defense of the American Dream Phyllis Vine

2004

• Wrapped in rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston Valerie Boyd
• Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir Lillian Faderman
• Beyond the River: The Untold story of the heroes of the Underground Railroad Ann Hagedorn
• Flat Broke with children: Women in the age of welfare reform Sharon Hays
• Mountains beyond mountains: The Quest of Dr Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world Tracy Kidder
• Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling Ross King
• Under the banner of heaven: A Story of violent faith Jon Krakauer
• Random family: Love, drugs and coming of age in the Bronx Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
• Food Inc: Mendel to Monsanto - The Promises and perils of the biotech harvest Peter Pringle
• Monster of God: The Man-eating predator in the jungles of history and the mind David Quammen
• Krushchev: The Man and his era William Taubman
• Triangle: The Fire that changed America David Von Drehle

2003

• The Complete Works of Isaac Babel Isaac Babel
• Selected essays John Berger
• Blood Diamonds: tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones Greg Campbell
• Master of the Senate: The years of Lyndon Johnson vol. 3 Robert Caro
• Complications: A Surgeon's notes on an imperfect science Atul Gawande
• Can't be satisfied: the life and times of Muddy Waters Robert Gordon
• Theodore Rex Edmund Morris
• Wilful murder: the sinking of the Lusitania Diana Preston
• Jesse James: Last rebel of the Civil War T. J. Stiles
• The Future of the past Alexander Stille
• The Future of life Edward O. Wilson

2002

• American Chica: Two worlds, one childhood Marie Arana
• Aztec treasure house: New and selected essays Evan Connell
• An Unexpected light: Travels in Afghanistan Jason Elliot
• War in a time of peace: Bush, Clinton and the generals David Halberstam
• Going up the river: Travels in a prison nation Joseph T. Hallinan
• River Town: Two years on the Yangtze Peter Hessler
• Seabiscuit: an American legend Laura Hillenbrand
• The Breast cancer wars: Hope, fear & the pursuit of a cure in twentieth-century America Barron H Lerner
• Crossing over: A Mexican family on the migrant trail Ruben Martinez
• John Adams David McCullough
• Fast food nation: The Dark side of the All-American meal Eric Schlosser
• Grant Jean Edward Smith
• The Noonday demon: An Anatomyof depression Andrew Solomon

2001

• From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present Jacques Barzun
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers
• Barrow's Boys Fergus Fleming
• Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach Alice Yaeger Kaplan
• Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Matt Ridley
• Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran Elaine Sciolino
• Bruce Chatwin Nicholas Shakespeare
• In Siberia Colin Thubron

2000

• Show me a hero: A Tale of murder, suicide, race and redemption Lisa Belkin
• Black Hawk Down: A Story of modern war Mark Bowden
• Embracing defeat: Japan in the wake of World War II John Dower
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the Ultimate Theory Brian Greene
• How to read a poem and fall in love with poetry Edward Hirsch
• I Will bear witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933–1941 Victor Klemperer
• Journey beyond Selene: Remarkable expeditions past our moon and to the ends of the solar system Jeffrey Kluger
• The Orchid Thief: A True story of beauty and obsession Susan Orlean
• Passage to Juneau: A Sea and its meanings Jonathan Raban
• King of the world: Muhammad Ali and the rise of an American hero David Remnick
• A Clearing in the distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the nineteenth century Witold Rybczynski
• Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) Stacy Schiff

1999

• The Life of Thomas More Peter Ackroyd
• Lindbergh A. Scott Berg
• Pillar of fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65 Taylor Branch
• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockfeller Ron Chernow
• The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the sands Nicholas Clapp
• Articles of faith: A Frontline history of the Abortion Wars Cynthia Gorney
• King Leopold's ghost: A Story of greed, terror, and heroism in colonial Africa Adam Hochschild
• Ship of gold in the deep blue sea Gary Kinder
• A Beautiful mind Sylvia Nasar
• A Hope in the unseen: An American odyssey from the inner city to the Ivy League Ron Suskind

1998

• T. Rex and the crater of doom Walter Alvarez
• All over but the shoutin' Rick Bragg
• Blood Rites: Origins & history of the passions of war Barbara Ehrenreich
• A People's tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution Orlando Figes
• Next of kin: What chimpanzees have taught me about who we are Roger Fouts with Stephen Tukel Mills
• Ornament and silence: Essays on women's lives Kennedy Fraser
• The Perfect storm: A True story of men against the sea Sebastian Junger
• Into Thin air: A Personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster Jon Krakauer
• American scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence Pauline Maier
• Bad Land: An American romance Jonathan Raban
• Utopia parkway: The Life and work of Joseph Cornell Deborah Solomon
• The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time Simon Winchester