*About the Notable Books for Adults
Since 1944, the goal of the Notable Books Council has been to make available to the nation’s readers a list of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for the adult reader.
2010 Selection(s)
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
by Richard Holmes, published by Pantheon , ISBN 9780375422225
This lively, stellar group biography animates the engrossing accounts of the research that inspired a sense of awe in poets and scientists alike.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
by Christopher McDougall, published by Knopf , ISBN 978-0307266309
One journalist’s quest to discover the secrets of the reclusive Tarahumara Indians leads to an exciting and dangerous endurance race.
Columbine
by Dave Cullen, published by Twelve , ISBN 9780446546935
This fine work of investigative journalism challenges the myths and misconceptions of the Columbine tragedy.
The Good Soldiers
by David Finkel, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux , ISBN 9780374165734
An embedded reporter describes the human cost paid by an Army battalion on the streets of Iraq in language that is searing, visceral and immediate.
The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War
by Nicholas Thompson, published by Holt , ISBN 978-0805081428
The remarkable half-century friendship and rivalry between two influential strategists who helped shape American policy is brought to life in this insightful dual biography.
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by David Grann, published by Doubleday , ISBN 9780385513531
An intrepid reporter sets out to uncover the mysterious fate the last of the great Victorian explorers in this thrilling adventure.
The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
by Emmanuel Guibert, published by First Second , ISBN 9781596433755
Using mixed visual media, this stunning memoir vividly depicts the struggles and accomplishments of a humanitarian mission in an unforgiving terrain.
Provenance: How a Con Man & A Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
by Lainey Salisbury and Aly Sujo, published by Penguin , ISBN 9781594202209
This enthralling page-turner describes how archivists uncovered one of the most extensive frauds in recent art history.
Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld & the American Dream
by Patrick Radden Keefe, published by Doubleday , ISBN 9780385521307
Human trafficking and its subsequent effects on the American economy and social structures are documented in this fast-paced panoramic expose.
Stitches: A Memoir
by David Small, published by Norton , ISBN 9780393068573
Stark drawings give voice to the horrors of a child who find redemption in art while growing up in a repressed and disturbed family.
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath
by Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux , ISBN 9780374272609
In-depth, brutal and moving this narrative provides multiple perspectives into a tragic WWII episode in the Philippines.
Zeitoun
by Dave Eggers, published by McSweeney’s , ISBN 9781934781630
This powerful account explores the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans through the eyes of a Syrian-American who remained and endured the resulting chaos and confusion.
