forgive me, i LOVE books... when i have the time to read them
fiction:
1) the things they carried (tim o'brien)- deals with Vietnam, gives back humanity to the often demonized and misunderstood Vietnam veterans.
2) the fall (albert camus)- enthralling existentialist writing
3) cry, the beloved country (alan paton)- my favorite place in the world and its finest novel from its most troubled time
4) the dangerous summer (ernest hemingway)- adventure in Spain from the greatest 20th century
5) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (john la carre)- a gripping novel about counterespionage during the Cold War
non-fiction:
1) shake hands with the devil: the failure of humanity in rwanda(lt. gen romeo dallaire)/we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed along with our families (phillip gouvetich)
the former, an incredible firsthand account of what happened in rwanda, from the tortured soul of the leader of the doomed UN peacekeeping mission there, a man who led his unsupported, undermanned and underequipped multi-national troops as best he could through 100 days of hell on earth, where over 800,000 innocent people were massacred by the terrorist HUTU power organization. the latter, an exhausting overview of what happened before, during and after, as well as answering why it happened in the first place.
2) last man standing: the tragedy and triumph of geronimo pratt (jack olsen)- INCREDIBLE account of how the purple heart winner turned Black Panther was framed and spent over 25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. i don't agree with a lot of his politics, but the courage and poise of this guy is amazing throughout all he went through and his story is a must read for anyone who wants to see a man overcome enormous adversity.
3) the fifty year wound: how america's cold war victory shapes our world (derek leebaert)- comprehensive account with tremendous amount of detail (especially of the eisenhower and reagan years) in how the cold war was fought and what it cost the US in many more ways than just money. offers information and ideas useful to all political spectrums, above all, the author despairs at what might have been if america's incredible promise had it not been forced into defending the world from communism.
4) the man who tried to save the world (scott anderson)- the mystery of a missing american hero, fred cuny, an ingenious and brave texan who innovated many improvements in how humanitarian aid work is done. he went missing in chechnya, was he killed by corrupt russian soldiers or chechen fighters? the mystery overshadows his incredible life spent helping others while having a hell of a time doing it.
5) anti-americanism (jean francois revel)- french journalist of legendary stature offers his take on why europeans are giving in to petty jealousy and insecurity and hating america. above all else, its a reasoned plea for sanity and appreciation for why america's example should be followed by europe. you won't believe a french centrist wrote this, but he did and it is a damn good read for all americans who want to know why their euro neighbors are being so petty and selfish.
honorable mentions
a problem from hell: america in the age of genocide (samantha power)- sweeping in its account of how the US has over the past century not ignored genocide, but made it a policy to not get involved for whatever reason. if you've ever wondered what leaders were thinking during the armenian, jewish, cambodian, iraqi, bosnian and rwandan genocides, this is the book to read. without bashing those who chose to avoid stopping genocide, it nevertheless presents an honest and frank portrait of them.
a mighty heart (mariane pearl)- daniel pearl's wife gives her account of his kidnapping and the aftermath. heartbreaking but affirming in the end, its a great story of a strong woman and her husband, who has justly become a hero in the afterlife to many in the world.
