Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer

December 29, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Times Books, 2006. 400 pgs. Library copy. Subtitled “America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq”, Kinzer’s book looks at regime change perpetrated or supported by the United States – whether that is financially, militarily, or covertly – in a variety of countries around the world. Specifically, the book spends a couple of pages on: Hawaii Cuba Puetro Rico Philippines Nicaragua Honduras Iran Guatemala South Vietnam Chile Grenada Panama Afghanistan Iraq In the majority of these […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Middle East, Nonfiction • Tags: Stephen Kinzer

This Land Is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich

December 28, 2010 by Christina

I was expecting a lot more from Ehrenreich’s book than what was given because while I didn’t love Nickel and Dimed, there was at least a premise to that book. Published in 2008 and subtitled “Reports from a Divided Nation”, I expect that the book would be a damming expose on the widening gap between rich and poor in America and on the disappearance of the middle class. Instead, it’s a collection of blog posts, articles, and musings that barely […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Barbara Ehrenreich

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

December 27, 2010 by Christina

I decided to read this book because it is the expanded version of Weisman’s article of the same name, which looks at what would happen to New York City should humans suddenly disappear from the Earth. I was under the impression that the novel would be similar. However, this is not the case, and instead the novel focuses heavily on environmental issues of our consumer-based economy rather than by a post-apocalyptic tale of what would happen in life after people. […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Alan Weisman

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

December 23, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. Clarion Books, 2007. 200 pgs. Library copy. I decided to read Wolf’s book because, as I mentioned in my Library Loot vlog for December, I had a very interesting discussion with one of my professors on when the right time to introduce children to the Holocaust is and how much should be divulged. Neither of us reached a conclusion, but I wanted to read a book — fiction or nonfiction — addressing the Holocaust from the juvenile […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Europe, Fiction, Genocide, Holocaust • Tags: Joan M. Wolf

No god but God by Reza Aslan

December 22, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Random House, 2005. 310 pgs. Library copy. Subtitled “The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam”, Aslan’s book appealed to me because I wanted to read a book that presents Islam in a more positive light than A God Who Hates by Wafa Sultan in a relatively condensed and accessible way. I don’t know enough about the religion to be able to select something a little more in-depth and  specific, but I also did not want finish the […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Middle East, Nonfiction, Religion • Tags: Reza Aslan

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

December 21, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — eBook. Penguin, 2009. Originally published 1926. 160 pgs. Free download. Although Milne’s collection of short stories about a silly old bear named Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods is considered a classic children’s tale, I’ve never actually read the original stories. My introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh was through the Disney movies, which my brother and I considered a cherished part of our VHS collection as children. They were incidentally one of the few movies we could […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Classics, Fiction, Juvenile • Tags: A. A. Milne

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

December 18, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. Translated from the French. Vintage, 2006. 431 pgs. Purchased. Némirovsky’s novel has been on my shelf since it was first published. While I try to avoid picking books based on their authors unless I’ve read a work by them previously, Némirovsky wrote this novel while in hiding from the Nazis and I was intrigued on what this newly discovered novel contained. “The sun came up, fiery red, in a cloudless sky. A shell was fired, no so […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Europe, Fiction, France, French, Genocide, Holocaust, Translated • Tags: Irène Némirovsky

The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud

December 11, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. Vintage Books, 2007. 480 pgs. Purchased. Nominated for both the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction in 2007, Messud’s novel was also named a best book of the year by The New York Times. All the stickers on the cover of my copy had me intrigued when I saw it for sale at the library book sale back in July. On the surface, the title of Messud’s novel is drawn from […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Awards and Prizes, Chunkster, Fiction, New York, North America, United States • Tags: Claire Messud

Urban Geography by Michael Pacione

December 9, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Routledge, 2009. 705 pgs. Purchased. More people now live in urban regions/cities than live in the rural parts of the world. This fact is the reason why I decided to take an urban geography class because it’s important to understand the unique problems the world’s cities and urban dwellers face. Pacione’s book serves as an introduction to the field of urban geography as well as the problems facing urban regions, and is divided into six parts. Part […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Chunkster, Nonfiction, Textbook • Tags: Michael Pacione

The Economics of the Environment by Peter Berck and Gloria Helfand

December 6, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Pearson, 2010. 508 pgs. Purchased. This book was the textbook for my Environment and Natural Resource Economics class and was actually written by my professor’s dissertation adviser (Berck) back when she was a student at Berkeley. So you can see why the book was selected as out textbook for the semester. Berck and Helfand’s book is one of the better economics textbooks I’ve used, especially because the book approaches each aspect of environmental economics with a detailed example. […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Chunkster, Economics, Nonfiction, Textbook • Tags: Gloria Helfand, Peter Berck

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

December 4, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Simon and Schuster, 2003. Originally published 1991. 528 pgs. Purchased. Subtitled “Three Daughters of China”, Chang’s memoir follows three generations as they experience Japanese rule of China and the rise of Mao and the Communist Party in China. Although the book is the personal story of Chang’s grandmother, mother, and herself, it is also critical of Mao’s policies and is banned in mainland China, according to Chang’s introduction to the 2003 edition. “To justify its rule, the […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Asia, China, Chunkster, Nonfiction • Tags: Jung Chang

The Much Too Promised Land by Aaron David Miller

December 2, 2010 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Bantam Dell, 2008. 408 pgs. Purchased. Assigned reading for my U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East class, and the source of much debate among my peers and I, Miller’s book is more of a personal reflection on his years as a peace negotiator for the Americans between the Israelis and the Palestinians than a historical account of the conflict. One of the kids in my class stated that because Miller is not a politician, maybe he […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Nonfiction, Textbook • Tags: Aaron David Miller