Recommendations based on Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetimeby John Heilemann

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Columbine

    by Dave Cullen
    Investigation into the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, exploring the perpetrators and the aftermath.

    "The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a ... (Goodreads)

  2. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

    by Doris Kearns Goodwin
    A comprehensive study of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and the unique cabinet he assembled.

    Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from ... (Goodreads)

  3. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

    by Michael Lewis
    How an unconventional approach to baseball changed the competitive landscape.

    Billy Beane, general manager of MLB's Oakland A's and protagonist of Michael Lewis's Moneyball , had a problem: how to win in the Major Leagues with a budget that's smaller than that of nearly every ... (Goodreads)

  4. Nickel and Dimed: On

    by Barbara Ehrenreich
    A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.

    Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)

  5. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

    by Jeffrey Toobin
    An exploration of the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices.

    In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine ... (Goodreads)

  6. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

    by Barack Obama
    An exploration of the Obama family history, tracing the threads of identity and race.

    In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New ... (Goodreads)

  7. My Life

    by Bill Clinton
    Memoir of a former President of the United States, chronicling his life and career.

    An exhaustive, soul-searching memoir, Bill Clinton's My Life is a refreshingly candid look at the former president as a son, brother, teacher, father, husband, and public figure. Clinton ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Passage of Power

    by Robert A. Caro
    An in-depth account of Lyndon B. Johnson's rise to power and his evolution as a leader.

    The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career—1958 to1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power ... (Goodreads)

  9. Live from New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live

    by Tom Shales
    A behind-the-scenes look at the iconic sketch comedy show, featuring interviews with cast members and collaborators.

    James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales's definitive oral history of, Saturday Night Live, hailed as "incredible" (,Vulture,) and "required reading" (,People,). When first published to celebrate the 30th ... (Barnes & Noble)

  10. Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

    by Rachel Maddow
    Investigation of the US military's unchecked growth and its consequences for American democracy.

    "One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Found­ers could ever have envisioned the modern national security ... (Goodreads)

  11. Between the World and Me

    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.

    “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)

  12. Assassination Vacation

    by Sarah Vowell
    A comedic travelogue exploring the history of presidential assassinations in the United States.

    Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation, she takes us on a road trip like no ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

    by Kevin Roose
    An exploration of faith and culture at an evangelical college, through the eyes of an atheist.

    The hilarious and heartwarming, respectful and thought-provoking memoir of a college student's semester at Liberty University, the "Bible Boot Camp" for young evangelicals, that will inspire ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Zeitoun

    by Dave Eggers
    A man's struggle to survive and reunite with his family amidst the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

    Abdulrahman Zeitoun grew up in Syria. After a few years of apprenticeship in the Syrian port city of Jableh , Zeitoun spent twenty years working at sea as a muscleman, engineer and fisherman. During ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Thinking, Fast and Slow

    by Daniel Kahneman
    An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.

    In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)

  16. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

    by Michael Moss
    An exposé of the food industry, exploring the manipulation of consumers through marketing.

    Every year, the average American eats 33 pounds of cheese and 70 pounds of sugar. They ingest 8,500 milligrams of salt a day, double the recommended amount, almost none of which comes from salt ... (Goodreads)

  17. What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

    by Malcolm Gladwell
    Collection of essays about the surprising connections between seemingly unrelated topics.

    What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What ... (Goodreads)

  18. Modern Romance

    by Aziz Ansari
    A humorous exploration of contemporary love, using the latest research and personal anecdotes.

    At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. ... (Goodreads)

  19. Master of the Senate

    by Robert A. Caro
    Detailed account of Lyndon Johnson's tenure as the leader of the US Senate, and his rise to power.

    The most riveting political biography of our time, Robert A. Caro’s life of Lyndon B. Johnson, continues. Master of the Senate takes Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his ... (Goodreads)

  20. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

    by Eric Schlosser
    An exploration of the industrial food system and its effects on U.S. society.

    Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal

    by Ben Mezrich
    The story of the founding of Facebook, from its humble beginnings in a Harvard dorm room to becoming a global phenomenon.

    The high-energy tale of how two socially awkward Ivy Leaguers, trying to increase their chances with the opposite sex, ended up creating Facebook. Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard ... (Goodreads)

  22. 1776

    by David McCullough
    A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

    In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)

  23. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

    by Christopher McDougall
    A thrilling exploration of the Tarahumara tribe and their superhuman running abilities.

    Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does ... (Goodreads)

  24. At Home: A Short History of Private Life

    by Bill Bryson
    An exploration of the extraordinary and often overlooked history of the home.

    “Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.” Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has ... (Goodreads)

  25. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves

    by Andrew Ross Sorkin
    An examination of the 2008 financial crisis, how it was caused, and how it was dealt with.

    The book provides an overview of the financial crisis of 2007–08 from the beginning of 2008 to the decision to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The book tells the story from the ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

    by John Carreyrou
    The rise and fall of Theranos, a fraudulent blood-testing startup, and the deceitful actions of its founder Elizabeth Holmes.

    The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face ... (Goodreads)

  27. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

    by Malcolm Gladwell
    An exploration of unlikely success stories, examining conventional wisdom and biases.

    In his #1 bestselling books The Tipping Point , Blink , and Outliers , Malcolm Gladwell has explored the ways we understand and change our world. Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

    by Bethany McLean
    The dramatic story of the Enron scandal, exposing the hidden corruption behind the company's meteoric rise and fall.

    There were dozens of books about Watergate, but only All the President's Men gave readers the full story, with all the drama and nuance and exclusive reporting. And thirty years later, if you're ... (Goodreads)

  29. Decision Points

    by George W. Bush
    Autobiography of former US President, chronicling the pivotal decisions of his life.

    In this candid and gripping account, President George W. Bush describes the critical decisions that shaped his presidency and personal life. George W. Bush served as president of the United States ... (Goodreads)

  30. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

    by John Berendt
    A journalist's exploration of a mysterious murder in Savannah, Georgia.

    A sublime and seductive reading experience. This portrait of a beguiling Southern city was a best-seller (though a flop as a movie). ~ Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, ... (Goodreads)