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Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Traces the life of the Jewish girl who hid with seven other people in an attic for two years in Nazi-occupied Holland and chronicled her day-to-day life in a diary which was discovered after her death in German concentration camp.

Are You Somebody by Nuala O'Faolain
An Irish journalist offers her autobiography in a work that includes columns that originally appeared in "The Irish Times."

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
With eloquent candor, a woman who in childhood endured a severly disfiguring cancer offers a meditation on the pain, and healing she has endured, searching through a culture obsessed with physical beauty for love, acceptance, and inner peace.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
Capturing the harsh realities of life in modern-day Afghanistan and plight of Afghan women, the Norwegian journalist provides a portrait of a committed Muslim man, a bookseller, and his family living in post-Taliban Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Focusing on the human relationship with plants, the author of Second Nature uses botany to explore four basic human desires--sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control--through portraits of four plants that embody them: the apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato.

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
A young Boston trial lawyer is drawn into a case involving two industrial chemical plants and a cluster of childhood leukemia victims that is to encompass nine difficult years and bring him to near bankruptcy.

The Color of Water by James McBride
A young African-American man describes growing up in an all-black Brooklyn housing project, one of twelve children of a white mother and black father, and discusses his mother's contributions to his life and coming to terms with his confusion over his own identity.

Comfort Me With Apples by Ruth Reichl
In the sequel to Tender at the Bone, the noted food critic describes her odyssey from chef to food writer, traces her journey through restaurants from Bangkok to Paris to Los Angeles, and offers colorful anecdotes about her life and encounters with great food.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
A compelling account of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 brings together the divergent stories of two very different men who played a key role in shaping the history of the event--visionary architect Daniel H. Burnham, who coordinated its construction, and Dr. Henry H. Holmes, an insatiable and charming serial killer who lured women to their deaths.

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
An intimate memoir of growing up in Africa during the Rhodesian civil war of 1971 to 1979 describes her life on farms in southern Rhodesia, Milawi, and Zambia, detailing her hardscrabble existence with an alcoholic mother, frequently absent father, and three lost siblings, as well as her fierce love for Africa.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Traces the author's decision to travel the world for a year after suffering a midlife crisis and divorce, a journey that took her to three places in her quest to explore her own nature and learn the art of spiritual balance.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston
The American-born author describes her family's experience and impressions when they were forced to relocate in a camp for the Japanese in Owens Valley, California, during World War II.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
With reportage, reason, and wit, the author recounts the history of fast food in America. He argues that fast food has homogenized society, hastened the "malling" of our land, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an obesity epidemic, and more.

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel
Galileo Galilei's telescopes allowed him to discover a new reality in the heavens. But for publicly declaring his astounding argument--that the earth revolves around the sun--he was accused of heresy and put under house arrest by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Living a far different life, Galileo's daughter Virginia, a cloistered nun, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through the difficult years of his trial and persecution.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The second child of a scholarly, alcoholic father and an eccentric artist mother discusses her family's nomadic upbringing from the Arizona desert, to Las Vegas, to an Appalachian mining town, during which her siblings and she fended for themselves while their parents outmaneuvered bill collectors and the authorities.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
In this historical, archaeological, and linguistic investigation, Jared Diamond seeks the root answers to why European societies (and their American offspring) became the dominant powers on Earth in terms of wealth and power. He traces the proximate causes--the development of deadlier weapons technologies, immunity to germs, superior metal working, and writing systems--to the ultimate cause of the way food production varied in human societies and then looks at geographic variations and impediments that affected food production and the spread of technological innovation in all regions of the world.

The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
This engaging book chronicles the changes in Maya Angelou's life as she enters the hub of activity that is New York. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild, she rededicates herself to writing, and finds love at an unexpected moment. Reflecting on her many roles--from northern coordinator of Martin Luther King's history-making quest to mother of a rebellious teenage son--Angelou eloquently speaks to an awareness of the heart within us all.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
A moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five weeks, loses both of his parents to cancer and inherits his eight-year-old brother. This is account that manages to be simultaneously hilarious and wildly inventive, as well as a deeply heartfelt story of the love that holds a family together.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there.

The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
The acclaimed actor reveals the depth, passion, and intellectual fervor that have driven his life and career, citing the elements of his childhood that gave him his sense of worth, family, and ethics and how these qualities are essential to spiritual development.

Million Little Pieces by James Frey
A memoir of drug and alcohol abuse and the rehabilitation experience examines addiction and recovery through the eyes of a man who had taken his addictions to deadly extremes, describing the battle to confront the consequences of his life.

A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
A collection of essays explores the diverse faces and forms of love from a scientific, psychological, literary, and philosophical perspective.

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Contends that humanity has an unprecedented opportunity to shift from its dangerous, ego-based state of consciousness to a saner, more loving existence, and offers practical advice on how to promote kindness and freedom.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor. Author Barbara Ehrenreich decides to see if she can scratch out a comfortable living in blue-collar America. What she discovers is a culture of desperation, where workers often take multiple low-paying jobs just to keep a roof overhead.

Night by Elie Wiesel
The narrative of a boy who lived through Auschwitz and Buchenwald provides a short and terrible indictment of modern humanity.

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
A staff writer for The New Yorker describes the life and times of John Laroche, a plant smuggler and orchid thief, and the eccentric world of Florida's obsessed collectors of rare plants.

The Professor and the Madman Simon Winchester
The compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.

The Rape of Nanking Iris Chang
Relates a chilling, true account of the 1937 massacre of 250,000 Chinese civilians by the invading Japanese military details a carnage for which the Japanese government has never admitted responsibility.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Lolita in Tehran? Yes, and plenty of other Western classics, read and discussed by a group of women who met secretly with Nafisi, an instructor at the University of Tehran until she was expelled in 1997 for shunning the veil and left the country.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
One of the greatest legends of the 20th century, "Seabiscuit" was a discarded, bottom-level runner who became a champion with the help of three men: a trainer, an owner, and a jockey. This is the spellbinding tale of how they did it.

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Ruth Reichl's deliciously crafted non-fiction memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable people, and the love of tales well told.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Traces how the author, having been rescued and resuscitated by Himalayan villagers after a failed attempt to climb K2, worked to build schools that would particularly benefit the young girls who were forbidden an education by Taliban restrictions, an endeavor for which his life has been repeatedly threatened.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
By exposing the importance of the "tipping point" in human affairs--that moment when a trend, idea, or social behavior crosses the threshold into acceptability--the author sheds important light on the forces that drive group dynamics and mass culture.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
A sportswriter conveys the wisdom of his late mentor, professor Morrie Schwartz, recounting their weekly conversations as Schwartz lay dying.

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
A chronicle of the two-and-a-half year journey of Lewis and Clark covers their incredible hardships, first encounters with Native Americans, the contributions of Sacajawea, and Lewis' post-journey depression.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Francis Mayes
Popular poet and author Frances Mayes transports you to the spectacular Tuscan countryside with her memoirs. She explores the fascinating people, landscape, and history of Italy--and seasons them with hearty recipes.