On Deck Circle:

Current Reads:

• Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Let the Way To Civil War, 1849-1861 by Robert W. Merry

Recent Reads:

2024

• Gideon’s Trumpet: How One Man, a Poor Prisoner, Took His Case to the Supreme Court-and Changed the Law of the United States by Anthony Lewis
• Le Fay by Sophie Keetch
• An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History Of The 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Demon Of Unrest by Erik Larson
• Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch
• Reading the Constitution by Stephen Breyer
• The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, Forced March, and the Fight For Survival in Early America by James L. Swanson
• The Wager: A Tale Of Shipwreck, Mutiny And Murder by David Grann
• The Exile by Allan Folsom
• Bloody Crimes: The Chase For Jefferson Davis And The Death Pageant For Lincoln’s Corpse” by James Swanson
• Saving Wildlife The Extraordinary Life And Legacy Of Dr. Kurt Benirschke by Rolf Benirschke
• Scents From God: Wisdom To Transform Your Life by Julie Greene
• The Pope At War: The Secret History Of Pius XII, Mussolini, And Hitler by David Kertzer
• Charleston by John Jakes

2023

• Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer
• Next In Line by Jeffrey Archer
• Over My Dead Body by Jeffrey Archer
• Turn A Blind Eye by Jeffrey Archer
• Hidden In Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer
• Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer
• Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded In A Divided America by Steve Inskeep
• Bad Blood: Secrets And Lies In A Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
• The Armor of Light by Ken Follett
• The Reckoning by Sharon Kay Penman
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
• Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
• Money: The True Story Of A Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein
• The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan
• The Making Of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A Novel by Tom Hanks
• Over My Dead Body by Greg Melville
• Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir On The Power Of Friendships by Nina Totenberg
• Falls The Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman
• The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

2022

• The Fellowship Of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Going There by Katie Couric
• New York v. Bruen. This is the text of the Supreme Court opinion on gun control. Yes, I’ve really read these opinions.
• Dobbs v. Jackson. This is the text of the Supreme Court opinion on abortion.
• The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
• The President’s Man: The Memoirs of Nixon’s Trusted Aide By Dwight Chapin
• God Delights In You: An Introduction to Gospel Spirituality by John T. Catoir, JCD. This is a reread. I was given this book by Fr. Frank Diskin CSP in 1992
• French Braid by Anne Tyler
• The Art of Resistance: My Four Years In the French Underground: A Memoir by Justus Rosenberg
• Charles Kuralt: A Life On The Road by Charles Kuralt
• Never by Ken Follett
• Strange and Obscure Stories of World War II by Don Aines. This book was intended as a Christmas gift to my neighbor but he died before he could read it and his widow gave it to me.
• Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story Of The Founding Mothers Of NPR by Lisa Napoli

2021

• Profiles in Resilience, Courage, and Faith by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice. I was given this for my volunteer work at the USO in San Diego.
• All The President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
• A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians From Their America by John Mack Faragher
• Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up & Spectacular Downfall Of A Brazen Crook In The White House by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz
• America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union by Fergus M. Bordewich
• The Residence: Inside The Private World Of The White House by Kate Andersen Brower
• The Sunne In Splendour: A Novel of Richard III by Sharon Kay Penman
• The Wax Pack: On The Open Road In Search of Baseball’s Afterlife by Brad Balukjian
• The Gospel According to St. Judas by Tom East
• The Other Bolyn Girl: A Novel by Philippa Gregory
• The Acadian Diaspora: An Eighteenth Century History by Christopher Hodson

2020

• I’m Fascinated By Sacrifice Flies: Inside The Game We All Love by Tim Kurkjian
• The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follet
• Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski
• Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump
• The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman
• Redhead By the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
• Pelosi by Molly Ball
• Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000 Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great Frontier by Mark Adams
• Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Revealing the Jewish Roots of Christianity by John Bergsma
• Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews
• Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs On Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure by David Rosenfelt
• One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson
• Me by Elton John

2019

• Liar Temptress Soldier Spy by Karen Abbott
• Naturally Tan by Tan France
• Julian of Norwich edited by Edmund Colledge, OSA and James Walsh SJ
• They Bled Blue: Fernandomania, Strike-Season, Mayhem, and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had Ever Seen: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers by Jason Turbow
• The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, Other European Immigrants Out of America by Daniel Okrent
• The Lost Gutenberg: The Astounding Story of One Book’s 500 Year Odyssey by Margaret Leslie Davis
• Truth In Our Times: Inside the Fight For Press Fredom In the Age of Alternative Facts by David E. McCraw
• What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope In an American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha
• The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
• The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace by Paul Moses
• Educated: A Memoir by Julia Whelen
• Why Religion? A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels
• The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul From the Revolution to the Civi War by Andrew Delbanco
• A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Loyalty by James Comey
• War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell

2018

• The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
• Fear: Trump In the White House by Bob Woodward
• The Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
• The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (I first read this when it came out in 1976 and it just seemed time for a reread)
• Centennial by James Michener
• The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young
• Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff
• Grant by Ron Chernow

2017

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The House of Yes by Susan Fullerton
• A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
• Unforgettable: A Son, A Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Scott Simon
• Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
• Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel (I read this in the 1970s but it just seems to make sense these days)
• This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer
• Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
• Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
• Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer
• Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer
• The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
• Only Time Will Tell by Jeffery Archer
• An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became a Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal
• The First Love Story: Adam, Eve, and Us by Bruce Feiler
• The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell
• The Constitution Today by Akhil Reed Amar

2016

• Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher
• A Grace Disguised by Gerald Sittser
• Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
• Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell
• The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell
• A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of a Tragedy by Sue Kleebolt
• The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, Locke by Dean Kowalski and William Irwin
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward
• The Big Short: Inside the Doomesday Machine by Michael Lewis. This is a re-read from 2010; I’m giving it another look in anticipation of seeing the movie.
• The Man In the High Castle by Phillip Dick

2015

• Roads to Santiago by Cees Nooteboom
• Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents by Gary Scott Smith
• Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty by Benji Molina
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
• Finale: A Novel of the Reagan Years by Thomas Mallon
• Billion Dollar Spy by David Hoffman
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (I’m not proud of this)
• A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
• Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 by Lynne Olson
• Bad Faith by Dr. Paul Offit
• The Siege Winter by Samantha Norman
• The Set Up Man by T.T. Monday
• The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
• My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
• Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die by David Kessler

2014

• Edge of Eternity: Book Three in the Century Trilogy By Ken Follett
• Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality by Danielle Allen
• Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller
• Bronze Summer: The Northland Trilogy by Stephen Baxter
• The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis
• A King’s Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman
• To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation by Paul Farmer
• Real Leaders Don’t Do Powerpoint by Christopher Witt and Dale Fetherling
• The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell
• Icon by Frederick Forsyth
• Worlds of Arthur by Guy Halsall
• The Bully Pulpit:Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination by Philip Shenon
• Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann
• A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

2013

• Wilson by A. Scott Berg
• The Last Gun by Tom Diaz
• Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
• Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
• Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
• Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz
• Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner
• Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd
• After Rome: A Novel of Celtic Britain by Morgan Llywelyn
• Foundation: The History of England from its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors by Peter Ackroyd
• The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Shadow On the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
• The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin
• Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence – and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg
• Winter of the World by Ken Follett
• Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves by Henry Wiencek
• America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t by Stephen Colbert
• King Alfred of England by Joseph Abbott

2012

• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holliday
• The Book of Abraham by Marek Halter
• The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution by Richard Slotkin
• Calico Joe by John Grisham
• Simply Benjamin by Enid Lanyon
• Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act (this is the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. Yes, I’m really reading it)
• Damn Yankees edited by Rob Fleder
• The Vicar of Christ by Walter Murphy (I first read this when it was published in 1979. It was better then).
• The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler
• Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
• Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage
• The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
• Shadow of the King: Book Three of the Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy by Helen Hollick
• Pendragon’s Banner: Book Two of the Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy by Helen Hollick
• Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman
• We’re With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics by Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian
• The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French, & English by Thomas Jefferson (Smithsonian Edition)
• Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of Revelation by Elaine Pagels
• Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
• The Submission by Amy Waldman
• The Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy by Helen Hollick
• Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
• A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
• Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman

2011

• Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales
• The Neighbors Are Watching by Debra Ginsberg
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
• A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton
• Ireland by Frank Delany
• Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta
• Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game by John Thorn
• Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World’s Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler by Jessica Speart
• 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies
• The Year 1000: What Life Was Like At the Turn of the First Millenium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
• Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatents Us All by Paul Offit, M.D.
• Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
• Khan: Empire of Silver: A Novel of the Khan Empire by Conn Iggulden
• John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell
• Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles by Michael D’Antonio
• A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke by James Horn
• Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Fr. Gregory Boyle SJ
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
• Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain
• Attila: The Judgement by William Napier

2010

• The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner
• The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant
• Attila: The Gathering of the Storm by William Napier
• Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
• Attila by William Napier
• Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
• Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler
• The Big Short: Inside the Doomesday Machine by Michael Lewis
• Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives by Michael Specter
• New York by Edward Rutherford
• Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson
• The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell
• The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier
• Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World by Harold Kushner
• A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop by Rebert Weekland, OSB
• The God Box: Hope Strength Courage @ Your Fingertips by Lynn Neu
• Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey

2009

• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Drink, Play, F@#k: One Man’s Search for Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas, and Thailand by Andrew Gottlieb
• The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
• Freedomland by Richard Price
• Genghis : Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden
• As They See Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires by Bruce Weber
• The Visibles by Sara Shepard
• One Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food by Michael Schaffer
• Almost Home by Pam Jenoff
• Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths by Regine Pernoud
• John of the Cross by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD
• Rabbit, Run By John Updike
• I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah’s Witness Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams
• Almost Home by Pam Jenoff
• A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall
• The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci
• The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
• Autism’ s False Prophets by Paul A. Offit, M.D.
• The Little Book by Selden Edwards
• The Crowd Sounds Happy by Nicholas Dawidoff
• Devil’s Brood by Sharon Kay Penman

2008

• Aelre of Rievaulx by John R. Sommerfeldt
• The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes edited by Lucy H. Spelman DVM and Ted Y. Mashima DVM
• Genghis: Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden
• Mortally Wounded by Michael Kearney
• Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss
• Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season by Jonathon Eig
• A Hidden Wholeness: Toward an Undivided Life by Parker Palmer
• Kauai: The Separate Kingdom by Edward Joesting
• Too Soon To Say Goodbye by Art Buchwald
• The Happiest Days of Our Lives by Wil Wheaton
• Old Men Dream by Peter Fullerton
• Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope by Jimmy Carter
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beacher Stowe
• God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush by Randall Balmer
• Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD
• 90 Minutes in Heaven: An Inspiring Story of Life Beyond Death by Don Piper and Cecil Murphy
• Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell
• Emporer: Time’s Tapestry Book One by Stephen Baxter
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
• Harold the King by Helen Hollick

2007

• Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War and the Aftermath as Seen by NPR’s Correspondent Anne Garrels by Anne Garrels and Vint Lawrence
• I Live For This: Baseball’s Last True Believer by Tommy Lasorda and Bill Plaschke
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
• World Without End by Ken Follett
• A Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs
• No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell
• New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
• Is This a Great Game or What? by Tim Kurkjian
• Genghis: Birth Of An Empire by Conn Iggulden
• The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, The Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught by Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreth, and George E. Condon, Jr.
• The Rosetti Letter by Christi Phillips
• Marley and Me by John Grogan
• Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
• Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriquez
• The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
• About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg
• The Death and Life of Bobby Z by Don Winslow
• My Seven Years in Captivity: Tails and Misadventures in the San Diego Zoo by Bill Seaton
• The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd
• Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter
• Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg
• The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
• A History of the End of the World by Jonathon Kirsch
• Flu by Gina Kolata
• The Archer’s Tale by Bernard Cornwell

2006

• Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer
• Selected Writings in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality by Robert Boenig
• Heat by Bill Buford
• Digging to America by Ann Tyler
• The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong
• Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
• Absolute Convictions by Eyan Press
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
• Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks
• Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan Chichester
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

2005 and before

• A History of God: The 4000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Karen Armstrong
• Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
• Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
• The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter
• Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned by Alan Alda
• War Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the Constitution by Peter Irons
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman
• Ithaka by Adele Geras
• Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong
• The Patriots Club by Christopher Reich
• Heloise and Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge
• The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by Frank DeFord (note: this is autographed; I met Frank at the Los AngelesTimes Book Festival in April 2005).
• Marshall’s Journey by Vailia Dennis
• Dear Senator by Essie Mae Washington-Williams and William Stadiem
• The Source by James Michener. (note: this was a re-read; I read it for the first time around 1992 or so).
• Mountains Beyond Mountans by Tracy Kidder
• The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
• Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France by Peter Mayle
• Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton
• The Last Season: A Team In Search Of Its Soul by Phil Jackson and Michael Arkush
• A Good Year by Peter Mayle
• Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell
• Ball Four by Jim Bouton
• Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss
• Letter From Home by Carolyn Hart
• Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
• A Short History of Nearly Everthing by Bill Bryson
• Hanging Curve by Troy Soos
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Michael Haddon
• Fat Man Fed Up by Jack Germond
• The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Bleachers by John Grisham
• How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove
• Good Grief by Lolly Winston
• The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd
• The Amature Marriage by Anne Tyler
• The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
• Brinkley’s Beat:People, Places, and Events That Shaped My Life by David Brinkley
• Krakatoa by Simon Winchester
• Dragon’s Lair by Sharon Kay Penman
• Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken
• The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
• Jester by James Patterson
• The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis
• Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels
• Patrick by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
• Why is the Foul Pole Fair? by Vince Staten
• The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution by Linda Monk
• Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Accidental Pope by Ray Flynn and Robin More
• Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
• The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Hotel Kid: A Times Square Childhood by Stephen Lewis
• Summerland by Michael Chabon
• Hawaii by James Michener
• Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
• A Grace Disguised by Gerald L. Sittser
• Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History by James Carroll
• John Adams by David McCullough
• The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse: a Novel by Louise Erdrich.
• Sarah: Woman of Genesis by Orson Scott Card.
• WITSEC: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program by Pete Earley and Gerald Shur.
• Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.