Scott Nafz
Why Buildings Fall Down
by Mathys Levy, Mario Salvadori
Sure, I could have started with the first book of this set, Why Buildings Stand Up (certainly an interesting title in its own right), but there is just so much mystery and detective work involved in determining the causes of structural failure that this book is definitely my favorite of the two. Using actual (and famous) cases, this book explains in detail the reasons for the collapse of the Mianus River Bridge, the explosion of a building in mid-town Manhattan (it wasn't a bomb), and the worst structural failure in U.S. history (Kansas City, 1981), among many others. Mr. Salvadori, often called as an expert witness, explains in clear language who and/or what was responsible in each case. I think I learned more finding out what went wrong, rather than what went right ... I bet you'll never look at a bridge the same way again.

Kristen Gilligan
The Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
This shocking, gripping tale of murder, mystery, and mayhem is actually about the single greatest contributor to the first Oxford English Dictionary of 1857. Winchester reveals that the man who contributed 10,000 definitions to the book was in fact a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane. Interesting, short, and best of all, it reads like fiction!

Jay Gesin
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
by Joseph Ellis
I wish I'd read this before taking American history in school. The book hooked me while I was doing laundry. (Quick word on laundromats -- I always feel like proclaiming, "My fellow Americans, this is my underwear and these, these are my socks." What a great place! Is there a disco anthem for laundromats??) Anyhow, Founding Brothers gives an overview of the personal and political relationships between the founding fathers and provides details of the decisions they made during our country's infancy. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton's duel to the death, Benjamin Franklin's final campaign against slavery, Thomas Jefferson's deal-making to move the capitol to Washington, George Washington's legendary Farewell Address -- all brought seamlessly together into a glorious portrait of post-Revolutionary War America. Much more readable than most history books, Founding Brothers makes the events of the late eighteenth-century seem remarkably current and pertinent to political discussions today. A chapter on slavery shows how debates about the Constitution laid the foundation for race relations in America. I was amazed at the frank conclusions about secret deals and unwritten agreements that shaped Congress and the Constitution. Ellis, a professor at Mount Holyoke College, convincingly blends the historical detail of a scholar with a storyteller's sense of passionate drama. I feel much more informed about American History and I'm eager to pick up biographies of the individual statesmen featured. Easy to see why this won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize.

Gavin Grant
The Shadow of the Sun
by Ryszard Kapuscinski
Originally from Poland, Ryszard Kapuscinski has lived most of his adult life in the third world, particularly in Africa. He has, by his own admission, avoided the tourist sites and attempted to live as the Africans do. In his latest book, The Shadow of the Sun, he takes us from Ghana to Rwanda, Dar es Salaam to Kampala, from the darkest depths of European perceptions of the continent to considerations of how best to deal with his apartment being broken into -- which happens every time he leaves town. He shows African life without pity or condescension, but he is an empathic writer who draws the reader in, opens up their eyes, and insists they be witnesses, too.

John Son
Schismatrix Plus
by Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling made a name for himself as one of the leading lights in that short-lived literary movement known as cyberpunk, but the books that set him next to the likes of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson pale in comparison to the interconnected stories found in Schismatrix Plus. Schismatrix describes Sterling's phenomenally imagined world of the distant future, where humanity has reached into the furthest corners of space. But as usual, the human race is basically split up into two camps (can you argue, that as a race, humans don't suffer from the worst case of bipolarism, whether in the past, present, or future?): the Shapers, who prefer genetic enhancements, and the Mechanists, who rely on prosthetics. Bursting with stunning ideas, the action and intrigue found in these stories course swiftly over generations and galaxies, and Sterling's language -- literate, truncated, ultramodern -- is, unlike many sci-fi efforts, up to the task. A gritty, panoramic look at the future of humanity as it struggles its way to the furthest stars and beyond.

Len Vlahos
The Rackets
by Thomas Kelly
Thomas Kelly's new book The Rackets is not normally my genre of choice. It's an urban noir novel -- I think I just made that up -- that gets down and dirty with politics and corruption in New York City's Teamster unions. The book is a gritty page-turner that will keep you wanting to see what exactly will happen next. Like most works one would consider "noir," the book is loaded with atmosphere. The Rackets is a fun summer read, and great for anyone working in the trades.

Linda Castellitto
The Good People of New York
by Thisbe Nissen
Nissen, author of short-story collection Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night, does a wonderful job of making neurotic New Yorkers lovable in her first novel. When Roz meets the gentle Edwin (from Nebraska! goodness!), they are inexplicably and inexorably drawn to one another. They eventually marry and have a daughter, Miranda, who is spirited and smart. We get to listen and watch as Miranda tries to figure out who she is going to be, and Roz tries to suss out who she has become.