Best Ethnic Demographic Studies

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. “[A] compassionate, discerning sociological analysis…Combining thoughtful inquiry with firsthand experience, Mr. Vance has inadvertently provided a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election, and he’s done so in a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans. [Vance] offers a compelling explanation for why it’s so hard for someone who grew up the way he did to make it…a riveting book.” ( Wall Street Journal ). “[ Hillbilly Elegy ] couldn’t have been better timed...a harrowing portrait of much that has gone wrong in America over the past two generations...an honest look at the dysfunction that afflicts too many working-class Americans.” ( National Review ). Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy”, offers a starkly honest look at what that shattering of faith feels like for a family who lived through it.

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. ''[A] compassionate, discerning sociological analysis...Combining thoughtful inquiry with firsthand experience, Mr. Vance has inadvertently provided a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election, and he's done so in a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans. ( Jennifer Senior, New York Times ). ''[ Hillbilly Elegy ] is a beautiful memoir but it is equally a work of cultural criticism about white working-class America....[Vance] offers a compelling explanation for why it's so hard for someone who grew up the way he did to make it...a riveting book.''. ''[An] understated, engaging debut...An unusually timely and deeply affecting view of a social class whose health and economic problems are making headlines in this election year.''. ''Vance compellingly describes the terrible toll that alcoholism, drug abuse, and an unrelenting code of honor took on his family, neither excusing the behavior nor condemning it...The portrait that emerges is a complex one...Unerringly forthright, remarkably insightful, and refreshingly focused, Hillbilly Elegy is the cry of a community in crisis.''. ''A beautifully and powerfully written memoir about the author's journey from a troubled, addiction-torn Appalachian family to Yale Law School, Hillbilly Elegy is shocking, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and hysterically funny. It's also a profoundly important book, one that opens a window on a part of America usually hidden from view and offers genuine hope in the form of hard-hitting honesty. From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class through the author’s own story of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for over forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J.D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels.

• A New Republic Best Book of the Year • The Globalist Top Books of the Year • Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Non-fiction • Particularly relevant in understanding who voted for who in this presidential election year, this is an endlessly fascinating look at American regionalism and the eleven “nations” that continue to shape North America. —The Wall Street Journal “[ American Nations ] sets itself apart by delving deep into history to trace our current divides to ethno-cultural differences that emerged during the country’s earliest settlement.” —The New Republic , Editors’ Picks: Best Books of 2011 “Provocative reading.” —News and Observer “In American Nations , [Colin Woodard] persuasively reshapes our understanding of how the American political entity came to be. [A] fascinating new take on history.” —The Christian Science Monitor “ American Nations by journalist-historian Colin Woodard is a superb book. There is much to grapple with in this well-written book.” —The Portland Press Herald “[F]or people interested in American history and sociology, American Nations demands reading. Louis Dispatch “[I]f you want to better understand U.S. politics, history, and culture American Nations is to be required reading. By revealing this continent of rivals, American Nations will revolutionize the way Americans think about their past, their country, and themselves and is sure to spark controversy.” —The Herald Gazette “Woodard persuasively argues that since the founding of the United States, eleven distinct geographical ‘nations’ have formed within the Union, each with its own identity and set of values.” —Military History Quarterly “Colin Woodard offers up an illuminating history of North America that explodes the red state-blue state myth. Woodard’s American Nations is a revolutionary and revelatory take on America’s myriad identities, and how the conflicts between them have shaped our country’s past and mold its future.” —MaineBusiness.com “One of the most original books I read in the last year. During my five years as an Ambassador in the United States, I spent a lot of time studying the voting patterns of different states and reading American history, and I have to say I find Woodard’s thesis to be fully borne out by my own observations.” —John Bruton, former Prime Minister of Ireland “Woodard offers a fascinating way to parse American (writ large) politics and history in this excellent book.” —Kirkus (starred review) “Provocative.” —Publishers Weekly “[W]ell-researched analysis with appeal to both casual and scholarly readers.” —Library Journal.

Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature. Baldwin demands, flicking aside the central race issue of his day and calling instead for full and shared acceptance of the fact that America is and always has been a multiracial society. Baldwin's seething insights and directives, so disturbing to the white liberals and black moderates of his day, have become the starting point for discussions of American race relations: that debasement and oppression of one people by another is "a recipe for murder"; that "color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality"; that whites can only truly liberate themselves when they liberate blacks, indeed when they "become black" symbolically and spiritually; that blacks and whites "deeply need each other here" in order for America to realize its identity as a nation.

McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. Christopher McDougall is the author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen and Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance.

My Beloved World.

Now an HBO® Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Entertainment Weekly #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year New Yorker Reviewers’ Favorite. American Library Association Notable Book People Top Ten Book of the Year Washington Post Book World Top Ten Book of the Year. Salon.com Best Book of the Year USA Today Ten Books We Loved Reading O, The Oprah Magazine Top Ten Book of the Year. National Public Radio Best of the Bestsellers Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Financial Times Nonfiction Favorite Los Angeles Times Critics’ Pick Bloomberg Top Nonfiction New York magazine Top Ten Book of the Year. Slate.com Favorite Book of the Year. TheRoot.com Top Ten Book of the Year Discover magazine 2010 Must-Read Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year Library Journal Top Ten Book of the Year Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year U.S. News & World Report Top Debate-Worthy Book Booklist Top of the List—Best Nonfiction Book New York Times /Science Bestseller list “I could not put the book down . “Science writing is often just about ‘the facts.’ Skloot’s book, her first, is far deeper, braver, and more wonderful.” —New York Times Book Review “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a triumph of science writing...one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read.” —Wired.com “ A deftly crafted investigation of a social wrong committed by the medical establishment, as well as the scientific and medical miracles to which it led.” —Washington Post “ Riveting...a tour-de-force debut.” —Chicago Sun-Times “A real-life detective story, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks probes deeply into racial and ethical issues in medicine . an inspiring tale for all ages.” — Essence “This extraordinary account shows us that miracle workers, believers, and con artists populate hospitals as well as churches, and that even a science writer may find herself playing a central role in someone else’s mythology.” — The New Yorker “Has the epic scope of Greek drama, and a corresponding inability to be easily. explained away.” — SF Weekly “One of the great medical biographies of our time.” — The Financial Times “Like any good scientific research, this beautifully crafted and painstakingly researched book raises nearly as many questions as it answers . The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a heroic work of cultural and medical journalism.” —Laura Miller, Salon.com “No dead woman has done more for the living . a fascinating, harrowing, necessary book.” —Hilary Mantel, The Guardian (U.K.) “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks does more than one book ought to be able to do.” — Dallas Morning News “Above all it is a human story of redemption for a family, torn by loss, and for a writer with a vision that would not let go.” — Boston Globe “This remarkable story of how the cervical cells of the late Henrietta Lacks, a poor black woman, enabled subsequent discoveries from the polio vaccine to in vitro fertilization is extraordinary in itself; the added portrayal of Lacks's full life makes the story come alive with her humanity and the palpable relationship between race, science, and exploitation." If science has exploited Henrietta Lacks [Skloot] is determined not to. gives Henrietta Lacks another kind of immortality—this one through the discipline of good writing.” — Baltimore Sun “A work of both heart and mind, driven by the author’s passion for the story, which is as endlessly renewable as HeLa cells.” — Los Angeles Times “In this gripping, vibrant book, Rebecca Skloot looks beyond the scientific marvels to explore the ethical issues behind a discovery that may have saved your life.” — Mother Jones “More than ten years in the making, it feels like the book Ms. Skloot was born to write . Skloot, a young science journalist and an indefatigable researcher, writes about Henrietta Lacks and her impact on modern medicine from almost every conceivable angle and manages to make all of them fascinating . packed with memorable characters.” —Dwight Garner, New York Times , Top Ten Book of 2010 “Astonishing . .” — The Economist “Journalist Rebecca Skloot’s history of the miraculous cells reveals deep injustices in U.S. medical research.” — TIME “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a fascinating look at the woman whose cultured cells—the first to grow and survive indefinitely, harvested without compensation or consent—have become essential to modern medicine.” — Vogue “ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a remarkable feat of investigative journalism and a moving work of narrative nonfiction that reads with the vividness and urgency of fiction. It also raises sometimes uncomfortable questions with no clear-cut answers about whether people should be remunerated for their physical, genetic contributions to research and about the role of profit in science.” — National Public Radio “An indelible, marvelous story as powerful as those cells.” — Philadelphia Inquirer “As much an act of justice as one of journalism.” — Seattle Times “A stunning book . I highly recommend this book.” —Jad Abumrad, Radiolab “Skloot is a terrific popularizer of medical science, guiding readers through this dense material with a light and entertaining touch.” — The Globe and Mail (Canada) “A rare and powerful combination of race, class, gender,medicine, bioethics, and intellectual property; far more rare is the writer that can so clearly fuse those disparate threads into a personal story so rich and compelling.” — Seed “Powerful story . Thank you for writing this important book.” —Kali-AhsetAmen, Radio Diaspora “Skloot has written an important work of immersive nonfiction that brings not only the stories of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa once more into line, but also catharsis to a family in sore need of it.” — The Times Literary Supplement “A masterful work of nonfiction . a real page turner.” —Hanna Rosin, Slate “Skloot explores human consequences of the intersection of science and business, rescuing one of modern medicine’s inadvertent pioneers from an unmarked grave.” — US News & World Report “Remarkably balanced and nonjudgmental . It reads like a novel but has the intellectual substance of a science textbook or a historical biography.” — The Daily Nebraskan “Illuminates what happens when medical research is conducted within an unequal health-care system and delivers an American narrative fraught with intrigue, tragedy, triumph, pathos, and redemption.” — MS. “ A tremendous accomplishment —a tale of important science history that reads like a terrific novel.” — Kansas City Star “Good science writing isn’t easy, but Skloot makes it appear so.” —The Wichita Eagle “Encompasses nearly every hot-button issue currently surrounding the practice of medicine.” — Madison Capital Times “Defies easy categorization . navigates both the technical and deeply personal sides of the HeLa story with clarity and care.” — The Portland Mercury “[A] remarkable book.” — London Review of Books “An essential reminder that all human cells grown in labs across the world, HeLa or otherwise, came from individuals with fears, desires, and stories to tell.” — Chemical & Engineering News “Blows away the notion that science writing must be the literary equivalent to Ambien.” — Chicago Tribune “Seldom do you read a book that is science, social history, and a page turner.” —British Medical Journal “Thrilling and original nonfiction that refuses to be shoehorned into anything as trivial as a genre. It is equal parts popular science, historical biography, and detective novel.” —Ed Yong, DISCOVER.COM “Best book I’ve read in years.” —Brian Sullivan, Fox Business Network “Thanks to Rebecca Skloot, we may now remember Henrietta—who she was, how she lived, how she died.” — The New Republic “We need more writers like Rebecca Skloot.” —E.O.Wilson.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review ’s Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” ( People ). *Starred Review* Solomon, who won the National Book Award for The Noonday Demon (2001), tackles daunting questions involving nature versus nurture, illness versus identity, and how they all affect parenting in his exhaustive but not exhausting exploration of what happens when children bear little resemblance to their parents. Solomon focuses on the creative and often desperate ways in which families manage to tear down prejudices and preconceived fears and reassemble their lives around the life of a child who alters their view of the world.

An eye-opening account of life inside North Korea—a closed world of increasing global importance—hailed as a “tour de force of meticulous reporting” ( The New York Review of Books ). NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST In this landmark addition to the literature of totalitarianism, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il (the father of Kim Jong-un), and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life. She takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors, and through meticulous and sensitive reporting we see her subjects fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we witness their profound, life-altering disillusionment with the government and their realization that, rather than providing them with lives of abundance, their country has betrayed them. A fascinating and deeply personal look at the lives of six defectors from the repressive totalitarian regime of the Republic of North Korea, in which Demick, an L.A. Times staffer and former Seoul bureau chief, draws out details of daily life that would not otherwise be known to Western eyes because of the near-complete media censorship north of the arbitrary border drawn after Japan's surrender ending WWII.