Best nonfiction 2006

In 2006, headlines were grim and the year's best books were not about to let us forget that. Several popular titles focused on Iraq ("State of Denial," "Fiasco," and "The Prince of the Marshes"), while others tackled the aftermath of 9/11("The One Percent Doctrine," "The Looming Tower," and "The Emperor's Children").

That's not all. Globalization ("The Inheritance of Loss"), the Middle East ("Gate of the Sun," "The Lemon Tree"), the AIDS crisis in Africa ("There Is No Me Without You"), and even identity theft ("Talk, Talk") all turned up on bookshelves.

But that doesn't mean 2006 left no room for fantasy ("The Ladies of Grace Adieu"), whimsy ("Cellophane"), warm humor("The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"), and just plain good writing ("Green Swan, Black Swan").

Below is a list of all that Monitor reviewers liked best in 2006 – everything from fact to fiction, poetry to politics, history to personal story. It's a lively mix, one that we hope will offer ideas for you and everyone else on your gift list.
– Marjorie Kehe, Monitor book editor

The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin, $28)

This gripping tale of life in the Depression-era Dust Bowl was the 2006 National Book Award winner for nonfiction. (Reviewed 1/10/06)

Oracle Bones: A Journey between China's Past and Present, by Peter Hessler (HarperCollins, $26.95)

New Yorker Beijing correspondent Peter Hessler insightfully describes a new China, one no longer rooted in its traditional rural past. (5/2/06)

The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan (Bloomsbury, $24.95)

The is the true story of the unexpected friendship that grows between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian family connected by a house they both have lived in and each claim to own. (5/9/06)

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin Group, $29.95)

Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick brings to life the story of the Plymouth Colony. (5/30/06)

Uncommon Carriers, by John McPhee (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $24)

From trucks to tugboats to coal trains, John McPhee examines the world of transit in delightful and quirky detail. (6/6/06)

The Good Good Pig, by Sy Montgomery (Ballantine Books, $21.95)

Animal expert Sy Montgomery tells the true and touching tale of the happiness an unwanted runt piglet brought her. (6/6/06)

Heat, by Bill Buford (Knopf, $25.95)

New Yorker writer Bill Buford delights with sketches of his experiences in various kitchens, including that of celebrity chef Mario Batali. (6/20/06)

The One Percent Doctrine, by Ron Suskind (Simon & Schuster, $27)

Journalist Ron Suskind explores the state of security in the United States in the years since 9/11 in this flawed but revelatory and chilling book. (7/11/06)

The Prince of the Marshes, by Rory Stewart (Harcourt, $25)

As a member of the coalition forces, a young Scotsman tackles the government of a province in the Iraqi marshlands and narrates his experiences with both disturbing insight and rueful humor. (8/8/06)

The Looming Tower, by Lawrence Wright (Knopf, $27.95)

From New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, a thorough, accessible, and compelling account of some of the people, politics, and roiling theology behind Islamic terrorism. (9/5/06)

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, by Melissa Fay Greene (Bloomsbury, $25.95)

National Book award nominee Melissa Fay Greene wonderfully chronicles the true story of an Ethiopian woman who took in AIDS orphans. (9/19/06)

Tigers in Red Weather, by Ruth Padel (Walker & Co., $26.95)

Ruth Padel, poet and great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, gorgeously writes of her hunt for wild tigers. (10/03/06)

The Shakespeare Wars, by Ron Rosenbaum (Random House, $35)

With humor and insight, journalist Ron Rosenbaum examines the impassioned debates that rage between scholars over the works of Shakespeare. (10/17/06)

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, by Thomas Ricks (Penguin, $27.95)

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