by Paul Collier
224 Pages
Oxford University Press
$15.95
The best single introduction to the challenges of fighting global poverty. Collier is a renowned economist, but nonetheless writes most engagingly. Collier acknowledges how hard humanitarian aid is to get right, yet nonetheless argues that it can be done.
by Ningkun Wu
384 Pages
Back Bay Books
$19.99
The best of the Chinese memoirs of the Mao years, although it never got the attention it deserved. It's a beautifully written, intensely moving true account of an American-trained academic who returns to China to rebuild his country—and ends up in prison.
by Richard Nisbett
282 Pages
W.W. Norton & Co
$26.95
Explores what I.Q. is and how it can be shaped. He argues passionately for improving our education system and including intensive early-childhood programs that can help disadvantaged children get a leg up.
by J. Courtney Sullivan
336 Pages
Knopf
$24.95
A terrific debut novel following a group of young friends at Smith College in the years before and after graduation. It's a literary page-turner that was just published a few months ago, and it's a beautiful exploration of friendship and feminism.
by Lee Child
496 Pages
Dell
$9.99
One of the best of the Jack Reacher novels—and they are the best thrillers on the market today. All of the Reacher novels are superb, with one caveat: Once I start, I'm invariably stuck reading them at a single sitting.
