Time Magazine's Top 10 Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction) (Best Book Recommendations)

Time Magazine's Top 10 Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)

a list by Peter Steinberg, avid reader

I was going to write an introduction that questioned America's need to make "Best of" lists at the end of every year. Then I gave the nature of this very website some thought and realized that I best not cast any stone from my glass-walled website.

With no further ado, I give you the 2007 non-fiction picks of Time Magazine's editors.

onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/1_The_World_Without_Us');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312347294'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/1_The_World_Without_Us');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312347294'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#1: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/1_The_World_Without_Us');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312347294'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/1_The_World_Without_Us');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312347294'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 336 page hardcover \|$16.47 \|232 reviews This book also appears on Salon.com's Favorite Non-Fiction of 2007


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/2_A_Life_of_Picasso_The_Triumphant_Years_19171932');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0307266656'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/2_A_Life_of_Picasso_The_Triumphant_Years_19171932');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0307266656'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#2: A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 by John Richardson onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/2_A_Life_of_Picasso_The_Triumphant_Years_19171932');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0307266656'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/2_A_Life_of_Picasso_The_Triumphant_Years_19171932');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0307266656'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 608 page hardcover \|$26.40 \|9 reviews This book also appears on The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/3_A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/3_A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#3: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah Amazon says: Wars are now fought now by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In "A Long Way Gone," Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/3_A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/3_A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 240 page hardcover \|$14.96 \|377 reviews This book also appears on: Peter Steinberg's Reading List The 2008 Alex Awards The America Library Association's 2008 List of The Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/4_Legacy_of_Ashes_The_History_of_the_CIA');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038551445X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/4_Legacy_of_Ashes_The_History_of_the_CIA');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038551445X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#4: Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/4_Legacy_of_Ashes_The_History_of_the_CIA');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038551445X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/4_Legacy_of_Ashes_The_History_of_the_CIA');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038551445X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 702 page hardcover \|$18.45 \|118 reviews This book also appears on: Salon.com's Favorite Non-Fiction of 2007 The Economist's Best Books of 2007 (History) The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/5_The_Rest_Is_Noise_Listening_to_the_Twentieth_Century');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374249393'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/5_The_Rest_Is_Noise_Listening_to_the_Twentieth_Century');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374249393'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#5: The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross Amazon says: Anyone who has ever gamely tried and failed to absorb, enjoy, and--especially--understand the complex works of Schoenberg, Mahler, Strauss, or even Philip Glass will allow themselves a wry smile reading New Yorker music critic Alex Ross's outstanding "The Rest Is Noise." Not only does Ross manage to give historical, biographical, and social context to 20th-century pieces both major and minor, he brings the scores alive in language that's accessible and dramatic. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/5_The_Rest_Is_Noise_Listening_to_the_Twentieth_Century');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374249393'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/5_The_Rest_Is_Noise_Listening_to_the_Twentieth_Century');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374249393'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 640 page hardcover \|$19.80 \|42 reviews This book also appears on: The Economist's Best Books of 2007 (Culture & Digressions) The New York Times' 5 Best Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction) The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/6_Born_Standing_Up_A_Comics_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416553649'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/6_Born_Standing_Up_A_Comics_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416553649'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#6: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/6_Born_Standing_Up_A_Comics_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416553649'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/6_Born_Standing_Up_A_Comics_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416553649'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 224 page hardcover \|$16.50 \|188 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/7_Animal_Vegetable_Miracle_A_Year_of_Food_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060852550'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/7_Animal_Vegetable_Miracle_A_Year_of_Food_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060852550'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#7: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/7_Animal_Vegetable_Miracle_A_Year_of_Food_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060852550'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/7_Animal_Vegetable_Miracle_A_Year_of_Food_Life');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060852550'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 384 page hardcover \|$17.79 \|262 reviews This book also appears on 2008 James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/8_The_Nine_Inside_the_Secret_World_of_the_Supreme_Court');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1400096790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/8_The_Nine_Inside_the_Secret_World_of_the_Supreme_Court');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1400096790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#8: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin Amazon says: Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the most important and secret legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities -- from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/8_The_Nine_Inside_the_Secret_World_of_the_Supreme_Court');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1400096790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/8_The_Nine_Inside_the_Secret_World_of_the_Supreme_Court');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1400096790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 384 page paperback \|$10.85 \|135 reviews This book also appears on: The Economist's Best Books of 2007 (Politics & Current Affairs) The New York Times' 5 Best Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction) The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/9_The_Center_Cannot_Hold_My_Journey_Through_Madness');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/140130138X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/9_The_Center_Cannot_Hold_My_Journey_Through_Madness');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/140130138X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#9: The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/9_The_Center_Cannot_Hold_My_Journey_Through_Madness');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/140130138X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/9_The_Center_Cannot_Hold_My_Journey_Through_Madness');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/140130138X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 352 page hardcover \|$16.47 \|61 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/10_Here_If_You_Need_Me_A_True_Story');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0316066303'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/10_Here_If_You_Need_Me_A_True_Story');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0316066303'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#10: Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/10_Here_If_You_Need_Me_A_True_Story');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0316066303'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Time_Magazines_Top_10_Books_of_2007_NonFiction/10_Here_If_You_Need_Me_A_True_Story');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0316066303'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 224 page hardcover \|$16.31 \|68 reviews

Know any books we should add to the list above? .