I read "Supercapitalism" by Robert Reich this summer. It is quite interesting and seems appropriate given the financial mess our country finds itself in.

Older books I might recommend include "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer (especially if you haven't seen the movie already), "Rivethead" by Ben Hamper, "The Rum Diary" by Hunter S. Thompson or "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers.

the best i've read lately:

Geography of Nowhere

The Penelopiad

Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water

Fresh Fields

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green: A Year in the Desert with Team America

Backbone: Short Stories by Carol Bly

Sledge Patrol

Poems 1968-1972

Obasan

The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin

Let it Be Morning

Jared Diamond:

The Third Chimpanzee

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Collapse

China Mieville:

Perdido Street Station

Scar

Iron Council

Doug Hoverson:

Land of Amber Waters

Tamara, do you like fiction or nonfiction? Memoir? Politics? YA? I am a big fiction reader, and am currently reading both Girls of Riyadh and the latest Jane Hamilton read (which is going to be published in 2009). I just read Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. A lot of booksellers are talking up Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire just out from Coffee House Press, it's about the internment of Japanese-Americans in WW2. The Oxford Project is a book of photos and text, detailing the lives of a community of Iowans over a number of years. And Per Persson's novel Out Stealing Horses has blown a lot of readers away, it just came out in paper. And John Grogan, who wrote Marley & Me a few years ago, just came out with his memoirs, The Long Way Home. I want to read Ann Patchett's latest, Run, as well as Loving Frank, which is a novel about Frank Lloyd Wright and the woman who left her husband and children for him, it was a big scandal. And my 10-yr.old read The Hunger Games as fast as she could, and is reading it again. It's YA, but it's sounds seriously intense, about a futuristic American society in which teenagers compete to the death in a reality TV show. If you need more ideas, Nancy Pearl's books, Book Lust and More Book Lust, is always a great resource.

Neil Gaimen - The Grave Yard Book

Anything by Sherman Alexie

Nigh Watch
Day Watch
Twilight Watch
by
Sergei Lukyanenko

Nation - Terry Pratchett

old but good

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

I second the majority of recommendations here.
I'll add The Wet Collection by Tevis - a very striking collection of memoiristic essays. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link- fun, eerie short stories,
Wordy Shipmates- Sarah Vowell's latest take on history
Spud is a tremendous YA
and I'm nearly done with Watchmen the graphic novel, which is older, but getting attention again, very worthwhile (along with Gaiman's graphic/comics) if you're looking to branch out
http://northernlightsbooks.blogspot.com/ has more recommendations and news.

Here are some books I like:

The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest Carter.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler.

Bombardiers, by Po Bronson.

Zombie, by Joyce Carol Oates.

I really liked By the Ore Docks: A Working People's History of Duluth by Richard Hudelson and Carl Ross. But then I'm an America-hating Commie jerk.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

I have been reading The Liars Club by Mary Karr for one of may classes and have enjoyed it thouroughly. Garrison Keillors Liberty was good as well.

Some others:

Dreaming in Cuban and Handbook to Luck by Christina Garcia

Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne

Noam Chomsky(any title)

I agree with Nate as well in reccomending All The Kings Men.

Let me know if you find a good one!!!!

I am also going to suggest Out Stealing Horses. It's gorgeously written. You might also like:

-The Dream at the End of the World, it's about a literary community in Tangiers in the 50's.

or Henry Miller: The Happiest Man Alive if you want to read an interesting Biography

Or if you like Fantasy: The Gate to Women's Country, by Sherry Tepper.

I like Sarah Vowell's new one (The Wordy Shipmates), and recently re-read the book Craig Ferguson put out a year or two ago (Between the Bridge and the River). I'm also reading Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller and it's a fun, fast-moving read.

Three words:

Oprah's Book Club.

Haha.

Anything by Neil Gaiman. I just finished Good Omens, it was hilarious. American Gods is one of my favorite books.

The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer is a great memoir if you can find it.

If you want something to read for a while, read the first four books of the Song of Ice & Fire series.

Oh I also suggest Garrison Keillor. Particularly, Wobegon Boy.

Cormac McCarthy's awesome. Read The Road. No human alive can say it's not worth reading (disclaimer: I didn't poll every human alive, so this is a bullshit statement).

Also entertaining:

Water for Elephants

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

and anything ever written by Clarence Darrow.

Know what's not worth reading, though? Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. What a disappointment that book was for me.

Of course, Water for Elephants! Tamara, you have got to read this novel. I read it twice, I loved it so much. You'll learn more about Depression-era circuses than you ever thought you'd know. It's a compelling read. City of Thieves is also a page-turner, it kind of reminds me of Water for Elephants, though it's set in WW2 Russia. Like WFE, CofT is an unconventional love story set against a dark historical backdrop.

no offense, Calk, but i totally was annoyed by the "voice" in Water for Elephants. i know more than anyone i know about pre-1950s circuses, and i tried to like that book something fierce cuz of all the props given by people like you. but i couldn't get it over with soon enough. all i kept thinking was, "i hope that my writing is better than this."