Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.  Though the seventh and final installment is yet to be released (July 21, to be exact), when it does, it will be well-worth reading.  Though some would disagree, I am one to put Rowling’s work in the camp of fantasy literature, along with Lewis and Tolkien, with her use of magic more mechanical than occultic.  I found her earlier six volumes instant classics of the genre, and the final book will undoubtedly cement this series as among the best written.     

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson.  Easily one of the more celebrated biographies of the past year, it is an important read on two levels:  first, for the biography of Einstein himself, but second, to understand the explosion of modern science on the contemporary cultural scene.  For this reason, I would recommend adding the just-released The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier (science writer for The New York Times) which, while rooted in secular thinking, offers one of the most accessible windshield tours of current scientific theory.

Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 by Michael Beschloss.  With the breath of fresh air that David McCullough has brought to history (looking not simply to critique, but to inspire), Beschloss examines crucial times in American history when a courageous president changed the future of the United States.  Essays examine Washington, Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan.  Beschloss has been called “the nation’s leading Presidential historian” by Newsweek.

Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn’t by Stephen Prothero.  The divide between America being a deeply religious nation, yet shockingly ignorant about religion itself, is the theme of this work.  Prothero fortunately goes beyond mere diagnosis and delves into the history of the divide, and provides some interesting solutions that speak to the importance of religious education in a pluralistic environment.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick.  The founding of America is in good hands as Nathaniel Philbrick brings bracing detail to the American story (and often, American myth), involving not only the perspective of the Pilgrims, but the Native Americans they encountered.  The names are now legend - William Bradford, Miles Standish, Massasoit, Squanto – but the actual story is often missed.  Philbrick delivers that story in a great historical work.

Last Year’s List

The Good Life by Charles Colson.

The Lighthouse by P.D. James. 

Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel. 

The Narnian by Alan Jacobs. 

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. 

Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf. 

The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright. 

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington.  

The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark.