Suggested Reading List for AP English Language and Composition

Suggested Reading List for AP English Language and Composition

Written below the subjects are titles of full length works of non-fiction. Read the titles and choose one, two, or a few that you would like to read. Go to an online bookseller’s website to read reviews and excerpts. Choose a book to read, buy it, or check it out from a library. You may also choose to read a full length work of non-fiction that is not listed below. Teacher approval of this choice is required.

Adventure

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Touching the Void by Joe Simpson

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan

Rescue in the Pacific: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in a Force 12 Storm by Tony Farrington

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants in the Ocean by Susan Casey

The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks by Susan Casey

War and the Military

Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden

Lone Survivor:The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story by Cdr. Richard Jadick

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by Anthony Swafford

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley

Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

WAR by Sebastian Junger

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US History by Chris Kyle

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides

The Iraq War

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005 by Thomas Ricks

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006 to 2008 by Thomas Ricks

Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael R. Gordon

The Assassins' Gate by George Packer

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

Medicine and Health

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on a Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer by Shannon Brownlee

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure theWorldby Tracy Kidder

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness by Jerome Groopman

On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency by Emily R. Transue

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks

Education

Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortensen

Crime

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town by Nate Blakeslee

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon

The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood by David Simon

In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri by Harry McLean

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Bernstein (see Sports)

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Columbine by Dave Cullen

Law

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr

The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the survivors of one of the worst disasters in coal-mining history brought suit against the coal company--and won by Gerald M. Stern

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow

Business

The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind

The Informant: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

Government, Politics, and History

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIAby Tim Weiner

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1853 by Simon Winchester

See No Evil by Robert Baer

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History by Hampton Sides

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of Little Big Horn by Simon Winchester

Sports

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dreamby HG Bissinger

The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell With Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Teamby Jim Dent

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Gameby Michael Lewis

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

Bringing Down the House: TheInside Story of Six M.I.T Students Who Took Vegas for Millionsby Ben Mizrich

The Last Amateurs: Playing for Glory and Honor in Division I College Basketball by John Feinstein

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Bernstein (see Crime)

The Miracle of St. Anthony by Adrian Wojnarowski

Fall River Dreams by Bill Reynolds

Science, Nature, and Human Behavior

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston

The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story by Richard Preston

Panicin Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science by Richard Preston

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker

Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaversby Mary Roach

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economise Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel J. Gilbert

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Outliers: The Stories of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Freakanomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven J. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The Best American Series (These books are published every year and that year is included at the end of the title, i.e. The Best American Crime Reporting 2009)

The Best American Essays

The Best American Sports Writing

The Best American Travel Writing

The Best American Magazine Writing

The Best American Science and Nature Writing

The Best American Science Writing

The Best American Non-required Reading Series