Powered by a book like {foo}
Recommendations based on Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the Westby Blaine Harden
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick
Exploration of the lives of North Koreans during the famine and repression of the 1990s.
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the ... (Goodreads)
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A memoir of a woman's journey of faith, identity, and self-liberation.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would ... (Goodreads)
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
A gripping tale of a child soldier's journey to survive and reclaim his humanity.
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.,"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?","Because there is a war.","You mean, you saw people running around with guns and ... (Barnes & Noble)
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
by Christopher McDougall
A thrilling exploration of the Tarahumara tribe and their superhuman running abilities.
Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does ... (Goodreads)
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
by Yeonmi Park
A young woman's harrowing escape from North Korea and her struggle to survive and thrive in a new country.
Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age 13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized that in order to be ... (Goodreads)
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson
A man's mission to build schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan to promote peace.
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s ... (Goodreads)
Argo: How the CIA & Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
by Antonio J. Méndez
The true story of how the CIA and Hollywood collaborated to rescue six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
The true account of the 1979 rescue of six American hostages from Iran On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held dozens of Americans hostage, sparking a ... (Goodreads)
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
by Mark Owen
A first-hand account of the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, detailing the training, planning, and execution of the operation.
From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden's compound, operator Mark Owen ... (Goodreads)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan
Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.
What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
An inspiring story of a rowing crew battling against the odds to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
This novel is about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the gold medal. The ... (Wikipedia)
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism
by Fumio Sasaki
A minimalist lifestyle guide, reshaping our relationship with possessions.
The best-selling phenomenon from Japan that shows us a minimalist life is a happy life. Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo—he’s just a regular ... (Barnes & Noble)
A House in the Sky
by Amanda Lindhout
A memoir of Amanda Lindhout's 15-month captivity in Somalia, and her journey towards forgiveness and healing.
The dramatic and redemptive memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most beautiful and remote places, its most imperiled and perilous countries, and then into fifteen months of ... (Goodreads)
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
by Marina Keegan
Collection of essays and stories exploring love, loss, and the complexities of life.
An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world’s attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for ... (Goodreads)
Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II
by Mitchell Zuckoff
A gripping account of a WWII aircrew's crash and subsequent survival, and a modern-day investigation into the tragedy.
Frozen in Time is a gripping true story of survival, bravery, and honor in the vast Arctic wilderness during World War II, from Mitchell Zuckoff, the author of New York Times bestseller Lost in ... (Barnes & Noble)
Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
by John P. Kotter
A fable about a colony of penguins facing a melting iceberg, teaching us how to adapt to change and succeed in any situation.
Most of the denizens of the Antarctic penguin colony sneer at Fred, the quiet but observant scout who detects worrying signs that their home, an iceberg, is melting. Fred must cleverly convince and ... (Goodreads)
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story
by Hyeonseo Lee
A harrowing journey of escape from a repressive regime and the struggle to find a new life in freedom.
An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her ... (Goodreads)
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
by Timothy Snyder
History of the mass extermination of civilians in Central and Eastern Europe during WWII.
Americans call the Second World War “The Good War.” But before it even began, America’s wartime ally Josef Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens—and kept killing them during and after the ... (Goodreads)
The Explicit Gospel
by Matt Chandler
A theological exploration of the Bible's central message of God's grace.
Too few people attending church today, even those in evangelical churches, are exposed to the gospel explicitly. Sure, many will hear about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the ... (Goodreads)
The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Scientific exploration of the evidence for and against religious belief.
A preeminent scientist - and the world's most prominent atheist - asserts the irrationality of belief in God, and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With ... (Goodreads)
Mao: The Unknown Story
by Jung Chang
Detailed history of Mao Zedong and his devastating impact on China.
The most authoritative life of the Chinese leader ever written, Mao: The Unknown Story is based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never ... (Goodreads)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X
A gripping account of one man's transformation from criminal to civil rights leader.
Alternate cover for ISBN 9780345350688 Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his ... (Goodreads)
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures
by Malcolm Gladwell
Collection of essays about the surprising connections between seemingly unrelated topics.
What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What ... (Goodreads)
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
by Chris Kyle
An inside look at the life of the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history.
From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous ... (Goodreads)
The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
by Richard Preston
An exploration of the discovery and containment of one of world's deadliest viruses.
A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret ... (Goodreads)
A Civil Action
by Jonathan Harr
A legal drama about a court case of corporate negligence, and the resulting tragedy.
After finding that her child is diagnosed with leukemia , Anne Anderson notices a high prevalence of leukemia, a relatively rare disease, in her city . Eventually she gathers other families and seeks ... (Wikipedia)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J.D. Vance
An exploration of the struggles of working-class Americans, and the power of family and culture to shape one's life.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for ... (Goodreads)
Survival in Auschwitz
by Primo Levi
True story of a man's struggle to survive in a Nazi concentration camp.
The true and harrowing account of Primo Levi’s experience at the German concentration camp of Auschwitz and his miraculous survival; hailed by The Times Literary Supplement as a “true work of art, ... (Goodreads)
An Invisible Thread
by Laura Schroff
A miraculous story of an unlikely friendship that changed two lives forever.
From #1, New York Times, bestselling authors Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski comes the young readers edition of an unbelievable memoir about an unlikely friendship that forever changed the lives ... (Barnes & Noble)
Notes from a Small Island
by Bill Bryson
A humorous travelogue of Bryson's final tour of Britain before moving to the US. He reflects on the quirks and charms of British life.
"Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain-which is to say, all of it." After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson - bestselling author of ... (Goodreads)
