Black Hawk Down
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there — and how they fought their way out. (Publisher Comments)
"What this demotic, you-are-there prose lacks in literary finesse...it makes up in pure narrative drive....Bowden has performed an important service by picking out and meticulously dramatizing such a turning point in recent history. Until [the book] came along, this strange and terrible battle was in danger of being forgotten." William Finnegan, The New York Times Book Review
Have by January 10th
Read by Thursday, January 17th
Black Hawk Down (Part one: Chapters 1-11)
Read by Thursday, January 24 th
Black Hawk Down (Part two: Chapter 12 to end)
Devil's Highway
Selected as one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Arizona Republic, and the Chicago Tribune
In this work of grave beauty and searing power-one of the most widely praised pieces of investigative reporting to appear in recent years-we follow twenty-six men who in May 2001 attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadly region known as the Devil's Highway, a desert so harsh and desolate that even the Border Patrol is afraid to travel through it, a place that for hundreds of years has stolen men's souls and swallowed their blood. Only twelve of the men made it out. (http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/books/82/0316010804/index.html )
"Superb . . . Nothing less than a saga on the scale of the Exodus and an ordeal as heartbreaking as the Passion . . . The book comes vividly alive with a richness of language and a mastery of narrative detail that only the most gifted of writers are able to achieve."--"Los Angeles Times Book Review."
Have Devil's Highway by January 24th
Read by Thursday, January 31st
Devil's Highway (Chapters 1-8)
Read by Thursday, February 7th
Devil's Highway (Chapters 9 to end)
A Civil Action
Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious lawyer, is addressed by a group of families. When investigating the seemingly non-profiting case, he finds it to be a major environmental issue that has a lot of impact potential. A leather production company could be responsible for several deadly cases of leukemia, but also is the main employer for the area. Schlichtmann and his three colleagues set out to have the company forced to decontaminate the affected areas, and of course to sue for a major sum of compensation. But the lawyers of the leather company's mother company are not easy to get to, and soon Schlichtmann and his friends find themselves in a battle of mere survival.
Harr has crafted a tale that demonstrates how truth can be more interesting than fiction. Describing a lawsuit that lasted nine years, A Civil Action reveals that even with the best lawyers and evidence on the victims' side, justice can be elusive, especially when it involves malfeasance by powerful corporations. Read how the unlikeliest of heroes emerges when a young, hotshot, Porsche-driving lawyer takes the case, initially with hopes of winning millions, and ends up nearly losing everything, including his sanity, as he is led to confront connected and powerful interests who will do anything to win.
A Civil Action is considered by many to be the best book ever written on the legal system.
(Barnes and Noble Review)
Have by February 8th
Read by following dates
Thursday, February 21 st
Civil Action (Chapters 1-5)
Thursday, February 28th
Civil Action (Chapters 6-9)
Thursday, March 6 th
Civil Action (Chapters 10-13)
Into Thin Air 
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild . On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.
Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement. (amazon.com review)
Have Into Thin Air by March 3rd
Read by
Thursday, March 20th
Into Thin Air (Chapter 1-10)
Thursday, March 27 th
Into Thin Air (Chapter 11-21)
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