Great Books Project – Non-Fiction
In addition to keeping a chronological log of my reading, I have also tried to keep track of how much I enjoyed the books I have read.
To that end, I have rated each book on a six-point scale. The ratings are based on the pleasure I felt in reading the book, what the book aimed to achieve, and how fully the book reached its potential. Thus High Fidelity rates slightly higher than Things Fall Apart because I enjoyed it more and – though its ambitions were more limited – it met them. I do not claim it is a “better” book.
Arts & Culture
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Art |
| Isaacson, Walter | Leonardo da Vinci
| 4.5 |
| Essays |
| Hitchens, Christopher | Arguably
| 4.0 |
| Fashion |
| Flusser, Alan | Dressing The Man
| 5.0 |
| Roetzel, Bernhard | Gentleman
| 4.5 |
| Smith, Russell | Men's Style
| 3.0 |
| Food |
| Foer, Jonathan Safran | Eating Animals
| 4.0 |
| Fromartz, Samuel | Organic, Inc.
| 2.5 |
| Pollan, Michael | Cooked
| 4.0 |
| Pollan, Michael | The Omnivore's Dilemma
| 3.5 |
| Memoirs |
| Bauby, Jean-Dominique | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
| 4.5 |
| Coates, Ta-Nehisi | Between the World and Me
| 4.0 |
| Hanff, Helene | 84 Charing Cross Road
| 4.0 |
| Offutt, Chris | The Same River Twice
| 3.0 |
| Music |
| Carlin, Peter Ames | Bruce
| 4.5 |
| Cash, Johnny | Cash
| 4.0 |
| Cray, Ed | Ramblin' Man
| 4.0 |
| Hilburn, Robert | Johnny Cash
| 4.5 |
| Klein, Joe | Woody Guthrie
| 4.5 |
| Neely, Kim | Five Against One
| 3.0 |
| Springsteen, Bruce | Born to Run
| 4.5 |
| Streissguth, Michael | Johnny Cash
| 2.5 |
| Wilson, Elizabeth | Rostropovich
| 3.5 |
| Young, Neil | Waging Heavy Peace
| 4.0 |
History, Military
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Ancient |
| Kagan, Donald | The Peloponnesian War
| 4.0 |
| Strauss, Barry | The Battle of Salamis
| 3.5 |
| World War I |
| Keegan, John | The First World War
| 4.5 |
| Meyer, G.J. | A World Undone
| 4.0 |
| Stevenson, David | Cataclysm
| 4.0 |
| Strachan, Hew | The First World War
| 1.5 |
| Spanish Civil War |
| Orwell, George | Homage to Catalonia
| 4.5 |
| World War II |
| Ambrose, Stephen | Band of Brothers
| 4.0 |
| Ambrose, Stephen | Citizen Soldiers
| 3.5 |
| Ambrose, Stephen | D-Day
| 3.5 |
| Atkinson, Rick | An Army at Dawn
| 4.0 |
| Atkinson, Rick | The Day of Battle
| 4.0 |
| Atkinson, Rick | The Guns at Last Light
| 4.5 |
| Beevor, Anthony | The Second World War
| 4.5 |
| Borneman, Walter | The Admirals
| 4.0 |
| D'Este, Carlo | Eisenhower
| 3.0 |
| D'Este, Carlo | Patton
| - |
| Hastings, Max | Inferno
| 4.0 |
| Lord, Walter | Day of Infamy
| 1.0 |
| Roll, David | George Marshall
| 4.5 |
| Weinberg, Gerhard | A World at Arms
| 4.5 |
| Korea |
| Fehrenbach, T.R. | This Kind of War
| 4.0 |
| Hastings, Max | The Korean War
| 3.5 |
| Vietnam |
| Atkinson, Rick | The Long Gray Line
| 4.0 |
| Karnow, Stanley | Vietnam
| 4.0 |
| McDonough, James | Platoon Leader
| 3.5 |
| Wolff, Tobias | In Pharaoh's Army
| 3.0 |
| Israel |
| Morris, Benny | 1948
| 3.5 |
| Oren, Michael | Six Days of War
| 4.0 |
| Rabinovich, Abraham | The Yom Kippur War
| 3.0 |
| Persian Gulf War |
| Atkinson, Rick | Crusade
| 4.0 |
| Gordon, Michael | The Generals' War
| 4.0 |
| Powell, Colin | My American Journey
| 3.5 |
| Afghanistan |
| Naylor, Sean | Not a Good Day to Die
| 3.0 |
| Tapper, Jake | The Outpost
| 4.5 |
| Wright, Lawrence | The Looming Tower
| 5.0 |
| Iraq |
| Atkinson, Rick | In the Company of Soldiers
| 1.0 |
| Filkins, Dexter | The Forever War
| 4.0 |
| Gordon, Michael | Cobra II
| 4.0 |
| Gourevitch, Philip | Standard Operating Procedure
| 3.5 |
| Packer, George | The Assassins' Gate
| 5.0 |
| Ricks, Thomas | Fiasco
| 4.0 |
| Woodward, Bob | State of Denial
| 2.5 |
| Other Modern Conflicts |
| Bowden, Mark | Black Hawk Down
| 4.0 |
| Huchthausen, Peter | America's Splendid Little Wars
| 0.5 |
| Et cetera |
| Berkowitz, Bruce | The New Face of War
| 1.0 |
| Keegan, John | The Mask of Command
| 3.5 |
| Wilson, George | Mud Soldiers
| 2.5 |
History, U.S.
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Colonial Period |
| Berlin, Ira | Many Thousands Gone
| 3.5 |
| Horn, James | A Land As God Made It
| 3.0 |
| Philbrick, Nathaniel | Mayflower
| 4.0 |
| Taylor, Alan | American Colonies
| 5.0 |
| French and Indian War |
| Anderson, Fred | Crucible of War
| 4.5 |
| Borneman, Walter | The French and Indian War
| 3.0 |
| Fowler, William | Empires At War
| 4.0 |
| Revolution & Founding |
| Beeman, Richard | Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor
| 4.0 |
| Beeman, Richard | Plain, Honest Men
| 4.5 |
| Bobrick, Benson | Angel in the Whirlwind
| 4.0 |
| Chernow, Ron | Alexander Hamilton
| 4.5 |
| Chernow, Ron | Washington
| 4.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | American Creation
| 4.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | First Family
| 4.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | Founding Brothers
| 5.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | His Excellency
| 4.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | Passionate Sage
| 3.0 |
| Ellis, Joseph | Revolutionary Summer
| 3.5 |
| Ferling, John | Almost a Miracle
| 4.5 |
| Ferling, John | A Leap In The Dark
| 5.0 |
| Langguth, A.J. | Patriots
| 4.0 |
| Maier, Pauline | Ratification
| 3.5 |
| McCullough, David | 1776
| 3.5 |
| McCullough, David | John Adams
| 5.0 |
| Middlekauff, Robert | The Glorious Cause
| 4.0 |
| Taylor, Alan | American Revolutions
| 4.0 |
| Taylor, Alan | William Cooper's Town
| 3.5 |
| Wood, Gordon | Empire of Liberty
| 4.0 |
| Franklin |
| Brands, H.W. | The First American
| 4.0 |
| Isaacson, Walter | Benjamin Franklin
| 4.0 |
| Morgan, Edmund | Benjamin Franklin
| 3.5 |
| Wood, Gordon | The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
| 3.0 |
| Jefferson |
| Ellis, Joseph | American Sphinx
| 4.0 |
| Meacham, Jon | Thomas Jefferson
| 3.5 |
| Antebellum 19th Century |
| Borneman, Walter | 1812
| 2.5 |
| Borneman, Walter | Polk
| 4.5 |
| Brands, H.W. | Andrew Jackson
| 4.0 |
| Foner, Eric | Gateway to Freedom
| 3.0 |
| Howe, Daniel Walker | What Hath God Wrought
| 5.0 |
| Kaplan, Fred | John Quincy Adams
| 4.0 |
| Linklater, Andro | Measuring America
| 2.0 |
| Potter, David | The Impending Crisis
| 5.5 |
| Reynolds, David | John Brown, Abolitionist
| 3.5 |
| Wilentz, Sean | The Rise of American Democracy
| 4.0 |
| Civil War |
| Duncan, Russell | Where Death and Glory Meet
| 3.0 |
| Foote, Shelby | The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville
| 4.0 |
| Foote, Shelby | The Civil War: Fredericksburg to Meridian
| 4.0 |
| Foote, Shelby | The Civil War: Red River to Appomattox
| 4.0 |
| McPherson, James | Battle Cry of Freedom
| 4.5 |
| Murray, Williamson | A Savage War
| 4.0 |
| Sears, Stephen | Gettysburg
| 4.5 |
| Sears, Stephen | Landscape Turned Red
| 4.0 |
| Thomas, Emory | Robert E. Lee
| 3.5 |
| Lincoln |
| Carwardine, Richard | Lincoln
| 4.0 |
| Donald, David Herbert | Lincoln
| 5.0 |
| Foner, Eric | The Fiery Trial
| 4.0 |
| Goodwin, Doris Kearns | Team of Rivals
| 4.0 |
| Miller, Wllliam Lee | Lincoln's Virtues
| 4.0 |
| Miller, Wllliam Lee | President Lincoln
| 3.5 |
| White, Ronald | A. Lincoln
| 4.0 |
| Post-War 19th Century |
| Bain, David Haward | Empire Express
| 3.5 |
| Brown, Dee | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
| 4.0 |
| Donovan, James | A Terrible Glory
| 3.5 |
| Gwynne, S.C. | Empire of the Summer Moon
| 4.0 |
| McCullough, David | The Great Bridge
| 4.0 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | Grant
| 4.5 |
| Utley, Robert | The Lance and the Shield
| 3.5 |
| 20th Century |
| Brands, H.W. | Reagan
| 4.0 |
| Brokaw, Tom | The Greatest Generation
| 1.0 |
| Canellos, Peter | Last Lion
| 3.5 |
| Cooper, John | Woodrow Wilson
| 4.0 |
| Dallek, Robert | An Unfinished Life
| 3.5 |
| Grann, David | Killers of the Flower Moon
| 3.5 |
| Harris, John | The Survivor
| 4.0 |
| Kennedy, David | Freedom from Fear
| 4.5 |
| Larson, Edward | Summer for the Gods
| 2.0 |
| Maraniss, David | First In His Class
| 4.0 |
| McCullough, David | Truman
| 5.5 |
| Meacham, Jon | Destiny and Power
| 4.0 |
| Noonan, Peggy | When Character Was King
| 0.5 |
| Patterson, James | Grand Expectations
| 4.0 |
| Patterson, James | Restless Giant
| 3.5 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | Eisenhower in War and Peace
| 4.5 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | FDR
| 4.5 |
| Thomas, Evan | Being Nixon
| 3.5 |
| Thomas, Evan | Robert Kennedy
| 4.0 |
| Tye, Larry | Bobby Kennedy
| 4.0 |
| Weiner, Tim | Enemies
| 4.5 |
| Weiner, Tim | The Legacy of Ashes
| 4.0 |
| Teddy Roosevelt |
| Brands, H.W. | T.R.
| 4.0 |
| Goodwin, Doris Kearns | The Bully Pulpit
| 4.0 |
| Morris, Edmund | Colonel Roosevelt
| - |
| Morris, Edmund | The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
| - |
| Morris, Edmund | Theodore Rex
| - |
| FDR |
| Meacham, Jon | Franklin and Winston
| 4.0 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | FDR
| 4.5 |
| Civil Rights |
| Branch, Taylor | At Canaan's Edge
| - |
| Branch, Taylor | Parting the Waters
| - |
| Branch, Taylor | Pillar of Fire
| - |
| Garrow, David | Bearing the Cross
| 3.0 |
| Lewis, John | Walking With The Wind
| 4.0 |
| Wilkerson, Isabel | The Warmth of Other Suns
| 4.0 |
| 21st Century |
| Axelrod, David | Believer
| 4.0 |
| Baker, Peter | Days of Fire
| 4.5 |
| Heilemann, John | Game Change
| 3.5 |
| Lichtblau, Eric | Bush's Law
| 4.0 |
| Packer, George | The Unwinding
| 4.0 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | Bush
| 4.5 |
| Foreign Policy |
| Gaddis, John Lewis | The Cold War
| 4.0 |
| McDougall, Walter | Promised Land, Crusader State
| 3.0 |
| Power, Samantha | A Problem from Hell
| 4.5 |
| Tyler, Patrick | A Great Wall
| 2.0 |
| Surveys |
| Ambrose, Stephen | To America
| 3.0 |
| Zinn, Howard | A People's History of the United States
| 4.5 |
History, World
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Africa |
| Beah, Ishmael | A Long Way Gone
| 3.5 |
| Gourevitch, Philip | We Wish to Inform You...
| 4.5 |
| Hochschild, Adam | King Leopold's Ghost
| 4.0 |
| Horne, Alistair | A Savage War Of Peace
| 5.0 |
| Kapuscinski, Ryszard | The Shadow of the Sun
| 4.0 |
| Reader, John | Africa
| 3.5 |
| Ancient |
| Beard, Mary | SPQR
| 4.0 |
| Everitt, Anthony | Augustus
| 3.5 |
| Everitt, Anthony | Cicero
| 3.0 |
| Freeman, Charles | The Greek Achievement
| 4.0 |
| Freeman, Philip | Alexander the Great
| 3.5 |
| Freeman, Philip | Julius Caesar
| 3.5 |
| Goldsworthy, Adrian | Antony and Cleopatra
| 3.0 |
| Goldsworthy, Adrian | Caesar
| 4.5 |
| Goldsworthy, Adrian | How Rome Fell
| 3.5 |
| Mackay, Christopher | Ancient Rome
| 4.0 |
| Martin, Thomas | Ancient Greece
| 2.0 |
| Miles, Richard | Carthage Must Be Destroyed
| 3.5 |
| Australia |
| Hughes, Robert | The Fatal Shore
| 4.0 |
| Britain & Ireland |
| Fraser, Rebecca | The Story of Britain
| 4.0 |
| Gilbert, Martin | Churchill
| 4.0 |
| Manchester, William | The Last Lion: Alone
| - |
| Manchester, William | The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm
| - |
| Manchester, William | The Last Lion: Visions of Glory
| - |
| Scott, Ronald McNair | Robert the Bruce
| 4.5 |
| China |
| Becker, Jasper | The Chinese
| 0.5 |
| Osnos, Evan | Age of Ambition
| 4.0 |
| Spence, Jonathan | The Search For Modern China
| 5.0 |
| Europe |
| Borger, Julian | The Butcher's Trail
| 3.5 |
| France |
| Roberts, Andrew | Napoleon
| - |
| Germany |
| Evans, Richard | The Coming of the Third Reich
| 5.0 |
| Evans, Richard | The Third Reich at War
| 4.0 |
| Evans, Richard | The Third Reich in Power
| 4.5 |
| Kershaw, Ian | Hitler: 1889-1936
| 4.5 |
| Kershaw, Ian | Hitler: 1936-1945
| 4.0 |
| Holocaust |
| Gilbert, Martin | The Holocaust
| 5.0 |
| Levi, Primo | Survival In Auschwitz
| 4.0 |
| Szpilman, Wladyslaw | The Pianist
| 4.0 |
| India |
| Boo, Katherine | Behind the Beautiful Forevers
| 4.0 |
| Keay, John | India
| 3.5 |
| Luce, Edward | In Spite of the Gods
| 3.5 |
| Japan |
| Gordon, Andrew | A Modern History of Japan
| 3.5 |
| Latin America |
| Castaneda, Jorge | Companero
| 3.5 |
| Mann, Charles | 1491
| 4.0 |
| Middle East |
| Bowden, Mark | Guests of the Ayatollah
| 4.0 |
| Fisk, Robert | The Great War for Civilisation
| 5.0 |
| Gilbert, Martin | Israel
| 4.5 |
| Kinzer, Stephen | Crescent and Star
| 2.0 |
| Landau, David | Arik
| 4.0 |
| Morris, Benny | Righteous Victims
| 4.0 |
| Mansfield, Peter | A History of the Middle East
| 3.5 |
| Shavit, Ari | My Promised Land
| 4.0 |
| Russia |
| Figes, Orlando | A People's Tragedy
| 4.5 |
| Longworth, Philip | Russia
| 2.5 |
| Massie, Robert | Catherine the Great
| 4.0 |
| Montefiore, Simon Sebag | Stalin
| 2.5 |
| Montefiore, Simon Sebag | Young Stalin
| 3.5 |
| Service, Robert | A History of Twentieth-Century Russia
| 3.5 |
| Service, Robert | Lenin
| 4.0 |
| Service, Robert | Stalin
| 4.0 |
| Service, Robert | Trotsky
| 4.0 |
| Taubman, William | Khrushchev
| 3.5 |
Law
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Alexander, Michelle | The New Jim Crow
| 4.5 |
| Amar, Akhil | The Bill of Rights
| 3.5 |
| Budiansky, Stephen | Oliver Wendell Holmes | 4.0 |
| Cray, Ed | Chief Justice
| 4.0 |
| de Hart, Jane Sherron | Ruth Bader Ginsburg
| 4.0 |
| Eisinger, Jesse | The Chickenshit Club | 4.0 |
| Farrell, John | Clarence Darrow
| 4.0 |
| Feldman, Noah | Scorpions
| 4.0 |
| Greenburg, Jan Crawford | Supreme Conflict
| 4.0 |
| Greenhouse, Linda | Becoming Justice Blackmun
| 3.0 |
| Gunther, Gerald | Learned Hand
| 4.5 |
| Harr, Jonathan | A Civil Action
| 2.5 |
| Klarman, Michael | From Jim Crow to Civil Rights
| 4.5 |
| Larson, Edward | Summer for the Gods
| 2.0 |
| Murphy, Bruce Allen | Wild Bill
| 3.5 |
| Newman, Roger | Hugo Black
| 3.5 |
| Newton, Jim | Justice for All
| 4.0 |
| Simon, James | What Kind of Nation
| 0.5 |
| Smith, Jean Edward | John Marshall
| 4.0 |
| Stern, Seth | Justice Brennan
| 4.0 |
| Stevenson, Bryan | Just Mercy
| 4.5 |
| Toobin, Jeffrey | The Nine
| 3.5 |
| Urofsky, Melvin | Louis D. Brandeis
| 4.0 |
| Williams, Juan | Thurgood Marshall
| 3.5 |
Money
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Business & Economics |
| Ahamed, Liauqat | Lords of Finance
| - |
| Braham, Lewis | The House that Bogle Built
| 3.5 |
| Burrough, Bryan | Barbarians at the Gate
| 5.5 |
| Chernow, Ron | The House of Morgan
| 4.0 |
| Chernow, Ron | Titan
| 4.0 |
| Gordon, John Steele | Empire of Wealth
| 3.5 |
| Henriques, Diane | The Wizard of Lies
| 3.5 |
| Levitt, Steven | Freakonomics
| 2.5 |
| Lowenstein, Roger | When Genius Failed
| 4.0 |
| McLean, Bethany | All the Devils Are Here
| 4.0 |
| McLean, Bethany | The Smartest Guys in the Room
| 4.5 |
| Morris, Charles | The Trillion Dollar Meltdown
| 4.0 |
| Nasaw, David | Andrew Carnegie
| 3.5 |
| Phillips, Kevin | Bad Money
| 3.5 |
| Reich, Robert | Supercapitalism
| 3.5 |
| Schroeder, Alice | The Snowball
| 4.0 |
| Sorkin, Andrew Ross | Too Big to Fail
| 4.0 |
| Stewart, James | Den of Thieves
| 4.5 |
| Yergin, Daniel | The Prize
| 4.0 |
| Investing |
| Bernstein, William | The Four Pillars of Investing
| 5.5 |
| Bogle, John | Common Sense on Mutual Funds
| 4.5 |
| Bogle, John | Don't Count on It!
| 3.5 |
| Bogle, John | The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
| 3.5 |
| Ellis, Charles | Winning the Loser's Game
| 3.0 |
| Larimore, Taylor | The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
| 4.0 |
| Larimore, Taylor | The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning
| 3.5 |
| Malkiel, Burton | The Elements of Investing
| 3.0 |
| Malkiel, Burton | A Random Walk Down Wall Street
| 3.5 |
| Piper, Mike | Investing Made Simple
| 3.0 |
| Schultheis, Bill | The Coffeehouse Investor
| 3.5 |
| Swedroe, Larry | The Right Financial Plan
| 4.0 |
| Swensen, David | Unconventional Success
| 3.5 |
| Personal Finance |
| Bach, David | The Automatic Millionaire
| 2.5 |
| Bach, David | Smart Couples Finish Rich
| 3.0 |
| Robin, Vicki | Your Money or Your Life
| 2.0 |
| Stanley, Thomas | The Millionaire Next Door
| 3.5 |
Philosophy
Religion
Science
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Aerospace & Aviation |
| Berg, A. Scott | Lindbergh
| 4.0 |
| Hickam, Homer | Rocket Boys
| 4.5 |
| Kranz, Gene | Failure Is Not an Option
| 4.0 |
| McCullough, David | The Wright Brothers
| 4.0 |
| Wolfe, Tom | The Right Stuff
| 4.0 |
| Biology |
| Dawkins, Richard | The Greatest Show on Earth
| 4.0 |
| Mukherjee, Siddhartha | The Gene
| 4.5 |
| Ridley, Matt | Genome
| 3.5 |
| Skloot, Rebecca | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
| 4.0 |
| Climate |
| Flannery, Tim | The Weather Makers
| 4.0 |
| Kolbert, Elizabeth | Field Notes From a Catastrophe
| 3.5 |
| Linden, Eugene | The Winds of Change
| 3.5 |
| Exploration |
| Ambrose, Stephen | Undaunted Courage
| 4.0 |
| Bergreen, Laurence | Over the Edge of the World
| 4.0 |
| Medicine |
| Crosby, Molly | The American Plague
| 3.0 |
| Hager, Thomas | The Demon Under the Microscope
| 4.5 |
| Kidder, Tracy | Mountains Beyond Mountains
| 4.0 |
| Oshinsky, David | Polio
| 4.0 |
| Physics |
| Gleick, James | Isaac Newton
| 2.5 |
| Goldsmith, Barbara | Obsessive Genius
| 3.5 |
| Isaacson, Walter | Einstein
| 4.5 |
| Rhodes, Richard | The Making of the Atomic Bomb
| 5.0 |
Social Science
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Political Science |
| Frank, Thomas | What's The Matter With Kansas?
| 3.0 |
| Gore, Al | The Assault on Reason
| 4.0 |
| Krugman, Paul | The Conscience of a Liberal
| 5.0 |
| Obama, Barack | The Audacity Of Hope
| 5.5 |
| Reich, Robert | Reason
| 4.0 |
| Psychology |
| Ariely, Dan | Predictably Irrational
| 3.5 |
| Cain, Susan | Quiet
| 4.5 |
| Duhigg, Charles | The Power of Habit
| 4.0 |
| Kahneman, Daniel | Thinking, Fast and Slow
| 4.5 |
| Sociology |
| Desmond, Matthew | Evicted
| 4.0 |
| Diamond, Jared | Guns, Germs, and Steel
| 4.0 |
| Ehrenreich, Barbara | Nickel and Dimed
| 2.0 |
| Leovy, Jill | Ghettoside
| 5.0 |
| Macy, Beth | Dopesick
| 4.5 |
Sports
| Author | Title | Rating |
| Baseball |
| Eig, Jonathan | Luckiest Man
| 3.5 |
| Halberstam, David | Summer of '49
| 3.5 |
| Lewis, Michael | Moneyball
| 4.0 |
| Montville, Leigh | The Big Bam
| 3.5 |
| Stump, Al | Cobb
| 3.5 |
| Basketball |
| Lazenby, Roland | Michael Jordan
| 4.0 |
| Boxing |
| Remnick, David | King of the World
| 4.0 |
| Football |
| Bissinger, H.G. | Friday Night Lights
| 4.0 |
| Cohen, Rich | Monsters
| 4.0 |
| Davis, Jeff | Papa Bear
| 3.5 |
| Lewis, Michael | The Blind Side
| 4.5 |
| Maraniss, David | When Pride Still Mattered
| 4.5 |
| Horse Racing |
| Hillenbrand, Laura | Seabiscuit
| 4.0 |
| Soccer |
| Bergkamp, Dennis | Stillness and Speed
| 4.5 |
| Hornby, Nick | Fever Pitch
| 4.0 |
| Lawrence, Amy | Invincible
| 4.0 |
