Apr. 2010 - GAME CHANGE: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin "Though this book focuses on personal matters, not policy concerns, and though some of what will be its most talked about passages fall into the realm of gossip and reflect the views of chatty and, in some cases, bitter, regretful or spin-conscious aides, the volume does leave the reader with a vivid, visceral sense of the campaign and a keen understanding of the paradoxes and contingencies of history. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Jan. 2010 - When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins "Collins, a columnist for the New York Times Op-Ed page, begins "When Everything Changed" with the best summary of American women's social and political history that I've read." -- Amy Bloom, New York Times Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Sept. 2009 - The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill "Race still matters, as do gender and class, and they can be crippling hurdles for a politician whose success depends on broad demographic appeal. Obama's election showed how to bridge those fissures not only in an electorate sick of the incumbent party (even Michael Dukakis might have won this one), but also in local and regional elections where the legacies of race and place can be harder to overcome." -- by Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

May 2009 -- Without Precedent: The Life of Susie Marshall Sharp by Anna R. Hayes The first woman judge in the state of North Carolina and the first woman in the United States to be elected chief justice of a state supreme court, Susie Marshall Sharp (1907-1996) broke new ground for women in the legal profession. "An] outstanding and revealing biography. . . . A fascinating account of Sharp's extraordinary professional life. . . . A compelling read, and one that makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of North Carolina in the 20th century and the woman who changed our judiciary forever." -- Jack Betts, Charlotte Observer Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

March 2009 - 2009 - Blue Dixie: Awakening the South's Democratic Majority by Bob Moser "Moser, a political correspondent for The Nation and a native of North Carolina, argues that non-Southern Democrats have created a self-indulgent fable about the old Confederacy, a flattering 'Disneyesque version of political history' that paints Democrats as 'martyrs for racial justice' and Southerners as members of retrograde, white-hooded lynch mobs. He sums up this convenient history: 'The party's sad record in national politics, post-L.B.J., has indeed been a cross to bear. But such is the price of righteousness." From Wooing the South's New York Times Book Review, August 29, 2008 Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Nov. 2008 - The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama A government that truly represents these Americans–that truly serves these Americans–will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived. It won’t be pre-packaged, ready to pull off the shelf. It will have to be constructed from the best of our traditions and will have to account for the darker aspects of our past. We will need to understand just how we got to this place, this land of warring factions and tribal hatreds. And we’ll need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not brea" From The Audacity of Hope Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Aug. 2008 - The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics: The Personalities, Elections, and Events that Shaped Modern North Carolina by Rob Christensen The well-told story of North Carolina’s 20th-century political dynasties forged by patronage, cronyism, kickbacks, fraud, character assassination and the high art of stealing elections honorably. . . . Christensen succeeds where most political historians fail; he makes the story interesting. . . . A must-read for all who value insight into the realities of winning campaigns and governing in a democracy.” —by John N. Davis, Raleigh News and Observer Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Apr. 2008 - Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow by Jim Hightower with Susan DeMarco The New York Times bestselling author and America's funniest activist gives the lowdown on how to put up-not shut up-in the fight for our future. Hightower, the country's #1 populist, has picked up some useful advice over the years, from "never eat at a caf? featuring 'bargain kebobs'" to "never hit a man with glasses; hit him with something much heavier." As he and his longtime co-conspirator Susan DeMarco have rambled through grassroots America, however, they've also come up with more serious words of wisdom to share here, namely: question authority, trust your values, seek alternatives, break away, stand up for your beliefs, and swim against the current! Their book introduces readers to people across the country who have actually done this-people in business, politics, health care, farming, religion, and other areas who are taking charge, living their values, doing good, and doing well. Hightower and DeMarco show how they are doing precisely what the elites want us to believe can't be done: changing their lives and making a difference. He tells the stories of these people and offers inspiration and information that will help readers tap into their own maverick potential in order to navigate a different, more satisfying course of their own. --from http://jimhightower.com/store Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Feb. 2008 - Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, ... Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way by Suzanne Braun Levine and Mary Thom "The book is a who's who of the '60s, '70s and '80s, and certainly of the women's movement: Erma Bombeck, Jimmy Breslin, Susan Brownmiller, Mim Kelber, Maxine Waters, Geraldine Ferraro, Ed Koch, Esther Broner, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and many others. In less skilled hands, this format, a sort of Judy Chicago dinner party of a biography, would have been clunky, cacophonous, forced. But the good ears of the authors (both are prominent authorities on women's issues and former editors at Ms. magazine), their sense of humor about their subject (as well as awe) and the honesty that Abzug so obviously inspired in the people around her make this a remarkable work of oral history. It is also a fond, provocative testament to a remarkable life." --by Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Dec. 2007 - Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman "The gross inequality of the Gilded Age that led up to the Great Depression morphed into a stunningly middle-class economy because of concrete initiatives forced through via Roosevelt's New Deal. The growing inequality of the past 30 years is directly attributable to policies enacted by the conservatives who first broke through with Ronald Reagan and reached their apogee with George W. Bush." -- by Andrew Leonard, Salon Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

Oct. 2007 - The Political Brain by Drew Westen "A scathing, sobering diagnosis of what ails a political party whose beliefs are in line with the majority of Americans on almost every issue and yet fails to translate that alignment into sustainable electoral success. Armed with numerous studies on how the brain operates in that crucial interplay between emotion and reason that energizes voters, Westin has succeeded in penning a manifesto on behalf of bringing the passionate back into the narrative - and actions - of the Democratic Party." -- by SusanG, Daily Kos. Read ReviewsSubmit a book or review

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