Walker
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 the World by 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 CIA by 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 Dream by HG Bissinger
The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell With Bear Bryant Forged a
Championship Team by Jim Dent
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by 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: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T Students
Who Took Vegas for Millions by 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
Panic in 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 Cadavers by 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