1. Hard Rain Falling, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

By Don Carpenter (NYRB, $16.95) When most writers attempt to write a great American classic they rarely utilize the power and punch of terse sentences (see Hemmingway) or sizzling awareness in their

2. Education of a British Protected Child, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

By Chinua Achebe (Knopf Doubleday, $24.95) Essential reading are Achebe's essays for they strip away blinders, fantasies, and stereotypes of growing up in post-colonial Nigeria while displaying his

3. Faceless Killers, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Henning Mankell (Random House, $14.00) A page-turner chock-full of coffee--the characters are always pouring a cup. This mystery will have you and the detective stumped, and even when he gets it,

4. The Angel's Game, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Doubleday, $26.95) Wow. All I can say is that this one is everything it says on the back cover jacket. What happens inside you and the protagonist know but have to experience

5. Outliers, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $27.99) The third book's a charm here. When it comes to success, it isn't really about your brain but more to do with the when, where, and who you are culturally.

6. The Manual of Detection, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

 by Jedediah Berry (Penguin, $25.95) A delicious morsel to savor page by page. The protagonist's journey as a detective is mysterious as ever but the hilarity is never compromised by the ur

7. The List Maker, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Blake Madden (published by author, $8.95)   An independent title from a small group of guys who like books, THE LIST MAKER is indie press at its best. It is one of those stories that m

8. Callaloo Literary Journal: New Orleans Issue, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Periodicals)

(Callaloo, $14.00) For those who still have to put a human face on the natural occurrence, yet preventable disaster that struck New Orleans, Callaloo’s New Orleans issue goes deep inside t

9. The Girl with the Golden Shoes, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Colin Channer (Akashic Books, $13.95) A coming-of-age novella set in the Caribbean during the 1940’s, the protagonist, Estalla, is a young girl who falls in love with reading. Against the w

10. The Race Beat, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff (Knopf, $30.00) The Race Beat won the Pulitzer. When I first saw it a few months back, I sensed that even if it was a dry read it would be noteworthy. In actuality

11. Dancing to Almendra, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Mayra Montero (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25.00) This is an interesting fiction about real-live Cuban mafia members in the late ’50’s. Everyone in this book is a character, from th

12. Killing Johnny Fry, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Walter Mosley (Bloomsbury, $23.95) There is an overwhelming abundance of fornication in this book, but because of the nature of the story and the revelation the protagonist achieves, it really co

13. Night Watch, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Fiction)

by Sergei Lukyanenko (Hyperion, $13.95) I simply loved it. Three novellas that build around the eternal struggle of good and evil, witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Others and humans. H

14. Why I Write, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

By George Orwell (Penguin Great Ideas, $8.95) This treatise is a beautiful depiction of Orwell.

15. How To Achieve True Greatness, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

By Baldesar Castiglione (Penguin Great Ideas, $8.95) A magnificent work; those who hail The Prince by Machiavelli should read this discussion on what qualities a courtier should possess.

16. The Emperor, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

By Ryszard Kapuscinski (Knopf, $12.00) An overwhelming work of journalism/memoir describing the last days and palace routine of the last Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, as told to the author b

17. Think And Grow Rich, Written by: Brook
(Staff Picks/Nonfiction)

By Napoleon Hill (Ballantine, $7.99) This is a book worth reading annually. It is chock full of charts and questions you can ask yourself about your financial state.