Helen Prejean's Books of the Year

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. About Abe Lincoln's huge capacity for tolerance and his political savvy, including information about his ardent opponents in his cabinet who also sought the presidency.

The Birth of Christianity by John Dominic Crossan. Discovering what happened in the years immediately after the execution of Jesus.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. About the formation of the universe, quantum physics, and the personalities of the characters who discover these things – a very funny book.

The Prehistory of The Far Side by Gary Larson. Early cartoons, bloopers, mistakes, and the process of creating cartoons - I love this guy. I love how he gets us to see things from animals' perspectives.

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. A picture book; ample fodder for meditation about what we're doing to our beloved Earth and her inhabitants.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. The first writer I know of who began writing history from the point of view of the conquered, not the conquerors - I'll never think of Columbus in the same way again.