Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid, by President Jimmy Carter, contains vital insight into the history and future of the conflict in the Middle East.

The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien

The Gay Metropolis: 1940-1996, by Charles Kaiser, is a comprehensive history of the gay movement in America and Britian covering almost six decades. The author conducted countless interviews of gay and straight people from each decade for the book. Along the way, he explains the movement's relation to interesting cultural icons such as the Beatles, Judy Garland, and Leonard Bernstein.

The God Delusion, and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, refute the existence of God and explain the existence of life respectively.

Covering, the hidden assault on our civil rights, by Kenji Yoshino, gives vocabulary to the various demands made to everyone to conform. Probably could be used as a textbook for a class named: Minorities and Discrimination 101. You might not believe me, but it is relatively balanced.

Prisoner's Dilemma, by William Poundstone, a game theory book, describes paradoxical games where cooperation is rewarded when matched by cooperation, but not cooperating (defecting) is rewarded even more, except when it is matched by defection. Strangely, it actually has a lot of real life applications.

Happiness: the science behind your smile, by Daniel Nettle, describes purpose of the happiness emotion, some subtle distinctions: wanting versus liking, and answers the question: does getting married really make you happier?

The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, MD, describes how to live a happier life.

Crimes Against Logic, by Jamie Whyte, brings into clearer view the very common tactics used by politicians, priests, and almost everyone else to try to win arguments or persuade others. Many of these tactics are shown to be not really logical. I found the chapter on equivocation and begging-the-question enlightening.

The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, by C.A. Tripp, Jean Baker, at times feels a like it's stretching to make it's conclusions. But by the end, I was convinced of Lincoln's homosexuality.

Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond describes collapses (extinctions) of previous societies and parallels to today. Even if you doubt this, it doesn't hurt to read it, as it is well written. Another book, Out of gas : the end of the age of oil, by Caltech prof David Goodstein, reviews the basics: remember, we will run out of oil eventually.

Montgomery Clift, by Patricia Bosworth, describes the short lived but talented gay actor and best friend to Liz Taylor.

Going the Other Way, lessons from a life in and out of major-league baseball, by Billy Bean with Chris Bull, is a candid autobiography of a gay major-league baseball player. Interesting insights into how professional baseball works.

Jung, Jungians, and Homosexuality -- Some interesting insights. E.g. straight males rejection of gays is really because of their own insecurity: Common knowledge, but the scientific presentation is compelling. (Out of print, I think.)

He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, by Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo: sometimes the truth is hard to face up to, and squashing hope is a timesaver. When applied to gay relationships, I suggest to replace 'he' with the one with more power (looks, status, money). Or perhaps who is less attracted to the other -- a bit machiavellian.

Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan, is a gay coming of age fairy-tale.

Perfect Enemies : The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s, by Chris Bull and John Gallagher, shows the history of how the religious right fires up not just their base, but some of middle America, by using fear, uncertainty and doubt of gays.

The Paradox of American Power, why the world's only superpower can't go it alone, by Joseph Nye, posits that "soft power" including control of information, is the new might. Quite different than the "neo con" view.

The Pleasure Principle, by Michael Bronski, highlights the idea that rigorous religious conservatives base their arguments against homosexuality on the idea that sex for pleasure is wrong.

What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, by Thomas Frank, describes frustration of some angry Kansas residents against modern culture and how those people want America back 'the way it was'. Sheds some light on why the Republicans won in '00 and '04.

Into Thin Air, A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster, by Jon Krakauer, describes the infamous 1996 ascent of Everest which resulted in tragedy.

Virtually Normal, An Argument About Homosexuality, by Andrew Sullivan, written in 1995 and while a bit dated, is interesting. Along the way to advocating including marriage between persons of the same-sex and lifting the gay military ban, he has some historical insights into politics and partisanship and the origin of different heterosexual views of gay people. Sullivan is editor of the moderate New Republic magazine. Sullivan is seen as conservative gay person who advocates mainstream "assimilation".

The Year of Ice, by Brian Malloy. The protagonist and narrator has a hilarious knack for internal dialogue embellishing on external speech.

Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown.

Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, by Daniel Goleman, has already changed how many people look at human intelligence.

The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference, by Malcolm Gladwell, some interesting seemingly unrelated points to make about well-connected individuals, Mavens, 150 people, smoking, and how fads ramp up and down.    Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, also by Gladwell, shows good and bad of unconscious thought.

Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner is a book referred to by Gladwell. It applies 'economics', but really it's basic experimental method with statistics, to sort out real world questions.

Land's End: A Walk In Provincetown, by Michael Cunningham, who also wrote the fictional The Hours, gives a vivid description of the place.

A Home at the End of the World, also by Cunningham, is smartly written from different points of view in different chapters. Mainly though it follows the life of a gay protagonist with a bisexual friend (?).

Plan of Attack, by Bob Woodward, shows the 2001-2004 administration's determination to go to war in Iraq.

On Writing, by Stephen King, gives rules for writing fiction.

The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets, by Helen Vendler, examines the series in great detail. Okay, is there any question that Shakespeare was at least bi?

Inequality by design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth, by Martin Sanchez Jankowski, et al, compares the American system of financial rewards with those of other countries and describes how inequality is designed into the system.

Where Angels Fear to Tread, by E.M. Forster, has subtle and interesting characters. Forster also wrote Maurice, an excellent early gay novel published post-humously and turned into a reasonably good movie with a young Hugh Grant.

Clay's Way, by Blair Mastbaum: teens in Hawaii.    He's the one, by Timothy J. Beck: older guys in NYC.

The Mountains of California, by John Muir, describes the impressive Sierra Nevada from the man who helped create the national park service.