Notable Nonfiction: 2nd Quarter 2013

I haven't read many new nonfiction titles yet this year, but I've been lucky enough to find and enjoy a few truly exceptional books that deserve special mention:

1.  The Spark - Kristine Barnett (story of an autistic little boy whose IQ is higher than Einstein's)

2.  Mr. Lincoln's Battle with God - Stephen Mansfield (definitely not your father's Abe Lincoln)

3.  Butterfly in the Typewriter - Cory MacLauchlin (intriguing biography of reclusive author John Kennedy Toole)

4.  Celebrating Pride and Prejudice - Susannah Fullerton (everything you ever wanted to know about the best loved novel ever written)

5.  A Chance to Win - Jonathan Schuppe  (a paralyzed drug dealer tries to turn his life around by helping the neighborhood kids form a baseball team)

6.  She Left Me the Gun - Emma  Brockes (a British woman learns the truth about her mother's first 30 years)

7.  Good Prose - Tracy Kidder, Richard Tood (part memoir, part writing manual - co-authored by Kidder and his longtime editor)

 8.  After Visiting Friends - Michael Hainey (a newspaper man uncovers the truth about his father's death on a Chicago street)

This is turning into a year during which I read even more fiction than normal, but I expect to have a nice Top Ten list by year-end.