8. Hot. Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America

By Thomas L. Friedman
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux — $27.95)

New York Times columnist Friedman offers an urgent plea to unleash U.S. creativity—and capitalism—on the challenges of energy, climate change, and world population growth. "I am convinced that the public is ready," he writes—"they're ahead of the politicians."