books@cc.

by Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe (2003).

Examines the origin of processed cacao and its history and sociological importance/pervasiveness from pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture to present day.

by Kobo Abe (1966).

A scientist whose face has been disfigured in a laboratory explosion, penned his thoughts and confessions for his wife.

The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
by Jonathan Harr (2005).

Chronicles the story of the quest for Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ. Based on numerous interviews and written in the style of a (historical/detective?) novel.

by Mark Mazower (2000).

A short but broad-ranging history book, it challenges the common one-dimensional stereotype of “the Balkans”

Why the Truth Doesn’t Always Come Out When the UN Goes In
by Linda Polman (2004).

Common horrifying-slash-absurd images of “humanitarian” movements gone wrong (as always).

and Other Stories
by Nadine Gordimer (1991).

Stories of (moral and psychological tensions of) life in racially-divided countries written with seemingly no committed specific political ideologies.

Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century
by Graham Robb (2003).

Challenges the common assumptions of the Victorian age as a tabloid image of homophobic hell populated by mean-spirited, fearful and envious ignoramuses from which gay people eventually liberated themselves.