It’s funny that you should mention Half the Sky, because I actually did read it with book cub this year! I’m embarrassed that I didn’t add it to this list. Anyway, I blogged about it here, if you’re interested:
http://tammyoler.com/book-report-half-the-sky-by-nicholas-kristof-and-sheryl-wudunn

I look forward to your thoughts on Atmospheric Disturbances!

One of the stand-outs i read this year is The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood, by Helene Cooper. In the interests of full disclosure, i know Helene, but this was a real page-turner for me, and eye-opening in a way i didn’t expect it to be about social dynamics in West Africa. Or at least her little corner of West Africa.

On another note, i’m seriously interested in a book i have not yet read, but it’s one of those books i’m so absolutely sure about, i’m buying it sight-unseen, so to speak. It’s called Half the Sky (after an old Chinese proverb that women hold up half the sky), and it’s by a couple of NY Times journalists who scoured the entire planet to elucidate the numerous ways in which women are relegated to roles that don’t involve money making, and how detrimental the practice is to economies both micro and macro, and how changes to this mode of life are making enormous differences in the entire societies.

From one compulsive list-maker to another, thanks for the rundown Tammy!