"Code Orange" by Caroline B. Cooney. New York : Delacorte Press, 2005.
Mitty, who never exerts himself in school any more than absolutely necessary, becomes intensely and personally interested in his "infectious diseseases" writing assignment. Challenged to find titles about smallpox for his bibliography, he investigates some old books his mother has purchased from a doctor's estate - and discovers an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs. After handling them and accidentally breathing in some of the old dust, he becomes convinced he has infected himself and all of New York City.

"The Prosecutors [A Year In The Life Of A District Attorney's Office]" by Gary Delsohn. Roseland, NJ : Listen & Live Audio, p2003.

Author-reader Delsohn follows the progress of six high-profile crimes prosecuted by the Sacramento County District Attorney's office in a recent year.

This is only the second audiobook I've "read", but I learned that true crime in audio is not for me. I was living in Sacramento when the crimes occurred or were tried, and I found it too much like listening to the news. During our book club discussion, though, some folks said they found it interesting to see the prep work required to bring the criminals to trial, and also were surprised at how much politicking and dealing went on in the DA's office in the interests of getting a conviction.

"Winning every time : how to use the skills of a lawyer in the trials of your life" by Lis Wiehl. New York, Balantine Books, 2004

Wiehl is a trial lawyer, commentator and legal analyst. She illustrates the steps anyone can follow to build a solid "case", argue it rationally, defend it, and win in all the arenas of life: home, work, and school. Each step is explained in its own chapter and brought to life with vivid examples.

"The Map That Changed the World : William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology" by Simon Winchester. New York, HarperCollins, 2001

William Smith, while working as a coal miner in the early 19th century in England, learned from other experienced miners that the earth was arranged in predictable layers. Later while surveying routes for coal-barge-carrying canals, he remarked that those layers occurred in the same order all over England; moreover, they could be identified by the fossils they contained. Armed with this discovery, he then made it his life’s work to create the world’s first map of England’s rock layers, thus founding the science of geology.

"The Adventure of English : the biography of a language" by Melvyn Bragg, Arcade Publishing, 2003
From its birth as a minority tribal language, Bragg chronicles the development of English through Roman, Norse, and French conquests, its exportation to America and other colonies, and finally to its current state. His premise is that the English language is a sponge, freely adopting and adapting words from other languages until it has created a unique ability to name and describe things better than any other language in the world. Because of this, English has become a powerful world language that is still growing, still naming new things. Despite regional accents and localisms, English is understood in virtually every country in the world. It is now not only adopting new words, but loaning English words to other countries, and continuing to name new things - weblogs and podcasts being among the latest.

"The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith. New York, Anchor Books, 2002.
This collection of episodes from the caseload of fictional private detective Precious Ramotswe is uncanny in its unmasking of human foibles of the sorts that span generations and cultures. The author was born in Botswana, where his stories are set, and he has perfectly captured the cadence, the pace, and the imagery of life in 20th century Africa.

Mma Ramotswe has used her inheritance to buy a storefront and set up a detective agency so she can "help people with the problems in their lives." The problems range from a lost dog to a kidnapped child, from a defiant daughter to embezzlement to medical malpractice. Each case is solved by Precious Ramotswe using guidelines from "'The Principles of Private Investigation' by Clovis Andersen," which she uses as her manual. The solutions are witty and almost Solomon-like in their carriage of justice.

"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. HarperFlamingo, 1998
Rev. Price, his wife and four daughters fly to the Congo in the late 1950s and take over an abandoned mission. The experience of trying to come to grips with the reality of life in Africa is related in turn by each member of the family, including the 5 year old and a brain-damaged teen twin. Against the background of Congo's struggle for independence, we see how the individual views of events and ways of coping provide us with a complex and very rich composite picture of the personal, political, and economic issues of the time and place.

"Hetty: the genius and madness of America's first female tycoon" by Charles Slack Harper Collins, 2004
Having learned about business and finance at her father's and grandfather's knees, Hetty Robinson used her knowledge to become this country's richest woman in the 1860s. Both before and after her marriage to Edward Green, she rigorously guarded her fortune, tying it up in trusts to prevent it from being dispersed outside her family. This account of Hetty's life, unfashionable and eccentric by her choice, illustrates the disconnect between her Quaker upbringing and the effects of her fabulous wealth on her immediate and distant family.

"The Sinister Pig" by Tony Hillerman Harper Collins, 2003
The Washington office of the FBI has snatched a murder case away from the local authorities that would normally handle it, raising questions and arousing the suspicions of the Navajo Tribal Police and the Border Patrol. Hillerman reprises his cast of characters, including Jim Chee, Bernie Manuelito, and the now retired Legendary Joe Leaphorn in another intricate mystery set in the Four Corners area of the American southwest. The author's web site is at http://www.tonyhillerman.com