1. What Happened

Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong with Washington

by Scott McClellan

(Perseus, June 2)

Scott McClellan came from Texas to join Bush in Washington as one of his trusted advisers. He served the president for more than seven years and has now written his own account of those contentious and complicated years. He finds fault with Bush for sure (one excerpt has him knowingly lying about what administration knew about the CIA leak scandal), but also with the culture in the nation’s capitol.

2. Your Government Failed You

Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters

by Richard A. Clarke

(Ecco, May 27)

In this sequel to “Against All Enemies,” Clarke continues to argue that the failures that lead to 9/11 haven’t stopped. “Iraq happened. Katrina happened,” Clarke explained to Publishers Weekly, “and we cannot blame these and other failures only on Bush or Cheney. The system of government was supposed to stop these kinds of mistakes from happening, but it failed over and over again.” The new book looks “at the reasons we keep having national security disasters and proposes some ideas about addressing them. Think of it as why the superpower doesn’t work well.”

3. The Political Mind

Why You Can’t Understand 21st Century American Politics with an 18th Century Brain

by George Lakoff

(Viking, May 29)

This is the book Barack Obama must read. From the perspective of cognitive science, George Lakoff tries to explain why many Americans vote against their self interest. He argues that as long as progressive and liberal politicians keep thinking that voters are going to support candidate based on an objective system of reasoning, Democrats are going to keep losing elections. Once they understand the science behind how we shape our morals and ideas, Democrats can reshape the political debate. Doesn’t sound elitist at all.

4. Grand New Party

How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream

by Ross Douthat & Reihan Salam

(Random House, June 24)

Hillary Clinton had a least one thing right, according to these political analysts: Working class voters represent the key to November’s election. But no matter how many shots and beers the Democrats down, that group will reject them because of the party’s cultural liberalism. So it’s up to the Republicans to come up with a message that speak to the economic outlook of the working class.

5. Descent into Chaos

The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia

by Ahmed Rashid

(Viking, June 3)

Rashid won’t win any optimism awards, that’s for sure. The bestselling author and journalist offers readers a shocking analysis of what’s gone wrong in Pakistan, how al Qaeda in Afghanistan is renewed because of the opium trade as the Taliban has reemerged. Bottom line: Iraq and the Middle East aren’t where the conflict with the West will be played out. Pakistan and Afghanistan are failing states that pose the gravest threat.

6. One Man’s America

The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation

by George Will (Crown, June 3)

What makes America unique? Will set out across the country to find out. In Milwaukee he celebrated the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson, while Los Angeles proves to be the center of an education revolution, and of course, there’s our national pastime of baseball. His essays tackle politics, culture and literature, as well as moving tributes to Will’s son with Down Syndrome and his recently deceased mom.

7. This Land is Their Land

Reports from a Divided Nation

by Barbara Ehrenreich

(Metropolitan Books, June 24)

If George Will thinks America is exceptional, Barbara Ehrenreich thinks we’re more divided, more unequal and more corroded by mistrust than ever before. But at least she’s got some hilarious suggestions to fix things: How about shopping at the Salvation Army for those who can no longer afford Wal-Mart, or pet insurance for your kids. Mostly she rails against those she sees as the culprits of this mess.

8. Government Pirates

The Assault on Private Property Rights – and How We Can Fight It

by Don Corace

(Harper, July 22)

Property owners should read this one, but not because of the mortgage crisis. Corace argues that the current grave threat facing individual home and property owners isn’t predatory lenders or unscrupulous banks; it’s the government deciding it wants what you’ve got. For a lot of ugly reasons, the usual definition of “public purposes” has been expanded and the courts are allowing these eminent domain abuses to persist. Corace’s got the dirt on what’s going on and advice for those whose property may be next.

9. Blue Dixie

Awakening the South’s Democratic Majority

by Bob Moser

(Times Books, Aug 5)

Chief political reporter for “The Nation,” Moser argues that Democrats have lost elections when they don’t compete for the South. In 2008, he explains, things can be different if the Democrats realize that Dixie is posed for a Democratic revival. The solution is a message of economic fairness.

10. Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America

by Thomas L. Friedman

(Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Sept 9)

According to the New York Times columnist, climate and energy issues have come to Main Street, but the green revolution has really only begun. America needs to take the lead during this transformation – what Friedman dubs the Energy-Climate era – with the first Green president, the Green New Deal and all spurred by the latest Greenest Generation.