By Barbara Kingsolver
370 pages; HarperCollins

Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle tells the story of how Kingsolver's family was changed by becoming locavores—eating only foods produced locally. With sidebars on various aspects of food-production and nutritional information, meal plans and recipes, it is part great read, part how-to manual for rethinking the way you eat.

— Melissa Hellstern