Obit: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People who Led Extraordinary Lives by Jim Sheeler [$24.95]

He may as well have thrown in a slice of apple pie and a John Deere tractor—Sheeler’s book is about as American as baseball. His characters exude a down-home goodness, eschewing corporate jobs and urban lifestyles in favor of small towns and agriculture. To the modern, career-driven American, these “ordinary” people may not seem to have much to offer, though Sheeler somehow manages to convince even the most die-hard city-dweller that there is something of great worth in these pages.

—Rachel Smucker