The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy (Simon & Schuster, $32.50)
This is one of the more fascinating political books of the summer.
Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, both seasoned editors at Time magazine, got their idea for their latest book while working on “The Preacher and the President,” about Billy Graham and the American presidency. While doing their research, they were fascinated by the numerous examples of private encounters between presidents and former presidents since most Americans are accustomed to viewing our presidents as individuals.
One of the most surprising finding is that presidents with very different ideologies and agendas often end up in close partnerships as former presidents. Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush is an example. This is due in no small part to former presidents just wanting to help and see the man in the White House succeed.
Sifting through newly revealed documents and conducting hundreds of interviews, Gibbs and Duffy explore how each president relied on the most exclusive club on the planet not just for his own purposes but often the good of the country and to help preserve and strengthen the power of the office. As the country has evolved, so has the club.
Even though the President’s Club began with the first shift of presidential power from George Washington to John Adams, the club in its modern form really began in 1953 at the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower when Herbert Hoover suggested to Harry Truman that they form a former presidents’ club. Although unofficial, it has become an important factor in our modern politics.
This is an exceptional piece of political reporting. It is accessible, insightful, and filled with fascinating details. Put this book at the top of your summer reading list.

A World of Curiosities: Surprising, Interesting, and Downright Unbelievable Facts from Every Nation on the Planet by John Oldale (Plume, $16)
John Oldale, who lives with his family in a former village pub in Hampshire, England, has written a nifty little book that is guaranteed to keep you up at night, and in a good way. The 300 or so pages are jam-packed with 2,000 funny, trivial, poignant, and telling facts.
Consider, for example, that the most famous and recorded Christmas song ever written was created by a Jewish composer while he soaked up the sunshine poolside one winter at a Phoenix resort. Irving Berlin loved the warmth of winters in Arizona and told a reporter in 1940 that it helped increase his creative juices. While sitting poolside at the Biltmore in Phoenix during the winter of 1940, he wrote “White Christmas,” a song he planned for his next film project, “Holiday Inn.”
Since 1942, it has been recorded by more artists and sold more copies than almost any other composition, holiday or otherwise. Bing Crosby’s Decca recording alone has sold an astonishing 40 million copies.
Other tidbits include where Panama hats are made (hint: not in Panama), which war women won in 1929 by sitting down and that Aztecs believed that there was a rabbit, not a man, in the moon, a view which is still shared by many in Asia.
This book belongs on your bedside table but be forewarned, it is certain to cut into your snooze time.

Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars by Paul Ingrassia (Simon & Schuster, $30)
Rev up your literary motors for a look under the hood of fifteen car models that have helped define our country and its culture. From the Model T to the Prius, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Ingrassia takes down a wondrous road that includes brief rides in such automotive icons as the Corvette, the Beetle, the Honda Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others.
As the author explains, for decades the connection between cars and self-image has been understood and appreciated by prominent philosophers. He adds that the Beach Boys song, “Fun Fun Fun” released in 1964 wasn’t so much about the Ford Thunderbird as it was the free-spirited teen girl who drove one.
This highly readable book profiles not just the cars but the idiosyncratic pioneers who helped propel the American auto industry from the crude assembly lines of Henry Ford to the eventual evolution fueled by such innovators as Lee Iacocca and Takeski Uchiyamada. This is a sweeping story that underscores the fact that cars are truly symbols of the social glue that helps keep our large and diverse nation together.

Gold-Mining Boomtown: People of White Oaks, Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory by Roberta Key Haldane (Arthur H. Clark & Company/University of Oklahoma Press, $45)
In this sweeping, comprehensive history, New Mexico historian and writer Roberta Key Haldane, a native of Lincoln County, documents the tiny town of White Oaks in southeastern New Mexico. The town is twenty-eight miles from Lincoln and was often overshadowed by its notorious neighbor.
White Oaks began in 1879 when prospectors discovered gold deposits at nearby Baxter Mountain. As news spread, the boom began. As with most mining boom towns, it ended almost as quickly as it began.
Haldane profiles more than forty families and individuals who called White Oaks home. It was a colorful town, even when compared with Lincoln. Billy the Kid was a frequent visitor and the local livery bought and sold stolen cattle. When a popular deputy was gunned down in 1880, citizens resolved to clean up their town and gave their support to Pat Garrett, running for sheriff of Lincoln County.
This is a remarkable book that focuses on the people, not just the outlaws, lawmen, and miners but citizens such as the Jewish merchants formerly from Russian and Germany, a New England sea captain, married to a Samoan princess, no less, Chinese miners and workers, and even an undertaker with an international criminal past. This history reads like a good novel, except better since it is true and authentic.
Haldane is to be commended for this work. The research is meticulous, the writing crisp, and the 250 images lively. If you love Western history, this book is almost as nostalgic and entertaining as a faro game in the backroom of the Little Casino saloon.

Treasure Hunter: Diving for Gold on North America’s Death Coast by Robert MacKinnon with Dallas Murphy (Berkley, $25.95)
Captain Robert MacKinnon has spent most of his life searching the waters of the Atlantic Ocean for sunken treasure. This world-renowned diver and treasure hunter, based in Nova Scotia, has focused on the dangerous shallow eaters along Cape Breton Island on Nova Scotia’s coast. Even though the rocky bottom is littered with shipwrecks and untold riches, much of it has remained protected by the treacherous reefs and violent currents in the area.
In his book, Captain MacKinnon recounts his searches, successes, and failures, providing readers with rare glimpses into the struggles, privations and hardships that were suffered by sailors and passengers who were unfortunate enough to find themselves ship wrecked during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in waters and shores both rugged and unforgiving.

The Mama’s Boy Myth: Why Keeping Our Songs Close Makes Them Stronger by Kate Stone Lombardi (Avery, $26)
This is a must-read for families with boys.
For years almost every mother of a son has been warned that someday, somehow, they will stop being close and trying to maintain an emotional connection would be detrimental to his development and turn him into that dreaded being: a mama’s boy. A new book suggests that belief simply isn’t true.
Kate Stone Lombardi, who has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times, builds a convincing case that mothers can find a healthy, close relationships with their sons that offer both parties rich rewards without any dire consequences.
In this groundbreaking narrative, the author proves that sons who are close to their mothers are emotionally and physically healthier than those who are not. What’s more, the very skills that today’s mothers are teaching their sons, such as how to recognize and express their feelings, are exactly what boys need to succeed in the classroom, in romantic relationships, and ultimately, in the workplace.