Jacked: How "Conservatives" Are Picking Your Pocket (Whether You Voted for Them or Not)

Although my nonfiction to-read pile is years old and taller than me, I couldn't help reading Jacked first. Filled with vital information about the state of the nation's political and economic health, it reads like a novel. Stories of our nation's ills are told by the ordinary, heroic Americans the author meets in her travels throughout the U.S. Their stories make the book's data come alive. Nomi Prins's sensitive interviews and sharply drawn portraits make it a pleasure to spend time with these people, who share their lives in heart-to-heart talks, free of jargon or political ranting. Their lives are hard, their stories uplifting: it is a relief to know I am not alone in my late-night worries about medical costs, Katrina refugees, and my other struggling, deserving American neighbors. Thanks to Nomi Prins for a valuable, enjoyable, and accessible book on an important topic: how the current U.S. government is vacuuming out the wallets of ordinary people and depositing their contents in the coffers of the wealthiest.

There's not a trace of academic in this book. It reviews government economic policy through a series of brief conversations with regular people. It's great for pointing out times when the president praised a program while cutting its budget--making policy invisible to those who don't watch the numbers. A good way for economic novices to learn why the field interests so much of the general public. A "must read" for any student who goes straight to the sports page and now needs something to say in class.