Germany

Top ten works of nonfiction as of December 2005, based on sales data published in Der Spiegel.

1. Reunion in Barsaloi, Corinne Hofmann. The author returns to her former home in Kenya after fourteen years away. A dramatic family reunion mixed with African politics and exotic landscape.

2. The End of Fun, Peter Hahne. Society will be healthier when we all stop laughing and grow up. A jeremiad against the young and the happy.

3. The Little Doctor, Dietrich Grönemeyer. A thorough and smart introduction to human anatomy for kids ages twelve and up.

4. Memories 1982–1990, Helmut Kohl. The last chancellor of West Germany looks back at the years leading up to reunification.

5. A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. A revised and simplified edition of the classic cosmology primer by the current occupant of Isaac Newton’s old job.

6. Schott’s Food and Drink Miscellany, Ben Schott. Eclectic facts and figures about food and beverage you never knew you wanted to know until you knew them.

7. The Triangle of Life, Uwe Karstädt and Horst Janson. Homeopathic remedies for naturally curing depression, pain, and illness.

8. Love Yourself, Eva-Maria Zurhorst. Why nearly all relationships can flourish if you start with yourself and work outward.

9. Ripped Off and Cared For to Death, Markus Breitscheidel. Unveiling the dark, disturbing side of old-age homes in Germany.

10. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond. From the Mayas to the Easter Islanders, Diamond analyzes the factors that have determined how human cultures have thrived or become extinct.