It’s that time of year, and Zócalo can’t resist a Top 10 List. We’re taking this week easy, but we did pull together our favorite books of the year from among those we reviewed, presented in judicious alphabetical order. (And below, a favorite poem, a favorite event, and staff interviews.) Happy holidays, happy New Year, and we hope you have some time for some reading.

Bill Barich’s A Pint of Plain
Morris Dickstein’s Dancing in the Dark
Kal Raustiala’s Does the Constitution Follow the Flag?
Vali Nasr’s Forces of Fortune
Arika Okrent’s In the Land of Invented Languages
Sandra Mackey’s Mirror of the Arab World
Neil MacFarquhar’s The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday
Archie Brown’s The Rise and Fall of Communism
Hannah Holmes’s The Well-Dressed Ape
Tom Zoellner’s Uranium

*Photo courtesy binnyva.