The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The son of a poor rickshaw puller, Balram was born in an Indian village and received little education before being given away as payment for a debt. How he works his way up in a culture still colored by its ancient caste system forms the basis of this winner of the Man Booker Prize for 2008. It is not essentially about the caste system, but more about cultural bias, socioeconomic status, and personal morality. A wonderful read, The White Tiger kept me enchanted.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

A true story, this tale of a thief with a rare-book obsession, is part biography, part autobiography, and part dissertation on the world of rare books. Mostly, the author ponders why people collect rare books and what exactly made the thief think that it was perfectly okay to "get" books without paying for them. It seemed to be a sense of entitlement and a belief that the world didn't recognize and reward him enough. Interesting glimpse into a somewhat arcane world.