Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, established in 1980, is a category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Works are eligible during the year of their first US publication in English, though they may be written originally in languages other than English.

Recipients +Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest winners and finalistsYearAuthorTitleResultRef.1980Without Fear or FavorWinner1981Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a NumberWinner1982Winner1983Lost in the CosmosWinner1984Cities and the Wealth of NationsWinner1985, Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler, and Steven M. TiptonHabits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American LifeWinner1986Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and WhiteWinner1987Winner1988Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the CountryWinner1989Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963Winner1990Disappearing through the Skylight: Culture and Technology in the Twentieth CenturyWinner and Paul WilsonDisturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel HuizdalaFinalistMy Traitor's Heart: A South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience1991Why Americans Hate Politics: The Death of the Democratic ProcessWinnerFinalist1992Winner and Mary D. EdsallChain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American PoliticsFinalistCulture Wars: The Struggle to Define AmericaDen of Thieves1993Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent MinorityWinnerAfrican Laughter: Four Visits to ZimbabweFinalistConduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. MilitaryPaul KennedyPreparing for the Twenty-First Century1994DiplomacyWinnerOriginal Intent and the Framers of the Constitution: A Disputed QuestionFinalistBrent StaplesParallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White1995Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was BlackWinnerBeyond Individualism: How Social Demands of the New Identity Groups Challenge American Political andFinalist and John LieBlue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots and Gary SandefurGrowing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What HelpsWe, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy1996Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of WarWinnerFinalistAll God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of ViolenceAshes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip MorrisMoving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of IndependenceEvan ThomasTurning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk1997WinnerInto Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest DisasterFinalistOur Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect SuburbRace, Crime, and the Law1998We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from RwandaWinnerAmerican Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth, and MemoryFinalistArticles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion WarsCold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country On the Outside Looking In: A Year in an Inner-City High School1999 with Ovie Carter (photographer)SidewalkWinnerFinalistBlack Hawk Down: A Story of Modern WarChosen By God: A Brother's Journey2000Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold WarWinnerDarkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the AmazonFinalistPitching Around Fidel: A Journey into the Heart of Cuban Sports2001Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in AmericaWinnerStates of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and SufferingFinalistTom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore2002Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from SexWinnerSeeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space, and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary PerilFinalist and Kira Brunner (editors)Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich2003WinnerCut Time: An Education at the FightsFinalistJarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other BattlesUnder the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent FaithWhy America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/112004Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American WarWinnerBlue BloodFinalistBound to PleaseTruth & Beauty: A Friendship2005Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's WarWinnerConspiracy of Fools: A True StoryFinalistCourtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal CourthouseStill Looking: Essays on American Art2006Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of ToleranceWinnerImperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green ZoneFinalistStrange Piece of Paradise2007Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West PointWinnerFinalist2008Angler: The Cheney Vice PresidencyWinnerMy Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal JourneyFinalist2009ZeitounWinnerColumbineFinalist and Sheryl WuDunnHalf the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women WorldwideStrength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness2010Winner and Joe NoceraAll the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial CrisisFinalistJust KidsWar2011Thinking, Fast and SlowWinnerEl Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal InsurgencyFinalistIs That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of EverythingPakistan: A Hard Country2012Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai SlumWinnerNature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards into BattlegroundsFinalistOn Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines—and FuturePrivate Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power2013Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged HospitalWinnerDetroit: An American AutopsyFinalistGoing Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of BeliefManifest Injustice: The True Story of a Convicted Murderer and the Lawyers Who Fought for His FreedomThank You for Your Service2014WinnerBeing Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the EndFinalistJust Mercy: A Story of Justice and RedemptionDeep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free2015Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global SecurityWinnerBlue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American PolicingFinalistChildren of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard LandDreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate EpidemicHow Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century2016 with Bela Shayevich (trans.)Secondhand Time: The Last of the SovietsWinnerFinalistCity of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee CampDark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical RightEvicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City2017Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for AmericaWinnerLocking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaFinalistWe Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy2018Winner2019Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass IncarcerationWinnerFinalistCatch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us 2020Caste: The Origins of Our DiscontentsWinnerFinalistWaiting for an Echo: The Madness of American IncarcerationSeparated: Inside an American Tragedy2021Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still CouldWinnerInvisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American CityFinalistHalfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass IncarcerationWildland: The Making of America's Fury2022Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save AmericaWinnerFinalistThey Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America ComplacentTorn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families — and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World2023We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in AmericaWinnerBettina L. LovePunished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We HealFinalist Cameron McWhirter and Zusha ElinsonAmerican Gun: The True Story of the AR-15Christina SharpeOrdinary NotesRaja ShehadehWe Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir

References