The logic of what America is reading

Political best-sellers in US for last month;

1. I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello and Allison Silverman. (Grand Central, $26.99.) The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”

2. An Inconvenient Book, by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe. (Threshold Editions, $26.) The conservative TV and talk-radio host offers his solutions to problems including global warming, poverty and political correctness.

3. Boom!, by Tom Brokaw. (Random House, $28.95.) The retired news anchor recalls and assesses the 1960s.

4. The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin. (Doubleday, $27.95.) A portrait of the Supreme Court since the Reagan administration focuses on the influence of its moderates.

5. The Age Of Turbulence, by Alan Greenspan. (Penguin Press, $35.) A memoir by the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

6. Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. (Little, Brown, $24.99.) The only survivor of a Navy Seal operation in northern Afghanistan describes the battle, his comrades and his courageous escape.

7. The War, by Geoffrey C. Ward. (Knopf, $50.) A companion to the seven-part PBS documentary directed by Ken Burns, with hundreds of photographs.

8. American Creation, by Joseph J. Ellis. (Knopf, $26.95.) Triumphs and tragedies of the slow-building American Revolution.

9. My Grandfather’s Son, by Clarence Thomas. (Harper, $26.95.) A memoir from an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

10. Day Of Reckoning, by Patrick J. Buchanan. (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s, $25.95.) The syndicated columnist and former presidential candidate attacks free trade, illegal immigration and the idea that America should spread democracy around the world.

11. Giving, by Bill Clinton. (Knopf, $24.95.) The former president describes people and projects that save lives and solve problems around the world.

12. The Intellectual Devotional, American History, by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim. (Modern Times/Rodale, $24.) A collection of daily readings about politics, literature, business and more.

13. Truth And Consequences, by Keith Olbermann. (Random House, $24.95.) A collection of the MSNBC commentator’s critiques of the Bush administration.

14. Free Lunch, by David Cay Johnston. (Portfolio, $24.95.) How lobbyists and lawyers have wangled government subsidies for the wealthy.

15. The Coldest Winter, by David Halberstam. (Hyperion, $35.) A history of the Korean War from the author of “The Best and the Brightest,” who died earlier this year.

*16 If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans, by Ann Coulter. (Crown Forum, $24.95.) A collection of the columnist’s provocative quotations, some from previous books and interviews, some new.

My picks- Greenspan, Toobin and Joseph Ellis.