Using the Library | Catalog/Account | eContent |  Research | Services | Events | About Us New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers August 2, 2015 1. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates A meditation on race in America as well as a personal story by the national correspondent of The Atlantic, framed as a letter to his teenage son. 2. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough The story of the bicycle mechanics from Ohio who ushered in the age of flight.   3. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari with Eric Klineberg The comedian enlists a sociologist to help him understand today's dating scene. 4. Down the Rabbit Hole: The Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison Life inside the Playboy Mansion, by a former bunny and girlfriend of Hugh Hefner.  5. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande The surgeon and New Yorker writer considers how doctors fail patients at the end of life and how they can do better. 6. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson The last voyage of the Lusitania, the passenger liner sunk by a German torpedo in 1915. 7. A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter At 90, the 39th president (and Nobel Prize winner) reflects on his private and public life. 8. A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America by Ted Cruz The Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate tells his personal and political story, and offers ideas for "reigniting the promise of America." 9. The Conservative Heart: A New Vision for the Pursuit of Happiness, Earned Success, and Social Justice by Arthur C. Brooks The president of the American Enterprise Institute urges conservatives to revise their rhetoric and make clear their concern for everyday people. 10. Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy by Judd Apatow Thirty years' worth of the filmmaker's interviews with comedians. 11. The Road to Character by David Brooks The Times columnist extols personal virtues like kindness and honesty in a materialistic age. 12. The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis How Washington, Hamilton, Jay and Madison created the Constitution. 13. ¡Adios, America! The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole by Ann Coulter The political commentator denounces immigrants and their liberal supporters. 14. The Oregon Trail: An American Journey by Rinker Buck The author and his brother travel 2,000 miles by mule and wagon from Missouri to Oregon. 15. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance Musk's life from his difficult South African childhood to his involvement in Internet start-ups like the rocket company SpaceX and the electric-car company Tesla. 16. The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist's biography of Adolf Tolkachev, who spied for the United States inside the Soviet Union.  © 2015 All rights reserved by New York Times Syndication Sales Corp. This material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.   A version of this list appears in the August 2, 2015 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending July 18, 2015. Subscribe to other newsletters | View newsletter archives | Readers' Club on library website