Finalist: Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare , by Stephen Greenblatt (W.W. Norton )

For her masterful stories about patients, families and physicians that illuminated the often unseen world of cancer survivors.

For its stunning series of photographs of bloody yearlong combat inside Iraqi cities.

For its comprehensive, clear-headed coverage of the resignation of New Jersey's governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover.