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I can't begin to describe the power of this masterpiece. The author's description of the Troubles in Northern Island is riveting, and his portrait of the Price sisters, Brendan Hughes (the Dark), and Gerry Adams is astonishing. This is, of course, also the story of the tragedy of Jean McConville, and the children awaiting her return. The mini-series based on it also a masterpiece. This is truly a book that haunts me.

One of my favorite, maybe my favorite, novels of recent years. I've always been fascinated with the Franklin expedition and the author has made it come alive in a very real way. Time travel, a mysterious British Ministry and a love story. Who could ask for a better read?

This is perhaps my favorite book I've read thus far in 2024. I like it even better than Kristin Hannah's "The Women" which was enjoyable but very derivative of nurses memoirs of their time in Vietnam. What makes "Absolution" fascinating is it is about the wives of civilians working in the very early days of our involvement in the war. One of them is driven to deep involvement in helping some of the Vietnamese and one becomes her friend and confidant. It's a telling picture of how wives were expected to behave in the early 60's and it has the aura of that time perfectly depicted. It's also very much about class distinctions as well. And "The Quiet American" comes to mind, once again as a cautionary tale about our involvement in a place we did not even begin to understand.

I've long admired both the play and movie version of Sheriff's brilliant "Journey's End" very possibly the best English language work about World War I and was drawn to this science fiction work he wrote right before the outbreak of World War II. It's really an allegory I think, about human nature and the greed that leads to war. It begins with a bachelor, the titular, Mr. Hopkins, living a quite life raising prize poultry in a rural English enclave. He's also an amateur astronomer and a member of a London Society that studies the moon. It is shared with those members that moon is moving closer to the earth and is bound to crash into it a few months. That's all I'll disclose and let the reader find out the rest. I think this is a largely forgotten work, but a very important one.

I was delighted with his book. Patrick deWitt reminds me a bit of Anne Tyler, in taking ordinary people and spinning a magic tale. This book is centered around a librarian named Bob, and begins when he is a retiree, but flashes back to his unconventional childhood in Portland, including his running away for a brief time at the age of 11-1/2, his brief marriage and the quirky sorts that he meets when volunteering at a retirement home. I truly felt that Bob is my brother in spirit from the wonderful imagination of Mr. deWitt.

Let me start by saying I loved Station Eleven and the Glass Hotel, but this one is in a class by itself. It truly is impossible to describe except to say that I have never been confronted with a book that makes me challenge my perceptions of time and reality. I will say no more, except for one word: "Brilliant!"

By far, the best thriller I have ever read. Gerry Fegan, IRA killer, will stay with me forever. Haunted by the ghosts of his past, he is obsessed with his own redemption, and believe me, reader, you will be too. Usually this type of novel would be way too violent for me, but the violence is the point. Remember, in the end, everybody pays.

One of my all-time favorites. The story of the poor vagabond residents of "Dogtown" has stayed with me forever. I read it several years ago and then recently. It was real balm to my soul during the pandemic. I love historical novels, particularly those set in New England and Anita Diamant has written a masterful one.

I found a short review of this book in the New Yorker and was intrigued. I was not disappointed. It concerns a real life tragedy, the impact of a German rocket that scored a direct hit on a Woolworth's store in a working class London neighborhood in 1944. Of the 164 killed, there were a number of children. Spufford speculates how the lives of 5 fictional children would have spun out had the bombing not occurred. There is Vern, a kid seemed born to bully and scheme; Alec, the brainy kid who talks back to the nasty headmaster and has a passion for the printed word; Jo and Val, sisters who are very different (one a bit wild and one dreaming of a musical career) yet both drawn to sketchy men; and Ben, undersized, sensitive and prone to mental illness. Spufford's portrait of London through the years is outstanding, including the changing neighborhoods, government policies, and the black and brown immigrants making a place for themselves. I loved this book.

My generation is haunted by the Vietnam War. I heard Elizabeth Becker discussing "You Don't Belong Here" on PBS and knew I had to read this book. I am so grateful that she wrote it because she is in her 70's, Frances FitzGerald is 80 and Catherine Leroy and Kate Webb are deceased. The story of how these women "rewrote the story of a war" is profoundly interesting and the obstacles they faced were daunting. Leroy was a tiny French woman, with a penchant for adventure, the first photographer to parachute into a battle. Kate Webb was a brilliant Australian with a harrowing past and a passionate curiosity and Frances FitzGerald was a beautiful socialite who covered the war and wrote the bestseller "Fire in the Lake." Elizabeth Becker has written an incredible history and testament to the lives of these three incredible women.

Another knock-out book by the great Ann Patchett. I utterly savored the story and am passing my copy around to my daughters. The brother/sister bond is what I'll long remember, and ultimately it is the portrait of two very mismatched people who were ill prepared to be parents. Danny and Maeve had each other and some marvelous household hired help to navigate the road to adulthood. I also loved a minor, but wise and compassionate character, Maeve's Swedish/American employer, who deeply cares for her well-being. It's hard to pick a Patchett favorite; I've very much enjoyed "The Magician's Assistant," "Commonwealth" and the brilliant "Bel Canto" but "The Dutch House" is possibly her best.

Just finished it last night; and it's a terrific read. He combines excellent dystopian fiction with a wonderful modern noir sensibility set in Concord, New Hampshire, of all places. The main character is a testament to commitment and doing the right thing, even when the world is doomed.

By far, the best novel I've read in a long time. When I first saw the title, I thought maybe it was a sunshine and surf novel of the well off Southern California enclave of the same name. Little did I know that I'd be taken on an epic historical ride through World War II era New York. I loved the realistic settings, the struggles of these families in tiny cramped apartments in Brooklyn in the aftermath of the Depression. Eddie Kerrigan, one of the most incredibly memorable struggling fathers--flawed but desperately trying to do right by his family who is street smart and perceptive as few others, his strong-willed daughter, Anna, who has an unusual ambition, and the mysterious Dexter Styles, a nightclub owner married to a New York socialite, are characters I will not forget. The realistic rendering of the Brooklyn Naval Yards and Anna's experience there, and her incredibly ambitious dream, are beautifully rendered. There's also a wonderfully generous aunt--reminiscent of Aunt Cissy in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". The choices Eddie makes echo throughout. Now I must read all of Jennifer Egan's works.

A long ago death, an unexpected inheritance, a stately home once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Elizabeth Russell, a New York literary researcher, is summoned to a small western Illinois town to confront a past she didn't know existed--all infused with a scent of Chantilly perfume.

"Say Nothing" is breathtakingly good. I've always been intrigued by the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland and this account of the abduction of the widow and mother of ten from a violence-ridden high rise public housing project in Belfast affected me profoundly. It also tells the story of the notorious Price sisters and a young Gerry Adams, along with other young people drawn into a horribly cruel sectarian conflict of neighbor against neighbor and an environment where no one could be trusted. An utterly intense, fascinating book.

Who could make you sympathize with the cold-blooded killer of twelve? Somehow Stuart Neville does, in this truly gripping, haunting novel about the tortured former IRA "soldier" Gerry Fegan. Recruited as a teenager by Belfast terrorists, Fegan becomes a very efficient murderer. He is imprisoned for years in "The Maze" a famous Belfast prison, but set free after the "Troubles" have come to an end. However, he is shadowed by the "followers," the ghosts of his victims, forcing him to confront his sins and "make everyone pay." Beautifully written and very suspenseful. This one's a literary work, not just a run-of-the-mill "thriller."

This is one incredibly, timely and excellent read. Sarah Churchwell compares 1920's America with Trumpism--the white supremacist, pro-corporate, incredibly corrupt time that is truly history NOW repeating. Lynchings were common; Warren G. Harding presided over perhaps the most corrupt administration in the 20th Century; his successor, Calvin Coolidge, published a magazine article citing the superiority of the Nordic races--claiming they were the only ones intelligent enough to rule. The KKK was holding huge rallies in places like Long Island, New York and Donald Trump's father was arrested a Klan rally. And immigrants of the "wrong sort" (other than Northern European) were vilified as much as Trump is vilifying brown people at our Southern border now. American hero Charles Lindbergh pushed the science of genetics and white superiority while praising Hitler's developing power. The book is truly startling, relying on contemporary accounts of what was happening all over America. Behold, America, indeed!

I finished it last night and loved it! Complex, entertaining, historical and darkly funny. A character with the unlikely name of Peregrine Gibbons is a new literary favorite of mine.

We picked up an autographed copy on our visit to Powell's a couple of weeks ago, as both my sister and I had loved "Cold Mountain." I was just as impressed with "Varina." Considering that I have read a great deal of Civil War history, I knew very little about Varina Howell Davis. The account of her marriage, her terrific intellect, her flight from Union Forces when the Confederacy fell, and her fascinating life after the conflict, are all richly detailed. The prose is utterly beautiful. Another great book from Charles Frazier!

First a confession. I am an anglophile through and through, so I was immediately intrigued by reviews of "Warlight." I particularly love any period involving Great Britain in the fog of war and the equally tumultous post war years. This remarkable novel tells the story of siblings, Nathaniel and Rachel, ages 14 and 16, abandoned by their parents to the care of strangers in London in 1945. The reason they are told for their parents' abrupt departure is that the father is going to work for his company in Asia and the mother is going with and it is only for a year. The mystery that unfolds is riveting. Ondaatje is utterly masterful His descriptions of the war scarred areas of London rival the best of Kate Atkinson or the close to supernatural power of Peter Ackroyd. And to say that the caretakers of the two teenagers are "sketchy" is a vast understatement.

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the title, because 1947 was the year I was born. I knew that it was a world-changing year because of the events in Israel and the work that was going on in forming the United Nations, but I always felt I was missing the greater picture. Asbrink has written a brilliant, highly readable account of a world in absolute turmoil and how 1947 was truly the year modernity began. Her accounts of the Swedish Nazi leaders who were aiding German war criminals to escape judgement is chilling enough for a whole volume. The horrible carnage resulting from the partitioning of India is also brought to light. And the concept of "Jihad" was redefined by the Arab league. All of this ripples into our society today. This is simply a brilliant work. If anyone wants to see how we got to "now" it is a must read.

Never has a book made me so envy someone else's life. Robert Gottlieb has been an obsessive reader since he was a child. After college, he returned to his home turf in New York City, and, after briefly working selling greeting cards at Macy's, started working as an editor at Simon & Schuster. He is now in his 80's and has spent his entire career editing wonderful books and working with great authors, such as Anne Tyler, John Updike, Joseph Heller and celebrity authors, such as the late Lauren Bacall. He edited Brooke Hayward's great "Haywire." He particularly enjoyed working with some of the great female editors and he had so much respect for them as colleagues--this was beginning in the 1950's when such respect for female co-workers as equals was rare. What a wonderful life and Mr. Gottlieb was most suited to it!

A dear friend sent me this great read as a birthday gift last week. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's both informative and extremely entertaining. Ed Asner has a marvelous sense of humor and his chapter on the writing and the individuals attending the Constitutional Convention is a treat for any armchair historian. He disabuses us of any notion that these men were divinely inspired and most of them were more interested in financial gain than any religious dogma. I also loved the chapter on the unctuous Senator Ted Cruz. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Asner at a fundraiser a couple of years ago and he is as personable as he is witty. A couple of my best friends are going to be getting this book from me at Christmas.

Full disclosure: I'm a dyed-in-the wool Atwood enthusiast; in fact I think she's our greatest living writer. However, Hag-Seed gave me a new appreciation of her incredible sense of humor. Not nearly as dark as much of her fiction, Hag-Seed is a remarkable retelling of the "Tempest." What happens when a redundant theater director decides to turn a bunch of prison inmates into Shakespeare loving performers? And how does it play into his plot for revenge against those who wronged him? The richness of Atwood's imagination and her extraordinary wit make for a great magic carpet ride. I loved it!

Here's the scenario: it's 1936, a folksy Democrat manages to garner enough support to take the nomination away from Franklin Roosevelt, and beats the lackluster Republican. Within a few months, he sets up the Minute Men, a home grown militia that bullies and suppresses and eventually sets up concentration camps. His platform demonizes Jews; eliminates any chance of advancement for blacks and controls the media. Meanwhile, Doremus Jessup, a small-town Vermont newspaper owner struggles to resist. Needless to say, none of this "makes American great again."' A timely read for this election season and a literary gem as well.

Who knew a souvenir coffee mug could lead to a great reading experience? I first became aware of General Thomas Meagher when I visited Antietam battlefield several years ago. I picked up a coffee mug at the gift shop with a wonderful image of Meagher leading his famous and fearless Irish Brigade. So when one of my favorite authors, Timothy Egan, published "The Immortal Irishman, The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero", I knew I had to read it. This fascinating portrait of the great leader of the "Young Irish" describes his incredible life of activism at an early age in famine-wracked Ireland, to his exile to remote Van Diemen's Land, and his incredible escape to New York. And that's just the beginning. He became a famous orator, a valiant fighter for the Union and finally governor of the far off Montana Territory and he only lived for 43 years. Egan's narrative brilliance shines thorough, just as it did in his unforgettable "The Worst Hard Time." And now I want to go to Meagher's hometown of Waterford and see the statue of "The Immortal Irishman" who was permanently exiled from home.

I feel that I've resumed traveling with a wonderful, if somewhat curmudgeonly, friend again. Bryson is a wonderful companion. He loves his adopted country of Great Britain and takes the reader on an unconventional ramble like no other writer could ever accomplish. From the threatening sprawl of Heathrow Airport to the incredible variety of English seaside communities to the threat of angry bovines--including statistics of those pedestrians killed by cows, this is a great read, And he gave me a great quote when referring to some long dead English nobles, saying that their collective accomplishments could be written "with a Sharpie on the side of a peanut." Please keep traveling and writing, Bryson!

A friend sent me Mrs. Poe last week and I was rewarded by an entertaining historical novel and trip through 1840's New York and the literary scene where struggling poet Mrs. Frances Osgood encounters Edgar Allan Poe and ends up falling in love with him. Poe has come to prominence with the popularity of "The Raven" which he comes to regret. Poe's tragic family drama with an ailing wife and her ever present widowed mother is depicted and the revelations involved are startling. A good summer escape into an America in the distant past that served to shape our literary sensibilities well into the present.

I'd read about the mystery of the abandoned ship, the Mary Celeste, years ago and was immediately drawn to this book as soon as I glimpsed the title. I was not disappointed. It's an engrossing read detailing not only the circumstances of the famous "ghost ship" but spiritualism, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the lives of a young medium, a pioneering female journalist, and the stoicism of the families of seagoing men. A diary of the ill-fated captain's wife details a love story played out in tragic circumstances. Highly recommended.

The Girl on the Train has been promoted as the new Gone Girl, but I think it's a far better book. I was captivated from the beginning by the idea of a mystery starting with lives and events glimpsed from a passing train. Then the narrative expands into a complex look into several lives and the complexities and "unknowables" of every human heart. One terrific book.

Another great read from the wonderful Ian McEwan. This beautifully written book about a British judge is not just a tale of mid-life crisis, it's a very human story about difficult choices and the case of a teenager suffering from an illness which can be treated with blood transfusion his Jehovah's Witness beliefs forbids is deeply involving. The lady judge, Fiona, is a woman of great character who desperately cares about doing the right thing but it is not an easy judgment.

What an incredible pleasure it is to read a new Anne Tyler novel. I've been reading her books for at least three decades and she never disappoints. "A Spool of Blue Thread" is remarkable and it continues to amaze me how Tyler can take the most mundane lives and make them fascinating. The Whitshank family of Baltimore become so real to readers; from the patriarch--a country boy who came to the city during the Depression to fulfill his dream as a master home builder, to the current generation and their connection to the family home that serves as a metaphor for both success and struggle across a span of a century. The prodigal son of the family ties the story together with his unlikely departure and return. He's recognizable as the family member we all have who is an integral part of us, yet never quite is able to fit in.

A beautifully written novel about F. Scott Fitzgerald's "last act" when he came to Hollywood to make enough money to pay off his debts and make the money to provide for the care of the mentally ill Zelda, and to ensure his beloved daughter Scottie was provided with a fine education. Scott's struggle to stay sober, his fascinating experience as a screenwriter, his social life with the Bogarts, Dorothy Parker and Nathaniel West are vividly described. His love affair with the remarkable Sheila Graham, and his efforts to finish The Last Tycoon with the assistance of his dedicated young secretary, Frances Kroll are wonderfully told. As a longtime Fitzgerald fan, I was deeply moved by this chronicle of his time in Hollywood, with the world on the verge of the second World War and Scott nearing his untimely end. Fitzgerald never stopped trying, even when the deck was stacked against him.

If anyone is interesting in a fascinating, heartfelt rendering of the erosion of American manufacturing and the dreadful effects of globalization, this is the book to read. Chad Broughton discussed what happened to two communities, one in west central Illinois, and another just across the border in Mexico, when corporate powers-that-be decided to close American plants and leave for cheap and exploitable labor. They did so, of course, giving little thought to how their decisions would actually effect the human capital involved. He examines the effects to workers in both places and one cannot help but be drawn into the lives of everyone from the CEO whose actions resulted in shuttering a plant that has supported thousands of workers and got a 20 million dollar parachute for his efforts, and a desperate Mexican mother trying to raise a family while living in a shack and barely feeding her family despite putting in 60 hour weeks. I'm a native of the Illinois town, Galesburg, and for a actually labored on the assembly line at that factory many years ago.

John Lahr is a miracle worker to pull off this feat of magic: creating a wonderfully readable account of one of the most complicated and talented men of the Twentieth Century. It becomes clear that Tennessee Williams wouldn't have had the goldmine of dramatic material if his life had not been so dogged by family misery and his inability to find truly lasting love or self-acceptance. The artistic partnership between Williams and the brilliant director Elia Kazan is also exquisitely revealed. The author has detailed it all here and it has to be a herculean task to pull it off. This book was my favorite Christmas gift this year and the friend who sent it to me is also reading it--we are conducting a long-distance, two person "book club" discussing the revelations contained in "Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh."

This wonderful book is perhaps the most hard to classify one I've ever read. Part travel narrative, part memoir, and part literacy criticism and a dissection of what makes anyone to drown themselves in the bottle might begin to describe it, but that is insufficient. The British author covers the effects of alcoholism on the lives of six brilliant authors and visits locations throughout the United States that were among the most familiar to them. Olivia Laing's prose is sparkling and her effort to understand these famous men is so intense that you can feel it jump off the page. I can't offer enough praise for this incredible work.

I discovered how much I enjoyed Maughman's works several years ago when I read "The Razor's Edge" and several of his short stories. I always intended to get around to reading his masterpiece "Of Human Bondage" and recently picked it up. It is extremely illuminating, filled both with great emotion and compassion, yet a great deal of skepticism as well. We see Phillip Carey, first as an orphan raised by his cold and distant uncle, a country vicar, and then as a medical student who becomes involved in a self-destructive unrequited passion. The lessons he learns are still quite relevant. W. Somerset Maughman had a gift for description, and more than that, a gifted insight into the complications of human nature. This work was originally published nearly 100 years ago, but certainly deserves to be read for at least another century.

I love memoirs, particularly ones that are well-written. I read this in one day and I believe it is one of the most compelling books I've recently read; it is very hard to put down. It's also the author's first book, which makes it all the more remarkable. Justin St Germain's mother was married five times, and had many other tumultuous relationships with men in her brief 44 years. She genuinely loved her two sons and tried to do the best job she could of raising them despite her "man problem." She raised her boys mostly in the frontier outpost of legend, Tombstone, Arizona. Perhaps the legacy of violence in that haunted place somehow set Deborah St German's fate. There she encountered her fifth husband and her eventual murderer. St German recounts his mother's life and terrible end with great love and an attempt to understand her ultimate tragic end.

Excellent account of a fascinating slice of American history, taking place in a sparsely populated area of western Illinois when Joseph Smith, so ambitious that he felt chosen by God to establish himself as absolute dictator of Nauvoo, Illinois and so inflamed the locals that he was martyred by mob violence. Smith wanted to control not only spiritual matters but commercial ones and his sharp business dealings and seduction of other men's wives did not play well with non-Mormon neighbors. This book is compelling, well-written and an insight into American religious extremism run amok.

My grandchildren were totally enchanted with this account of a stuffed bear, Polar, who survived the sinking of the Titanic along with his family. My grandson, Stephen, said to his mother "I guess even Grandma wasn't alive in 1912." No, Stephen, I wasn't, but my own dad was a 4-year old when the Titanic had its fatal encounter with the iceberg.

Sarah Waters continues to amaze. I had high expectations, because her last book "The Little Stranger" was one of the best I've ever read, but I wasn't disappointed in "The Paying Guests." The reader gets the sense, from the very beginning, when Leonard and Lilian Barber move into the rooms they've rented, that something ominous will occur and Waters stages the unfolding plot and period detail so deftly it doesn't take long to be totally absorbed in the story. I'll say no more because I've no intention of giving more details away.

This wonderful book is not only a great historical document, it also memorably entertaining. Credit must be given to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich for transcribing Martha Ballard's incredible diary, but also to the spirit of Martha herself who was so devoted to helping women in remote New England. I know of no other book quite like it and it is a significant addition to our history. It documents the life of a brave and remarkable woman who would have been otherwise lost to us.

I'm reading Life After Life the second time for my book group and I am even more impressed the second time around. I am a devoted reader of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie stories, but Life After Life is at a whole new stratospheric territory in terms of imagination and literary daring. Ursula's births, deaths, and rebirths take us on a fascinating tour of history from the years 1910 until 1947. It's a story of the chaos of life and the ripple effects of every life. Truly an inspired work!

My interest in this book arose from a book review explaining that the title came from a line in The Great Gatsby, which, in my humble opinion, is the great American novel. I'm glad to say I'm happy I followed my instincts and bought this great collection of quirky, lyrically written stories. Dybek truly has a very original voice and I feel like I've discovered a wonderful author. Discoveries made trudging across a Chicago neighborhood during a blizzard or meeting a miniature bride and groom with wedding cake frosting on their feet are but two examples of the treasures in this book.

I've read several of Russo's novels, and saw the great Paul Newman made of Nobody's Fool so I decided to plunge into the this one--I'm so glad I did. Russo writes about very ordinary people in a down-at-the-heels town, but that is the charm of this book. The characters are so nuanced and very real. Sully, the lead character is one I will never forget--imperfect, yet trying to redeem himself at the age of 60. His interaction with his 80-year old landlady and former teacher is itself worth the price of the book. Russo is a wonderment.

I love reading short story collections, particularly in the summer, and this one is excellent. The first one, concerning a reunion of middle aged friends at a lake side cabin where they stayed as teenagers has an eerie, supernatural twist. The Swedes have an extraordinary talent for creating such tales of the "dark side" of human nature.

I recently reread this neglected classic after reading Larry Lockridge's Shade of the Raintree, which was a wonderful account of his genius father's brief life, suicide and lasting legacy. Raintree County did not disappoint the second time around. It is essentially a novel about search for meaning in life and the setting of Civil War era America in an Indiana County with a hero who, much like Jay Gatsby, wants to be the hero of his own life. He doesn't seek out riches, but rather wants to compose a great literary work that would be emblematic of the American Republic. He endures, and survives, many battles and Sherman's March to the Sea and comes home seeking out his childhood sweetheart. Some critics feel that Lockridge fell short, but he came very close to the great American novel with his story of Johnny Shawnessy, Nell Gaither, the cynical Professor, the political opportunist Garwood Jones and the doomed Southern beauty, Susanna Drake. There simply is no other book like this one.

One could call this a great coming-of-age novel, but it is much more than that. June is a 14-year old suburban girl in the mid-1980's. Her uncle Finn has been godfather and a crucial part of her life and when he dies he leaves behind an intriguing portrait of June and her older sister. Finn, is an an accomplished painter, a gay man who succumbs to AIDS in the early days of the "gay plague." June reluctantly befriends his surviving partner, an Englishman with a checkered past and a deep and satisfying story results. The voice of June is one of the most authentic I've ever encountered.

Thought provoking is undoubtedly an overused description, but if this book doesn't provoke you to think long and hard about such issues as euthanasia, rationing medical resources, and the tragedy of Katrina, nothing will. When a decision was made to speed the demise of patients with DNR orders, was it an extraordinarily compassionate and brave one, or was it an overstepping of a physician's oath to first do no harm? That the situation was dire and healthcare professionals were heroic in a manner most of us could not imagine facing is quite clear, but the 45 bodies left behind at Memorial Hospital provoked many lingering and complex questions. This book really is about life and death and the razor's edge involved in decisions made in the wake of Katrina.

This is not the usual genre I'm drawn to, but Alan Furst is an incredible writer. His story of a Dutch merchant ship commandeered by British intelligence is full of fascinating characters and a compelling tale of traveling through very dangerous oceans in the early days of World War II. The Dutch captain, Erik DeHaan, is a thoroughly decent yet world weary man. His international crew is fascinating, as are two unexpected passengers. Discovering a great author is a passion of mine, and I look forward to reading all of Furst's novels.

This is a beautifully written panoramic novel by the great Thomas Keneally. It tells the story of two sisters who leave their homestead in Australia both to volunteer as nurses in the Great War. The two sisters, Naomi and Sally, are not particularly close before this life changing experience, but come to understand each other and grow closer through their harrowing war-time experiences. Keneally's attention to detail is astonishing. The author based his novel on journals of nurses who served in World War I and he has worked a true magic in bringing them to life and the lesson of the futility of war is one for all conflicts to come.

I was eagerly awaiting the third in the trilogy, and I was not disappointed. Someone said that Margaret Atwood is the greatest living Canadian author--I'll go one step further and say she's the greatest living author. No one else could create this incredible dystopian future and even though you'd think speculative fiction about the end of civilization as we know it would be completely bleak, MaddAddam actually teems with life and humor. Oryx & Crake is probably my favorite of the three because of the tragedy of the title pair, but all of them are brilliant works of literature.

This, I believe was John Updike's last collection of short stories and it is a marvel. I've been an Updike enthusiast for years and this beautifully written book reminds me that there was no better American writer in the second half of the 20th century that this great man.

I'm often skeptical of books that are said to be inspirational, but this book is truly inspiring in every sense of the word. The author's mother, Mary Anne, was an incredible woman with a passion for life and lived her life in a manner that helped so many. Both Will and his mom shared a life-long love of books and his time spent with her during the last months of her life sharing books and discussing their impact is a testament to the bond they had. A friend of mine who is a small town library director recommended this volume to me and it's the best book I've read this year--I've read some very good ones--but this is the most important by far.

Having just read, and loving, Philbrick's latest, Bunker Hill, I picked up a copy of In the Heart of the Sea and was not disappointed. This is a truly amazing story of survival and endurance of the crew of the Essex. Philbrick has a gift of capturing a bygone time and place and thoroughly humanizing it. An excellent read.

I've thoroughly enjoyed Philbrick's earlier works, but he's truly at the top of his game in his account of the events that surrounded the "shot heard 'round the world." His portrayal of the fascinating cast of characters, from ordinary Massachusetts farmers turned minutemen to the movers and shakers of Boston, such as John Hancock and the fascinating Dr. Joseph Warren, infuse their stories with real flesh and blood. Some thought they were merely foolhardy, but by their actions America was created. This is one terrific read.

A wonderful read. A combination of crime novel and coming of age story told on the Chippewa reservation in Minnesota. Thirteen year old Joe is confronted with the brutal attack on his mother and the dire changes in his family life that ensue. Erdrich's great strength is in invoking the native American culture and the landscape of life on the reservation. Her art in storytelling is simply brilliant.

This one kept me up half the night and is one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever encountered. If you are in need of a sense of humility, and are ready to confront the reality that our presence on this planet is on the one hand, pretty darned irrelevant; but, on the other hand created some damning long-term consequences, this book will make you take notice. It will also make you contemplate the wonder of existence in a wholly new and unexpected way.

Once again, when I finished a Bryson book, this one being the most recent one, I felt like I had taken a fascinating journey with a good friend and now was sadly saying goodbye. Bryson's writing is so clear, so entertaining, and so interesting that he can choose any subject and take a reader on a fascinating journey of discovery. A Short History of Nearly Everything covers geology, astronomy, evolutionary theory, and the discovery of DNA, yet Bill Bryson makes all of these subjects accessible to someone like myself who knows very little of any of these sciences. Bill Bryson is quite simply a treasure, and I hope he never stops writing.

I've read most of Kate Atkinson's novels and this is one of the very best. It's suspenseful and deeply heartfelt and explains a lot about Jackson Brodie's haunted personality. Beautifully written, as any Atkinson fan has come to expect.

I stayed up into the wee hours to finish Life after Life last night, and I must say this is one of the most interesting, original and intense books I've read in a very long time. Suffice it to say that Ursula is born over and over again, with the path of her lives taking more twists and turns than any roller coast ever invented, including an opportunity to kill Hitler before he could launch World War II. I will say no more because I don't wish to give too much away. Atkinson, as I had already discovered by reading several of her early books, is a marvel and should be recognized as one of the very best modern novelists.

While visiting my oldest daughter in Bend, Oregon last week, we stopped at a charming, small (but sadly going out of business) neighborhood bookstore, where I was immediately drawn to this novel when I saw it was written by the remarkable author of A Reliable Wife. I bought it and finished it in a day and a half because I found it to be even better than his excellent first novel. He captures perfectly the small town in Virginia in 1949 that just happens to become the home of a drifting young man with a mysterious suitcase of money. This young man seems to have found a real home but things take a dire and tragic turn when he is drawn into a love affair with the beautiful young wife of a wealthy brute. A very good read, indeed.

I just discovered Bill Bryson by accident last year, when I picked up a copy of his excellent "Home" and was hooked. In a Sunburned Country was my sixth Bryson read, and I've yet to be disappointed. In felt, I remarked to my sister that I felt sad when I finished this one, feeling I'd just said a fond goodbye to my favorite traveling companion. Bryson has a way of taking you with him, side by side, every step of the way on his literary journeys. You also learn a very great deal from every one of his books, but the acquisition of knowledge is not at all taxing--it comes with great pleasure. I now know more about Australian settlement, history and climate, along with all the variety of strange flora and fauna. He's also a very funny man! Goodbye for now, Bill, but I can hardly wait to join you on the next trip--in fact, I've already ordered the book!

I've recently rediscovered how much I admire the genius of Margaret Drabble, and these short stories were not a disappointment. They were collected from stories Drabble wrote over decades and they reflect not only the changes she so brilliantly observed in society, but also reflect her point of view at different stages in her own life. I would compare Drabble favorably with another Margaret (the brilliant Margaret Atwood) as one of the two best authors of the last forty years. They never disappoint.

The cover photo alone was enough to tempt me to buy this biography, but I was not the least bit disappointed when I started reading. Michael Feeney Callan is far superior to most celebrity biographers. I have always admired Redford's acting and directing talent, but he emerges as an intelligent, committed and truly decent human being in this well-researched, very well written book. *

I was inspired to read this after watching the excellent PBS series "The Abolitionists" and I was awakened to the fact that Garrison has not received nearly enough credit for being one of the very greatest Americans. His unrelenting, thankless and dangerous quest to end slavery in American was unrivaled. He was also an advocate for non-violent change and, in that regard, was a pioneer and a model for Ghandi and King. This book details his long struggle and his great remarkable life.

A friend sent this book as a Christmas gift, and as a longtime McEwan fan, I dove right in. This is simply the best McEwan book I've ever read, and that says a lot. I don't want to real a lot of the plot, because I don't want to deprive the potential reader of the delightful intricacies of it, so I'll just say it involves a young beautiful, and highly intelligent woman, the tail-end of the Cold War, and some of the best written love (and sex) scenes one can ever read. McEwan's ability to completely get inside the very souls' of his characters is true genius.

I'm a long time Who fan, and Pete Townshend is a complicated, gifted and very articulate man. My sister gave me this book for my birthday in October, and I was not at all disappointed in it. Townshend doesn't go in for the usual rock star self-aggrandizement. He writes with elegance and insight about his incredible career. Particularly revealing is his relationship with Roger Daltry who returned to their high school grounds (Roger had been expelled from school for his pugnacious brawling) and recruited a shy, awkward and unconfident Pete to play guitar. The rest is great rock n' roll history.

My son-in-law requested this book for Christmas and I ended up reading it myself. Nate does a great job of explaining how to separate the signal (meaningful data) from the noise (the constant background chatter). I must admit a certain liberal bias, because Silver's incredibly accurate predictions at his 538 site kept us Obama supporters from losing it, but I think independents and even conservatives would derive a lot of from this book. I'm not a math person by any means, but Nate Silver is very good at explaining his methods even to those who do not share his genius.

After having read the wonderful "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" I'm reading everything by Alexandra Fuller. War torn Africa, and her growing up there, is truly in Fuller's DNA and her perspective on "K" the complex, conflicted veteran of brutal African wars is powerful, sometimes brutal, but utterly fascinating. Fuller is a treasure and I'm eager to read her next book.

I had read Don't Let's Go To the Dogs tonight several years ago and loved it, yet I always wondered what happened to Fuller's extremely eccentric and fascinating parents. I was happy to find out they were still alive and well and still living in their beloved Africa--through all their strive, they've never given up. Alexandra Fuller is remarkable in that she is able to look at her parents with complete honestly and objectivity but loves them as extraordinary humans. Her mother referred to the first memoir as "the Awful Book" but I think she should be very proud of this one.

I'm not usually a fan of the vampire variety of science fiction, but Richard Matheson is such a superlative writer that he puts a great literary spin on the genre.

I had seen the movie version of Never Let Me Go a couple of years ago and was very moved by it. Picking up the book, I had some real reservations, thinking it would be somewhat of a letdown. However, I was moved even more profoundly by Ishiguro's incredible narrative gift. Kathy's story is simply told, but emotionally powerful and I came to care deeply for all three of the main characters: Kathy, Ruth and the angry, vulnerable and tragic Tommy. This book is one of the few that can be truly called a modern classic.

Reading this book gave me the perspective to realize that human beings can endure almost anything nature throws at them. The devastation of the Dust Bowl is hard for our prosperous, well-fed, and air-conditioned generation to imagine, but Timothy Egan reveals a time when mother nature threw Hell on Earth at the residents of a large area of the Great Plains. His accounts of the real people who somehow survived are told with such realism you can practically hear the wind and feel the fine blown grit.

This is the first Bryson book I've read and now I want to devour all of his books. The scope of his knowledge is incredible, and he tells the story of the ordinary with so much humor, historical perspective and great narrative style, I'm ready to start in on his complete catalog of books. I'm recommending "At Home" to all my friends--because it truly offers something for everyone.

I'd recently seen a young actor friend in an excellent play, "Journey's End" about World War I, and was looking for a good historical novel told from the British perspective, and Birdsong was recommended. Sebastian Faulks has created an incredible story of the Great War, giving a description of the horrors experienced by one young officer, Stephen Wraysford, that is utterly real and visceral. It is also a love story and, above all, a story of survival against incredible odds.

This is a great book for anyone interested in religious liberty and the absolute necessity of the separation of Church and State. I now consider Roger Williams a very great hero, because he literally risked life and limb to promote religious freedom in American before the United States came into existence. The only fault I could find was that I found the first few chapters which described the ongoing religious disputes in England a bit slow-going, but then the subsequent chapters describing Roger Williams' experience of pioneering religious freedom in the colonies thoroughly held my interest.

Very lengthy, but a compelling read. i love time travel books, and since I'm the same age as Stephen King, I share his obsession with the events of that fateful day in November. Beware of traveling to the past--there will be consequences.

I'm savoring this book and taking my time with it because it is so rich and informative on so many levels. Not only are the stories of the Americans in Paris fascinating, the tumultuous historical events going on in France also make terrific reading. I've enjoyed a lot of McCullough's books before, but this the best one yet.

I picked up a first edition used copy of this book some months ago, and finally got around to reading it last week. I found it to be a fast and fascinating read. Joe Klein takes the life of the great Guthrie on with a straightforward, no nonsense narrative. I found it extremely timely during this time of Occupy Wall Street and a demand for social justice. Woody had his demons and more than his share of tragedy, but he never forgot to stand up for ordinary working men and women. He also gave us the best national anthem ever, "This Land is Your Land." Not even a shadow of a doubt about it, Woody Guthrie was genius and is a national treasure.

I recently went to a talk and a book signing by Professor Ross in LA and bought a copy of Hollywood Left and Right. I'm very happy I did, because this is a fascinating book about ten Hollywood figures who made a big difference (good or bad, depending on your political perspective) in the country's political direction. It is well researched, and quite enjoyable--in other words, not overly pedantic.

This book was advertised as a page turner--not an uncommon selling point, but I found out it truly was. The author did an incredible job of research and talking with the surviving Lacks family members and securing their trust. She made the science involved easily understandable for those readers without a science background. In fact, she made the story of Henrietta and her legacy fascinating.