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Short and powerful narratives from eighty-five Americans, most very candidly writing of their agony, angst and anger dealing with their white privilege, their fear and inability to talk about race with people of color, and some openly showing their racism. Fascinating and important.

It is intimidatingly thick but don't let that stop you. You'd read 2 books of 300 pages each, right? I assure you once you pick In the Night of Time up you will be grateful for its heft because you have so much time to savor it. The writing is gorgeous (and obviously the translator is an artist too) and one is immediately drawn into the compelling story. I thought I knew a lot about the Spanish Civil War but I learned about an entirely new aspect of it: what it was like for civilians in the first year especially for those who were at all politically involved. But mainly read it for its beauty.

I love this book! It's a board book but it's for all ages. I can't decide which letter I like best. O for "Open minds Operate best. Critical thinking Over test..."? or maybe K for "Kings are fine for storytime. Knights are fun to play. But when we make decisions we will choose the people's way!" What a fabulous gift for children 1 to 100 who believe in justice.

Hemingway called Cantwell his "best bet" in American fiction and yet who has heard of him now? I found this novel by a very happy accident. Published in 1934, it's been reissued twice (just last year again) with a terrific introduction in the latest edition. I recommended it to my book club. One member said, "it's the best book we've read all year" (and we've read some excellent ones). Another said, "Every high school student should read it." The funny (and wonderful) thing is the writing is not at all dated--very modern, in fact--very innovative! It grabs you from the first sentence and puts you smack dab in the middle of a crisis in a sawmill/door factory on the Washington coast (Cantwell was from the Aberdeen, Washington area and had worked in a mill) feeling the noise, the danger and the oppression of the workers. The characters are well-drawn, real people dealing with big problems plus you get all their points of view. This is not a happy story but an authentic one; a proletarian novel of the 30's that's also great literature--the greatest novel of the Northwest of its time--or maybe any time.

A compelling story of a working class teenage boy swept up in forces he doesn’t understand until adulthood--of wealth, power, fallibility, corruption and bad decisions despite admirable values and a desire to do good. Recalling the tragic events from thirty years later, Corey Sifter can finally understand what he couldn't at the time. Great characters and marvelous storytelling made this class consciousness tale one that I could hardly put down. A fine book from a fine writer.

Living off the grid during the Great Depression, relying on neighbors, ingenuity and grit, Grace Jordon homeschools her children while cooking for dozens without electricity, scavenging for fat to make soap and trying to ignore the results of a bad fall. I shivered as they rode narrow ledges, bundled in blankets to travel out, enjoyed the companionship of neighbors at the makeshift Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and marveled at the creation of a bathtub. Fascinating for anyone but if you're going (or have been) to Hell's Canyon you'll love reading about the occupants of the Kirkwood Ranch in the 30s.

Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Gardam the best British writer you've never heard of. I couldn't agree more except now I've heard of her and I'll keep reading. To my joy, I have now discovered this is the first book in a trilogy! Don't let the title turn you off--it means Failed in London; Try Hong Kong. Old Filth is multilayered, wise psychologically and sucked me right in. I lived it in for the days I was reading (or perhaps I should say inhaling) it. An elderly retired lawyer loses his wife, prompting him to open a long-sealed box of memories revealing not only pain but secrets. The story skillfully unfolds, moving from London, the British countryside, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Wales, and the high seas. I love a book that introduces me to a world or phenomena previously unknown to me. Here it's Raj Orphans, children sent back to Britain at a very young age from the "colonies" to be raised by foster parents and boarding schools while losing their attachment to their parents. Gardam is so good that what would be unbelievable coincidences for lesser writers turn out not to be. And I almost forgot to mention that it can be funny too.

This gets a 10 out of 5. My only problem now is finding something else to read because nothing measures up. The story is compelling--took me into an entirely new world--and the writing is gorgeous.

This gets a 10 out of 5. My only problem now is finding something else to read because nothing measures up. The story is compelling--took me into an entirely new world--and the writing is gorgeous.

This life story of a man, told in the guise of a self-help book, is clever, touching, funny, politically subtle and brilliant. The reader sees how the luck of moving to the city provides the protagonist the opportunity to use cleverness and corruption to get filthy rich. His luck includes his position in his family as, with the author's usual economy and elegance, we see the contrast between his life and that of his siblings. We also follow the life of the ‘pretty girl’ he falls in love with as a child and how she too manages to ‘make it’ in her own (and very female) way.

This one really grabbed me--it'd been a long time since I couldn't put a book down. Suleiman is 9 in 1979 Libya. Criticizing the dictatorship is dangerous so lies become the norm, which may ultimately be more dangerous than the truth. Great characters and gripping plot. I envy those who can read it for the first time.

Is there a way to navigate South Africa's apartheid years without guilt? Or maybe Clare Wald has more guilt than others? As the aging famous writer is interviewed by her biographer in present day, very dangerous South Africa, she mourns and imagines what happened to her disappeared activist daughter and obsesses over her betrayal of her right-wing sister. The reader has to work a bit; Clare and her biographer have different stories to tell, or is the reality of history impossible to know? In any case, it's work worth doing.

What do we really know about North Korea? Next to nothing. I was so grateful to finally learn something that feels accurate. Journalist Demick was stationed in Seoul and managed to get a visa to go to the north but found it wasn't possible to be allowed to actually talk honestly with anyone. So she came back to the south and interviewed people who had escaped. It feels balanced because among her subjects is a woman who belonged to the Communist Party and believed in the government, who hadn't even wanted to leave but was tricked by one of her children.

I never read letters but a friend raved about this book and I love Julia Child so I gave it a try and was immediately hooked! Julia was trying to write a cookbook for use in America from France. Avis was testing recipes, sending her ingredients, telling her what was available in the U.S. (e.g. shallots, hearing the process of this influential cookbook was fabulous. But the book is about all sorts of other things too: strangers becoming bosom buddies; liberal intellectuals being affected by the McCarthy witch hunts; differences between French and American culture; the hunt for a publisher...

what's that growing on David? Will anyone pay attention? One of your heavier graphic novels, this memoir is both moving and astonishing. If you thought you had the most dysfunctional family around, move over.

A musicologist goes to Indonesia because he fell in love with gamelon music the first time he heard a recording of it. I'm not a musician and not even very knowledgeable about music, but I found this one of the best books I read as I prepared for a trip to Bali. While there is quite a bit about gamelon music and the people who play it, ((I think I enjoyed the gamelon performances I attended there more because of reading this book) it was so much more, providing a wonderful picture of Balinese culture, especially before it was so impacted by tourism.

I've read a lot about the South and thought I knew something about segregation and what life was like for Blacks there. Not! From the escape (yes for some of them!) to what life was like after migration, Wilkerson has written a story that every American needs to read. She follows three particular migrants and enriches it with brief stories of others and historical data. A great read.

Who knew she is a visual artist too? A graphic fantasy of the life of a woman who escapes from abuse, gives birth to a cat and is lovers with Napoleon among other adventures. The art is lovely and the story (no surprise with Niffenegger) whimsical and delightful.

It's hard to believe how little this amazing woman is known and part of our political conversation. Yes, she did pass on idealism to her son but she was also an accomplished important person in her own right with a story worth reading for it's own sake. She was a natural feminist in the best sense of the word. Read to know her son better and read to learn a story of perseverance, creativity and impact.

This gets my vote for the best American novel of the 20th century. It is a true masterpiece of complexity while remaining accessible, dealing with multiple issues while clearly making its point on racism. I was out of high school when it came out and didn't get it assigned in college--it wasn't part of the canon yet. I saw the movie and only recently realized I'd never actually read the book. Slurped it up. Will read it regularly now.

Niffenegger is a superb storyteller. I'm not into ghost stories, not into fantasy, but she is so good I read her anyway. I picked up this one because I didn't want The Time Traveler's Wife to end. I wasn't in mourning after it as I was after other but I loved it. Her characters are so good and her imagination so rich. This time she takes us to London with twins, the daughters of a twin. There's a dark secret I doubt you'll guess and other surprises as well. Bonus for already knowing Highgate Cemetery.

After you fall off your chair laughing at the title, pick yourself up and read it. Seriously! Each of the six (yes, I think that was purposeful!) chapters covers, chronologically, how the concept of the penis and the culture of sexuality has changed over the centuries, starting with Greek and Roman concept and practices, moving through how Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical dissections began to bring science in, a chapter on size brought on by European colonizers entering Africa--amazing how the author ties this to racism in our own country, Freud's theories of castration complex and penis envy and other psychological theories, the feminist response in the 60s and later from Betty Friedan to Andrea Dworkin, and ending with an astounding chapter back on the physiological study of the penis from 19th century quacks and their shocking surgeries to the Viagra era. It's a fun and enlightening read with many surprises.

Riveting! I can't believe how fascinating this story is and how well it's told, mostly thru interviews over the years with people who worked at Reed or studied there. You don't have to have been one of them to enjoy this book--I'm not. I think anyone interested in education, anyone with ties to Portland, anyone thinking about getting involved with a small liberal arts college, anyone into history will find it was time well-spent (and it'll be a lot--this is a huge book!)

This is the first book I can remember that everyone in my highly critical book group loved! It is so beautifully written, several of us read it twice. Two love stories in two times, wonderful characters, birds and fascinating information on the training and importance of carrier pigeons plus so much more. This book will warm your heart despite tragedy.

This is one of my favorite novels of all time! And one of the most unusual too. Three conversations in which the reader only hears one side--a bit like listening to someone talk on the phone but a whole lot more enlightening.

A beautiful and unusual novel with virtually no plot, following numerous Jews, real people from Kafka to Primo Levi and unknown Spaniards, ending in NYC at the Hispanic Heritage Center, a bizarre palace in East Harlem. This is the kind of book that takes a bit of work on the part of the reader but the rewards are worth it and the writing is stunning.

I thought I knew a lot about World War I but this engrossing book disabused me of that notion. Looking at the war from a British point of view, Hochschild focuses on families with both war supporters and non-supporters, e.g. the suffragist Pankhursts, and also the abuse of the conscientious objectors. The way new technology impacted the fighting was also fascinating; the tank and machine gun were new, yet the generals were still basing their strategies on hand-to-hand combat. Highly recommended.